Brightwheel pricing is quote-based. Brightwheel does not publish a price list, so there is no single Brightwheel price you can look up. The only way to get an exact number is to request a quote based on your enrollment, number of locations, and the features you need.
There is a free plan for very small programs, and a paid plan called Brightwheel Premium. Your real cost is the Premium subscription plus payment processing fees and any add-ons you choose.
This guide covers what each plan includes, what drives your quote, the costs that sit outside the subscription, and the questions to ask before you sign.
Best for
Center owners and directors budgeting for Brightwheel
Covers
Free vs Premium, what drives your quote, costs outside the subscription, and questions to ask
Based on
Brightwheel's pricing page and help center, plus verified review sites
Updated
November 2026
Key takeaways
- Brightwheel does not publish a price list. Premium is priced by custom quote, based on enrollment, number of locations, and features.
- The free plan suits very small programs. It supports one staff member, so a second teacher means moving to Premium.
- Payment processing fees on card, ACH (automated clearing house), and check payments sit outside the subscription, with discounted rates on Premium.
- Add-ons such as Experience Curriculum, Experience Assessments, Professional Development, Payroll, and Tuition Insurance are priced separately.
- In some states, agency partnerships cover the cost of Premium for eligible providers, so check eligibility and end dates.
Brightwheel pricing at a glance
Here is what Brightwheel's own pages confirm about Brightwheel childcare management software pricing as of November 2026.
| What Brightwheel confirms | |
| Pricing model | Custom quote, no public price list |
| Plans | Free plan and Brightwheel Premium |
| Free plan limits | 1 staff member, fewer than 20 students, unlimited family members |
| What sets your Premium price | Program size and needs, including enrollment capacity and number of locations |
| Payment processing | Service fees on card, ACH, and check payments, with discounted rates on Premium |
| Add-ons | Quoted separately, including Experience Curriculum and Payroll |
| Free Premium access | Available through some state partnerships |
The short version: if you run a licensed center with more than one staff member or more than 20 children, you are looking at Premium, and the price will come from a sales conversation.
How much does Brightwheel cost?
Brightwheel does not share a number publicly. Its pricing page asks for your role, enrollment capacity, number of locations, and contact details, then routes you to a custom quote.
Brightwheel's help center says its plans are tailored to different program sizes and needs. It also warns that pricing shown on third-party websites may be inaccurate or outdated.
That warning matters. You will find per-child and per-month estimates on review and competitor sites, but none of them are confirmed by Brightwheel. Treat any figure you see outside a written quote as a rough guess, not a budget line.
Brightwheel pricing plans 2026: free vs Premium
Brightwheel has two tiers. The free plan is built for very small programs, and Premium is the full platform most licensed centers need.
| Feature | Free plan | Brightwheel Premium |
| Staff accounts | 1 staff member | Unlimited |
| Students | Fewer than 20 | Unlimited |
| Family messaging and daily reports | Yes, photos only | Yes, photos and videos, plus newsletters and SMS alerts |
| Check-in and attendance | Basic | Contactless check-in, digital signatures, room ratio tracking |
| Tuition invoicing and online payments | Yes, standard processing fees | Yes, discounted processing fees, mobile check deposit, in-person card payments |
| Waitlist and prospective family messaging | No | Yes |
| Lesson planning and observations | No | Yes |
| Subsidy tracking | No | Yes, across multiple agencies |
| Health checks and CACFP menu planning | No | Yes |
| Reporting | Limited | Advanced |
| Support | Not listed | Live chat and phone |
The staff limit is the one most centers hit first. A free account supports one staff member, so as soon as a second teacher needs to log attendance or send updates, you are on Premium.
The second trigger is payments. Both plans support online tuition payments, but Brightwheel says Premium customers get discounted processing rates. If you collect a meaningful amount of tuition online, the fee difference alone can shape which plan makes sense.
