brightwheel vs Playground

Lillio

Procare Solutions

Smartcare

Kaymbu

CareDay

Kindertales

Compare brightwheel and Playground based on features, pricing, verified reviews, integrations & more on GetApp. Find out which software is best for your business in 2026.

Lillio is a cloud-based solution for parent communication, digital daily reports generation, and educational documentation in daycare, child care and preschool classrooms.

Procare Solutions is a cloud-based childcare management software that simplifies administrative tasks and enables contactless check-in/out, integrated tuition collection, business management, and more.

Smartcare is a cloud-based child care center management software that assists with connecting parents, care center owners, directors and teachers in real time with each other.

Brightwheel is both a mobile app (Android + iOS) and cloud-based software built for childcare, daycare, and preschool programs. Brightwheel childcare management software offers digital check-in/-out, digital daily reports, paperless billing, robust parent comms, and free training and support.

Activity Dashboard

Alerts/Notifications

Attendance Management

Attendance Tracking

Billing & Invoicing

Calendar Management

Class Scheduling

Client Portal

Communications Management

Contact Database

Customer Accounts

Daily Reports

Data Import/Export

Data Security

Document Management

Document Storage

Electronic Payments

Employee Management

Enrollments/Onboarding

Event Calendar

Facility Management

Faculty/Staff Management

Financial Management

Immunization & Allergy Tracking

Independent/Private

Learning Management

Lesson Planning

Meal/Nutrition Management

Milestone Tracking

Multi-Location

Online Calendar

Parent Portal

Parent/Student Portal

Payment Processing

Real-Time Reporting

Records Management

Registration Management

Reminders

Role-Based Permissions

Scheduling

Special Education

Student Information/Records

Student Management

Wait List Management

brightwheel

Android

Web-based

Windows

iPad

iPhone

Daycare Director

We've have had a wonderful experience with Brightwheel. If there are ever any issues that we need help with, someone is quick to help us.

English professor 

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.

Preschool Manager

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.

Associate Principal, Wayzata High School

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.

Development Director 

Brightwheel is by far the best child care management platform I have experienced from a users stand point it is visually friendly, easy to navigate the app, and has all the functions a parent wants.

Care Management Supervisor

I love that they have the ability to share videos, pictures and other types of information with me. I also love that I can message staff any time during the day to check in.

self-employed 

I love this Software because its a very big help when it come of organizing you children daily needed routine. This will help you organize thing to do and manage your daily time scheduling.

Lead teacher 

I also liked that there are early learning guidelines for our state on observations, that’s one of the most awesome things I’ve seen in an application like this.

Its got amazing features in the apps. The pricing is great and its got a super attractive app logo.

Administrative Assistant

We are extremely pleased with how easy they made the switch from our old system. Every time we've had a question we have received a more than helpful response from their support staff.

Optician 

What I liked most about using bright wheel was how easy it was to use. The layout is very user friendly.

bioinformatician

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.

Senior Lecturer

It has been especially useful for auto-generating reports that can be used for FSA reimbursement and tax purposes when claiming dependent care costs on our taxes.

Owner 

This software was easy to integrate into our program & the parents love it. The billing feature has helped releave staff time & parents are paying faster.

Freelance

The only thing that bothered me was the billing. But they've already updated me on this point.

Owner

After a family emergency, I had to pick up my 5-year-old grandson from school.

Data Analyst

A little confusing in its interface and with a little onboarding and a little time consuming and slow when learning.

