Pearspark vs QuickSchools
For small private schools & micro schools · pricing verified July 2026 · written by the Pearspark team (how we compare)
The short answer
QuickSchools publishes the lowest per-student rate here — $0.99 on its Gaia plan — and it is cheaper than Pearspark at every size in this table, even on the $1.49 Apollo plan. Two things qualify the headline: a 30-student minimum charge means a small school pays for 30 either way, and report cards, transcripts and the parent portal start on Apollo rather than Gaia. The cheaper bill also buys a narrower system — standards-based grading, lending library, equipment booking, volunteer check-in and records escrow are in Pearspark's price and not in QuickSchools' published feature list.
Pearspark
All-in-one platform for small private schools — records, academics, admissions, library, volunteers, scheduling, portal.
Pricing: $50/mo including 20 students, then $2.50/student/mo stepping down to $1.00 at volume. No setup fees, no contract, 30-day free trial.
Setup is self-serve, with importers that preview every row before anything is written — no setup fees, and free email support when you're stuck.
QuickSchools
A full K-12 SIS with the cheapest published per-student rate in this comparison — and a 30-student minimum underneath it.
Pricing: QuickSchools publishes three per-student plans: Gaia at $0.99, Apollo at $1.49 (marked most popular) and Athena at $2.99 per student per month, with custom pricing above 300 students. "A minimum charge for 30 students applies per school", so 30 is the floor whatever your enrollment. Report Card/Gradebook, Transcripts, the parent and student portals and parent messaging start at Apollo; automated scheduling, lesson plans and phone support are Athena. All plans carry a 30-day free trial (as of July 2026).
What each costs at small-school sizes
| Students | Pearspark | QuickSchools |
|---|---|---|
| 25 students | $62.50/mo | $29.70/mo Gaia · $44.70 Apollo (30-student minimum) |
| 50 students | $125/mo | $49.50/mo Gaia · $74.50 Apollo |
| 100 students | $250/mo | $99/mo Gaia · $149 Apollo |
| What the price includes | Everything in one plan: records, attendance, gradebook, standards-based grading, report cards, transcripts, admissions, scheduling, tuition billing with family autopay, lending library, equipment booking, volunteer check-in, messaging, and an installable parent app with push notifications. No setup fee, no contract. No fundraising CRM, no subsidy billing, and no SMS broadcast — announcements reach families as push notifications and email instead. | Gaia ($0.99): records, attendance, admissions, fee tracking, reports. Apollo ($1.49) adds report cards, gradebook, transcripts and the parent and student portals; scheduling and lesson plans are $2.99 Athena. 30-student minimum; text and voice carry telco charges. |
QuickSchools pricing from its published list rates as of July 2026 — see sources below. Always confirm current pricing with the vendor.
Feature comparison
| Feature | Pearspark | QuickSchools |
|---|---|---|
| Student records (SIS) | ||
| Attendance | ||
| Gradebook & report cards | Paid add-on | |
| Standards-based grading & mastery | ||
| Records protected if the school closes | ||
| Transcripts & GPA | Paid add-on | |
| Missing-data reports & scheduled delivery | Partial | |
| Admissions pipeline | ||
| Class scheduling & rooms | Paid add-on | |
| Lending library & checkout | ||
| Equipment & room booking | ||
| Volunteer tracking & check-in | ||
| Parent & student portal | Paid add-on | |
| Messaging | Paid add-on | |
| Self-serve transcript & gradebook import | ||
| Tuition billing & payments | Partial | |
| Published pricing (no sales call) | ||
| Fundraising & donor CRM | ||
| SMS / text broadcast to families | ||
| Subsidy & agency billing |
= varies by plan or not published — check with the vendor. We mark unknowns as unknowns rather than counting them against QuickSchools. The last three rows are jobs Pearspark does not do, listed for the same reason: a school that runs an annual fund, texts its families, or bills an agency should find that out here. On texting: Pearspark reaches families as push notifications through the installable parent app, plus email — not SMS. Underlined feature names open the Pearspark page for that capability, so you can check what our ✓ actually means.
