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brightwheel
4.7
(3K)

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Childcare Center, Daycare, and Preschool Management Software

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(36)

brightwheel Pricing, Features, Reviews and Alternatives

brightwheel product overview

What is brightwheel?

Brightwheel is an all-in-one childcare management software solution designed for child care programs such as centers, preschools, daycares, camps, and after-school programs. The platform provides directors, administrators, and staff teachers with the tools for digital child assessments, robust parent communications, online enrollment, automated reporting, online paperless billing, and more. Parents using brightwheel get access to real-time updates on their child’s activities with photos and notes via the real-time newsfeed.

Key benefits of using brightwheel

  • Brightwheel enables quick and secure one-touch student check-ins and attendance reports for billing and licensing purposes.

  • Brightwheel provides automated invoicing & receipts, and payments can be made with ACH, credit cards, or checks.

  • Photosharing captures classroom moments with a click, and real-time feeds provide daily summaries for parents.

  • Teachers can stay in touch with families via brightwheel's messaging system, as well as send quick notes and reminders to add to the calendar.

  • All brightwheel client billing and payment data is encrypted and protected by the highest levels of security.
  • Typical customers

    Freelancers
    Small businesses
    Mid size businesses
    Large enterprises

    Platforms supported

    Web
    Android
    iPhone/iPad

    Support options

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

    Training options

    Documentation
    Live Online
    Videos
    Webinars

    brightwheel pricing information

    Value for money

    4.5

    /5

    3K

    Starting from

    ic-pricetag

    No pricing info

    Pricing options

    Free plan
    Subscription
    Free trial
    Pricing range

    Value for money contenders

    brightwheel features

    Functionality

    4.5

    /5

    3K

    Total features

    44

    2 categories

    Most valued features by users

    Activity Dashboard
    Learning Management
    Alerts/Notifications
    Data Import/Export
    Attendance Management
    Attendance Tracking
    Billing & Invoicing
    Calendar Management

    Functionality contenders

    brightwheel users reviews

    Overall Rating

    4.7

    /5

    3K

    Positive reviews

    Rating breakdown
    • Value for money
    • Ease of use
    • Features
    • Customer support
    • Likelihood to recommend8.96/10
    Rating distribution

    5

    4

    3

    2

    1

    2.1K

    792

    96

    10

    7

    Pros
    I love that it is easy to navigate and allows users to control the settings. I rarely have glitches and if I do the customer support is excellent.
    Ease of use, great features and most of all our families love it. Brightwheel is such an amazing app to have especially in this post covid world.
    Overall, this product seems promising. The opportunity to engage families in a new, innovative way is exciting and we are hopeful to have opportunities to implement this in the future.
    Cons
    Unfortunately, there are some issues with the Payments section. The link "Print Invoice" does not work for me, so a daycare had to send me the invoice via email.
    The only thing that bothered me was the billing. But they've already updated me on this point.
    After a family emergency, I had to pick up my 5-year-old grandson from school.

    Overall rating contenders

    MJ
    AvatarImg

    Misitura J.

    Program Manager

    Education Management, 1-10 employees

    Review source

    Overall Rating

    My daycare rocks for using this!

    Reviewed 3 years ago

    Transcript

    Missy J.: Hi. My name is Missy, and I work in the childcare education sector. I'm a Program Manager,...

    AS
    AvatarImg

    Allison S.

    administration

    Computer Software, 11-50 employees

    Review source

    Overall Rating

    love this platform

    Reviewed 2 years ago

    Transcript

    Allison: So my name's Allison, I manage a law firm. We're evaluating Brightwheel. And for more reviews,...

    AvatarImg
    AvatarImg

    Christy F.

    Education Management, 11-50 employees

    Used daily for 2+ years

    Review source

    Overall Rating
    • Value for money
    • Ease of use
    • Features
    • Customer support
    • Likelihood to recommend10/10

    Share this review:

    Looking to foster communication with familes ... look no further!

    Reviewed 5 years ago

    Brightwheel has made a huge difference in the area of communicating with families. For years, I had been on the hunt for an application that would allow direct communication between our parents and staff. I discovered Brightwheel in the beginning of 2016 and instantly fell in love with its ease of use and the ability to send updates to parents. Parents have commented how much they appreciate getting...

    Pros

    Ease of use Instant communication between families and staff Reduces Paperwork Aids in documentation

    Cons

    I can't really think of anything. I've been a true fan ... since before it's introduction on Shark Tank!

