PencilGo

PencilGo data report · October 20, 2026

State of ESA Vendors 2026: 18 States

What the ESA vendor market looks like across 18 state programs, from 24,936 provider listings in PencilGo’s free directory, the public rosters behind them, and what visitors looked at and asked. Every number below has its source beside it.

Read the full report Press kit and chart downloads

Executive summary

PencilGo tracks 18 state ESA and scholarship-account programs. They pay vendors through ClassWallet in 7, Odyssey in 6 and other arrangements in 5. Four findings anyone can check against the data:

24,936

24,936 ESA provider listings across 18 state programs

19,566 of them (78%) carry at least one program status that PencilGo checked against the program’s own public roster; the rest are vendor-reported or found in other public directories.

Source: PencilGo ESA provider directory, approved listings on October 20, 2026.
35%

In Alabama, 35% of program-listed providers with an address on file are based out of state

257 of 724 providers on Alabama’s program records list a business address in another state. In Texas it is 2% (115 of 4,686).

Source: PencilGo ESA provider directory, October 20, 2026; business address from the public roster or directory each listing came from. Listings with no address are excluded.
1.4%

Only 340 listings (1.4%) have been claimed by the business

A claim means the owner verified a business email and PencilGo approved it. Most other listings were built from public program rosters and directories and have not been reviewed by the business.

Source: PencilGo ESA provider directory, approved claims on October 20, 2026.
104

“Can ESA cover it?” was asked 104 times; music, art & sports lessons led

Music, art & sports lessons: 27 questions; computers, tablets, software & internet: 18. The questions came from 34 distinct networks, so this is an early signal, not a survey.

Source: PencilGo “Can ESA cover it?” checker, Sep 25 – October 19, 2026. Categories with fewer than 10 questions are not shown.

1. Who is listed

The directory holds 24,936 approved listings. 24,280 are tied to a program by its own roster or a program status; the rest were found in independent public directories and show a business address in a program state. Private schools and microschools (7,036) and tutors (3,717) are the largest named categories.

ESA provider listings by state. Texas: 5,192; North Carolina: 3,572; New Hampshire: 3,516; Alabama: 1,731; Arkansas: 1,591; Utah: 1,447; Florida: 1,438; South Carolina: 1,318; West Virginia: 1,316; Arizona: 1,315; Wyoming: 1,009; Georgia: 980; Indiana: 952; Tennessee: 373; Iowa: 288; Louisiana: 82; Mississippi: <10; Montana: <10.
ESA provider listings by state. Approved listings shown on each state’s PencilGo vendor page: on the program’s roster, with a program status, or with a business address in the state. A provider can appear in several states.Source: PencilGo ESA provider directory, October 20, 2026.PNGSVGCSV
Show the numbers
Itemlistings
Texas5,192
North Carolina3,572
New Hampshire3,516
Alabama1,731
Arkansas1,591
Utah1,447
Florida1,438
South Carolina1,318
West Virginia1,316
Arizona1,315
Wyoming1,009
Georgia980
Indiana952
Tennessee373
Iowa288
Louisiana82
Mississippi<10
Montana<10
ESA provider listings by category. Other / not yet categorised: 11,115; Private school or microschool: 7,036; Tutoring: 3,717; Therapies & services: 1,886; Curriculum: 679; Classes, co-ops & camps: 371; Online learning: 271; Testing & assessment: 76; Books & supplies: 19; Technology: <10; Worksheets & printables: <10.
ESA provider listings by category. Listings in each directory category nationally. A listing can carry more than one category. “Other” holds roster entries that PencilGo has not yet categorised.Source: PencilGo ESA provider directory, October 20, 2026.PNGSVGCSV
Show the numbers
Itemlistings
Other / not yet categorised11,115
Private school or microschool7,036
Tutoring3,717
Therapies & services1,886
Curriculum679
Classes, co-ops & camps371
Online learning271
Testing & assessment76
Books & supplies19
Technology<10
Worksheets & printables<10

2. Where providers are based

Programs pay providers wherever they are based, and many online curriculum and tutoring businesses serve several states. The share of out-of-state providers on a program’s records ranges widely between states; it depends on how much online and national business each program has approved.

Program-listed providers based out of state. Alabama: 35% (257 of 724); New Hampshire: 26% (558 of 2,160); South Carolina: 26% (249 of 975); West Virginia: 20% (185 of 907); Arkansas: 15% (182 of 1,216); Georgia: 10% (68 of 678); Indiana: 9% (70 of 805); Texas: 2% (115 of 4,686).
Program-listed providers based out of state. Share of providers on each program’s records whose business address on file is in another state. Only states with at least 100 addresses on file and no suppressed cells are shown (8 of 18).Source: PencilGo ESA provider directory, October 20, 2026; addresses as published by each roster or directory.PNGSVGCSV
Show the numbers
Item% out of state
Alabama35% (257 of 724)
New Hampshire26% (558 of 2,160)
South Carolina26% (249 of 975)
West Virginia20% (185 of 907)
Arkansas15% (182 of 1,216)
Georgia10% (68 of 678)
Indiana9% (70 of 805)
Texas2% (115 of 4,686)

3. How many vendors manage their listing

340 listings have been claimed: the owner verified a business email and PencilGo approved the claim. 175 vendor accounts exist. Claiming is free and lets a business correct its details, which matters because roster data is often brief: 11,115 listings are not yet in a named category.

