Verified User in Education Management
AE
Verified User in Education Management
Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)
"Great Program Management from Start to Finish"
4/5
What do you like best about brightwheel?

Ease of use, it's really self explanatory and the activity options make it easy to update all day long. The messaging and billing features are great for program management as well. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about brightwheel?

I try to submit requests for features any time I find something that could be better. It would be great to have a way to message all staff without the rooms (not all staff are in all rooms). Sometimes the system is slow to update, it takes a minute for messages or activities to post and doesn't refresh automatically. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

RP
Rachelle P.
Registrar/Finance Clerk
Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)
Guest users or non-business users of the software, not included in G2 scores.
"Easy to Use, Seamless Multi-System Integration, and Responsive Support"
4/5
What do you like best about brightwheel?

It’s easy to use, with the ability to integrate multiple systems. Customer support specialists are readily available when needed. It’s also easy to update and implement, and I’m able to log in daily to complete my tasks. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about brightwheel?

I’m unable to transfer data from other systems. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Marena M.
MM
Marena M.
Substitute Teacher
Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)
"Makes attendance count a breeze!"
4.5/5
What do you like best about brightwheel?

I enjoy the easy use of check in and check outs. The app is easy to use and helps our business keep count of our attendance! Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about brightwheel?

The scheduling page doesn't allow employees to view notes written by employers. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Adam P.
AP
Adam P.
Site manager
Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)
"A Fabulous Platform with Some Room To Grow"
4.5/5
What do you like best about brightwheel?

Brightwheel is a feature filled and very user friendly platform designed to make managing a pre-school, daycare center, or other childcare/education space easy and smooth. I personally like that the room management, timesheets for staff, billing for clients, and more are all in one specific platform (which helps with managing fewer logins). The billing system specifically is quite good and offers a lot of frequency and customization options. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about brightwheel?

Brightwheel has a few limitations to be aware of. Specifically, emails sent to clients will be brightwheel branded and not from your company. Additionally, the Calendar function is almost useless except for scheduling holidays off that your center will be closed. I have requested the ability to make more customized calendar options but that hasn't surfaced yet. Overall a great product with some limitations. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Dan M.
DM
Dan M.
Head of Content
Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)
"Brightwheel doesn't believe in subtotals or refunds"
0/5
What do you like best about brightwheel?

They make a lot of money. They're currently valued at 600 million dollars and that was as of two years ago, so they've likely grown in valuation since then. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about brightwheel?

For parents using to pay for schooling, Brightwheel offers no phone support.. even parents they may be paying hundreds and hundreds of dollars to Brightwheel a year.

The auto-ay billing system hides warnings of fees behind hover-over states and will only give an estimate as to what fees they will charge. There is no subtotal before checkout when setting up auto-pay, nor a bill before auto-pay is initiated, so they can take unexpectedly large chunks of money from you without your knowledge.

Their customer support team for billing, led by Brett Arnold, likes to blame-shift any ask for refunds onto the "program", ie your preschool. They say any sort of credit or refund is against their policy. A business with zero refunds is a bad business. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Verified User in Information Technology and Services
UI
Verified User in Information Technology and Services
Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)
"Parent user, I love it"
5/5
What do you like best about brightwheel?

I use brightwheel every single day. I love the notifications that I get and that they give a preview of what information I'm being shared. This way I know whether it's an emergency, a meal or just nap information. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about brightwheel?

Sometimes there are delays in notifications. This is something my daycare mentions. There's about a 2-3 minute lag, which feels quite long when you're talking about your child. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Marissa C.
MC
Marissa C.
Director
Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)
"Put parents/guardians at ease while their children are at school."
5/5
What do you like best about brightwheel?

I love the fact that you can directly message parents back and forth along with seeing uploaded pictures now when they are posted so that it is in real time for parents to view. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about brightwheel?

I don't like that sometimes; when I post a video it caps the time allowed for each video. Also, I wouldn't say I like that I cannot see who is actually "liking" the picture/video so I can make sure that they are directly related to the child and not just some random viewer. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

AA
Al A.
Administrator
Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)
"Instant Communication to parents"
4.5/5
What do you like best about brightwheel?

Brightwheel allows us to be in constant and immediate communication with the parents. It gives our teachers a tool that allows them to share a child's progress, immediately notify parents, share videos and anecdotes, and it provides the school with a comprehensive view of its population. It saves a ton of paper and makes our parents more secure knowing that their child is an app away. Great tool for my preschool. It also allows new parents to feel more comfortable knowing they have a link to the child's room. Alos allows teacher to assess the students and note milestones Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about brightwheel?

Parents sometimes have difficulty if they change their email address or phone number. If a parent has children on different billing plans, it can sometimes be difficult to understand the statements they receive. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Dayna W.
DW
Dayna W.
Lead Preschool Teacher
Enterprise (> 1000 emp.)
"Beneficial for a Teacher"
5/5
What do you like best about brightwheel?

I like that you can record keep easily, and communicate daily with families. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about brightwheel?

There is no spell check, it's not easy to to transfer students into a different classroom. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Verified User in Online Media
UO
Verified User in Online Media
Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)
"Fantastic app for schools to use with parents"
4.5/5
What do you like best about brightwheel?

It's an easy to use app for parents whether technical or not. They support photo and video based media posts to help us follow what our son is doing at school each day. It allows us to download those images / videos too.

The messaging stream helps us communicate privately with his teachers and admins while they can push 1-1 messages or group messages to us without creating a group chat with other parents. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about brightwheel?

I'd like to upload images myself to share in messaging section to his teachers. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.