Is Canvas Lite Still Free?
Yes, but it recently changed The big limit: Published courses: 5 at a time
Canvas Lite
Free Plan Limits
| Limit | What you get | How sure we are |
|---|---|---|
| Published courses | 5 at a time | Confirmed www.instructure.comLast checked October 18, 2026 |
| Learners per course | 50 | Confirmed community.instructure.comLast checked October 18, 2026 |
| Storage | Conflicting: blog and KB say 500 MB per course; terms say 500MB of data storage | Conflicting www.instructure.comLast checked October 18, 2026 |
| Teacher sign up | Every teacher verifies with a government ID and a selfie (through Veriff). Students skip it | Confirmed www.instructure.comLast checked October 18, 2026 |
| Who can use it | Individual teachers at schools and colleges, plus homeschool and small non-commercial groups. No commercial use | Confirmed www.instructure.comLast checked October 18, 2026 |
| Not included | No course analytics, Roll Call attendance, API tokens, Blueprint courses, AI tools or Instructure support. New Quizzes only | Confirmed community.instructure.comLast checked October 18, 2026 |
Cheapest Paid Plan
Not stated on the vendor's page: Canvas Lite is free. Going past the caps means a full Canvas license, which has no public price
Unknownwww.instructure.comLast checked October 18, 2026Privacy
Vendor says it doesn't advertise or market to students or parents. ID check selfies go to Veriff and aren't sold or used to train AI
Confirmedwww.instructure.comLast checked October 18, 2026We don't rate privacy. For that, read the vendor's own privacy and FERPA pages.
Notes
Old account logins
Free-for-Teacher logins don't carry over. You need a new Canvas Lite account.
community.instructure.comLast checked October 18, 2026Inactive accounts
Canvas Lite accounts inactive for 6 months in a row may be deleted.
community.instructure.comLast checked October 18, 2026Inviting students
Students join with a course code. You can't invite them by email.
community.instructure.comLast checked October 18, 2026Over the caps
Instructure says it can delete content that goes over the limits.
www.instructure.comLast checked October 18, 2026Other Pages We Checked
- https://community.instructure.com/en/kb/articles/387052-comparing-canvas-core-to-canvas-lite
Instructure: Canvas Core vs Canvas Lite
- https://www.instructure.com/policies/canvas-lite-terms-conditions
Canvas Lite Terms and Conditions (effective Sept 30, 2026)
- https://www.canvasinsider.blog/p/the-final-days-of-free-for-teacher
Canvas Insider: The Final Days of Free-for-Teacher (Sep 10, 2026)
What Changed
- ReplacedCanvas LiteYes, but it recently changed
Canvas Free-for-Teacher (shut down in May 2026) → Canvas Lite launched as the free replacement: 5 published courses, 50 learners per course, 500 MB per course, teacher ID and selfie check
What the source said
"Canvas Lite goes live worldwide on September 30, 2026, at canvaslite.instructure.com." ... "It comes with a cap of 5 courses with 50 learners per course and a 500 MB storage limit per course."
www.instructure.com