Where QuickSchools shines
- The lowest published per-student rate in this comparison, and it's published plainly rather than quoted
- A genuine full SIS: student and teacher records, attendance, admissions, fee tracking, report cards, transcripts, discipline tracking and scheduling
- Cheaper than Pearspark at 25, 50 and 100 students on either the Gaia or the Apollo plan
- 30-day free trial on every plan, with no setup fee or contract named on the pricing page
- Athena modules can be bought individually onto the cheaper plans for a fixed monthly price, so you aren't forced up a whole tier for one feature
Worth knowing
- A minimum charge for 30 students applies per school — a 12-student micro school pays the 30-student price, which is $29.70 rather than $11.88 on Gaia
- Report cards, gradebook, transcripts, the parent portal and the student portal are not in the $0.99 Gaia plan; they start at $1.49 Apollo
- Text and voice messaging carry telco charges on top of the plan price
- Automated scheduling and lesson plans are Athena at $2.99, three times the headline rate
- Standards-based grading isn't named on the pricing page — ask directly before assuming it's there
When QuickSchools is the better choice
If per-student price is the deciding factor and you have more than about 30 students, QuickSchools costs less — $44.70/month against our $62.50 at 25 students on the plan that actually includes report cards, and $149 against our $250 at 100 — and it is a conventional, complete SIS rather than a cut-down one. The price difference is the operation around the classroom: standards-based mastery tracking, a lending library, equipment and room booking, volunteer scheduling and check-in, and records escrow are in Pearspark's number and not in their published feature list. The cheaper bill buys a narrower system; whether the difference matters depends on which of those jobs your school actually runs.
When Pearspark is the better choice
Pearspark is built for small private schools — from a dozen students to several hundred: micro schools, classical schools, Montessori programs, hybrid academies, and homeschool co-ops. Everything is included at one published price: student records, a spreadsheet-style gradebook with built-in student analytics (trends, score distributions, missing-work tracking), report cards, printable transcripts with GPA, school-year attendance calendars, admissions, class scheduling, tuition billing with online payments, a lending library with barcode checkout, equipment booking, volunteer check-in, messaging, and a parent/student portal. Setup is self-serve, and built-in migration tools import your rosters, transcripts, and gradebooks from QuickSchools CSV exports with a dry-run preview.
The parts this comparison turns on
Common questions
Is QuickSchools cheaper than Pearspark?
Yes — at every size in this comparison. On the $1.49 Apollo plan — the one that includes report cards, transcripts and the parent portal — a 25-student school pays $44.70/month against Pearspark's $62.50, a 50-student school $74.50 against $125, and a 100-student school $149 against $250. On the $0.99 Gaia plan it's cheaper still. The trade is scope: standards-based grading, lending library, equipment booking, volunteer check-in and records escrow are included in Pearspark's price and aren't in QuickSchools' published feature list.
What is QuickSchools' 30-student minimum?
Its pricing page states that "a minimum charge for 30 students applies per school". So a school with 12 students pays for 30 — $29.70/month on Gaia or $44.70 on Apollo — rather than 12 students' worth. It isn't hidden, but it does mean the $0.99 headline rate isn't the rate a genuinely tiny school pays. Pearspark's equivalent is its $50 base, which includes the first 20 students.
Which QuickSchools plan do I actually need?
Probably Apollo at $1.49 rather than Gaia at $0.99, if you're running a school rather than a class. Gaia covers student and teacher records, attendance, admissions, fee tracking and reports. Report Card/Gradebook, Transcripts, the parent portal (which is where online payments live), the student portal, parent messaging, homework and discipline tracking all begin at Apollo. Athena at $2.99 adds automated scheduling, lesson plans and phone support — though individual Athena modules can be added to a cheaper plan for a fixed monthly fee.
Do both offer a free trial?
Yes, on different terms. QuickSchools advertises a 30-day free trial on all three plans, with no card asked for. Pearspark also gives 30 days free across the whole school; card details are taken at signup, nothing is charged until day 31, and you can cancel before then.
See Pearspark for yourself
Every task is on video — one minute each — and your first 30 days are free. No sales call.
Support: email support answered by a person is included with every plan, along with how-to videos and guides — there are no paid support tiers.
Sources
Last reviewed July 2026. Spotted something out of date? Email us and we'll fix it.
QuickSchools in a wider comparison
These guides price QuickSchools alongside every other system in this list, at 25, 50 and 100 students.