brightwheel Pricing, Features, Reviews & Comparison of Alternatives

Pros
I love how much Brightwheel has improved since we first joined the program. Administration, Parents and Staff love all of the features. I am very happy with the way Brightwheel has fostered "community" between home and school, and even school and extended family. Grandparents love seeing their grandchildren and being in the loop. Community is very important to our program! I appreciate the level of professionalism Brightwheel adds to my program. Touring families always have great comments about Brightwheel.

Cons
I wish multiple accounts could be under one umbrella login. I do not like having to log out and log in to my three programs. We have an account with ADP and use just one login for all 3 programs. I simply just have to click which program I need to see. I wish I could access a simple version of a class list with birthdays and just parents names and emails without all of their personal information. Parents request class lists quite often for birthday party invitations. Perhaps even an "opt-in" directory for parents to see would be a great feature. Parents could choose to include email/phone numbers in the "public" directory.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 10/10

Pros
I love how easy Brightwheel is to use - the parents also enjoy the format that they receive information

Cons
If I had to choose one thing to improve on, it would be to add a "zoom" function when taking a picture from the app

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 9/10

Pros
Keeping the channel of communication open is a top priority in this business. We are able to inform and ask questions directly to consultants over large distances. We are able to send pictures and video as needed. We are able to set up people with ease and very easy to use.

Cons
I have not tried the accounting aspect of the program but will shortly. If it could tie into the government aspect of the business it would be even more beneficial.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 10/10

Pros
What we like best is this is a cloud based software. The parent portal allowing parents better access to their child's day and classroom progress as been extremely well received by our parents. We like the check-in feature which allows us to know at any time how many children are in the facility. The ability for the teachers to post notes / pictures for parents allows the parents real time updates instead of waiting till the end of the day to receive a hand written note that is stuffed in the child's belongings and forgotten.

Cons
The back office side of the software is lacking. The reporting capabilities of the software is very limited. For example, we are unable to run an accounts receivable report by family. We can run by child, but you have to run multiple reports for families with more than one child in the program. The software does not currently allow for prepayments or credits on account. Also, on the program side, no ability to run facility or even classroom wide reports - for example a parent directory for all classrooms; allergy report by classroom. All reporting (financial and program) is child driven without the option of classroom or facility driven. This makes extra back office work for our staff - for example creating an allergy list or parent directory in excel to share with teachers. Or tracking receivables in other software, creating double accounting needs.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 5/10

Pros
I love how easy it is to use especially for staff that are not good with technology. I also love how great it connects you to interactions with parents. The customer support so far has been fantastic!

Cons
We are skeptical of the cost of this. Currently we are on a promotion with a discounted cost but when that is over I'm not sure if it will be worth the expense. We may only choose to use this in certain classrooms.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 7/10