CircleUp

CircleUp helps homeschool co-ops and community groups manage members, classes, events, payments, and communication. Its calendar offers day, week, and month views, with RSVPs, attendance tracking, recurring events, and automated reminders. Class tools include online registration, capacity limits, waitlists, enrollment and attendance tracking, and gradebook features. A searchable directory supports family profiles and custom fields; families control whether they appear in the opt-in directory and what they share. Members can post announcements, photos, and updates in a home feed, as well as use group and class chat. Other tools cover volunteer signups and hours, documents, forms, a group store, reporting, roles, and permissions. Plans include a free option for up to 10 families and Starter at $23 a month, billed $276/year, for up to 50 families. Online payments run through Stripe, with its standard fee of 2.9% + 30¢ and a 0.5% CircleUp platform fee; cash and check payments have no CircleUp fee. CircleUp is available on web and iOS; its homepage says an Android app is coming.

CircleUp combines group administration with class, event, and communication features. Check the family limits and payment fees against the needs of your group.

CircleUp is intended for homeschool co-ops and community groups coordinating classes, events, and family participation. It may suit groups that want member communication and payment tools alongside scheduling.

CircleUp is a group-management platform for homeschool co-ops, combining family records with class, event, and payment workflows. It is best suited to co-ops that want those tasks in one system, though family caps and online-payment fees make the right plan depend on group size and payment mix.

Overview

CircleUp brings class registration, event scheduling, member communication, and online payments together around families. That focus makes it a more natural fit for homeschool co-ops than for organizations whose administration is built around individual students or a different membership structure. Its breadth is a practical advantage, but groups should check that a family-based directory and the available admin controls match how they operate.

Key features

Classes and events

Class registration includes capacity limits, enrollment and attendance tracking, and gradebook features. Automated waitlists and drop-dates begin with Pro, so a co-op that regularly manages oversubscribed classes must weigh those tools against the higher monthly cost. Event calendars offer day, week, and month views, with recurring events, RSVPs, attendance tracking, and automated reminders. Together, those tools cover the recurring scheduling demands of classes and community events.

Family records and communication

The searchable directory supports family profiles and custom fields, and an opt-in family directory lets each family choose what it shares. A home feed supports announcements, photos, updates, likes, and comments, while group and class chat handle conversation. Volunteer signups and hour tracking, documents and forms, a group store, reporting, and roles and permissions extend the administrative toolkit beyond scheduling.

Payments and privacy

Stripe processes online payments. Those transactions carry Stripe's standard fee of 2.9% + 30¢ plus CircleUp's 0.5% platform fee; cash and check payments have no CircleUp fee. The added percentage matters for groups that collect substantial sums online, so the free plan is not necessarily cost-free in practice. CircleUp says it does not store card numbers, does not sell personal information, and does not knowingly collect personal information directly from children under 13; minor-member information is managed by a parent or guardian.

Pricing

The Free plan costs nothing and supports up to 10 families, with event management and class registration. Cash and check payments carry a $0 CircleUp fee, while Stripe payments carry the 0.5% CircleUp fee. It is a sensible starting point for a small group, but the 10-family ceiling leaves little room for growth.

Starter costs $23 a month, billed $276/year, and raises the limit to 50 families. It adds automated class signups and rosters, a family directory and shared calendar, a public-facing group website, class grades, and report cards. That is the strongest fit for a co-op within the cap that needs more than basic event and class management. The free plan gives up those named additions and has a much lower family limit.

Pro costs $60 a month, billed $720/year, for up to 100 families. It includes everything in Starter, multi-admin access, automated waitlists and drop-dates, and priority support for registration day. Choose it when those registration controls or multiple administrators justify the added spend; smaller groups that do not need them can stay on Starter.

Enterprise costs $100 a month, billed $1200/year, and covers up to 200 families with everything in Pro and priority support. Enterprise Plus costs $159 a month, billed annually, for up to 400 families; it includes a 0.5% fee, guided onboarding, and help migrating an existing roster. These higher caps suit larger co-ops, while the annual billing terms and recurring Stripe fees belong in the budget. Paid tiers list priority support features, and users can contact support by email or through a form without an account.

Platforms

CircleUp is available on the web and iOS. Its homepage says an Android app is coming, so Android-only groups should not count on a mobile app today.

Who it's for

CircleUp is the clearest fit for homeschool co-ops that manage families, classes, and events together and want communication and payment tools alongside those workflows. Community groups with similar family-based membership may also find the combination useful. It is less compelling for organizations that need Android support now, exceed the relevant family cap, or cannot absorb the online-payment charges.

Pros and cons

• Pros: Class registration and event scheduling share a platform, with attendance tracking and reminders for recurring activities.
• Pros: Family-controlled directory sharing gives households a say in what appears in the opt-in directory.
• Pros: Cash and check payments have no CircleUp fee, an advantage for groups that can collect offline.
• Cons: The free plan stops at 10 families, and paid tiers impose higher costs as the group grows.
• Cons: Online payments add Stripe's standard fee of 2.9% + 30¢ and CircleUp's 0.5% fee.
• Cons: Android support is not yet available.

Alternatives

For broader school-management choices, compare School Management Software; for platforms centered on group communities, browse Community Platforms.

feKara is worth considering if Android, Linux, or self-hosting matters; its Monthly Unlimited plan is $39.50 a month for 600 students and unlimited teachers. Gradelink may suit a school seeking software across Android, iOS, macOS, web, and Windows; its Gradelink Payments plan is free, though transaction fees may be covered by the school or passed to families. RosarioSIS offers free self-hosted software for organizations prepared to manage updates and provide PHP and a SQL database.

Fedena, Infinite Campus, PowerSchool Behavior Support, Classe365, and ADMS are other options to compare.

Verdict

CircleUp is a strong match for homeschool co-ops that want family management, classes, events, and payments under one roof. Its class and event tools are the main reason to choose it; the family ceilings, annual billing on paid plans, online-payment fees, and lack of an Android app are the reasons to look elsewhere or choose a plan carefully.