What drives your Brightwheel cost per month
Because the price is custom, it helps to know what goes into the quote before the sales call. Based on the information Brightwheel asks for and what its help center says, your Brightwheel cost per month is shaped by:
- Enrollment capacity, meaning how many children your program serves
- Number of locations, if you run more than one site
- The features you need, such as lesson planning, subsidy tracking, or staff management
- Optional add-ons, which are quoted separately from the Premium subscription
- Your subscription term, since Brightwheel's help center refers to monthly or yearly billing
Ask the sales team to show how each of these affects your number. A quote that only gives you one total makes it hard to compare against other childcare software.
Brightwheel cost per year vs per month
Brightwheel's help center says Premium is charged on the same day each month or each year, depending on the subscription term you choose. It does not publish the difference between the two.
If you are offered an annual term, ask what the monthly equivalent is, whether the annual rate is locked, and what happens if your enrollment changes mid-term.
Brightwheel software cost for daycare centers: what sits outside the subscription
The Premium subscription is only part of the cost of Brightwheel. These are the costs Brightwheel lists separately, plus the ones every center should budget for.
Payment processing fees
Brightwheel charges service fees on credit card, debit card, ACH (automated clearing house) bank transfer, and check payments. Its pricing content says standard fees apply on the free plan and Premium customers get discounted rates.
Brightwheel does not publish the exact percentages on its pricing page. Its help center notes that card payments cost more to process than bank transfers, and recommends connecting a bank account as the lower-fee option.
This is the line item that grows with your enrollment, so it deserves real attention. Here is a simple way to size it:
- Take your monthly tuition collected online
- Split it by how families pay, card vs bank transfer
- Apply the card rate and the ACH rate from your written quote
- Check whether those fees are charged to you or passed on to families
As an illustration only: if a center collects $40,000 a month in tuition and half of it comes in by card, every 1 percentage point of card fees is $200 a month, or $2,400 a year. That is why the rate in your quote matters as much as the subscription price.
Optional add-ons
Brightwheel's help center lists these as optional subscription add-ons, priced separately from Premium:
- Experience Curriculum
- Experience Assessments
- Professional Development
- Payroll
- Tuition Insurance
None of these have public prices. If any of them are part of why you are considering Brightwheel, ask for each one as its own line on the quote.
Switching and setup time
Moving from paper, spreadsheets, or another platform takes staff time. Rosters, family contacts, billing plans, and balances all need to move over, and teachers need training.
Ask whether data migration and onboarding are included, who does the work, and how long it typically takes for a center your size.
Brightwheel app cost for families
Families use the Brightwheel parent app to get updates and pay tuition. The subscription is paid by the program, not by parents.
Parents may still see service fees when they pay, depending on how the center sets up billing. Brightwheel's help center explains that these fees cover payment processing and are lower for bank transfers than for cards.
If you plan to pass fees on to families, check your state's rules on surcharges and tell families clearly before you switch.
Can you get Brightwheel Premium for free?
In some states, yes. Brightwheel has partnerships with state agencies that cover the cost of Premium for eligible providers. According to Brightwheel's own page, last updated July 30, 2026:
| State | What Brightwheel says is covered | Eligibility |
| Kentucky | Free Premium through September 2027 | All licensed and registered providers |
| Iowa | Free Premium through June 30, 2027 | Licensed child care centers and in-home providers |
| Texas | Free one-year subscriptions for 500 eligible providers | Licensed and registered family child care providers |
These programs change, so confirm eligibility and end dates with your state agency before you plan around them. It is also worth asking what your price becomes when the state-funded period ends.
What reviewers say about Brightwheel pricing
Review sites give a useful read on how centers feel about the cost once they are using the product.
- On Capterra, Brightwheel scores 4.5 for value for money, across more than 3,200 reviews.
- GetApp's review summary notes that many reviewers like the free version and bundled features, especially for small providers.
- The same summary notes that some users find Premium plans and transaction fees expensive, and mention unclear pricing and unexpected price increases.
The pattern is consistent: centers tend to like the product, and the friction shows up around fees and the lack of a published price.
