# brightwheel Reviews 2026. Verified Reviews, Pros & Cons | Capterra

> Is brightwheel the right Class Registration solution for you? Explore 3255 verified user reviews from people in industries like yours to make a confident choice.

Source: https://www.capterra.com/p/144060/brightwheel/reviews

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brightwheel

4.7 (3255)

Provider data verified by our Software Research team, and reviews moderated by our Reviews Verification team. [Learn more](https://www.capterra.com/our-story/)

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Last updated March 13th, 2026

# Reviews of brightwheel

Ease of use

4.6

Customer Service

4.6

## Pros and Cons in Reviews

TB

Tamika B

Teacher AssistantChild Day Care Services, 2 - 10 employeesUsed the software for: 1-2 years.

“Features like attendance tracking, parent engagement tools, and learning assessments empower educators to focus more on teaching and less on administrative tasks, making it easy for teachers and parents to stay connected.“

November 2, 2024

MC

Madolyn C

AdministrationChild Day Care Services, Self-employedUsed the software for: Less than 6 months.

“The feature that I least like about brightwheel is that it is a little difficult to update your deposit account if you do happen to change banks.“

November 17, 2024

GL

Gilberto L

Senior ConsultantBanking, 5,001 - 10,000 employeesUsed the software for: 1-2 years.

“With features like real-time communication, student progress tracking, and payment management, this platform simplifies the day-to-day life of teachers and administrators.“

November 8, 2024

Nicholas B

Senior AccountantConstruction, 51 - 200 employeesUsed the software for: More than 2 years.

“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.“

August 19, 2024

SJ

Stacy J

DirectorChild Day Care Services, 11 - 50 employeesUsed the software for: 1-2 years.

“We are part of the Expense trial and we are liking it so far - we are able to take each bank transaction and add what they debit or credit was for to seperate each expense or income.“

June 25, 2024

BB

Brittney B

Marketing Project CoordinatorComputer Software, 51 - 200 employeesUsed the software for: 6-12 months.

“They have a message for messaging admins but you don’t get to see who those people are so when I send a message I never know who sees it and just assume everyone does.“

September 15, 2024

Logan H

DirectorChild Day Care Services, 11 - 50 employeesUsed the software for: More than 2 years.

“I love how I can use it to quickly communicate with parents about schedules, behaviors, and how any staff member can see the communication“

August 2, 2025

JR

Jessica R

Lead TeacherChild Day Care Services, 11 - 50 employeesUsed the software for: 1-2 years.

“It's not clear how you make a template, or if that would even be helpful. And there aren't any example templates or template tutorials so you can see what that would look like.“

October 29, 2024

## Showing most helpful reviews

Showing 1-25 of 3255 Reviews

Sort by:

Most Helpful

Rating

Company Size

Reviewer's Role

Length of Use

Frequency of Use

Logan H.  
Director  
Child Day Care Services  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "Love this! "

August 2, 2025

5.0

Pros

I love how I can use it to quickly communicate with parents about schedules, behaviors, and how any staff member can see the communication

Cons

I cannot think of any big or even consistent cons of using this program aside from having to educate new staff on how to use it

Alternatives considered

[LineLeader by ChildcareCRM](https://www.capterra.com/p/129630/Child-Care-CRM/)

Reason for choosing brightwheel

It is more user friendly and has better features

Review Source

BJ

Belineda J.  
Family support resource Specialist  
Child Day Care Services  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "Parent Review "

August 21, 2025

4.0

I love the app! I know the teachers and admin have to make efforts to utilize the features more but maybe a way to make it easier can make the difference.

Pros

I like that I am able to see videos and pictures of my child. I like the message option for all staff or just admin. It makes it easier as parents work throughout the day can feel connected to their children.

Cons

I wish there were ways teachers can upload or include moments in the classroom without feeling tied to a tablet. And the pay function I wish was easier to use. I don’t like putting my card info and have my account withdrawn and I was prepared for yet.

Switched from

[ProCARE Portal](https://www.capterra.com/p/140862/ProCARE-Portal/)

The switch was made because of ease and even though it was pricer the school chose to stay with because of the ease and features.

Review Source

JB

Joyce B.  
Administrator  
Child Day Care Services  
Used the software for: 6-12 months

### "Great parent interface and easy for everyone to navigate, parents and teachers!"

November 12, 2024

3.0

I was very happy with the parent interaction and the easy with the billing. If we were looking to increase our classroom visibility i.e. updates, photos etc. I would have continued to use this application.

