FFT being sunsetted?

Hi folks -

I had a sales call recently with an Instructure staff member who told me that Canvas FFT is going to be sunsetted, possibly as early as April 2026. They've actually said this to me several times now, in both email and via phone, though they don't have any actual details and I can't find any public confirmation.

Has anyone else heard about free access to Canvas FFT being taken away, and soon? I'm concerned that they're not going to announce it with enough time for people to actually transition their courses to anything else. And since the fees for Canvas are like $5k/year minimum + a $10k one-time "implementation fee," I'm guessing I'm not the only one who is going to be left scrambling a bit if/when this happens.

Canvas recently did this with Badgr / Canvas Badges / now known as Parchment Digital Badges - a product we used successfully, for free, for the past 7 or 8 years, and then had taken away from us with only about two weeks' notice.

If anyone has additional info here, I'd be very grateful! Thanks.

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Accepted answers

Kevin Martin

@ShannaH

Great question - and definitely one worth providing more clarity on.

Canvas Free-for-Teacher isn’t going anywhere. If you are an individual K-12 or Higher Ed educator, you can continue using Free-for-Teacher as usual.

We are in the process of clarifying that it is intended for individual educators, meaning business, government, and partner organizations do not qualify. Organizations currently using Free-for-Teacher in this way will retain access through March 31, 2026, to allow time to plan and transition.

Many organizations in similar situations move to a licensed Canvas solution or Canvas Career, which supports external learning and organizational needs. To inquire on your options: Ask your account manager as they reach out, or start the conversation sooner by completing the "Let’s Connect" form on the Instructure.com website.

All comments

Kevin Martin

@ShannaH

Great question - and definitely one worth providing more clarity on.

Canvas Free-for-Teacher isn’t going anywhere. If you are an individual K-12 or Higher Ed educator, you can continue using Free-for-Teacher as usual.

ShannaH

Hi Kevin - thanks for this reply. Unfortunately, instead of giving clarity, I'm left with several more questions.

Firstly - I'm running a course right now that started at the end of January and goes through the beginning of April. Losing access on March 31 will definitely not give me enough time to plan and transition, especially since Canvas only allows me to export my courses in a proprietary file format that cannot be uploaded into any other LMS system. Planning and building a course from scratch in any LMS takes longer than the 5.5 weeks that this current timeline allows (and the timeline is even shorter for most folks, since there is still no public announcement about this change, and affected user accounts have not yet been notified). Not to mention that who knows what happens with the student work that's been submitted in that course to-date, and vanishes somehow before they're even able to finish.

Like many folks working in the OER space, I am an individual educator (I started in K-12 and then taught in higher ed before becoming a freelance educator focusing primarily on professional development for K-12 teachers and higher ed faculty and librarians). So when I build a Canvas course as an individual, but I don't have a .edu email address, I'm not sure how Canvas will be able to tell the difference between me and a "non-qualifying organization."
For example, I did a lot of work with Affordable Learning PA when it existed, which was a working group composed of volunteers - faculty and staff from various education institutions and partner organizations - across the state of Pennsylvania. Providing resources and training was one of the most requested things, and for a while we considered using Canvas FFT for this, particularly since we could openly-license those resources and share them via Canvas Commons. Affordable Learning PA has not existed for several years now, so this point is currently moot - but I've heard from several similar Open Education support systems, which are "organizations" in only the loosest sense (many not formally incorporated, not funded, just a group of folks who believe in open and accessible education) who are currently hosting content on Canvas FFT and will be left absolutely scrambling, with not nearly enough time to figure out alternatives.

Canvas used to be a strong advocate and supporter of open access and open education, as evidenced through projects like Canvas Commons. Should we assume that support is now going away? I'm not sure what can be done with all of the CC-NC (noncommercial) licensed content in Canvas Commons if it will now only be available to commercial customers, and I'm not sure how accurate pages like this are anymore: https://code.instructure.com/

I'm especially not sure why an individual educator at a large R1 university would be eligible for a Canvas FFT account at no charge, but an individual educator working with an all-volunteer or under-funded / under-staffed non-profit organization would have their account access summarily removed (unless they can magically find over $15,000/year to pay for a licensed Canvas solution).

Renee Carney

@ShannaH I'd like to thank you again for raising this question, and bravely advocating for the cause you serve. You prompted some excellent internal conversations and I look forward to connecting with you on Thursday to talk through a couple options.

bailey_hicks_DHSMLS

Hi,

Wondering if there is any more information on this topic. I am the program director for a post-baccalaureate hospital-based education program and we only have 8 students each year. Will I be losing my access? How can I be certain one way or the other? Is sending an email to info@instructure.com the best way to ask or is there a more direct way to contact Canvas support?

Thanks!

tfrankowski

Hi Bailey,

I was just notified on 2/23. I called this number 1.800.203.6755 and pretty quickly had a meeting with sales.

Unfortunately, as a hospital-based program, my hospital is requiring cybersecurity review before I can get a decision on proceeding. This usually takes 2 months. I was told if they have a signed agreement by March 31, they can put the start date out to June 1 so that I can maintain access to Free For Teachers and have enough time to transition to the paid platform. I told the sales team that I may not have a decision until late Summer (needs legal review, as well, and I have to find funding), and they said there is nothing they can do without a "yes" by the end of March.

I'm moving things to Google Classroom and downloading all my grades so that I don't lose them. This is a huge challenge right now because I'm lecturing and covering student labs until May 1. I feel your pain and understand your concern.

ShannaH

Thank you for sharing this! I've been wondering how many other folks are affected by this change. And how many of those are nonprofit organizations or otherwise places that are providing a much-needed public service (like a hospital!) but don't have the money to bankroll Canvas's exorbitant costs. I'm glad you found an alternative that will work for you and your budget, and I'm sorry that you have to scramble to do so, particularly given the unreasonably short notice period.

rpsimon

What is the cost of Canvas Career? Is that going to be $5K? I have a client who was using the Canvas FFT - he used to be employed at a university and then left. He still teaches the same course as a CE course but not through the university.

john_crisford

Thank you for the clarification!

Also - I use my FFT account to warehouse the various courses I've created and used over the years, while educated and employed at different school and districts. I use my personal email address (not a ".edu" address) for my account, as it is more permanent than my employment email address.

Is there a problem with a non ".edu" email address being used for the account holder?

Thanks! JC

ginahyena1

This is so well said (esp. your last paragraph), and thank you for posting this. I made a similar argument when they put Canvas Badges behind a paywall and someone reached out a couple of times to say, let's have a call to see what we can do for you. I said no, not only because we're a non-profit that doesn't have the extra money for badges, but that it's about principle and equity. I don't want a deal if everyone else who wants it but can't afford it just has to go without. He didn't reply to me after that. I used to love the fact that Canvas offered FFT because it showed that they cared about educators (traditional AND non-traditional), including the ones without money to pay for an LMS - but I don't believe that anymore. I think they're headed toward the big business, big profit route and are getting further from any deeper educational philosophy. The alternative they're presenting - Canvas Career - is a joke and it's biggest "selling point" is its heavy use of AI. I don't know any educator who would PAY for an LMS to create/use an AI-generated course. Anyway, thank you again for pointing out all the inconsistencies in their messaging. It's eye opening, and they should take note.

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