brightwheel: Child Care App
Manage preschool & childcare
How much does brightwheel: Child Care App cost?
Prices are current as of 9 Sept 2026.
brightwheel: Child Care App has no in-app products on record in the United States.
10+ alternatives to brightwheel: Child Care App
| brightwheel: Child Care App |   Seesaw |   Procare: Childcare App |   Solid Starts: Baby First Foods |   Lillio |   KinderCare |   Good Inside: Parenting |   Lovevery: Baby & Toddler App |   Playground: Child Care App |   Tadpoles Parent |   Teaching Strategies Family | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rating / 5 | 4.9 | 4.7 | 4.9 | 4.9 | 4.9 | 4.9 | 4.9 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 2.1 | 2.4 |
| Reviews | 154K | 174K | 164K | 87K | 69K | 51K | 18K | 17K | 6.7K | 1K | 236 |
| Released | 2014 | 2014 | 2018 | 2021 | 2016 | 2019 | 2024 | 2021 | 2019 | 2011 | 2017 |
| Monthly price | — | — | — | $19.99 | $2.99 | — | — | $12.00 | — | — | — |
| Annual price | — | — | — | $99.99 | — | — | $279.00 | $107.99 | — | — | — |
The going rate for each plan in United States, in its own currency, shaded from the cheapest price on the row to the dearest. Plans fewer than four in ten of the priced apps sell are left out.
brightwheel: Child Care App reviews
4.9 out of 5, based on 154,376 reviews.
What people like
- Real time updates ease parent anxiety
- Photos keep you connected all day
- Teachers can easily track daily routines
- Simple interface works well for staff
What they complain about
- Push notifications often stop working
- Hidden credit card fees are outrageous
- Billing system is frustrating and buggy
- Support ignores serious payment complaints
Grateful
Very greatly appreciated that I am able to see my grandsons growing nature with all of you!
My app side doesn’t show “feed”
Teachers say they uploaded the pics for my son but I don’t even have the feed box to select to see any photos at all. Also, even after downloading the latest version of this app, I don’t have the user interface as shown in your details of this app in App Store
Great updates but could use some work
I think it’s very user friendly and I love the billing is also built in. I just wish I got a summary of last meals/naps and how much they ate at the end of the day when they check out.
Not user friendly
As a parent, I do not like this app. From beginning until end. The signing them in with a QR code and signing them out. No personal messages with teachers. Everything is out in the open. You don’t know who is posting meals or diaper changes. Adding family is a pain and it messages them constantly
Notifications
There should be a way for a notification to come thru when messages are received like when there’s updates to the daily report
Great daycare!
Always sending pictures and updates w your kiddos throughout the day!
Terrible App
This app is so outdated and does not allow you to do anything and is very frustrating to use. And their docu sign is terrible.
Langue
Malheureusement l’application n’est pas en français
It’s a downgrade
Our school district recently switched to brightwheel. Overall it offers the same functionality with the same mediocre UX. But what’s really annoying is for checking out a kid, besides the QR code scan from a staffer‘s phone screen, a 4-digit code needs to be memorized and then manually entered. I feel zero additional security by doing this. Apparently it cannot be disabled. Please reconsider.
Latest update seems to be really buggy
Updated the app and now I keep getting errors and am not able to see the school’s or my child’s information
Simply the best
The absolute best program we have seen a school use couldn’t make it easier for the parents and the teachers
Payment Settings Issues
My daycare uses this app for billing and required autopay set up which was somewhat easy to do. However, my children have not attended daycare for over a year and they have set them to “inactive” in the app. Brightwheel will not allow me to adjust to the autopay setting and remove my bank information, so I keep getting charged. The daycare get refund my payments but I’ll keep getting random late payments as long as my billing information is still within the app. This is a very frustrating setting/bug that I wish could be fixed once a child is marked inactive.
Great app!
Love the app for communication with my child’s teachers and viewing pictures and videos, but the billing has been difficult.
Behind
The app is days behind, I’ll log on and it will only show they are checked in or out and then once a week I’ll get like 100 notifications for the last couple days for my children. Its frustrating to not see their day to day stuff like I’m supposed to.
changed messages
Brightwheel usually works amazingly, but i absolutely HATE the new update where the messages screen is very hard to read. There used to be bubbles surrounding each message making individual messages clear, but now it’s all together and very difficult to read.
The best
It’s so nice getting the updates of your child throughout the day. Leaving them is so hard, but having the constant updates (pictures, meals, diaper changes, etc..) is SO nice!
Misleading fees
Brightwheel charged us hundreds of dollars in credit card processing fees which were not properly disclosed. Brightwheel refused to reverse the transaction or credit these fees, despite the payment not having cleared. Brightwheel does not have parents or teachers’ best interests at heart - only their own.
Comments
I wish that parents could comment directly on posted pictures.
Interaction
It’s so nice to be able to have the educators message me and send videos and pictures of my child throughout the day. It’s so easy to keep up-to-date on new programs and changes that are going on at the Daycare as well.
Inefficient UX
It would be great to be able to swipe left and right to view previous and next photos and other records such as nap time, snack and nappy details in a row. Right now, checking all the content from a single day requires too many taps, which is a bit of a pain for busy parents.
Amazing!
This app is Amazing! I love that I get updates and pics and videos of my son throughout his day.
Absurd sneaky credit card fees. A SCAM. Horrible company!!
Brightwheel is terrible and a scam. They charge a hidden 3% credit card fee which is absurd and ends up being a lot of money on a large service charge. Completely insane $56 hidden extra credit card fee just to pay tuition!! It was not clear on the payment page that they do this and the customer service is horrible. They also refuse refunds on service fees. Worst company ever. What a SCAM company !!