Pros

is a very parent-oriented app. It is extremely user friendly. It has extensive capabilities when it comes to daily reports and updates for the child. It allows parents easy access to staff and to have a in real time picture of the child's day. From a teacher standpoint it is easy and intuitive to use. On the tuition side of things, parents have access to all of their tuition payment records and can schedule payments independently of the school. Posting payments is simple for the administration.

Cons

I would be very helpful if the data could be used for other purposes and easily adapted to such things a roll call list, classroom rosters. emergency lists etc. While you can export the data to excel spread sheets it would be very helpful if they provided pre-configured options for these necessary reports.

Review Source

MBK

Mary Beth K.  
Enrollment Manager  
Child Day Care Services  
Used the software for: 1-2 years

### "Reveiw of Bright Wheel features and Reports "

February 6, 2025

5.0

Overall great product. Families, Teachers and admisistrators love the communication feature, thanks for allowing families to be soo connecected to their child's teachers and their child day

Pros

easy of making reports, and communication between home and program

Cons

The new adminstration feature. The prior feature allowed me to delete documents from a family list if it was not applicable or if they were unable to complete online but instead in person. The families are having difficutly moving throught the enrollment process, the way it is set up now. I would love for Bright Wheel to give providers some power to delete and or go back to the previous feature of adminsitaion that was based on forms Another con is the ablity to make reports based on enrollment start and end dates, this would better assist my program in pulling reports based on dates, for our funders. I currently have to pull everyone from active and inactive to a spread sheet only to delete what I do not need based on enrollment and end dates. This is time consuming for me

Switched from

[Procare Solutions](https://www.capterra.com/p/23486/Procare-Child-Care-Management/)

BW offers me and my program the features we need to collect data for our funders.

Review Source

BB

Bonnie B.  
Lead Systems Analyst  
Non-Profit Organization Management  
Used the software for: 1-2 years

### "Easy Setup & Great Parent Engagement"

February 6, 2025

5.0

On the whole, is one of our easier softwares that actually does what it says it will do. I highly recommend.

Pros

's setup was incredibly easy. Our staff picked it up right away, and we love that parents can easily keep up with what their kids are doing and learning each day. Check-in is a breeze and we love being alerted on the front end if a child is sick.

Cons

We do wish it had an api or at least a low code connection to Zapier. We use Salesforce as our primary data source of truth and don't love having to do by hand imports and exports to keep both updated. We also aren't using curriculum. If there was an easier way to import what we are using, that would be amazing.

Alternatives considered

[Tadpoles](https://www.capterra.com/p/118895/Childcare/)

Reason for choosing brightwheel

It had a better user experience in comparison.

Switched from

[Lillio](https://www.capterra.com/p/134048/HiMama-Preschool-Child-Care-App/)

We wanted a product that had a better user experience for both our staff and our parents.

Review Source

KO

Kaleigh O.  
Floater Teacher  
Child Day Care Services  
Used the software for: 1-2 years

### "Brightwheel Review"

February 22, 2025

5.0

Overall, I love using and think that it is an amazing and well organized system. It is easy to edit, submit, and view all data entered into the daily logs.

Pros

I love the ease of using the app and all the detail that I am able to share with the users. provides a lot of specific options so that daily logs are concise and organized.

Cons

I wish that there were specific categories that I could select when writing a note. (Just because I like things to have a specific label).

Switched from

[Procare Solutions](https://www.capterra.com/p/23486/Procare-Child-Care-Management/)

My company heard about and another organization recommended it to us.

Review Source

RW

Rachel W.  
Director  
Child Day Care Services  
Used the software for: 6-12 months

### "Brightwheel has what we needed and more!"

April 9, 2025

5.0

The onboarding process was very smooth and the team was very helpful! After using Brightwheel for months now the team is still helpful anytime I have questions and they are quick with responses. I enjoy using Brightwheel in our program.

Pros

It houses all of the features we need for our child care program. Attendance, parent communications, staff information, student information and more!

Cons

The set up of facility rooms is a little difficult to make work with our AM and PM schedule of students.

Switched from

[Google Drive](https://www.capterra.com/p/161425/Drive/)

We switched because was being offered for free by the state and it had everything we need that we were just doing on Google Drive and then printing out on hard copies.

Review Source

SH

Staci H.  
Director  
Child Day Care Services  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "Game-Changer!"

November 22, 2024

5.0

has been a game-changer for our center. It keeps things all in one place that we used to keep over numerous apps and programs. It has made things run more efficiently. I would recommend it to any center!

Pros

It allows me to keep everything in one place!

