A Brightwheel alternative without the sales call
Ashby is a Brightwheel alternative for US in-home daycares and small single-site centers that want to start themselves. Software is free; Ashby takes $1.00 per successful card or ACH collection. No demo, no quote request, no per-child SaaS fee.
Brightwheel is a strong parent-app incumbent. Ashby is for operators who want public pricing, self-serve setup in minutes, and child-data privacy by design — without waiting on a salesperson.
Who this page is for
You already know Brightwheel. You are comparing options for a small roster — family childcare or a licensed single site — and you want a clear price and a start button, not a contact form.
If you run a large multi-site franchise stack, Procare-class tools may still fit better. Ashby is not pretending to be that product.
How Ashby differs
Positioning is deliberate: self-serve, live in minutes, honest metering, privacy by design.
- Software free; $1 per successful collection (Stripe fees separate)
- No demo and no “contact us for pricing”
- Built for in-home and small single-site US centers
- Daycare is the controller; Ashby is the processor — T3 child data never sent to AI providers
- Billing is a core product, not an add-on afterthought
Pricing, plainly
Brightwheel Basic is $0 software for many small programs — we say that out loud. Ashby is also $0 software. Where we differ is publishing a simple meter: $1 when a parent payment succeeds, plus Stripe’s own processing fee.
Head math: 3 kids billed monthly ≈ $3/mo to Ashby; 40 kids ≈ $40/mo. Cadence is the meter — twice a month doubles the Ashby line.
Other names you will see
Directors also compare Lillio (formerly HiMama), Kangarootime, Famly, Tadpoles, PebbleDesk, and Playground. Procare is the usual large-center alternative — see our Procare page if that is your search.
Start free — no demo
Create an account and set up yourself. See pricing on ashbycare.com/pricing: software $0, $1 per successful collection.