Overview
Grouper offers two plans: Free and PRO, and a PRO add-on called Central. This article covers what each plan includes, how they compare, what the key limits are, and how to decide which plan is right for you.
For purchasing steps, see the How to purchase PRO support article.
For cancellation, billing, and renewals, see the Subscription management support article.
Free plan
Cost: $0 — always free, no credit card required.
What is included in Free
Form randomized and customized groups
Form smart groups using attributes
Up to 2 student attributes
Group names: custom, auto-suggested, and aquatic
Mark students absent
Mark do-not-group-with students
See and reuse recent groupings (stored for 7 days)
Present groups to your class with Live Mode
Auto-roster classes with Google Classroom and Clever
Random weird student avatars
Up to 40 students per class
PRO plan
Cost: Variable — based on number of teachers (seats) and billing interval (monthly or annual).
PRO includes everything in Free, plus:
Unlimited student attributes
Add 1 co-teacher per class
Student roles
Smartboard optimized tools: grouping, picker, timer, attendance, avatar builder, icebreakers
AI-assisted student data imports
Saved groupings stored forever
Unlimited class size
Priority support
PRO pricing notes
Pricing is tiered by seat count.
Both monthly and annual billing are available.
Annual billing saves approximately 30% compared to monthly.
For exact live pricing, visit grouper.school/pricing.
Central plan (schools and districts)
Central is an add-on for administrators and district-level deployments.
What Central adds on top of PRO
Administrator access to team members' Grouper classes and groupings
Bulk student data imports
For quotes, contact:
Which plan for teachers
Free is usually enough if
Classes are 40 students or fewer
Only 1–2 attributes are needed
Saved groupings only need to be available for a short window
Co-teacher access is not needed
You're trying Grouper before committing
PRO is usually better if
Any class has more than 40 students
More than 2 attributes are needed for data-driven grouping
You want long-term saved groupings
Co-teacher collaboration is useful
Smartboard workflows are part of classroom instruction
Student roles are part of group work
You import student data from external tools
Teacher decision scenarios
"I just need quick groups" — Free is often a strong fit for core grouping workflows.
"I use lots of student data" — PRO is the better fit because it removes the 2-attribute limit and adds AI-assisted import support.
"I need my saved groupings all year" — PRO is the better fit because Free has shorter retention.
"I co-teach" — PRO is the better fit because co-teacher support is a PRO feature.
"I teach large classes" — PRO is required for class sizes above 40.
Affordability for teachers
If personal payment is a blocker:
School-funded team seats may be worth exploring.
Support is available for school or organization purchase paths.
Contact us: [email protected], [email protected], grouper.school/contact.
Which plan for school and district leaders
When teacher-managed plans can work
Teacher-managed Free or PRO can be sufficient when:
Teachers are able to buy out-of-pocket or get reimbursed
Staff are self-sufficient
Central oversight is not required
School-wide data operations are not required
When school- or district-managed PRO is a better fit
School-managed PRO is usually better when you want:
Consistent access to PRO features across staff
Equitable access for teachers with no personal-payment burden
Better continuity when staff changes occur
Team-level license management under a school owner
When Central is the right next step
Central is typically the strongest fit when you want:
All teachers to engage in data-driven grouping using centralized data
Administrators to be able to coach teachers on group creation
Delegation of license management to other staff
Admin decision scenarios
"Teachers already use Grouper individually" — That can work, but admins do not gain cross-classroom visibility unless Central is included.
"We want all teachers to have the same feature set" — A school-coordinated team subscription is often the cleanest path.
"We want shared assessment data to drive grouping" — Central is usually the best fit due to centralized bulk data import.
"We need adoption visibility" — Central can support usage reporting upon request.