It has been an asset to our parent communication, revenue collections, and lesson plan integration with curriculum.

brightwheel screenshot: brightwheel capabilities

brightwheel screenshot: brightwheel digital check-in and check-out for parents and staff

brightwheel screenshot: brightwheel manage accounts

brightwheel screenshot: brightwheel check-in/out students and staff using digital signatures, secure pin codes, and quick scan.

brightwheel screenshot: brightwheel track attendance for billing and licensing requirements

brightwheel screenshot: brightwheel take a photo, tag the student, and add a note. Parents see updates in real-time!

brightwheel screenshot: brightwheel real-time updates of child's activities in the timeline

brightwheel screenshot: brightwheel billing

Freelancers

Large Enterprises

Mid Size Business

Non Profit

Public Administrations

Small Business

Join the revolution and transform your center with CareDay’s premium solutions! We tackle childcare challenges with innovative features: automated enrollment, accurate revenue forecasts, and multi-center management—all in one platform. See why top childcare providers love CareDay!

Kaymbu is a family engagement & classroom documentation tool which enables early education institutions to make learning visible through photo & video sharing

Kindertales is a cloud-based childcare management software built from the ground up by childcare operators. On top of automating and streamlining the day-to-day for teachers, directors & families, Kindertales provides powerful reporting and analytics for leaders to increase enrollment and optimize t

Playground is a childcare management software that assists with billing, family engagement, digital paperwork, attendance tracking, food program management, reporting, staffing, and more.

Activity Tracking

AI Copilot

Certification Tracking

Check-in/Check-out

Electronic Signature

Generative AI

Incident Management

Mobile Access

Multi-Language

Reporting & Statistics

Resource Scheduling

Task Management

Third-Party Integrations

Playground

Owner and Director

I love the Playground app because it seamlessly incorporates a CRM. Once my website is up and running, it’ll help me build strong, consistent revenue streams.

Owner and operator of a family childcare program

They are constantly working to make it better and more helpful. I especially think it’s great that you can schedule times where they can help you learn a part of the program.

Executive Director

Playground is very user friendly and serves our needs perfectly. It is the best way to maintain student information.

Owner, Provider and Teacher

Its really been a great thing to use. I was very easy to navigate and my parents love it.

In-home Daycare owner

I went from doing everything the paper way to now everything is electronic from check in and out to all of the children files and mine on the Playground app. Love love the all the payment options.

Director

I love the autofill feature to make sure paperwork is complete and saves families time. The cost of Playground is a lot cheaper than I was expecting which was a pleasant surprise.

Network Facilitator

Sensitive content hidden] has been very helpful and great to work with.

PG has really helped me to organize my center. I love the communication with parents, the ability to do newsletters, and mostly the lock integration.

Associate Director

By far the two best features are the ease of use and the customer service. The app is SOOOO easy to use for everyone and customer service answers on the second ring EVERY.

Great easy to use and great videos of how to set things up.

The playground staff is very helpful especially with them sending vides to help us figure out how to do something we haven't before.

Office Manager

I love how user-friendly the app is for both parents and staff, as well as how the desktop use on the admin side is easy to navigate.

School Administrator

Amazing Product with Phenomenal Customer Support.

Sr recruiter

I sometimes run into Technical Issues:  at time there are glitches or error messages received when using the tool, which impacts my use.

Operations Manager

The statement dates were not correct and caused a lot of confusion for parents. Assigning the charges takes a lot of time for us as a large center with multiple age groups and price points.

The Enrollment process has been a bit more difficult to customize.

We have saved over three hours a week of time since using the attendance integration feature.

I havent found anything that I dont like about playground.

Playground screenshot: All-in-one child care management software platform.

Playground screenshot: Simple billing to maximize collections with autopay. Generate reports your accountant will love.

Playground screenshot: Enroll more families with automatic marketing and CRM tools.

Playground screenshot: Delightful online registration and digital paperwork for families to make enrollment easier than ever.

Playground screenshot: Family communication, attendance, ratios, and more.

Playground screenshot: AI built for child care.

Playground screenshot: Fast, accurate, and effortless payroll for child care.
Run payroll in minutes, file taxes automatically, and manage time tracking

brightwheel vs Playground Comparison (2026)

brightwheel

Playground

Overview

Video & Screenshots

Pricing

User reviews

Key features

Integrations

Alternatives