brightwheel: Childcare App

brightwheel

About this app

Brightwheel is an all-in-one childcare management software that saves time and simplifies operations for early education providers.

From billing and parent communication to curriculum and admissions, it combines everything you need in one easy-to-use platform.

Trusted by millions of educators and families and backed by a dedicated support team, brightwheel strengthens family connections and ensures seamless operations with reliable performance and robust security.

With brightwheel, you’ll spend less time on admin, more time with children.

Features include:
• All-in-one platform: Brightwheel combines billing, attendance, family communication, lesson planning, and reporting in one easy-to-use platform.
• User-friendly design: An intuitive interface that is quick to set up and easy for staff and families to use.
• Fast, quality support: An industry-leading, dedicated support team at your fingertips with 24/7 access to chatbot, tutorials, webinars, and community.
• Secure and reliable: Advanced security features like two-factor authentication and compliance with the highest data protection standards. With 99% uptime, the app is available virtually all the time.
• Billing and finances: Automated billing and payments for tuition and fees, customizable billing reports, and expense tracking.
• Family communication: Connect with families in real-time and centralize messaging, newsletters, and alerts.
• Photo and video sharing: Snap photos, record videos, and tag students with one click.
• Daily reports: Log naps, meals, bathroom, and other activities. Families get a personalized feed and daily summary.
• Calendar: Share events, holidays, and important dates with both families and staff.
• Lesson plans: Add, customize, and share your lesson plans with teachers. Upgrade to Experience Curriculum to enhance program quality with digital lessons and hands-on learning materials.
• Assessment and observations: Make note of progress, achievements, and activities with pre-loaded state standards and a DRDP tool. Share with families or privately amongst teachers.
• Admissions and enrollment: Build custom admission packets, manage your waitlist, and make it easy for prospective families to apply online.
• Attendance: Easily track student and staff attendance via quick scan or a code. Stay in compliance with room ratio and capacity tools.
• Reporting: Detailed reports of every brightwheel feature for billing and licensing requirements.
• Real-time syncing: Brightwheel stays up to date across all devices, including web and mobile.
• Affordable: Both free and premium plans available to fit your needs.

And... much more coming! Brightwheel is the #1 rated childcare management software, leading the industry through continuous innovation, frequent enhancements, and new features driven by valuable customer feedback.

Ratings and reviews

I wish there was a way to rotate photos or add and upload photos from my computer to newsletter modules. The video feature often does not work in the app. When I go to send the video it will just send a message that media cannot be found. This app needs to be rebooted often in order for my class roster to show up. You cannot capture multiple moments at once. This is a one picture at a time and send to families kind of app. I have used other apps and this one is on the bottom of my list.

I began using Brightwheel as an educator in the last 2 months and to be honest I'm not impressed nor do I enjoy using it. my parents are not a fan of the fact that you get a separate notification for each picture posted even if posted in a group. sending messages is difficult. can only post 10 pictures at a time compared to other similar apps that allow 20. plus there is no newsfeed that allow communication between staff and parents. not sure at all how this can be the #1 app for childcare.

Impossible to cancel. There is no option to cancel an active subscription in the app or on the website. You are forced to contact support, then schedule a separate call just to cancel. Even after doing that, my credit card was still charged. On top of this, the software itself is overly complex and not user-friendly. Simple tasks take too many steps. Easy to sign up, extremely hard to leave. Very frustrating experience.