Cheqdin

Cheqdin is childcare software for managing daycares, nurseries, after-school programs, and wrap-around care. Providers can create registration forms, manage enrolment pipelines, keep unlimited waitlists, and configure contracted or ad hoc bookings with occupancy tools. Billing supports recurring and one-off invoices, funding calculations, and payment reminders. Parents can use a secure portal and mobile app for messages, daily diaries, photo sharing, and bookings. Live attendance tracking, staff-to-child ratios, and occupancy dashboards support daily oversight. Integrations listed include PayPal, GoCardless, Stripe, Xero, and Mailchimp. The software is available on Android, iOS, and web, with a free plan and a free trial. The Rise free account supports up to five registered children, email support, and help-centre access; it does not include personalised training or archiving at the limit. Paid plans start at $68 a month for up to 75 students, excluding taxes. Cheqdin says it began in 2016 as a parent communication app and is based in Aberdeen, Scotland.

Cheqdin combines childcare administration with parent-facing communication across web and mobile. Its free Rise account has a five-child limit, while paid plans start at $68 a month, excluding taxes.

It suits childcare providers that need to manage enrolment, bookings, billing, attendance, and parent communication. The listed audience also includes schools, clubs, day nurseries, childminders, and activity centres.

Overview

Cheqdin is a childcare operations platform for settings that need to coordinate enrolment, bookings, attendance, billing and family updates. It suits providers combining regular places with ad hoc care; its main trade-off is a free tier capped at five children and paid plans whose capacity bands may not match every centre.

Key features

Customisable registration forms, an enrolment pipeline and unlimited waitlists give providers tools to move families from enquiry toward a place. Contracted and ad hoc bookings, configurable forms and occupancy management make the system relevant to services handling both planned attendance and occasional care, rather than only fixed schedules.

Billing supports recurring and one-off invoices, funding calculations and payment reminders. Live attendance, staff-to-child ratio tracking and occupancy dashboards connect day-to-day supervision with a view of available capacity. Parents can use a secure portal and mobile app for messages, daily diaries, photo sharing and ad hoc bookings, keeping family-facing communication alongside operational tools.

Cheqdin lists PayPal, GoCardless and Stripe, as well as Xero and Mailchimp. It says customer data is encrypted at rest and in transit with AES 256-bit encryption, and hosted on AWS servers in London, UK. The company cites UK and EU data protection laws, including GDPR. Cheqdin began in 2016 as a parent communication app; its website, portal and mobile applications are powered by Databotix Limited, which trades as Cheqdin.

Pricing

Rise costs nothing and supports up to five registered children. It includes email support and online help-centre access, but not personalised training or record archiving at the limit. That makes it a narrow way for a very small provider to begin, not a generous no-cost option for a growing setting.

Starter costs $68 a month for up to 75 students, Grow costs $99 a month for up to 150 students, and Pro costs $149 a month for up to 275 students; each price excludes taxes. The capacity bands make the choice straightforward for providers whose enrolment fits a tier, but a centre between bands should weigh the next step-up cost against its expected growth.

The pricing page advertises annual plans with a 20% saving and says subscriptions can be cancelled at any time. A free trial is offered. The listed paid monthly prices are the clearest fit for comparing capacity; providers considering an annual commitment should account for the stated saving and cancellation terms.

Platforms

Cheqdin runs on the web and on Android and iOS. That mix supports provider administration at a computer and parent access through mobile devices.

Who it's for

The company identifies schools, out-of-school clubs, activity centres, day nurseries, holiday clubs, childminders, hotel kids clubs and sport academies as audiences. Its combination of enrolment, attendance, ratio monitoring, billing and parent communication is most compelling for teams that want these workflows together. A provider seeking only a small parent-messaging tool, or one whose student count sits awkwardly above a plan cap, may find the breadth and tier structure less attractive.

Pros and cons

• Broad childcare workflow coverage: enrolment, waitlists, contracted and ad hoc bookings, billing, attendance and family updates sit in one service, which can suit providers coordinating several parts of care administration.
• Parent-facing tools are substantial: messaging, diaries, photo sharing and ad hoc bookings are available through a secure portal and mobile app, not just provider-side records.
• Small free account: Rise stops at five children and excludes personalised training and archiving at the limit, restricting its usefulness for established providers.
• Student caps define paid tiers: the 75-, 150- and 275-student ceilings help distinguish plans but may force a higher monthly price when a service exceeds its current band.

Alternatives

Childcare Management Software is a useful category starting point for comparing other systems against Cheqdin's combined administration and parent communication approach.

Choose AfterSchool HQ for an alternative freemium option across Android, iOS and web; its Free plan is free and transaction fees apply to activities processed through it. OWNA also has a free plan, and its listed FREE tier includes curriculum planning, sign-in/out attendance, a parent app and compliance tools; consider it when those are central priorities.

Kangarootime may suit a provider comparing a free option with a stated allowance of one program, one school and five staff members. Neztio is worth comparing for its free Starter tier capped at 15 children and its Standard tier at $79 a month with unlimited children.

QikKids is an alternative with Playground plans organised by place-count bands, including 0–39, 40–69 and 70–99 places. Procare may be a better fit for smaller centres and in-home daycare providers looking at its Procare home version at $25 a month; classroom management is unavailable for in-home users.

Xplor Education offers OSHC and Xplor One Premium packages as alternatives to compare. Brightwheel uses custom pricing based on program information, which may suit buyers seeking a quote tailored to their program.

Verdict

Cheqdin is a strong choice for childcare providers that want enrolment, mixed booking types, billing, attendance oversight and parent communication in one web-and-mobile system. Its broad workflow coverage is the clearest reason to choose it; the five-child free cap and student-based paid ceilings are the reasons to look elsewhere if a centre needs a more flexible scale or only a narrower tool.