I have been in the ABA field since 2010. In that time, I have watched behavior analysts do extraordinary clinical work while quietly drowning in administrative overhead. Tracking CEUs in spreadsheets. Printing ABC data sheets. Manually counting hours against certification requirements that seem to change every cycle. It always struck me as wrong that some of the most analytically minded professionals in any field were stuck using pen-and-paper systems for their own professional development.
That is why our team at Special Learning built these tools. They are free, they require no account or login, and they are designed specifically for people who work in applied behavior analysis. Not generic productivity apps repurposed for clinicians. Tools built from the ground up by people who understand the BACB requirements, the BCBA certification cycle, and the daily realities of ABA practice.
Whether you are a BCBA managing a full caseload, a BCaBA working toward your next credential, an RBT tracking Professional Development Units, or a student still in your supervised fieldwork, there is something here that will save you real time.
Here are the 10 free tools I think every behavior analyst should know about.
Certification and Professional Development Tools
Staying current with your certification requirements is non-negotiable. These first four tools are designed to take the guesswork out of tracking, planning, and verifying your continuing education and professional development hours.
1 CEU Tracker
For BCBAs and BCaBAsThe CEU Tracker lets you log and organize your continuing education hours by content area. You can break down your hours into general CE, ethics, and supervision categories, matching exactly how the BACB structures its recertification requirements. No more end-of-cycle scrambles trying to reconstruct where your hours came from.
Use it when: You complete a CE course and want to immediately log it so nothing falls through the cracks during your certification cycle.
Open CEU Tracker2 PDU Tracker
For RBTsIf you are a Registered Behavior Technician, the PDU Tracker is your companion for staying on top of Professional Development Unit requirements. It mirrors the structure the BACB expects for RBT renewal, making it simple to see where you stand at any point in your certification cycle. You can track completed activities and see at a glance which categories still need attention.
Use it when: You finish a training session, attend an in-service meeting, or complete an online PD activity and need to record it immediately.
Open PDU Tracker3 PDU Planner
For RBTsTracking what you have done is only half the equation. The PDU Planner helps you look ahead and map out how you will earn your remaining Professional Development Units before your renewal deadline. It takes the stress out of professional development by turning a vague requirement into a concrete plan with dates and activities.
Use it when: You are halfway through your certification cycle and want to build a realistic schedule for completing your remaining PDUs.
Open PDU Planner4 PDU Checker
For RBTs and SupervisorsNot every training activity qualifies for Professional Development Units, and the rules around what counts can be confusing. The PDU Checker lets you describe an activity and find out whether it meets BACB criteria for RBT renewal. This is especially valuable for supervising BCBAs who design training experiences for their RBT teams and need to confirm that what they are offering actually counts.
Use it when: Your supervisor schedules a team training and you want to verify it qualifies before logging it as PD.
Open PDU CheckerClinical Practice Tools
These tools are for the work itself: making ethical decisions, writing defensible goals, creating client materials, and collecting data. Every one of them is something I have seen practitioners either do manually or pay for through bloated software subscriptions.
5 Ethics Decision Guide
For BCBAs, BCaBAs, and StudentsEthics is not a checkbox on a CE transcript. It is a daily practice. Our Ethics Decision Guide presents 12 realistic ethical scenarios drawn from actual ABA practice situations and walks you through a structured decision-making process for each one. It references the current BACB Ethics Code and helps you reason through competing obligations, documentation requirements, and appropriate responses.
Use it when: You face a tricky supervision situation, a dual-relationship concern, or a conflict between a funder's demands and your clinical judgment, and you want a structured framework to think through it.
Open Ethics Decision Guide6 IEP Goal Bank
For BCBAs, BCaBAs, and EducatorsWriting measurable, observable, individualized IEP goals takes time. Our searchable IEP Goal Bank gives you a starting point: well-written goal templates organized by skill domain that you can customize for your clients. These are not copy-and-paste goals. They are examples of properly structured behavioral objectives that meet best-practice standards for measurability and clinical relevance.
Use it when: You are preparing for an IEP meeting and need inspiration for goals that are both clinically sound and written in language the whole team can understand.
Open IEP Goal Bank7 Visual Schedule Maker
For All ABA ProfessionalsVisual schedules are one of the most widely used antecedent interventions in ABA, and yet creating them is still surprisingly tedious. Our Visual Schedule Maker lets you build clean, printable visual schedules directly in your browser. Select activities, arrange them in sequence, customize labels, and generate a schedule your clients and their families can actually use.
Use it when: You are setting up a new client's daily routine, transitioning a learner to more independence, or providing parents with a home schedule to support generalization.
