No tiers, no trial, no paid plan
Free daycare software
NestliCare is free daycare management software for home daycares and centers: attendance, daily reports, parent messaging, billing with autopay, enrollment, meals, and staff management. There is no paid plan at all, so nothing is held back and there is nothing to upgrade to. The only cost anywhere is the standard processing fee when a parent pays tuition online, and by default the parent covers it at checkout.
Why most free daycare software is not actually free
In this industry, free usually means one of three things: a trial that expires, a starter tier with a child cap, or a plan that leaves out the feature you came for, most often billing. NestliCare is none of those. The free product is the whole product, and the business runs on a share of the same processing fee every online payment carries anywhere. That model is written up plainly on how we make money.
Every feature, included for every daycare
- Attendance & check-in
- Daily reports & activities
- Room management
- Parent communication
- Parent mobile app
- Meal tracking & CACFP
- Billing & invoicing
- Online payments & autopay
- Enrollment & leads
- Staff management & scheduling
- Timesheets & payroll
- Documents & forms
Free daycare software, answered plainly
- Is NestliCare actually 100% free, or a free tier?
- It is the whole product. There is no paid plan at NestliCare at all, so there is nothing to upgrade to and no feature held back. Unlimited children, staff, rooms, and locations, for home daycares and centers alike.
- Is it free for daycare centers, or only home daycares?
- Both. Centers of any size get the same product as home daycares: every feature, unlimited enrollment, unlimited staff accounts, and multiple locations under one organization.
- Will it stay free?
- Daycares that join keep every feature free. The business does not depend on converting you to a subscription, because there is no subscription to convert to.
- How does NestliCare make money then?
- From a share of the standard processing fee when parents pay tuition online: 2.9% plus 50 cents on cards, or 1% capped at $6 on bank transfers, in the US. By default the parent covers it at checkout. Cash and check payments have zero fee.
- What is included?
- Attendance and check-in, daily reports and activities, room management, parent messaging, a parent mobile app, meal tracking and CACFP support, billing and invoicing, online payments with autopay, enrollment and waitlists, staff management and scheduling, timesheets, documents and forms, and programs and curriculum.
- Is my data sold or used for ads?
- Never. Child, family, and daycare records are never shared with advertisers or used for advertising. Data is processed solely to provide the service, and each organization’s data is isolated from every other.
- Can I switch from the software I use today?
- Yes. Send us your existing records, even spreadsheets or photos of paper files, and we load them for you at no cost. Or add families yourself in minutes.
- Do parents pay anything to use the app?
- The parent app is free. The only money that ever changes hands is tuition itself, plus the processing fee when a payment happens online.