Illumine vs OpenEduCat

by Gralio Feb 28, 2025

Illumine and OpenEduCat offer distinct solutions for educational institutions. Illumine excels in parent communication and streamlined childcare management for preschools and daycares. OpenEduCat provides a more comprehensive suite of features for diverse educational institutions needing broader functionalities like online learning and financial management. The best choice depends on the specific needs and size of the institution.

At Gralio.ai we help to simplify your decision-making process by offering detailed, side-by-side software comparisons like this one, to help you confidently choose the tool that aligns with your business goals.

This comparison was created by analysing 226 reviews and 60 websites, saving 1 hour, 45 minutes of reading.

Illumine

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OpenEduCat

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About

Illumine is childcare management software designed for preschools and daycares to simplify administrative tasks. The platform offers features for digital attendance, billing and invoicing, lesson planning, child assessments, and parent communication through daily reports and virtual class options. Illumine aims to improve operational efficiency for administrators and teachers while enhancing parent engagement through increased transparency and communication.

OpenEduCat is a cloud-based school management software designed for schools, colleges, and universities of all sizes. It offers a range of features including student information management, online learning tools, financial management, and communication tools. OpenEduCat is open-source, meaning it can be customized, and offers a one-time payment option for unlimited access.

Summary

Main difference

Illumine is a childcare management software specifically designed for preschools and daycares, focusing on daily operations and parent communication. OpenEduCat is a broader school management software catering to various educational institutions, from schools to universities, with a wider range of features including online learning and financial management.

Relative strengths of Illumine (compared to OpenEduCat)

Strong focus on parent communication through daily reports, photo sharing, and messaging.
Streamlined childcare-specific features like attendance tracking, daily activity reports, and contactless check-in/check-out.
Simpler and more intuitive interface designed specifically for preschool and daycare settings.

Relative weaknesses of Illumine (compared to OpenEduCat)

Limited customization options compared to OpenEduCat's open-source nature.
Narrower focus on preschools and daycares, less suitable for larger institutions or diverse educational needs.
Fewer features for online learning, financial management, and other administrative tasks compared to OpenEduCat.

Who should use Illumine VS. OpenEduCat

Illumine is childcare management software designed for preschools and daycares. Streamline administrative tasks such as attendance, billing, and lesson planning. Enhance parent communication with daily reports and virtual class options. Users praise the intuitive interface and real-time updates. However, some report occasional app crashes and slow loading times.

OpenEduCat is a comprehensive, open-source school management software suitable for educational institutions of all sizes. Users appreciate its comprehensive features and easy-to-use interface, streamlining tasks like admissions and student data management. However, some users have noted difficulties with customization and customer support. It offers features such as event scheduling, separate mobile apps, automated billing, and enrollment management.

Ideal for small businesses (1-100 employees), a good fit for medium businesses (101-1000), and limited fit for large enterprises (1001+).
Particularly well-suited for the Education industry.

Ideal for small businesses (1-100 employees), medium businesses (101-1000 employees), and large enterprises (1001+ employees).
Best fit for educational institutions.

Illumine and OpenEduCat features

Supported

Partially supported

Not supported

Type in the name of the feature or in your own words tell us what you need

Parent Communication

Supported

Illumine facilitates parent communication via messaging, reports, and mobile apps.

Supported

OpenEduCat facilitates parent communication through a dedicated portal, messaging, and alerts.
Billing & Payments

Partially supported

Illumine supports automated invoices and in-app payments. Subsidies and reports are not mentioned.

Partially supported

OpenEduCat supports automated invoicing and online payments. Subsidy management and in-app payments are not explicitly mentioned.
Attendance Tracking

Supported

Illumine streamlines attendance tracking, including recording, reporting, and contactless check-in/check-out.

Supported

OpenEduCat offers real-time attendance tracking, automated notifications, and reporting.
Tuition management

Partially supported

Illumine supports basic tuition management but lacks details on financial aid features.

Partially supported

OpenEduCat offers fee management but details on tuition balance tracking and financial aid application are unclear.
Event scheduling

Supported

Illumine supports creating and scheduling various school events, including open houses.

Supported

OpenEduCat supports scheduling various school events, including live events.
Automated billing

Supported

Illumine automates billing and sends invoices to parents.

Supported

OpenEduCat supports automated invoice generation and likely sending, as part of its comprehensive billing features.

Qualities

Value and Pricing Transparency

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Customer Service

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Ease of Use

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Reliability and Performance

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Ease of Implementation

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Scalability

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Illumine and OpenEduCat Pricing

Illumine offers tiered subscription plans for childcare management. They offer annual billing with a 33% discount compared to monthly billing. They also offer several add-on features like Tour Scheduling, AI Writing Assistant, Assessment 2.0, and AI Powered Lesson Planner.

