What school management software should cost

School software is priced in several different ways, and comparing quotes is difficult because vendors rarely price the same way as each other.

The common pricing models

Per student per year is the most common. Some vendors price per module, some charge a flat annual licence, and some charge a large one-time fee with a smaller annual maintenance charge.

Per-student pricing looks cheap for a small school and grows with enrolment. Flat licence looks expensive early and better later. Neither is automatically the right choice.

What is usually not included

Data migration from your existing records. Training, beyond one session. Customisation of your fee structure or report card format. SMS credits. Payment gateway charges. Ask about each of these specifically, because they are the most common sources of a bill larger than the quote.

The questions that matter

What is the price in year three? Who owns the data and can we export it? What is included in support and what is charged extra? How many training sessions, and for whom? Who configures our fee structure and report card format?

A note on cheap quotes

A quote well below the others usually means the first year is discounted and the renewal is not, or that migration and training are billed separately. Ask for the three-year total, in writing.