Playground

Pros: The customer support is excellent from onboarding and beyond. We are able to communicate with staff and families through a feed, email or text. There are so many options to be sure messages are sent. Our teachers are easily able to manage the app to sign children in and send pictures and messages. Also the access to very real and excellent trainings is super convenient. They offer additional resources that can benefit our center.

Cons: I couldn't say there's anything I don't like about playground. Learning something new always takes time and patience, but the support though it has been amazing.

Pros: What we love most about Playground is how it keeps everything organized in one place. Daily reports, attendance, billing, messaging, and paperwork are all streamlined and easy to manage. It saves our team so much time and helps us stay organized and professional. The communication feature makes it simple to keep families informed with real-time updates, photos, and announcements.

Cons: There was a small learning curve at first while getting everything set up, but once we became familiar with the system, it’s been very user-friendly and efficient.

Pros: I love the enrollment process and support from the team. The options seem endless and once we keep exploring, we have more information.

Cons: There is a lot of options so it can be a bit confusing on the teachers end. I wish there could be an easier way for to choose to update information as it seems a bit more time-consuming..

Pros: I love that the platform can manage my business tracking and childcare needs in one place. Their customer service is quick and helpful. I couldn't recommend Playground more!

Cons: So far no issues after a year of being with them. They have solved and worked me through any issues or limitations I've had

Pros: What I love the most about Playground is the enrollment component. It is a wonderful tool for a new and growing childcare center!

Cons: I do not like the activity listing part of the platform, however, I am sure there are tons of improvements underway to make the system so much better.

Pros: Playground has everything my center needs in one place! It keeps my teachers and parents all connected. I can keep track of all my state compliance, employees, hours, payroll, and student needs in one easy to use platform!

Cons: The billing took us a little while to get used to but the support team was amazing in teaching us the best ways to utilize mass billing and as well as other needs we had.

Pros: I’m new but I love the options it provides from communication to enrollment. Also the link to attendance will make life much easier.

Cons: Nothing I have found yet per-se. Jusdt making a transition from another program and working out the kinks.

Pros: On-boarding support was great. Time built out weekly to go over any challenges and issues. Support ongoing is minimal but available.

Cons: Not as many features as our program needs. Little difficult to update each child's day without having to do multiple steps.

Pros: We just recently started using Playground about a month ago and really enjoy the app with everything there is to offer for parent/ staff communication and staff communication and all the benefits using it.

Cons: I wish that the app could add in the amount of PTO that the staff earn as the hours accrue. also, the fact that the staff don't get that info put into their check stubs

Pros: I like the ease of the application and enrollment processes in Playground! I like that the paperwork is easily digitized and parent communication is easily used. It is a low cost compared to other products of this style and unlimited students and staff. For a small business like our school this was key! The app and desktop use are flawless and cohesive too.

Cons: I have not found anything I do not like about it at this time--everything has been quite easily done and moved over to the platform.

Pros: Playground was very easy to learn. I love the fact I can access from my laptop and phone. It has been super easy to keep up with paperwork and expenses. Everything is easy to navigate to manage my children and parents.

Cons: So far I have not found anything about Playground that I don't like. If I have a question they have been quick to answer which is a plus.

Pros: How closely it aligns with HHS and CACFP! We have been able to efficiently complete required paperwork that used to take hours!

Cons: I am eager to see the progression of the reports and accounting end. Playground reps are so open minded and willing to listen to what improvements we recommend.

Pros: I like that I am able to easily check in/out students and the communication with the parents is a plus. Find it challenging with having many different sections to post daily activities such as eating/napping, etc.

Cons: The most difficult is the financial billing option. It is very difficult to understand, and to be honest the in person on boarding is too short and as a provider who has the time to sit and watch a video to figure it all out. So until I master it, the parents are all going crazy with the encounters.

Pros: The way we can track the ratios in our classrooms, the communication with parents and staff. And the way we can just click and fix any type of last minute adjustment in the invoices. I really like that as an admin I have access to all the neccesary stuff without needing to move from app to app.

Cons: I really don't have anything I don't like and I hope don't get to that point. The only things I wish they have easier is to be able to give specific staff member access to the door in specific time instead of changing all the role. And that when adjusting an amount in the invoices instead of doing different isntallments is just one that I can add for example all the specials in one installments instead of doing one per specials.

Pros: I LOVE the auto pay!! I also like the sign in and out, helps me keep track of the children's hours as well as my own !It is a bit of a learning curve to make all the components work.

Cons: hard to maneuver around and remember all the steps. Took awhile to figure out how to change billing items

Pros: I’ve been using Playground for my microschool, and overall it has been an amazing addition to our operations. Even though the platform is geared toward childcare centers, it isn’t overly “babyish” and works really well for a microschool setting. It has significantly streamlined many of my business and administrative tasks, which has been a huge relief as a school owner. One of the biggest pros is the customer support. Their team has been incredibly responsive and helpful, answering all of my questions promptly and working with me to understand how Playground could best support my needs. The value for the price is excellent, and I really appreciate that they’ve been open to feedback and feature requests for tools I was hoping to use.

Cons: The only downsides I’ve experienced were some initial miscommunication at the beginning. After my demo, I didn’t receive clear follow-up instructions on how to get started and had to reach back out a few weeks later. There were also a few features that required additional costs that I didn’t fully realize upfront. That said, once everything was clarified and set up, the experience has been smooth and very positive

Pros: This program is incredibly diverse and helps organize literally everything and anything you could need in both home daycare and large scale daycares. It also helps organize and calculate time and spaces for tax preparations.

Cons: There is such a wild learning curve. I am months into use of this program, and i absolutely love every aspect, but I have still found things I need to try and figure out via their help aids. It such an in depth program.

Pros: On demand support. Whenever I have a question, they are readily available and always have the resources to help.

Cons: I love everything. I switched from another system and I brag about the change. It was easy and I have so much more to help me stay organized.

Pros: It has everything I need to keep track of everything and to have open communication with families. The parents seem to enjoy it.

Cons: The onboarding staff lack information and also do things so quickly and for you that they don't actually help you learn the system. It is very bland and not colorful and look like a daycare site.

Pros: I like being able to keep track of payments and being able to keep track of attendance as well as my clock in and out times.

Cons: There isn’t anything I dislike about Playground. I have had no issues so far and I will continue to use this.

Pros: I love how organized this app is and if i need help there is always an agent to ask questions to! Great business app

Cons: I am not a huge fan off the billing process as is take 2-3 days to go into my account as venmo takes only a day.

Pros: Playground has been an absolute game-changer for my in-home childcare program. It keeps everything organized, from daily notes and photos to billing and attendance, and it makes communication with families seamless. Parents love the updates and I love how easy it is to document learning, track routines, and stay on top of paperwork. The interface is clean, intuitive, and constantly improving. Their customer service is truly exceptional—quick to respond, incredibly helpful, and always willing to go above and beyond to support providers. Playground saves me time every single day and helps me run my program more professionally. I highly recommend it to any childcare provider looking for a reliable, user-friendly system!

Cons: I really don't have anything bad to say about the software! It would be nice, someday, to be able to upload longer videos for parents.

Pros: Child and parent management. We love how everything we need to communicate with parents are in one place; massages, pictures, menus, payments etc.

Cons: As of now, we like everything and hope that pricing doesnt go up like other experience we have had with other platforms