scratchfoundation.org

One-line Introduction

ScratchFoundation.org is the official organization behind the Scratch programming language: the world’s largest children’s coding community, originally incubated at the MIT Media Lab and now operated independently. It provides a free online visual programming tool that lets children learn programming logic by dragging and dropping block-based code, and create animations, games, and interactive stories. Users choose it because it is the only official source for Scratch, has the most active global community of young creators, and is completely free, with no paid subscription required to access its core features. For parents and educators in China, Scratch is the go-to platform for introductory coding education, and its official site offers the most authoritative and safest environment for creation.

Business Overview

ScratchFoundation.org is the nonprofit organization that operates the Scratch project, formerly run by the Scratch team at MIT. Since its launch in 2007, Scratch has become a benchmark in children’s coding education worldwide, reaching more than 200 countries and regions and supporting over 70 languages. Its core work is maintaining and updating the Scratch online editor, the community platform at scratch.mit.edu, and educator resources such as ScratchEd. Scratch is not a commercial education platform: it does not sell paid courses or one-on-one tutoring. Instead, it functions as an open-source tool and community that encourages children to create, share, and collaborate independently. In terms of industry status, it is a pioneer and standard-setter in children’s programming; many third-party kids’ coding platforms, such as 编程猫 and Tynker, are largely adapted from Scratch’s underlying model. Its main users include children aged 8-16, K-12 teachers, parents, and educational institutions, who use Scratch for introductory programming, project-based learning, and creative expression. Historically, Scratch grew out of MIT’s “Lifelong Kindergarten” research group and emphasizes a design philosophy of “low floor, high ceiling, wide walls.”

Who It’s For

ScratchFoundation.org is best suited for three main groups:

• Children and teenagers aged 8-16: Children with no programming background can quickly build simple animations or mini-games by dragging and dropping blocks, helping spark an interest in coding. Scratch’s community features allow them to view and remix work from peers around the world and receive quick feedback.
• Primary and secondary school IT teachers: As a preferred classroom tool for programming education, Scratch is free, requires no installation in its online version, and offers many official lesson plans and teacher forums. Teachers can create studios to manage class projects without worrying about copyright or payment issues.
• Parents and homeschool educators: A good fit for families looking for a safe, ad-free programming environment for children. The official Scratch community has strict content moderation, bans commercial advertising and inappropriate content, and is suitable for self-guided exploration at home.
• Not suitable for: Advanced learners who want structured study of text-based languages such as Python or C++; exam-oriented users who need one-on-one tutoring or certificates; or enterprise-level commercial project development.

Key Features and Highlights

• Completely free and open source: The Scratch editor, community, and educational resources are all free, with no hidden paid tiers. The code is fully open source and can be used offline or adapted for secondary development, such as the offline version of Scratch 3.0.
• The world’s largest children’s coding community: More than 120 million registered users, with tens of thousands of new projects uploaded every day. The community supports likes, comments, remixing, and studio-based collaboration, helping children develop social and teamwork skills.
• Visual block-based programming: No typing is required. Users build logic by dragging color-coded code blocks, such as motion, looks, sound, and events, which greatly lowers the entry barrier. It also supports more advanced concepts such as variables, lists, and message broadcasting.
• Cross-platform and multilingual support: The online version works in mainstream browsers such as Chrome, Firefox, and Safari, with no plugins required. It supports interfaces in 70+ languages, including Simplified Chinese, making it accessible to children worldwide.
• Rich educator resources: Official resources include the ScratchEd teacher community, computational thinking teaching guides, and the Creative Computing Curriculum, helping teachers get started quickly.
• Strict community safety mechanisms: Public projects are subject to human review, and posting personal information, violent content, or commercial material is prohibited. Reporting and blocking features are available, and parents can choose a “share by link only” mode.

Pricing Analysis

All core services on ScratchFoundation.org are completely free, with no paid plans. Users do not need to pay monthly fees, annual fees, or subscription charges to use the online editor, upload projects, or participate in the community. Scratch is funded mainly through MIT research funding, nonprofit donations from organizations such as Google and LEGO Foundation, and fundraising by the Scratch Foundation itself. As a result, among children’s coding platforms, Scratch sits firmly in the “zero-cost” category and offers extremely strong value for money. By comparison, many domestic third-party platforms adapted from Scratch, such as 编程猫 and 小码王, usually offer free trial lessons, but later courses or advanced features require payment. The official Scratch platform does not provide any paid add-ons, such as one-on-one tutoring, certificates, or course packages. For users in China, Scratch costs nothing to use, but note that the official Scratch organization does not provide invoices because it is not a commercial entity. If reimbursement is required, users should confirm the requirements with local tax authorities or choose a domestic third-party platform instead.

