specification: FinOps Framework
specificationVersion: '1.0'
schema: https://www.finops.org/framework/
provider: Teachworks
providerId: teachworks
created: '2026-07-03'
modified: '2026-07-03'
reconciled: false
tags:
- Education
- Tutoring
- Business Management
- FinOps
- Cost Management
- FOCUS
description: >-
  FinOps view of Teachworks spend. Teachworks is a SaaS subscription billed
  monthly as a base plan fee plus a per-student-lesson usage charge, so the
  dominant cost driver is lesson volume (number of students x lessons) rather
  than API calls. The Teachworks API itself carries no metered fee; it is gated
  by plan - available on Growth and Premium but not Starter. Cost optimization
  is therefore a plan-selection exercise: higher plans trade a larger base fee
  for a lower per-lesson rate, so the break-even depends on monthly student
  lesson volume. Premium adds branch-account costs beyond the first five
  branches.
notes: >-
  Verify current base fees and per-student-lesson rates on the Teachworks
  pricing page during reconciliation. There is no separate API metering; API
  access is a plan entitlement (Growth/Premium). Model total cost as
  base_fee + (student_lessons * per_lesson_rate) + additional_branch_fees.
sources:
- https://www.teachworks.com/pricing
- https://teachworks.com/addons/api
- https://focus.finops.org/focus-specification/v1-3/
alignedWith:
  framework: FinOps Foundation Framework
  frameworkUrl: https://www.finops.org/framework/
  dataSpec: FOCUS
  dataSpecVersion: '1.3'
  dataSpecUrl: https://focus.finops.org/focus-specification/v1-3/
publisherName: Teachworks
serviceCategory: Business Management Software
billingModel:
  pricingCategory: Subscription plus Usage
  billingFrequency: Monthly
  billingCurrency: USD
  chargeCategories:
  - Purchase
  - Usage
focusColumns:
  ServiceName: Teachworks
  ServiceCategory: Business Management Software
  ProviderName: Teachworks
  PublisherName: Teachworks
  InvoiceIssuerName: Teachworks
  BillingCurrency: USD
  ChargeCategory: Usage
  PricingCategory: Subscription plus Usage
meters:
- name: base_subscription
  description: Fixed monthly plan fee (Starter, Growth, or Premium).
  unit: subscription
  aggregation: sum
  dimensions:
  - account
  - plan
- name: student_lessons
  description: Per-student-lesson usage charge; a multi-student lesson counts once per student.
  unit: lessons
  aggregation: sum
  dimensions:
  - account
  - plan
- name: additional_branches
  description: Monthly fee per branch account beyond the first 5 (Premium plan).
  unit: branches
  aggregation: sum
  dimensions:
  - account
principles:
- name: Visibility
  description: Track monthly student-lesson volume per account and branch, since usage charges scale with it; the API itself is not separately metered.
- name: Allocation
  description: Attribute base fee, per-lesson charges, and branch fees to locations or branches to map cost to revenue centers.
- name: Optimization
  description: Choose the plan whose base fee and per-lesson rate minimize total cost at your projected lesson volume; consolidate branches where possible.
- name: Accountability
  description: Assign an owner to review plan tier vs lesson volume monthly and confirm API access (Growth/Premium) matches integration needs.
maintainers:
- FN: Kin Lane
  email: kin@apievangelist.com