Open Visual Schedule Maker8 ABC Data Collection
For All ABA ProfessionalsAntecedent-Behavior-Consequence data collection is fundamental to functional assessment, but paper forms are easy to lose and hard to analyze. This digital ABC data collection tool lets you record observations in real time, right from your phone or tablet. Each entry captures the antecedent, behavior, and consequence in a structured format, making it far easier to identify patterns when you sit down for analysis.
Use it when: You are conducting a descriptive functional assessment and need to collect ABC data across multiple sessions without losing paper forms in your car.
Open ABC Data Collection9 Data Graphing Tool
For All ABA ProfessionalsData without visualization is just numbers. The Data Graphing Tool lets you plot behavior data into clean line graphs that are ready for clinical review, parent meetings, or supervision discussions. You can add phase change lines, trend lines, and goal markers. The graphs are designed to follow ABA conventions for visual analysis, not generic business charting formats.
Use it when: You need to present progress data to a team, prepare visuals for a parent conference, or review trend data during supervision.
Open Data Graphing ToolReference and Compliance Tools
10 CE Requirements Database
For All Credentialed ProfessionalsThis is the tool I wish had existed when I started Special Learning in 2010. The CE Requirements Database lets you search continuing education requirements across credentials and states. Whether you hold a BCBA, BCaBA, or state-specific license, you can look up exactly how many CE hours you need, which content areas are mandatory, and what the renewal cycle looks like. Requirements vary significantly by jurisdiction, and getting this wrong can put your credential at risk.
Use it when: You hold licensure in multiple states, are relocating, or simply want to confirm the specific CE breakdown for your next renewal cycle.
Open CE Requirements DatabaseReady for Structured CE?
These free tools help you track and plan your professional development. When you are ready for BACB ACE Provider continuing education, our CE Libraries give you 32 CEUs (including 4 Ethics and 3.5 Supervision) with 12-month access. BACB-authorized.
Why We Made These Free
I hear this question occasionally: "Why would you give these away?" The answer is straightforward. Since founding Special Learning in 2010, I have watched this field grow from a relatively small professional community into one of the fastest-growing healthcare disciplines in the country. That growth has been wonderful, but it has also stretched practitioners thin. Caseloads are larger. Administrative demands are heavier. The requirements for maintaining your credential keep evolving.
The behavior analysts, BCaBAs, and RBTs who use these tools are the same professionals delivering ABA services to children and families every day. If a free CEU tracker or a free data graphing tool saves someone 30 minutes a week, that is 30 minutes they can spend on clinical work, supervision, or simply taking a breath.
We also believe that when professionals experience the quality of our tools and content, many will eventually want to explore our CE Libraries or All Access for their continuing education. But that is their choice. The free tools stand on their own, with no strings attached.
Getting the Most Out of These Tools
A few suggestions based on how we see professionals using them most effectively:
Pair the trackers with the Requirements Database. Start each certification cycle by looking up your exact CE or PDU requirements in the CE Requirements Database. Then set up your tracker with those targets. You will never wonder where you stand again.
Use the PDU Planner at the start of your cycle, not the end. Most RBTs think about PDUs when renewal is approaching. Flip that. Map out your plan in the first month and you will stay ahead of requirements the entire time.
Build the Ethics Decision Guide into supervision. If you supervise RBTs or BCaBA candidates, the Ethics Decision Guide is an excellent discussion starter. Walk through a scenario together during supervision and talk through the reasoning process. It makes ethics training practical instead of abstract.
Bookmark what you use regularly. These tools live at special-learning.com/for-behavior-analysts, and each has its own permanent URL. Save your most-used tools to your phone's home screen for quick access.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are these ABA tools really free?
Yes. All 10 tools listed on this page are completely free to use with no account required. Special Learning provides them as part of our commitment to supporting the ABA community. No credit card, no trial period, no hidden fees.
Can RBTs use these free BCBA tools?
Absolutely. While some tools are designed specifically for BCBAs and BCaBAs (like the CEU Tracker), several are built for RBTs as well, including the PDU Tracker, PDU Planner, PDU Checker, ABC Data Collection tool, and the Visual Schedule Maker. ABA students and trainees will also find these tools useful for building good professional habits early.
How do I track my BCBA continuing education hours for free?
Special Learning's free CEU Tracker lets you log and organize your BCBA or BCaBA continuing education hours by content area, including ethics and supervision. It helps you stay on top of your certification cycle requirements without spreadsheets or manual tracking. For a comprehensive look at what your state or credential requires, pair it with our CE Requirements Database.
Free Tools. Quality CE. One Place.
Special Learning has been a BACB-authorized ACE Provider (#OP-14-2437). Explore our free tools today, and when you are ready for continuing education, we will be here.