The honest buyer's guide
Is free daycare software really free?
Usually not. In this industry, free tends to mean one of three things: a trial with an end date, a starter tier with a child cap, or a plan that leaves out billing, the feature you came for. Below are the seven questions that expose the difference, for any product including ours. We answer all seven for NestliCare at the bottom, including the one real cost.
Seven questions to ask any free daycare software
1Does the free plan expire?
Many products call a trial "free". The clock runs out mid-school-year, right after your families are set up, and the real price appears when switching is hardest.
Look for the words "not a trial" and a pricing page that shows no countdown. If free has an end date, it is a trial.
2Is there a child or family cap?
A cap that fits you today stops fitting the day you enroll one more child. Growth becomes the trigger for a bill.
Look for the enrollment limit in writing. "Free up to N children" means the price of child N+1 is the whole subscription.
3Is billing included, or is it the paid feature?
Billing and online tuition collection is the feature daycares need most, and it is the one most often left out of free tiers. A free plan without billing usually costs the full subscription in practice.
Check the plan-comparison table specifically for invoicing, online payments, and autopay. If any of those sit in a paid column, the free plan is a demo of the paid one.
4Are there per-child or per-staff fees?
Per-seat pricing looks small and multiplies quietly. Twelve children at a per-child rate is a subscription with extra steps.
Look for the words "per child", "per student", or "per staff member" anywhere on the pricing page.
5Who pays payment processing, and is the rate published?
Every online payment carries a processing fee from someone. Honest vendors publish the exact rate and who pays it; the rest bury it in a contract or a demo call.
You should find the exact percentage and cents, per payment method, on a public page without talking to sales. If the rate is not published, assume it is negotiable against you.
6Do parents pay to use the app?
Some products charge families for the parent app or premium parent features. Your parents become the revenue source without you choosing it.
Confirm the parent app is free for families, in writing.
7Can you export your data and leave?
The quiet cost of any system is lock-in. If your rosters, records, and history cannot leave, every future price increase is backed by your own data.
Look for a full data export you can run yourself, any time, without asking support.
The same seven questions, answered for NestliCare
We built this rubric because we pass it, and we would rather you apply it to everyone, us included.
- Does it expire?
- No. Free is the plan, not a countdown. There is no paid plan at NestliCare at all, so there is nothing to be upgraded into.
- Child or family cap?
- None. Unlimited children, families, staff, rooms, and locations, for home daycares and centers alike.
- Is billing included?
- Yes. Recurring tuition plans, automatic invoices, online payments, autopay, discounts, and offline payment records are all part of the one free product.
- Per-child or per-staff fees?
- None.
- Who pays payment processing, and what is the rate?
- This is our catch, stated plainly: when a parent pays tuition online there is a standard processing fee, published on our pricing page. In the US it is 2.9% plus 50 cents on cards, or 1% capped at $6 on bank transfers. The parent covers it at checkout by default, the way service fees work on most online payments, and the daycare can choose to absorb it instead. That fee is our entire business model. Cash and check payments recorded in NestliCare carry no fee.
- Do parents pay for the app?
- No. The parent app is free on iOS and Android. The only money that ever changes hands is tuition itself, plus the processing fee when a payment happens online.
- Can you export and leave?
- Yes. Full data export, any time, no permission needed. We would rather keep you with the product than with a lock.