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Mainstay Logo

An Intelligent Conversational Platform For Student Success

Table of Contents

Mainstay - 2026 Pricing, Features, Reviews & Alternatives

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All user reviews are verified by in-house moderators and provider data by our software research team.  Learn more

Mainstay overview

What is Mainstay?

Mainstay is the student engagement platform that is powered by behaviorally intelligent chatbots. It is purpose-built to positively influence students and guide them throughout their academic journeys.

Hundreds of higher education institutions and college access networks have partnered with Mainstay to support 5 million students. With a research-backed approach to student engagement, Mainstay is proven to close equity gaps, boost enrollment, and improve retention.

Starting price


Alternatives

with better value for money

Mainstay’s user interface

Ease of use rating:

Mainstay reviews

Overall rating

5.0

/5

10

Positive reviews

100

%

Rating breakdown
  • Value for money
  • Ease of use
  • Features
  • Customer support
  • Likelihood to recommend9.7/10
Rating distribution

5

4

3

2

1

10

0

0

0

0

Pros
“They truly believe in helping us engage with our students in a meaningful way and are passionate about bettering their products to assist us.”
SH

Sheenah H.

Executive Director of Enrollment Services

“The quality, ease of use, features and functionality of the bot make it all highly effective.”
SM

Sue M.

Assistant Provost for Retention Initiatives

“I like that we can personalize the chatbot to fit our mascot's personality. This really helps the students be able to connect and identify with our school and mascot.”
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Cara D.

Assistant Director for the Academic Advisement Center

Cons
“During the implemention, it took a few weeks for us to really see automation start to work. The bot would often say "i'm not sure," which was annoying.”
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Sheenah H.

Executive Director

“However, as someone who has been with them since their older software, it is difficult to get caught up with the new features.”
Verified reviewer profile picture

Cara D.

Assistant Director for the Academic Advisement Center

“It was a very difficult time, but I feel that Coop (our Chatbot) was able to be there for our students.”
Verified reviewer profile picture

Cara D.

Assistant Director for the Academic Advisement Center

Who uses Mainstay?

Based on 10 verified user reviews.

Company size

Enterprises

Small Businesses

Midsize Businesses

Top industries

Higher Education
Education Management

Use cases

Student Engagement Platform
Conversational AI Platform
Higher Education
Live Chat

Mainstay's key features

Most critical features, based on insights from Mainstay users:

Transcripts/Chat history
Communication management
Third-Party integrations
Event calendar
Autoresponders
Chatbot

All Mainstay features

Features rating:

Activity dashboard
Activity tracking
Alerts/Notifications
API
Chat/Messaging
Customizable branding
Customizable reports
Financial aid management
For higher education
Forms management
K-12
Monitoring
Performance metrics
Polls/Voting
Real-Time analytics
Real-Time data
Real-Time notifications
Reminders
Reporting & statistics
Reporting/Analytics
Search/Filter
Self service portal
Student management
Surveys & feedback

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Mainstay pricing

Value for money rating:

Starting from

Free

Pricing details
Subscription
Free trial
Free plan
Pricing range

User opinions about Mainstay price and value

Value for money rating:

To see what individual users think of Mainstay's price and value, check out the review snippets below.

“They truly believe in helping us engage with our students in a meaningful way and are passionate about bettering their products to assist us.”
SH

Sheenah H.

Executive Director of Enrollment Services

“The quality, ease of use, features and functionality of the bot make it all highly effective.”
SM

Sue M.

Assistant Provost for Retention Initiatives

Mainstay support options

Typical customers

Freelancers
Small businesses
Mid size businesses
Large enterprises

Platforms supported

Web
Android
iPhone/iPad

Support options

Email/Help Desk
FAQs/Forum
Knowledge Base
Chat
Phone Support

Training options

Live Online
Webinars
Documentation
Videos

Mainstay FAQs

Q. What type of pricing plans does Mainstay offer?

Mainstay has the following pricing plans:
Pricing model: Free

These products have better value for money


Q. Who are the typical users of Mainstay?

Mainstay has the following typical customers:
Small Business


Q. What languages does Mainstay support?

Mainstay supports the following languages:
English


Q. Does Mainstay offer an API?

Yes, Mainstay has an API available for use.


Q. What other apps does Mainstay integrate with?

Mainstay integrates with the following applications:
Oracle PeopleSoft, Canvas, Salesforce.org Nonprofit Cloud, WileyPLUS, Ellucian, Enroll360, Blackboard, HubSpot CRM


Q. What level of support does Mainstay offer?

Mainstay offers the following support options:
Email/Help Desk, FAQs/Forum, Knowledge Base, Chat, Phone Support

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