Child Care Management Software: Alliance CORE vs Wonderschool

If you work in the child care industry, there’s nothing better than a room full of bright, shining faces smiling back at you. 

With over 12 million children under five in some form of child care, it has become more of an essential service than ever before. But maintaining a child care center isn’t without its challenges. 

If you are thinking about using a child care management software program to keep track of your important records and licensing documents but aren't sure which one to choose, we can help.

In this post, we’ll assess Alliance CORE vs Wonderschool, two leading child care management software providers. We'll detail their features, services offered, and costs, as well as any pros and cons between the two. 

Keep reading to review the comparison of two leading child care management software companies, Alliance CORE vs. Wonderschool.

Alliance CORE Child Care Management System helps caretakers keep records and organize enrollment. It also helps keep users' child care state licensing up to date. This software helps center-based programs and those in a family child care home.  

Features of Alliance CORE

When comparing Alliance CORE vs. Wonderschool, it's important to consider the features available on each childcare management software. Mobile applications and features make care, communication, and management easier.

Alliance CORE is a cloud-based system that helps providers by streamlining many of the administrative processes they work through on a daily basis, including 

• Online Enrollment: Our online enrollment allows for electronic registration. The easy-to-follow process means that providers are able to have their applications out to parents in minutes.
• Child/Staff Attendance: A staple of all child care management systems, the system manages your check-in/out process.
• Child/Parent/Staff Records and Documentation: Up-to-date records are important at all times. Our system alerts providers as records are coming due or are overdue.
• Caregiver Communications (multiple formats): Communicate with parents and caregivers through kiosk, email, or text messages.
• Billing/Tuition invoicing: Automate your billing process for each family.
• Multiple Reporting Capabilities (both pre-built and customizable): Whether you need a list of all payments received that week or a list of all immunizations required this month, scheduled reporting gives you the information you need in seconds.
• Wait List Management
• Schedule/Room Management
• Daily Health Checks
• Medical Information Tracking
• Provider/Parent Alerts
• Parent Engagement
• Parent Portal
• Provider Dashboards
• Provider Alerts
• Real-Time Data Tracking
• Mobile Applications/Features
• Mobile Daily Reporting
• Mobile Instant Messaging
• Touchless Check-in/out
• QuickBooks Online Integration
• State Child Care Subsidy Integration (select States)

Alliance CORE is API compatible and select states can access state child care subsidy integration. Users can receive tuition invoicing and Quickbooks online integration. CACFP data collection and tracking is also available to those using Alliance CORE. 

Features of Wonderschool

Wonderschool provides:

• Marketing Tools: Get support building your brand, increasing enrollments, and managing interested families. 
• Website Builder: Get a professional, dedicated website so parents can learn about your program, apply and schedule tours. 
• Sponsored Marketplace Listing: Get extra visibility for your program and fill open spots faster. 
• Lead & Enrollment Management: Providers have full visibility into their family pipeline, from interested families to enrolled students. 
• Waitlist: Easily create and manage your waitlist to minimize vacancies.  
• Tours: Allow prospective parents to schedule tours during prearranged times. 
• Prospect Communication: Keep communications with prospective families organized and never lose track of a  lead. 
• Brand Support: Expert advice on how to develop your brand using Google My Business, Yelp!, and more.
• Marketing Coaching Sessions: Get 1:1 advice on how to build, promote and run your school. 
• Check-in & Check-out: Easily collect and access attendance records. 
• Student Activity Records: Offer peace of mind and transparency to parents with an activity log for each child. 
• Parent Communications: Through the mobile app, providers can post announcements, share status updates,  and chat with parents. 
• Capacity Management: Manage enrollments, waitlists, student lists, and more 
• Classroom management: Assign children, families, and teachers to subgroups by classroom for classroom-level management, communication, and attendance.  
• Financial Management: Keep track of your expenses and revenue to fully monitor your financial health. 
• Operations Coaching Sessions: 1:1 advice from business operations experts to keep your center running smoothly and your business growing.
• Billing & payments
• Online Tuition Collection: Providers can enable automatic weekly or monthly payments from families directly through the platform, and accept private or subsidized payments. 
• Quickpay: See your automated monthly payments in as little as 1-2 days with Wonderschool’s unique Quickpay feature. 
• Instant Pay: Get access to your money in as little as 30 minutes. 

Wonderschool also provides access to a Community of Practice via a network of childcare providers across the country as well as exclusive training and development opportunities.

Alliance CORE Development and Support 

Alliance CORE deploys through the cloud, SaaS, web-based forums, and various mobile applications as well. It is accessible on mobile devices, such as Androids, iPhones, and iPads.

Support when using Alliance CORE is available through email, the help desk, and FAQs they've posted. We have also made our forum and Knowledge Base available to users. Alliance CORE provides 12+ hours of phone support if you wish to ask an employee any questions. 

