Daycare and childcare providers face a common problem and that problem is not having enough time to handle all the day-to-day operations needed to successfully run their centres. Monitoring the children in your care is already having too much on your plate and they’ll have to add to that the administrative, scheduling, and financial processes daily. That’s why it seems like there’s isn’t enough time to handle it all but as professionals, they somehow manage to cope.

Are you running a childcare or daycare provider? If you are, then you should understand better than anyone how difficult it is to run a childcare centre. Just like you, I often sort out ways to automate my daily operations to make my work much easier. I searched until I discovered childcare apps. If you are running a childcare centre in 2022 then you are in luck as you wouldn’t have to go through the same stress childcare providers went through some decades ago in order to provide quality childcare services to their clients when you use childcare apps to manage the day-to-day operations in your centre.

What’s childcare software?

A childcare software is an application that can be used to manage the internal operations of childcare centres and preschool programs which includes scheduling, attendance, and billing as well as facilitate communication (messaging, notifications, feedback, and alerts) between teachers and parents.

With a childcare software, you’ll be able to streamline and centralize the operations in a childcare centre into a single application. The simplification of operations with these apps can be seen in the creation and modification of billing invoices, regular progress reports, students profiles, etc.

Before a product can be included in the childcare category, the product must:

• Find usage in the childcare industry only and mustn’t apply to any other industry. 
• Track progress and development of children’s learning.
• Automate attendance and check-ins. 
• Offer a platform where parents and teachers can communicate. 

Best childcare management apps you should use in 2022

Without further ado, let’s dive into the best childcare apps you should use to automate the daily operations in your childcare centre in 2022.

1. Wündercare 

My Wündercare app is an app that understands the nature of your business because the founder is a veteran in the childcare industry who has been in service for over 18 years. This amazing app comes with all the tools you need to efficiently run your childcare or daycare centre. 

With the Wündercare app, you’ll be able to operate your facility, communicate with parents and teachers, manage staff all in the same app. You will no longer have to waste your time creating long spreadsheets or checking in students manually daily because they can all be done within the app. My Wündercare truly lives up to the hype of being an all-in-one app. Unlike most apps in the childcare category, Wündercare is self-learning which means that the app adapts to your childcare which is amazing since no two childcare centres are the same.

Want to be able to spend more time with your kids? My Wündercare will create that time for you.

2. Brightwheel

Brightwheel is a childcare management app that childcare providers can use to facilitate childcare operations for childcare, daycare, and preschools. The app specializes in streamlining the processes for school staff and administrators in centres that have mid to low capacity. 

Brightwheel is a paid app and its subscription begins at $15 per month although they also have a free version and free trial version. The pricing structure for the app is segmented into two. You can either opt for a standard or premium subscription. The free version has limited features, the trial version lets you use the app’s features for a limited time, the standard versions lets you use the basic features of the app while the premium versions support all of the app’s features.

3. Illumine 

Illumine is a childcare management app that’s designed to streamline your centre’s processes, allow seamless communication with parents, and permit digital management such as attendance, payments or billings, etc. With an app like illumine, you’ll be able to consolidate your centre’s key administrative functions while enhancing experiences for teachers, directors, and parents.

Illumine facilitates transparency between teachers and parents by bridging the communication gap and keeping parents updated with their children’s day-to-day progress. With illumine’s highly developed assessment tracker, you’ll be able to record the growth of children at every milestone which gives the parents an idea of how their kids are developing. 

4. HiMama

HiMama is another childcare management software that eliminates the use of paper for storing data in childcare centres. HiMama has a feature that makes it easy for their teachers to capture and share all your child’s experiences—from your child’s key milestones to their adventurous moments, whatever it is, you can capture it using the HiMama app. This feature improves your centre’s transparency and for directors, the app has strong monitoring functions as well as staff management functions.

HiMama is a paid app but it has a free trial version you can use to ensure their services are right for your centre. They have two subscription plans—enterprise & home daycare. The home daycare plan goes for $25 per month and the pricing for the enterprise plan varies since it depends on the size of your preschool.

5. Sandbox

Sandbox is another childcare management software that you can use in your centre to keep track of everything happening in your centre from your schedules to your payments. This web-based application includes customer relationship management (CRM) tools, comprehensive inventory management features, coupled with a full suite of reports that’ll keep track of your centre’s performance. With this daycare app, even parents will be able to easily manage their invoice related concerns, printing receipts, account details, etc.

6. EZCare 

Managing the activities in a daycare isn’t easy. That’s why childcare providers search for modern platforms that help them manage their day-to-day operations. The EZCare app is packed with features that are designed to aid simplify the management of daycare or childcare centres. Some of the features you’ll enjoy when using this childcare app include online scheduling, analysis, metal planning tool, weekly automated reports, and a single point of online access. Making it easier for daycares or childcare centres to run the processes needed for day-to-day childcare operations.

EZCare isn’t a free app, its subscription plan starts at $58 per month and if you’d like to try their features before purchasing it they have a free trial plan for just that.

7. Kangarootime

Kangarootime is a great childcare application that lets parents easily manage their children’s activities. They’ll be able to communicate with teachers, track all expenses in real-time, and schedule. For childcare providers, they can use the app to manage their businesses, communicate with parents, and take payments. 

Kangarootime isn’t free as well as it has a free trial and a paid plan. The paid plan has different subscription plans that you can pick based on your budget and features the subscription offers.

8. Cheqdin 

Cheqdin is a childcare management software that has changed the way daycare provides and parents carry out day-to-day interactions. With this childcare app, you have control over your business regardless of your present location. This app is great for big organizations as well as small organizations. The app helps childcare providers manage their day-to-day operations more efficiently, giving the support they have always needed to run the centre.

Cheqdin has a free trial plan that let’s use the app features. The paid plan is decided based on the size of your centre. They have the lite and prime subscription plans and their price varies based on the number of children in your care.