In general love the app..but
My wife and I love the app. Our daycare uses it all the time and it works great we love the pictures. Only thing, as of the last update we are not receiving notifications. We have verified that notifications are turned on both in the app itself and under notifications in settings. Otherwise 5 star.
Not getting push notifications despite it being turned on
Not happy at all with this app that I’m missing getting notifications right away from the app. Dont like that i have to login to see anything. Push notifications settings are turned on in both the app & my phone’s settings. Hoping an in person tech will be of help as for now I was chatting with a chatbox. Great service to talk to a bot.
Improvement
It would be wonderful if the text tone of the app could be changed or adjusted by the user for receiving notifications.
Review
This app is amazing we have used it at for many years at different places and I’ve been a teacher and a parent on both sides and it has made everything feel safer and controlled but very easy to use
Excruciating form filling
It only happens once a year, but filling out a form like vaccines is the most soul crushing experience. It’s quicker to do my taxes. It refreshed and wiped my progress twice, I reached out to the AI support bot who told me I was right to be frustrated, told me to fill out another form to tell the product team. Then told me it would pass the feedback along. Then said it couldn’t actually do that, but I could download my transcript and submit it to the product team through another link. I went to download the transcript and the app errored. There’s no way to get back to it.
Great app to keep up with your child at school
App to keep up with your child's activity at school and see the pictures that the teachers post it is great for communicating for fast conversation about any updates during the day as well and it keeps track of your child checked in or checked out. One recommendation would be to allow the users to download all the media just with one click.
App needs improvement
Videos will not play audio , suggest microphone option as most users use silent mode on their phone. -Better navigation and Ux is needed for media on this app. Swipe thru media would be nice
Perfect.
User friendly.
Pathetic app
Not at all intuitive
Game Changer
I’ve been running a dayhome for over 5 years and have tested many forms of communication, reporting and recording information in that time. I’ve used paid apps, paper, emails, Facebook and texts. I love that this app has everything you could ever need and that you can personalize it. I’ve added foods we eat regularly and it minimizes my time in the app. I like how quick it can be when it’s running properly. My parents love that they can keep up throughout the day. They love the accountability it creates and the communication it offers, so they know what’s happening in their child’s 10 hours away from them. ❤️ I do, however, hope they can add a minor adjustment. In other apps, they enable you to check multiple children in and adjust the time they arrived rather than putting the current time stamp. I run a full dayhome and sometimes am not able to update things immediately, so if I would be able to check in my set of siblings registering at 7:23 when it’s currently 7:35, that would make the app so much faster for me. Otherwise I check them in, and then need to edit each check in on each profile, and it wastes time.
Why is there no batch download?
As a parent, it’s a wonderful app to have to keep updated with your child. However, the app has been around for many years and they still have not added a feature to batch download photos or video. What’s up with that?!
Best parent/caregiver app
As a FTM dropping my baby off with a stranger was scary!! Having this app and being able to communicate through out the day and get pictures of her at daycare eases my mind!
Abysmal Payment Processing
The app is fine. Some improvements are required. But the completely unacceptable issue is their payment processing. The payments keep failing for no reason about once a year. I spent a month back and forth with their customer service and it’s still not resolved. This is the second fee I’m incurring for missed payments. It’s easy for schools to track payments for accounting purposes but absolutely abysmal for parents.
Brightwheel
Great program! But sadly when signing up for invoices and payments it is only set up for US no option for Canada....
Amazing
The love and support as well as up to date and real time information that we receive throughout the day allows for us to get through our day with a sense of peace that I don’t believe we would receive anywhere else. I love everything about this app and would like to thank everyone who was involved in developing this wonderful project.
Hate everything about this
Great, yet another way for daycare to bother me. Why don’t parents understand that it’s ok to leave your children at school without knowing what is happening every second of the day? The teachers now have to spend all day writing updates for this stupid app instead of just playing with the kids. I don’t need to know how many fishes the kids counted, I’m in a goddam business meeting! I don’t even understand the point of this. I can see how much they ate when you send the lunchbox home. I don’t need them to write it down if they ate or not. And this app does nothing else but make you obsess over how much your kid is eating and sleeping and learning. It’s not healthy! Holy cow its a whole new level of clingy obnoxiousness that doesn’t let parents or kids get a two minute break from each other.
Wonderful
All stars is a wonderful facility. Our granddaughter is well taken care of and loved by the care givers. We are so impressed by what she is learning from the great teachers. You won’t be disappointed if you enroll your child.
No access
The only thing on this app is a signup page, and they never let you access it. Looks like a great app but they don't let anyone use it. Stay away!
brightwheel: Child Care App FAQ
- Is brightwheel: Child Care App free?
- Yes. The app is free, in all 175 countries it sells in, and it sells nothing inside it.
- Does brightwheel: Child Care App have a free trial?
- No. None of its offers (US) come with a free trial.
- What are the best alternatives to brightwheel: Child Care App?
- Seesaw (4.7 from 173,850 reviews, premium from $12.99), Procare: Childcare App (4.9 from 164,316 reviews) and Solid Starts: Baby First Foods (4.9 from 86,651 reviews, premium from $19.99).
brightwheel: Child Care App download
Last updated 1 month ago.
brightwheel: Child Care App sells in 175 countries. It was released 12 years and 1 month ago, on 25 Aug 2014. It holds a 4.9 rating from 154,376 reviews.
Supports 3 languages: English, French, Spanish.
How much does brightwheel: Child Care App make?
Third-party estimates for the last 30 days, worldwide — not the store's own figures, which Apple publishes for nobody.