The support team meets providers where they are in terms of their technology experience and “holds their hand” as much as needed to ensure they feel supported while learning this new technology. 

Alliance CORE follows a mantra of “if it’s going to take you more than 2 minutes to figure something out on your own, to just call us instead.” 

Wonderschool Development and Support

Wonderschool deploys through the cloud, SaaS, and web-based forums. The software can’t be deployed on Mac, Windows, Linux, and Chromebook desktops. Wonderschool software is accessible on mobile devices such as Androids, iPhones, and iPads.

Wonderschool is available through email, the help desk, FAQs they have posted. Their forums and knowledge base are available for users with questions. To speak with an employee, you can also call Wonderschool or use their online chat. 

Wonderschool offers live online training. The software offers webinars and documentation to users.

Alliance CORE vs. Wonderschool Pricing

We understand that pricing can play a large part in one's decision. Both Alliance CORE and Wondershool offer free trials to help decide what is the better fit for you. 

Alliance CORE provides a foundation on which providers can save time and money, smoothly run their business, and allow them to focus on why they got into the child care business in the first place – caring for and educating children.

Alliance CORE

Cost of standard CCMS (Child Care Management Software) package

Wonderschool

Cost of standard CCMS (Child Care Management Software) package

Wonderschool is a free or subscription-based service depending on the needs of the center. They have 4 distinct pricing tiers, Free Trial, Essential, Premium, and Partnership.

The Free Trial is, of course, free for one month for limited features for new users. The Essential Price tier is $2 per month per student and includes extra components.

The Premium tier is $2 a month per student plus a 10% fee for each student brought by Wonderschool. It includes everything the Essential tier has but includes Marketing, Operations, and Enrollment Support. Some features listed as Coming Soon include:

• Premium Marketplace Listing
• Food Program Management
• Instant Pay (in as little as 30 minutes),
• Accounting Software Integration

The Partnership tier charges 10% of all enrollments for two years. With the Partnership tier, you receive everything in Premium plus a 12-week business training curriculum including writing a business plan, budgeting, setting tuition, & more! You also receive:

• Licensing support
• Marketing and social media support
• Assistance with setting up/maximizing your space
• Online community of experts and providers for 24/7 support

Pros and Cons of Alliance CORE

Alliance CORE is ELV’s proprietary Child Care Management System (CCMS) that we created from scratch. Alliance CORE is a cloud-based system that is compatible with any device. Customer support allows for flexible software use for each specific situation. Users are able to customize Alliance CORE to best suit their needs. 

Pros

• Cloud-based System
• Compatible with any device
• ELV is a not-for-profit organization
• ELV offers Partner, not Product, approach
• Customized support, not a one-size-fits-all approach
• Live Customer Support available weekdays, 6:00am-6:00pm (MST)
• Budget-conscious and efficient
• System customization available
• Licensing Compliant

Cons

Alliance CORE does not have a provider/staff calendar component to track and manage daily meetings, but it does offer a provider events feature that allows providers to set up events and track attendance to those events.

Pros and Cons of Wonderschool

Pros

Wonderschool offers website building, curriculum planning, and tour scheduling in addition to their other features.

Depending on the pricing tier, Wonderschool offers a wealth of program features. 

Cons

As previously mentioned, one big con of Wonderschool may be their two-year contract commitment and expectation of payment for a year's worth of enrollment costs per child brought in by Wonderschool if the obligation is not met. This can be a hefty deterrent when considering a service to use. 

Making the Best Decision

There are pros and cons to any child care management software. There are features that are unique to each software. Now that we've looked at the childcare software management comparison of Alliance CORE vs. Wondershool, you can begin to decide which is the best option for you. 

The Alliance CORE child care management system by Early Learning Ventures, a not-for-profit organization, makes running your business easier. We partner with our providers every step of the way through one-on-one client support. Our experienced team works with providers of all technical skill levels, building comfort with the system one step at a time – all with the personal connection that comes from a small team.  

We encourage you to schedule a demo with us today to talk about your decision. You'll speak with an Early Learning Ventures representative about the specific needs your program is looking for regarding administrative support and any benefits that we can provide you with that you may not have access to currently.  We are happy to help you make your decision!

Early Learning Ventures is here to help and has provided resources to help you understand all elements of a child care management system. It is also helpful to take a look at when common licensing violations are revealed on our page to gain a greater understanding of why what we do at Early learning Ventures is important. We are here to help you make the best decision for your business when it comes to selecting a childcare management system.

Are you looking for more child care management information? Check out our Ultimate Guide to Child Care Management.

Our child care management system makes running your child care program simple and efficient. Get back to what's most important. You shouldn't have to spend more time on the administrative tasks than you do with children and staff. 

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Or schedule a demo with us to learn more about how our child care management system, Alliance Core, can streamline your administrative processes.

Do you run an early childhood association made up of child care providers? If so, check out our Ultimate Guide to Shared Service Alliance.

Header image courtesy of Jumpstory.