Most platforms charge per child plus a base fee, which makes pricing opaque. This calculator uses 2026 industry-reported pricing to show your real monthly and annual cost across 6 platforms, side by side.
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Most popular daycare management software (Brightwheel, HiMama / Lillio, Procare, KangarooTime, Tadpoles) uses a base fee plus per-child pricing model. The base fee covers the platform itself ($20-60/month). The per-child fee covers each enrolled student ($1.50-3 per child per month). For a small home daycare with 8 children, that adds up faster than most providers expect.
This pricing model exists because these platforms were originally built for large daycare centers with 50-200+ children. At that scale, per-child pricing covers the cost of serving each parent account, photo storage, and support. For home daycare and family child care providers with 4-14 children, that pricing logic does not fit. You end up paying enterprise software prices for a small home operation.
DaycarePro uses a different model: flat monthly pricing with no per-child fees. $25, $50, or $80/month based on the plan tier you choose, period. Your software cost stays the same whether you have 4 kids or 14, which makes budgeting predictable and growth painless.
Most center-focused daycare software (Brightwheel, HiMama, Procare, KangarooTime, Tadpoles) charges a base monthly fee of $20-60 plus $1.50-3 per child per month, which adds up to $200-800/month for a small home daycare with 8-12 children. DaycarePro charges a flat $25-80/month with no per-child fees, regardless of enrollment.
Brightwheel and similar enterprise-focused platforms (HiMama, Procare, KangarooTime, Tadpoles) were built for large daycare centers with 50-200+ children. Per-child pricing makes sense at that scale. For home daycare or family child care providers with 4-14 children, per-child pricing means software cost grows as enrollment grows. Flat-rate alternatives like DaycarePro keep costs predictable.
The calculator uses publicly available pricing ranges as of 2026. Brightwheel, HiMama (Lillio), Procare, KangarooTime, and Tadpoles do not publish flat pricing publicly, so the calculator uses industry-reported ranges from third-party comparison sites and customer reviews. DaycarePro pricing is exact ($25, $50, or $80/month based on plan tier). Always confirm exact pricing with vendor sales reps before purchase.
For home daycare and family child care, the features that drive cost are: per-child pricing (huge), parent app requirement, billing platform, photo storage limits, staff seats, and contract length. DaycarePro removes all of these cost drivers by charging one flat rate that includes unlimited children, unlimited staff, free setup, and no contract.
Yes. Switching from Brightwheel, HiMama, Procare, or any other platform to DaycarePro takes about 30 minutes with our free setup service. We import child profiles, parent contacts, and emergency information from CSV exports of your current platform. Most home providers are running daily on DaycarePro within 24 hours of signup.