TeachFigs vs BioRender for teachers
A dated comparison for people who teach — not a copy of a clinical product page. Prices below were checked on 2026-10-27.
TeachFigs and BioRender can both put a science picture on a slide. They are not substitutes in the way a teacher usually hopes. BioRender is a large icon-and-template library used for life-science figures, with student pricing for people who are themselves students. TeachFigs is a text-to-diagram maker for the person running the lesson: preschool and pre-K, elementary, middle, high school, college, tutoring, or homeschool.
Use this page when you are choosing a tool for class materials. A fair split looks like this. Choose BioRender if you already have a campus license, you want to drag icons from their library, or you are publishing a journal figure under a paid BioRender plan. Choose TeachFigs if you need a water cycle, a rock cycle, a butterfly life cycle, states of matter, or a solar-system study guide and you would rather describe the picture than build it from icons.
The prices in the table are not slogans. On 2026-10-27, biorender.com/pricing listed the free plan as one graphing file, free credits for AI tools, and no commercial use or publication. The same page's FAQ says you should upgrade to create more than 5 figures, to download in high quality, or to publish. Academic Individual was about $35 a month when billed annually, or $39 month-to-month. Lab was about $99 a month for 5 seats. Industry Individual, from the help article updated 2026-10-01, is $1,140 a year or $115 a month. Leo, the AI agent, needs a paid AI add-on and is not on the free plan. The add-on starts around $5 a month academic or $25 a month industry.
TeachFigs free is 10 credits when you sign up, high-resolution, no card. Starter is $8 a month for 30 generations. Lab is $24 a month for 100 generations. Teams and University are coming soon, so do not buy TeachFigs expecting a district rollout. You own the prompts and the images under the TeachFigs terms, including personal, commercial, and academic use, and you still disclose AI where your school or journal requires it.
Nothing here says BioRender is low quality or that it lacks AI. Leo is real, and it is paid. The gallery under the table is TeachFigs output with the generation prompt printed when the repo still has that prompt.
Checked 2026-10-27 against https://www.biorender.com/pricing (free plan: 1 graphing file, free AI credits, no publication or commercial use; FAQ on upgrading to create more than 5 figures; Academic Individual about $35/month annual or $39 monthly; Lab about $99/month for 5 seats). Leo requires the AI add-on and is not on free accounts: https://help.biorender.com/hc/en-gb/articles/39403365116701-Designing-with-Leo-BioRender-s-AI-Agent (updated 2026-10-26). AI add-on from about $5/month academic or $25/month industry: https://help.biorender.com/hc/en-gb/articles/31740274739229-How-to-access-and-manage-the-AI-Add-On-in-BioRender (updated 2026-10-21). Industry Individual $1,140/year or $115/month: https://help.biorender.com/hc/en-gb/articles/20116149197469-Understanding-BioRender-subscriptions-Industry-Individual-Team-and-Enterprise (updated 2026-10-01). Student plans include K-12 students: https://www.biorender.com/solutions/student-plans. TeachFigs prices on the credits screen: Free (10 credits at sign-up, high-resolution, no card), Starter $8/month (30), and Lab $24/month (100). Teams and University are coming soon. Competitor prices drift. Re-check before you cite a cell.
| Dimension | Us | Them |
|---|---|---|
| Best fit | Teachers and tutors making lesson figures, worksheets, slides, and posters for preschool through college and homeschool. | Researchers assembling life-science figures, plus students (K-12 through postdoc) who qualify for an individual student plan and pay out of pocket. |
| Price checked 2026-10-27 | Free $0: 10 credits at sign-up, high-resolution, no card. Starter $8/month (30 generations). Lab $24/month (100 generations). Teams and University are coming soon. | Free $0: 1 graphing file and free AI credits; no publication or commercial use. FAQ: upgrade to create more than 5 figures. Academic Individual about $35/month annual or $39 monthly. Lab about $99/month for 5 seats. Industry Individual $1,140/year or $115/month. |
| AI | Describing a diagram and getting a draft is the normal free workflow. No separate AI add-on. | Leo is BioRender's AI agent. Leo needs a paid AI add-on and is not available on the free plan. Free accounts still receive a one-time grant of AI credits for some image tools. Add-on from about $5/month academic or $25/month industry. |
| Classroom worksheets | Worksheet style is a print style in the product. The labeled-diagram page shows labeled classroom figures: a water cycle, a plant cell, a butterfly life cycle, and a rock cycle. | Free Basic is described on the pricing FAQ as suitable for simple presentations and personal or educational use. Publication and commercial use need a paid plan. |
| Choose BioRender if | Choose TeachFigs if the next thing you need is a teaching figure and you want to describe it in a sentence. | Choose BioRender if you want their icon library, you already have an institutional license, or you need paid-plan publishing rights for a research figure. Checked 2026-10-27. |
Who should pick TeachFigs, and who should pick BioRender?
Pick TeachFigs when you teach. That includes preschool and early childhood, elementary, middle, high school, college, tutoring, and homeschool, and the figure is for a lesson, worksheet, slide, or poster. Pick BioRender when you want its icon library, your institution already licenses it, or you need a paid plan's publishing rights for a research figure. Student plans on BioRender include K-12 students through postdocs paying out of pocket. Those plans are for the student, not a shortcut to a class set of worksheets.
Does BioRender have AI in 2026?
Yes. The agent is Leo. The help article Designing with Leo, updated 2026-10-26 and re-checked 2026-10-27, says Leo is not available on free Basic accounts and that using Leo requires an AI add-on. Some Leo actions spend AI credits. The free plan still lists free credits for AI tools and a one-time grant to try some image tools. Figure drafting is not on the free plan. TeachFigs does not charge a separate AI add-on for the text-to-diagram workflow.
Are the prices in the table still current?
They were checked on 2026-10-27. Academic Individual was about $35 a month billed annually or $39 month-to-month. Lab was about $99 a month for 5 seats. Industry Individual was $1,140 a year or $115 a month on the help article updated 2026-10-01. The free plan listed one graphing file and free AI credits, and the FAQ said to upgrade to create more than 5 figures. BioRender changes these numbers. Read the source URLs in the note under the table before you repeat a price.
Is TeachFigs a K-12 science product only?
No. The people who use it are teachers of every age group, including preschool and college, plus tutors and homeschool parents. The gallery on this page shows a water cycle, a rock cycle, a butterfly life cycle, states of matter, and the solar system. The app also lists math, history, geography, language arts, and computer science as subjects you can describe.
What should I not expect from either tool?
Do not expect TeachFigs to be a 5-seat department license. Teams and University are coming soon. Do not expect BioRender's free plan to cover publication or commercial use, and do not expect Leo on a free BioRender account. Neither page is a promise of search-result stars or review snippets. Check the figure before you teach with it.