Plans

See full Pricing page

No data

See full Pricing page

Illumine and OpenEduCat review insights

Users love

Easy to use and intuitive interface for parents and teachers
Real-time updates on child's activities, meals, and naps
Digital attendance, billing, and invoicing features are convenient
Messaging feature facilitates direct communication with teachers
Provides a platform for sharing lessons, activities, and announcements

Comprehensive features covering most school activities.
Easy-to-use interface for students and staff.
Modular design allows for flexible implementation and scaling.
Open-source nature enables customization.
Streamlines administrative tasks, such as admissions and student data management.

Users dislike

App crashes and glitches occasionally
Slow loading times and delayed information updates
Lesson plan feature is buggy and difficult to navigate
Limited customization options for notifications
Issues with media (photos/videos) display and download

Difficult customization for specific needs.
High cost for enterprise version and key features.
Lack of clear documentation and tutorials, especially for setup and initial use.
Limited remote class and exam monitoring options.
Slow customer support and unclear pricing structure.

Illumine and OpenEduCat Ratings

G2

4.7/5

(34)
Capterra

4.4/5

(106)

G2

4.5/5

(86)

Company health

Employee growth

23% increase in the last year

38% decrease in the last year

Web traffic

72% increase in the last quarter

No data

Financing

No data

How customizable is OpenEduCat for preschool needs?

OpenEduCat is highly customizable for preschool needs due to its open-source nature. While it's designed for various educational levels, the ability to modify the code allows adaptation for preschool-specific requirements, though users have reported that customizing it can be difficult. It's unclear, however, without more information, whether this customization would easily address functionalities like daily reports, photo sharing, and other features specific to preschool management.

Which product best facilitates daily reports for parents?

Illumine is the better choice for facilitating daily reports for parents. Its features specifically highlight daily reports, photo sharing, and activity tracking with automatic parent updates. While OpenEduCat offers communication tools and separate mobile apps, it doesn't explicitly mention daily report generation as a core feature like Illumine.

What are the advantages of Illumine?

Illumine focuses specifically on preschools and daycares, offering features tailored to their needs like daily activity reports, photo sharing, and parent communication tools. This specialization makes it potentially a better fit than OpenEduCat, which targets a broader range of educational institutions from schools to universities. Illumine users specifically praise the ease of use and real-time updates for parents.

What are the disadvantages of Illumine?

Illumine suffers from occasional app crashes and glitches, slow loading times, and delayed information updates. Users also report that the lesson plan feature is buggy and difficult to navigate, with limited notification customization options. Issues with media display and downloads have also been noted.

Alternatives to Illumine and OpenEduCat

KINDERPEDIA

Kinderpedia is a comprehensive school management software solution designed for preschools, K-12 schools, and childcare centers. The platform offers a suite of tools covering administrative tasks, academic management, and parent communication. Features include tuition management, attendance tracking, gradebooks, lesson planning, and a parent communication app. Used by over 2000 schools in 29 countries, Kinderpedia aims to streamline school operations, improve teacher-parent communication, and enhance the overall educational experience.

Skyward Student Management Suite

Skyward Student Management Suite is a software system designed for school administration, offering tools for managing student data, curriculum, grades, attendance, and communication. It aims to streamline administrative tasks, improve data accuracy, and enhance communication between school staff, parents, and students. Skyward is suitable for K-12 schools and districts of all sizes and is known for its user-friendly interface and comprehensive features.

Parent

Parent is a cloud-based childcare management software designed for preschools and daycare centers to streamline administrative tasks. It offers tools for managing billing and invoices, tracking student attendance, and sharing real-time updates with parents. The software aims to reduce paperwork, improve communication between staff and parents, and free up teachers' time by digitizing daily reports and lesson plans. Parent prioritizes data security and offers features like digital learning journals and activity tracking.

Google Classroom

Google Classroom is a free online platform that helps teachers manage classes and interact with students. Through Google Classroom, teachers can create and grade assignments, provide feedback, share resources, and communicate with students individually or as a class. It simplifies common tasks and streamlines communication to save teachers time and keep everyone organized.

DrivEd

DrivEd is a Learning Management System (LMS) designed for businesses and educators to create online courses, manage training programs, and track student progress. Features include gamification, progress tracking, quizzes, customizable branding, and integrations with popular tools. DrivEd aims to make learning engaging and efficient for various sectors like language learning, cybersecurity training, and employee onboarding. It is suitable for companies of all sizes and offers a free trial.

brightwheel

Brightwheel is a popular software solution designed for childcare centers, preschools, and daycares to manage daily operations. It offers tools for tasks such as online billing and payments, parent communication, staff management, and lesson planning. Brightwheel is accessible via a mobile app and web browser, aiming to simplify administrative tasks and improve communication within the childcare setting.

Page co-authored by

Michal Kaczor

CEO at Gralio

Michal has worked at startups for many years and writes about topics relating to software selection and IT management. As a former consultant for Bain, a business advisory company, he also knows how to understand needs of any business and find solutions to its problems.

Tymon Terlikiewicz

CTO at Gralio

Tymon is a seasoned CTO who loves finding the perfect tools for any task. He recently headed up the tech department at Batmaid, a well-known Swiss company, where he managed about 60 software purchases, including CX, HR, Payroll, Marketing automation and various developer tools.

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