How Chinese Users Can Use It

• Network accessibility: scratch.mit.edu can be accessed directly in some parts of China, but images and videos in community uploads may occasionally load slowly or stutter. A stable broadband connection is recommended. Users can also try domestic mirror sites such as scratchzh.com for faster access, though such mirrors may be unofficial and may not offer full functionality.
• Whether a VPN is needed: In general, accessing the Scratch official website and editor does not require a VPN. However, some community features, such as user avatar loading and external link sharing, may be limited by China’s network environment. If community project lists fail to load or comments behave abnormally, try switching networks or using a VPN.
• Payment methods: Since Scratch is completely free, no payment is required. Therefore, payment method restrictions are not an issue.
• Domestic alternatives: Major alternatives in China include 编程猫, with its Scratch-based Kitten editor; 小码王, another Scratch adaptation; and 腾讯扣叮, Tencent’s version based on Scratch. These platforms are optimized for Chinese network conditions and provide localized courses and communities, but some features require payment. For a purely free, ad-free official experience, the Scratch official website remains the best choice. Chinese users are advised to use the official site directly and also install Scratch Desktop for offline use when there is no internet connection.

Pros and Cons

Pros:

• ✅ Completely free: All features are available at zero cost, with no hidden fees.
• ✅ Official and authoritative: MIT background, safe and reliable content, and no commercial advertising.
• ✅ Active community: The world’s largest children’s programming community, with abundant projects that can inspire creativity.
• ✅ Educational support: Free courses and teacher guides make it suitable for classroom use.
• ✅ Cross-platform and multilingual: Supports a Chinese interface and runs directly in a browser.

Cons:

• ❌ Unstable network performance in China: Some community resources load slowly and may require users to optimize their network setup.
• ❌ No after-sales support: As a non-commercial platform, it has no customer service hotline or live support; issue reporting relies on the community.
• ❌ Relatively basic functionality: It focuses on visual programming and does not provide transition courses for text-based programming such as Python or JavaScript.
• ❌ Community review delays: Newly uploaded projects must wait for review before becoming public, which can sometimes take several hours.
• ❌ No invoice or refund policy: As a nonprofit, it does not provide commercial invoices, and the concept of refunds does not apply.

Comparison with Similar Products

• 编程猫（Codemonkey）: A mainstream Scratch-based platform in China that offers structured courses and AI interactive teaching, with paid packages of about 2000-5000 yuan/year. Its advantages are fast domestic access, Chinese customer support, and invoices. However, its core editor is modified from Scratch, its ecosystem is more closed, and its community has far fewer projects than the official Scratch platform.
• Tynker: A US children’s programming platform that offers a Scratch-style interface and transition courses for Python and JavaScript. It has a free version with project limits and a paid version at about 10 USD/month. Its strength is structured learning, making it suitable for systematic study, but it is relatively expensive and may require a VPN to access from China.
• Google Blockly: An open-source visual programming library used by many third-party platforms. It has no independent community and is better suited for developers building their own tools than for children using it directly. Its advantage is flexibility, but it lacks Scratch’s community and teaching resources.

Final Recommendation

ScratchFoundation.org is best used as an entry-level children’s programming tool and free community platform. Recommended use cases include:

• Recommended scenarios: Self-guided coding introduction at home, free school programming classes, and nonprofit education projects. Use the official site directly at no cost, and pair it with the offline version for greater stability.
• Not recommended for: Users who need structured paid courses, have extremely poor network conditions in China, need invoices for reimbursement, or want to learn text-based programming right away. In these cases, consider domestic third-party platforms such as 编程猫 or paid courses.
• Advice: Let the child try the Scratch official website for free for 1-2 weeks first, and observe both interest level and network stability. If the child enjoys it and the connection works smoothly, there is no need to pay for anything. If network problems are serious or course guidance is needed, then consider domestic alternatives. Since Scratch is completely free, there is no “try before you pay” issue—users can simply start using it right away.