    RP
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    Richard P.

    Education Management, 11-50 employees

    Used daily for 1-2 years

    Review source

    Overall Rating
    • Value for money
    • Ease of use
    • Features
    • Customer support
    • Likelihood to recommend10/10

    Share this review:

    Best customer service

    Reviewed 5 months ago

    I'm solving parent peace of mind concerns for families who trust us with the care of their children. Parents love getting pictures and messages from the staff during the day, telling us how the day is going for their child.

    Pros

    Brightwheel staff are available during the day (and you can even leave a chat message after hours). They are responsive to your issues and they actually follow-up after resolving an issue to make sure that it remains fixed. The support team is knowledgeable, helpful and polite! They leave you with the impression that they care.

    Cons

    We offer flexible schedules. Some families' schedules vary day to day. It would be a great asset if actual attendance could be calculated against billed attendance. Right now, this is a manual process and leaves us open to mistakes.

    MJ
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    Monique J.

    Education Management, 11-50 employees

    Used daily for less than 6 months

    Review source

    Overall Rating
    • Value for money
    • Ease of use
    • Features
    • Customer support
    • Likelihood to recommend1/10

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    Great Concept - Incomplete Application - Not good for Centers - Would work for a Home Daycare.

    Reviewed 6 years ago

    Daily Parent Communication

    Pros

    I love that this software is mobile, offers billing as well as parent communication. My clients enjoy the timeline viewing of the daily reports.

    Cons

    Families are unable to save videos sent via app. The reports feature is very time consuming. The employee timecards and many other reports require you to change settings within your excel etc to view regular times, dates, etc. Reports have to be individually emailed to you to view. Billing does not allow a way to show credits on accounts. Billing feature does not allow you to track and bill...

    RB
    AvatarImg

    Renee B.

    Education Management, 1-10 employees

    Used daily for 2+ years

    Review source

    Overall Rating
    • Value for money
    • Ease of use
    • Features
    • Customer support
    • Likelihood to recommend10/10

    Share this review:

    Brightwheel Review

    Reviewed 3 months ago

    Brightwheel is a great product for teachers/staff, parents and admin. It's so easy to use and quick to teach new staff! I love Brightwheel and couldn't imagine my center without! We are so pleased and happy with Brightwheel services and the Brightwheel employees are quick and sufficient replies!

    Pros

    I like how the parents at my daycare see photos and videos of their child/ren that our staff posts on their throughout the day. I also like the messaging piece between teacher & parents as ell as administrative and parents too. I like how teachers can keep track of their children and post activities regarding the Mother Goose curriculum

    Cons

    The integration with Brightwheel within my center was ease, I have no cons about Brightwheel it is amazing and helps us a lot at my center!

    CB
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    Cristal B.

    Education Management, 11-50 employees

    Used daily for 2+ years

    Review source

    Overall Rating
    • Value for money
    • Ease of use
    • Features
    • Customer support
    • Likelihood to recommend10/10

    Share this review:

    It's amazing!!!

    Reviewed 8 months ago

    I use brightwheel for billing and receiving payments, sending statements, attendance recording and tracking, ratio tracking, daily communicating with parents, sending alerts and important notifications and last but not least, check-in and check-out recording. I'm sure there are details I am not thinking of right now. The best I can say is, I use brightwheel for everything!

    Pros

    It's very easy to use, very user friendly and has so many helpful features. It really is a one stop shop because of everything it offers. I don't have to use other programs for various reports or tracking and even billing. It has brought peace to office chaos and helps parents with convenience and peace of mind.

    Cons

    There are always new things that a center looks for to help processes become more efficient or comprehensive. So yes, there are things that can still be integrated in brightwheel, but they are always open to suggestions and feedback. As soon as ideas come up, they put things into play. Keep in mind, all things take time.

    brightwheel FAQs

    Q. What type of pricing plans does brightwheel offer?

    brightwheel has the following pricing plans:
    Pricing model: Free, Subscription
    Free Trial: Available


    Q. Who are the typical users of brightwheel?

    brightwheel has the following typical customers:
    Large Enterprises, Mid Size Business, Small Business

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    Q. What languages does brightwheel support?

    brightwheel supports the following languages:
    English

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    Q. Does brightwheel support mobile devices?

    brightwheel supports the following devices:
    Android, iPad, iPhone

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    Q. Does brightwheel offer an API?

    No, brightwheel does not have an API available.

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    Q. What level of support does brightwheel offer?

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

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    Related categories