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Various ESL lesson planning apps displayed on tablet and phone screensLesson Plans

ESL Lesson Planning Apps Worth Trying in 2025

Mar 5, 2026·6 min read

Every year brings a new wave of apps claiming to "transform your ESL lesson plan workflow." Most of them don't. I downloaded twelve planning apps over the past four months and used each one for at least two weeks with my intermediate class in Baltimore. Here's the honest breakdown.

The Top Tier: Actually Worth Paying For

MagicSchool AI -- Still the most complete AI planning tool for ESL teachers. The ESL lesson plan generator understands CEFR levels, generates differentiated materials, and produces plans with real structure. $10/month. The free tier gives you enough to test it properly.

Chalk.AI -- Best for weekly and monthly planning. Generates connected lesson sequences with vocabulary spiraling. If you plan more than one lesson at a time, Chalk saves serious hours. The unit plan feature is its killer feature.

Twee -- Not a full lesson planner, but the best dialogue and exercise generator for ESL. I use it alongside MagicSchool for every lesson. $8/month and worth every cent for the speaking activities alone.

The Middle Tier: Good But Limited

Planboard -- Beautiful calendar-based planner. Drag and drop your lessons, see the whole month at a glance. But it doesn't generate content -- it's purely organizational. Free with a paid tier for extra features.

Curipod -- Generates interactive slide-based lessons with AI. Strong for speaking and discussion, weaker for reading and writing. The templates are visually appealing but the ESL-specific content needs editing.

Diffit -- Essential for leveled reading, but it's a supplementary tool, not a full planner. I use its output inside other plans. Free tier works for light use; paid ($6/month) for daily use.

The Bottom Tier: Skip These

Several generic AI lesson planners (I won't name names) that claim ESL support but clearly don't understand language teaching. They generate plans that read like general education templates with "ESL" pasted into the title. If a tool can't differentiate between A1 and B2 output, it's not an ESL tool.

The best ESL lesson plan app is the one that understands language levels -- not just subject areas. If it can't tell the difference between beginner and advanced, keep looking.

How I'd Spend $20/Month on Planning Tools

  • MagicSchool AI ($10) for daily lesson generation
  • Twee ($8) for dialogues and speaking exercises
  • Diffit free tier for occasional leveled reading
  • Planboard free tier for calendar organization

That combination covers 95% of my planning needs. For deeper comparisons, read our full AI tools review and our free vs. paid tools breakdown.