Questions to ask before you sign
Bring this list to the Brightwheel sales call, or to any childcare management software demo. Getting answers in writing makes it much easier to compare quotes side by side.
- What is the exact monthly and annual price for our enrollment and number of locations?
- What are the card and ACH processing rates on our plan, and who pays them?
- Which features in our demo are part of Premium, and which are paid add-ons?
- Is the price locked for the full term, and how much notice do we get before an increase?
- What happens to our price if enrollment grows or we open another site?
- Are data migration, onboarding, and training included?
- What are the cancellation terms, and can we export all our data if we leave?
If you are comparing Brightwheel with other platforms, our guide to the best Brightwheel alternatives covers how the main options differ on features and pricing models. To see what directors and parents say about it in practice, read our roundup of Brightwheel reviews.
For a side-by-side look at how Brightwheel's pricing model compares with other platforms, including Famly, Storypark, Daily Connect, and more, see our full guide to childcare software pricing.
Where illumine fits
illumine is an AI-native childcare management platform used by more than 4,000 centers across 60+ countries. Like Brightwheel, we quote based on your setup, but our plans are structured around the number of centers you run, so you can see which tier fits before the call.
Essentials, for 1 to 2 centers
Parent communication, attendance, billing, and enrollment
Growth + AI, for 3 to 10 centers
Adds learning and assessment tools, multi-site management, and advanced CRM automations
Scale, for 10+ centers
Adds a multi-site command center, advanced reporting, API access, SSO (single sign-on), and custom onboarding and migration
You can see the full breakdown on our pricing page. If payments are a big part of your decision, our childcare billing software page covers automated invoicing, autopay, and subsidy tracking.
For a direct feature-by-feature view, read our Brightwheel vs illumine comparison, or see why centers move over on our Brightwheel alternative page.
Why trust this article
This article is built from public sources only: Brightwheel's pricing page, its help center articles on Premium, its published guide to state partnerships, and verified review data from Capterra and GetApp. We have not used Brightwheel hands-on, and we have not received a Brightwheel quote.
Where a figure is not published by Brightwheel, such as exact Premium prices or processing rates, we have said so rather than repeat unverified estimates from third-party sites.
Frequently asked questions on Brightwheel pricing
How much does Brightwheel cost?
Brightwheel does not publish its prices. The free plan costs nothing but is limited to one staff member and fewer than 20 students. Brightwheel Premium is priced by custom quote based on your program size, number of locations, and the features you need, and payment processing fees and add-ons are charged on top.
How much is Brightwheel per month?
There is no public Brightwheel pricing per month for Premium. Brightwheel quotes each program individually, and its help center says Premium can be billed monthly or yearly. To get a real monthly figure, request a quote and ask for the subscription, processing rates, and add-ons as separate lines.
How much does Brightwheel cost per month for a small daycare?
A program with one staff member and fewer than 20 children can use Brightwheel's free plan, paying only standard processing fees on online payments. Once a second staff member needs access or enrollment reaches 20, you move to Premium, which is priced by quote.
Is Brightwheel free?
Brightwheel has a free plan with family messaging, basic attendance, and tuition invoicing, limited to one staff member and fewer than 20 students. Most licensed centers need Brightwheel Premium, which is paid. Some states, including Kentucky and Iowa, fund free Premium access for eligible providers.
What is the difference between Brightwheel free vs Premium?
The free plan covers basic messaging with photos, simple check-in, and online tuition payments for one staff member and fewer than 20 students. Premium adds unlimited staff and students, video sharing, lesson planning, subsidy tracking, CACFP menu planning, advanced reporting, phone support, and discounted processing fees.
Does Brightwheel charge payment processing fees?
Yes. Brightwheel charges service fees on card, ACH, and check payments, with lower rates for Premium customers. It does not publish the exact percentages on its pricing page, so ask for the card and ACH rates in writing as part of your quote.
Does Brightwheel offer a free trial?
Brightwheel's help center refers to a free trial period before Premium billing begins, but it does not state how long the trial lasts. Confirm the trial length and what happens at the end of it during your sales call.
