Kitely's a pretty good place, one of the better one's, actually.
Regarding its costs. I have had an account on Kitely for almost exactly 1 and a half years. When I joined, I spent $20 for their Kitely Credits (KC). I take advantage of that free region offer, though I have had more going at the same time, especially when I am transferring builds. Anyone who visits does so for free. That is, I absorb the cost of the time they spend their.
I tend to build offline and then upload, which is a huge savings against that free 2 hours every month.
I'm not very active and I don't get many visitors, though I am hoping to slowly change that. Whether my activity is average, below average or minimal, I don't know. But, over that year and a half, I've spent only about a quarter of the KC I originally bought.
Its a helluva deal. Free region, free time. Anytime I want to, I can backup everything, or completely replace the whole region. I can add more regions as I need and shut them down when I no longer have any use for them.
But, one of the best things about Kitely is the personal touch. Ilan and Oren are always ready to talk with you. They are always fast with a response to any questions you might have. They take an active part in things and listen to what the residents want. They explain what their decisions are and why they made them.
While cost and ease of use are huge factors for educators, the personal touch is also a big one. Educators want to educate, not deal with some talk-over-your-head tech that takes a week to respond.