brightwheel

4.7 (3,261)
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Childcare center, daycare, and preschool management software

About 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.

Brightwheel provides centers with secure digital attendance and sign-in for both students and staff. Parents can 'quick scan' to check children in and out, and see real-time updates of their child. Center administrators can review attendance reports for licensing, billing, and management. Users can also manage additional approved individuals for safe student drop off and pick up.

With brightwheel, teachers can snap and share pictures during class, record daily events to share with families (either real-time or log and send at day's end), and use the spot check feature for quick head counts in the classroom. Assessments help teachers record student progress via text or voice, and report on any incidents. Brightwheel’s calendar helps schedule events for the classroom or entire school, including notifications for check-ins, photos and messaging for parents. All-in-all, brightwheel alleviates the pain of manual paperwork and modernizes programs to focus more time on the children.

Administrators can manage classrooms and rosters, as well as securely store family contact details. Detailed reporting provides access to all important information on centers, classrooms, and billing. Users can invoice families, automate bank deposits, and process credit or debit cards. Brightwheel also allows for pre-pay, split payments and email receipts.


Key benefits of 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.

  • Images

    brightwheel Software - brightwheel capabilities
    brightwheel Software - brightwheel digital check-in and check-out for parents and staff
    brightwheel Software - brightwheel manage accounts
    brightwheel Software - brightwheel check-in/out students and staff using digital signatures, secure pin codes, and quick scan.
    brightwheel Software - brightwheel track attendance for billing and licensing requirements
    brightwheel Software - brightwheel take a photo, tag the student, and add a note. Parents see updates in real-time!
    brightwheel Software - brightwheel real-time updates of child's activities in the timeline
    brightwheel Software - brightwheel billing
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    brightwheel video
    brightwheel video
    brightwheel video
    brightwheel Software - brightwheel capabilities
    brightwheel Software - brightwheel digital check-in and check-out for parents and staff
    brightwheel Software - brightwheel manage accounts
    brightwheel Software - brightwheel check-in/out students and staff using digital signatures, secure pin codes, and quick scan.
    brightwheel Software - brightwheel track attendance for billing and licensing requirements
    brightwheel Software - brightwheel take a photo, tag the student, and add a note. Parents see updates in real-time!
    brightwheel Software - brightwheel real-time updates of child's activities in the timeline
    brightwheel Software - brightwheel billing

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    Reviews

    Overall rating

    4.7 /5
    (3,261)
    Value for Money
    4.5/5
    Features
    4.5/5
    Ease of Use
    4.6/5
    Customer Support
    4.6/5

    Already have brightwheel?

    Software buyers need your help! Product reviews help the rest of us make great decisions.

    Showing 5 reviews of 3,261
    Nicholas
    Nicholas
    Overall rating
    • Industry: Construction
    • Company size: 51–200 Employees
    • Used Daily for 2+ years
    • Review Source

    Overall rating

    • Value for Money
    • Ease of Use
    • Customer Support
    • Likelihood to recommend 10.0 /10

    Great Form of Daily Communication

    Reviewed on 2024/08/19

    Our overall experience with Brightwheel was great! It's easy to setup and use and is great for...

    Our overall experience with Brightwheel was great! It's easy to setup and use and is great for daily communication from the teacher.

    Pros

    It is a great hub for all communication from your child's teacher. The teacher can send reminders, updates, and even photos from the day. You can easily view and download the photos onto your own device as well!

    Cons

    Digitally signing your child in and out works well, however, you are given a four digit code that you have to remember after scanning the QR code. This code doesn't change, however, for a parent who doesn't do the primary drop offs and pickups, I found myself struggling to remember the code at times.

    Chan'Tal
    Overall rating
    • Industry: 2128
    • Company size: 11–50 Employees
    • Used Daily for 1+ year
    • Review Source

    Overall rating

    • Value for Money
    • Ease of Use
    • Customer Support
    • Likelihood to recommend 10.0 /10

    Brightwheel is a life saver!

    Reviewed on 2025/02/20

    It is user friendly. Anytime I have a question the staff for Brightwheel answers it and I never...

    It is user friendly. Anytime I have a question the staff for Brightwheel answers it and I never feel like I cant figure it out. The parents are happy with it and love the communication as well.

    Pros

    The communication with the parents!! I love that they can see pictures of their child throughout the day. It is user friendly and easy for parents as well.

    Cons

    I can' think of anything that I don't care for. I don't like that I cant delete a child from my Brightwheel all the way. I usually put them as inactive.

    Abbie
    Overall rating
    • Industry: Education Management
    • Company size: 11–50 Employees
    • Used Daily for 2+ years
    • Review Source

    Overall rating

    • Value for Money
    • Ease of Use
    • Customer Support
    • Likelihood to recommend 7.0 /10

    Great for live updates & communication!

    Reviewed on 2024/12/08

    Overall good, it is nice to communicate live w teachers, administrators, school staff, during the...

    Overall good, it is nice to communicate live w teachers, administrators, school staff, during the day. Especially when you have littles and have a schedule to follow for eating, sleeping, and food.

    Pros

    Its nice to have communication w the staff during day so you can get updates on your kid.

    Cons

    It would be nice if it was integrated with invoices so you could have all in one spot.

    Courtney
    Overall rating
    • Industry: 2128
    • Company size: 2–10 Employees
    • Used Daily for 1+ year
    • Review Source

    Overall rating

    • Value for Money
    • Ease of Use
    • Customer Support
    • Likelihood to recommend 10.0 /10

    Awesome program!!!

    Reviewed on 2024/12/02

    Brightwheel has been fantastic. It has really helped us with parent communication and on boarding...

    Brightwheel has been fantastic. It has really helped us with parent communication and on boarding of new students and staff.

    Pros

    The ease of parent, communication and the integration with payroll

    Cons

    Some things that are easily done on the computer are not as easily done on the app and most of the time I’m on my phone

    Alternatives Considered

    Seesaw and Playground

    Reasons for Switching to brightwheel

    I thought that it was easier to use from both the parent and and the administrative end
    Alania
    Overall rating
    • Industry: 2128
    • Company size: 11–50 Employees
    • Used Daily for 2+ years
    • Review Source

    Overall rating

    • Value for Money
    • Ease of Use
    • Customer Support
    • Likelihood to recommend 8.0 /10

    Brightwheel is Great!

    Reviewed on 2025/01/23

    My overall experience with brightwheel has been great thusfar it is very user friendly and is so...

    My overall experience with brightwheel has been great thusfar it is very user friendly and is so far the best app I have used for childcare.

    Pros

    I like how easy to use Brightwheel is and how you can message between parents.

    Cons

    I don't use the learning or paperwork tool so I would say that would be what I least like since it is not utilized.

    Showing 5 reviews of 3,261 Read all reviews

    brightwheel FAQs

    Below are some frequently asked questions for brightwheel.

    brightwheel offers the following pricing plans:

    • Pricing model: Subscription
    • Free Trial: Not Available

    Please contact brightwheel for pricing information.

    brightwheel has the following typical customers:

    2–10, 11–50, 51–200, 201–500, 501–1,000, 1,001–5,000

    brightwheel supports the following languages:

    English, Spanish

    brightwheel supports the following devices:

    Android (Mobile), iPhone (Mobile), iPad (Mobile)

    brightwheel integrates with the following applications:

    Birdeye, Gusto, QuickBooks Online

    brightwheel offers the following support options:

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

    Related categories

    See all software categories found for brightwheel.