ChatGPT for Teachers rolls out, and it's free - here's what makes it different

Sabrina Ortiz/ZDNET

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ZDNET's key takeaways

• ChatGPT for Teachers is now available. 
• It features new enhancements tailored to teachers' needs. 
• The experience is free until June 2027. 

Educators can now try ChatGPT for Teachers, a version of ChatGPT specifically designed to meet the needs of teachers, which OpenAI launched on Wednesday. The biggest differences between it and the original ChatGPT are the added education-grade security and compliance measures, admin controls, and the ability to collaborate with other educators.

Also: Where AI educators are replacing teachers - and how that'll work

OpenAI has continually added new features and services to its AI chatbot to cater to students' and teachers' needs, including Study Mode and ChatGPT Edu.

(Disclosure: Ziff Davis, ZDNET's parent company, filed an April 2025 lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.)

"Teachers get a secure workspace to adapt materials for their classrooms, get more out of prep time, collaborate with peers, and get comfortable using AI on their own terms," OpenAI wrote in the release. 

Also: AI agents arrive in US classrooms

Despite ongoing debate, AI is increasingly playing a role in education -- students use AI tools for everything from routine homework to projects and studying for finals, while overworked teachers use them to prep lesson plans and handle admin tasks (and sometimes even grade students). AI companies are targeting students and teachers as their next big user base. At the same time, some research indicates that using AI tools can harm critical thinking, which both students and teachers are concerned will impact education long-term.

The service is free for verified K-12 educators in the US until June 2027. To learn how to get started, keep reading. 

What is ChatGPT for Teachers?

ChatGPT for Teachers offers users all of the tools available in ChatGPT with higher usage limits, including unlimited messages with GPT-5.1 Auto, search, file uploads, image generation, and connectors, which can be particularly helpful for teachers, as they can link ChatGPT to their everyday applications, such as Canva, Google Drive, Microsoft 365, and more. 

Also: Students are using AI tools instead of building foundational skills - but resistance is growing

"Teachers get a secure workspace to adapt materials for their classrooms, get more out of prep time, collaborate with peers, and get comfortable using AI on their own terms," OpenAI wrote in the release. The company said that ChatGPT for Teachers can remember educator details, like the grade level they teach, to help personalize curriculum materials and responses. 

The added bonuses are new features that address obstacles teachers typically encounter when using AI in the classroom, such as privacy and security concerns. To address this, OpenAI said that any information shared with ChatGPT for Teachers will not be used to train OpenAI models by default. 

The ChatGPT for Teachers workspace has also been built to meet FERPA (The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act) requirements, a federal law that grants parents the right of access to their children's records and, most importantly, regulates access and disclosure to them. ChatGPT for Teachers also includes Admin controls that allow schools to claim their domains and educators to access using SAML SSO.

Also: Can AI save teachers from a crushing workload? There's new evidence it might

Collaboration is another major difference of this feature, as teachers can create custom GPTs and share them with colleagues. For help getting started, teachers can view example prompts from other teachers who are using ChatGPT in the textbox of their workspace.

How to get started with ChatGPT for Teachers

The service is currently free and will remain so until June 2027. To access it, teachers and staff at K-12 schools or US districts can verify their educator status using SheerID, which is accessible via the OpenAI website. 

Also: Why AI chatbots make bad teachers - and how teachers can exploit that weakness

After the free period concludes, OpenAI says it may need to adjust pricing but will attempt to keep the prices a low and affordable as possible. Before making the switch, the company also said it will provide users with advance notice for schools to have plenty of time to decide if they want or need to make the switch. 

Beyond this, the company is already rolling out ChatGPT for Teachers to a cohort of nearly 150,000 teachers and staff that includes districts and schools throughout the country, such as Capistrano Unified School District (CA), Dallas Independent School District (TX), and Fairfax County Public Schools (VA).