4. What visitors looked at and asked

From Sep 6 – October 19, 2026, state vendor directory pages were viewed 776 times and state ESA guide pages 309 times. Individual listings drew 597 views (one per visitor per listing per day, excluding PencilGo’s own listing) across 209 listings. Our “Can ESA cover it?” checker received 104 questions from 34 distinct networks from Sep 25 – October 19, 2026. These are early, small numbers from one website; read them as signals.

State vendor directory page views. Texas: 365; Indiana: 75; Florida: 55; New Hampshire: 52; South Carolina: 46; Arizona: 34; North Carolina: 29; Arkansas: 26; West Virginia: 19; Iowa: 16; Georgia: 15; Alabama: 14; Louisiana: <10; Mississippi: <10; Montana: <10; Tennessee: <10; Utah: <10; Wyoming: <10.
State vendor directory page views. Views of each state’s PencilGo vendor directory page. Repeat views count; automated browsers that run JavaScript may be included. The directory’s search terms are not logged.Source: PencilGo page-view counts, Sep 6 – October 19, 2026.PNGSVGCSV
Show the numbers
Itempage views
Texas365
Indiana75
Florida55
New Hampshire52
South Carolina46
Arizona34
North Carolina29
Arkansas26
West Virginia19
Iowa16
Georgia15
Alabama14
Louisiana<10
Mississippi<10
Montana<10
Tennessee<10
Utah<10
Wyoming<10
What visitors asked “Can ESA cover it?” about. Music, art & sports lessons: 27; Not matched to a rule: 24; Computers, tablets, software & internet: 18; Educational therapies: 11; All other categories: 24.
What visitors asked “Can ESA cover it?” about. Questions to PencilGo’s ESA expense checker, by the expense category the answer matched. Categories with fewer than 10 questions are combined.Source: PencilGo “Can ESA cover it?” checker, Sep 25 – October 19, 2026; 104 questions from 34 distinct networks.PNGSVGCSV
Show the numbers
Itemquestions
Music, art & sports lessons27
Not matched to a rule24
Computers, tablets, software & internet18
Educational therapies11
All other categories24

The single items asked about most were “music lessons” (15) and “a laptop or computer” (11).

5. How programs pay vendors

ClassWallet: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Indiana, New Hampshire, North Carolina, South Carolina. Odyssey: Georgia, Iowa, Louisiana, Texas, Utah, Wyoming. Other arrangements: Florida, Mississippi, Montana, Tennessee, West Virginia. A vendor approved in one program is not approved in another; each keeps its own provider list.

ESA programs by payment platform. ClassWallet: 7; Odyssey: 6; Other: 5.
ESA programs by payment platform. The platform each program names for family purchases and vendor payments. “Other” covers scholarship organisations, reimbursement programs and state-run marketplaces.Source: program administrators’ public pages, as summarised in PencilGo’s ESA guide (reviewed September 22, 2026).PNGSVGCSV
Show the numbers
Platformprograms
ClassWallet7
Odyssey6
Other5

Full report: every state

Unlock the state-by-state detail

Every state’s listings, roster checks, business locations, claims, page views, checker questions and program facts with sources. Free; enter an email to open it.

We record the email and role to understand who reads the report. We do not email you unless you tick the box. See our privacy policy.

Methodology and data window

  • Snapshot: directory counts are as of October 20, 2026. Listings were added from Sep 23 – October 20, 2026, mostly from official program rosters (provider lists published by the program or its administrator), plus independent public directories and vendors who listed themselves.
  • Listings by state follow the state vendor pages: a listing counts in a state when it is on that program’s roster, has a program status there, or has a business address there. “On program records” keeps only the first two. “Checked” means PencilGo matched the program status to the program’s public roster.
  • Business location is the address published by the roster or directory a listing came from. Many rosters publish none; those listings are left out of the out-of-state share.
  • Page views (Sep 6 – October 19, 2026) are daily counts per page sent by the visitor’s browser, with no visitor identifiers. Repeat views count and automated browsers that run JavaScript may be included. Query strings are not stored, so searches and filters typed into the vendor directory are not logged.
  • Listing views (Sep 29 – October 19, 2026) count one view per hashed visitor per listing per day. PencilGo’s own listing is excluded because PencilGo’s own emails drove most of its views.
  • Checker questions (Sep 25 – October 19, 2026) are counted by the expense category and rule item the answer matched; the text a parent typed is never published. Distinct networks are counted from a salted hash of the IP address. Some questions may come from PencilGo staff testing.
  • Small numbers: any count from 1 to 9 is shown as “<10”, and where one such count could be worked out from a total, a second is hidden too. No personal data is included.
  • Program facts come from each program administrator’s public pages, linked in the full report and on our ESA funding guide.
  • Independence: PencilGo is an independent education company. It is not affiliated with, or endorsed by, any state program, ClassWallet or Odyssey. PencilGo is itself a vendor in some of these programs and has its own listing in the directory.

States covered

Questions about the data: [email protected]. Journalists can download every chart from the press kit.

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