Cons

Most everything on my wish list has been or is in the process of being added as a feature.

Switched from

[QuickBooks Online](https://www.capterra.com/p/190778/QuickBooks-Online/)[Microsoft Word](https://www.capterra.com/p/227146/Microsoft-Word/)

It was so complicated having information spread amongst numerous apps and software.

Review Source

KR

Kristie R.  
OWNER AND DIRECTOR  
Child Day Care Services  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "TALK ABOUT IT "

March 7, 2025

5.0

DONT LIKE CHATTING I WANT TO CALL AND TALK

Pros

BILLING TO THE PARENTS IS EASY AND GETTING PAYMENTS DOCUMENTED IS GREAT. I ALSO LIKE THE COMMUNICATION TO AND FROM PARENTS

Cons

HAVENT LEARNED EVERYTHING THAT HAS TO OFFER

Alternatives considered

[Procare Solutions](https://www.capterra.com/p/23486/Procare-Child-Care-Management/)

Reason for choosing brightwheel

DHS PAID FOR US TO TRY IT AND OTHER CENTERS RECOMMENDATIONS

Review Source

SM

Sanaa M.  
Teacher  
Education Management  
Used the software for: 6-12 months

### "Convenient Childcare Management App"

November 26, 2025

5.0

Pros

is a highly convenient childcare and student management platform. It includes features like photo sharing, announcements, direct message, and more. It can be downloaded as an easily accessible app on both mobile devices and computers.

Cons

does not store photos for free, requiring users to pay to access photo galleries from the past.

Switched from

[Lillio](https://www.capterra.com/p/134048/HiMama-Preschool-Child-Care-App/)

It was a company requirement that all staff switch from Lillio to in 2025.

Review Source

AB

Alfreda B.  
Director  
Child Day Care Services  
Used the software for: 1-2 years

### "Great Platform, Highly Recommend"

April 15, 2025

4.0

I would give the platform 8 out of 10. In fairness, all three of my programs use . I don't have experience with any other platform. I also like the fact they listen to your feedback and make improvements.

Pros

The platform is user-friendly. It's nearly an all inclusive platform to manage my program. There's trainings, how-to videos, best practices, resources for parents and the ability to integrate curriculum.

Cons

The dislikes are constraints on reporting and ability to control your own data. Also, team members that are also parents have to login separately using different email addresses.

Review Source

CK

Cissy K.  
Assistant and Enrollment Director  
Child Day Care Services  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "We are proud to use Brightwheel!"

April 14, 2025

5.0

The more we use , the easier it gets. They make improvements constantly. They even accept suggestions!

Pros

We love that everything we need to run our preschool is in one tool. Attendance, billing, messaging parents, scheduling... it's all there in one place.

Cons

It took me a little too long to learn the financial process... but I'm old school! I strongly suggest practicing for an extended length of time before actually using the financials.

Review Source

NT

Nicole T.  
Marketing Manager  
Printing  
Used the software for: 1-2 years

### "One-Stop-Shop for Child's Schooling"

April 7, 2025

4.0

Overall very good! Nice to be connected with my son's learning during the day. Easy one-stop-shop for all things related to his school

Pros

I like being able to pay through the app, being able to decide who to select for messages, like the ease of communicating with my son's school

Cons

I wish my son's school would use the calendar feature more and have the calendar push automatic reminders about days off, special things for school, etc.

Review Source

JS

Jessica S.  
Parent  
Child Day Care Services  
Used the software for: 1-2 years

### "BrightWheel is Awesome!"

May 29, 2025

5.0

Pros

It is very easy to communicate with my child's teachers. I also love that it lets me know what my child is doing throughout the day. The picture feature makes it fun and gives me something to look forward to throughout my day.

Cons

It can be hard to see what exactly needs paid for if you are using it through the mobile app. Otherwise it is a great tool.

Review Source

HS

Hailey S.  
Teacher  
Education Management  
Used the software for: Less than 6 months

### "Your Daycare Needs Brightwheel!"

June 2, 2025

5.0

I am loving for allowing me to keep better tabs on my son's daycare experience. It is free for parents and easy to use!

Pros

I love that allows me to be a more active participant in my child's daycare experience. I am able to change my payment method if needed. I also have access to photos taken during the day and can message my providers!

Cons

is very user friendly, I have been using it for a few weeks and have not found an issue with it yet!

Review Source

BO

Bryanna O.  
Office Manager  
Consumer Services  
Used the software for: 6-12 months

### "Brightwheel Review"

November 26, 2024

5.0

I really enjoy using as the app has everything you really need in it. You can pay your bill, contact teachers, look at pictures and feel secure that our littles are being taken care of as they should be.

Pros

is absolutely amazing for those parents who like to keep things in order and or staying connected with my childcare provider

Cons

I do not believe I have any cons about . Nothing notable

Review Source

KM

Kim M.  
Director  
Education Management  
Used the software for: 1-2 years

### "Great preschool program"

November 22, 2024

5.0

The representatives are helpful and knowledgeable about the product. is always adding new features.

Pros

Streamlined billing, attendance, records.

Cons

It did take some practice to learn how to use all of the features, but the representatives and online tutorials were helpful.

Review Source

KA

Khadija A.  
Talent acquisition specialist  
Education Management  
Used the software for: 6-12 months

### "Great App that has all you need!"

December 13, 2024

4.0

It’s a good system to use for updates on your child. With ease you can view your child’s potty, meals and sleep schedule whilst viewing and liking photos of the child. It’s really user friendly and easy to message to teachers and sign forms as required.

Pros

I like the option to like photos and see real time updates with ease. Especially the part of seeing notes related to their meals.

Cons

There isn’t anything in particular that I don’t like about this app as yet. I’ve been on it since July 2024, and so far it’s meeting my expectations.

Review Source

IO

Ivan O.  
Teacher  
Education Management  
Used the software for: 1-2 years

### "Great app for daycares"

October 17, 2024

5.0

Great experience. When you check out your child, this is shared in real time with the rest of the authorized users.

Pros

Checking in and out our child at daycare

Cons

From time to time the system logs you out and it takes a while to log in again, when checking your child in or out

Review Source

CL

Christina L.  
Director and Teacher  
Political Organization  
Used the software for: 6-12 months

### "I Love Brightwheel!"

October 26, 2024

5.0

My job is so much easier with and my files are organized!!

Pros

Children's Attendance Record Staff Time Cards Parent Communication Online Payment Option

Cons

Nothing that I can think of, I love everything about !

Review Source

SS

SABRINA S.  
DIRECTOR  
Child Day Care Services  
Used the software for: 1-2 years

### "Quality Product"

October 17, 2024

5.0

Our staff/parents love BW because it is easy access to all, parents also enjoy seeing their children's activities and reminders etc...

Pros

messages, photos, check in/out, activities, videos, etc...

Cons

food: it would be nice if we can erase/delete all the previous meal items

Review Source

KM

Kim M.  
Director  
Child Day Care Services  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "Brightwheel remains one of the best"

December 8, 2025

5.0

is great to use to track the daily happenings with my child and offer updates for other families.

Pros

The ease of use remains the most important. I also like the wide range of uses it has, which prior I was unaware it had so many varying options. Videos, pictures, chats, logging times of events, etc.

Cons

i can not think of any cons at this time. I love and all the things I can do with it. It makes my day go by easier knowing my child's happenings.

Review Source

SH

Sarah H.  
Owner and operator  
Child Day Care Services  
Used the software for: 1-2 years

### "Great system!"

September 6, 2024

5.0

has been a great point of communication between my sons preschool and our family. We pay on the app, message back and forth to teachers about early pickup, late drop off, etc. The app is fantastic versus having no access on a mobile phone.

Pros

I love that I can sign into my account, see statements, pay my bill, look through pictures posted, change my sons profile picture.

Cons

It is a great child care/preschool management system. I would say they could update to be allowed to add files versus paper copies of everything.

Review Source

KF

Kathryn F.  
Administrative Assistant  
Education Management  
Used the software for: 6-12 months

### "Brightwheel Review"

October 27, 2024

5.0

Overall I believe is worth the cost for businesses and customers to communicate in one place. It can replace emails and phone calls/texts and allows all communication to go through the app.

Pros

is an online system that allows daycares to communicate with parents, send photos, and updates. It’s used as an app on your phone and is very conformant to use.

Cons

It can be expensive for schools and daycares to purchase and execute.

Review Source

CW

Carli W.  
Director  
Child Day Care Services  
Used the software for: I used a free trial

### "Great for Childcare!"

December 3, 2024

5.0

Overall, my experience with was exactly what I needed it to be. It was easy to use for staff and families and allowed us to cut down on a lot of pen to paper documents.

Pros

As a childcare center, offered an easy way to keep track of all required documentation, as well as parent contact, in an easy to use format.

Cons

For us, the only con was the price. While it is a competitive price with other programs of the same product, we were able to find a cheaper option that we are extremely happy with.

Review Source