Services · Child Care Technology

Daycare Management
Software.

Senior engineers with 12–15 years of enterprise experience building platforms that manage hundreds of children, parents, and staff. GDPR-conscious, compliance-ready, and built to handle the operational complexity of running a modern nursery or childcare group.

Discuss Your Project
Hundreds
Children and staff managed by platforms our engineers have built (prior roles)
Full-stack
Parent-facing mobile apps and staff management portals
Compliant
Built to support OFSTED, CQC, and GDPR requirements
What we build · Child Care

Every layer of
nursery operations.

From the parent app to the management console to the compliance report — we build the entire platform, not just isolated features.

👶
Core · Enrollment

Child Enrollment & Profiles

Digital application forms, waitlist management, contract generation, emergency contacts, medical needs, and allergy records — all in one structured profile.

📱
Product · Mobile

Parent-Facing Mobile App

Daily diaries, photos, milestone updates, real-time notifications, messaging with staff, and payment management — all in a branded iOS and Android app.

Feature · Attendance

Attendance & Check-in

QR code or PIN-based check-in and check-out, staff-to-child ratio live monitoring, and automatic attendance records for inspection readiness.

💰
Feature · Finance

Billing & Payment Collection

Automated invoicing based on booked sessions, government funding deductions (e.g. 15/30 free hours), direct debit integration, and payment tracking.

📅
Feature · Scheduling

Session & Room Scheduling

Flexible session types (full day, half day, wraparound), room capacity management, holiday club scheduling, and waiting list automation.

👩‍🏫
Feature · Staff

Staff Management

Rota planning, DBS check tracking, training expiry reminders, staff-to-child ratio alerts, and payroll export integrations.

📋
Feature · Compliance

Safeguarding & Incident Records

Structured incident reports, medication administration logs, accident forms with parent acknowledgement, and a full audit trail for inspections.

🏢
Architecture · Multi-site

Multi-site & Franchise Portals

Site-level isolation with a central management console — consolidated occupancy, revenue, and compliance reporting across an entire estate of settings.

Why a studio

Why not Famly, Brightwheel,
or a generic agency?

i.

vs. Off-the-shelf platforms

Famly, Brightwheel, and similar tools work well for standard single-site nurseries. But they are built around the average use case. If you have a franchise model, a non-standard billing structure, a different country's regulatory requirements, or simply want to own the platform and avoid per-child monthly fees forever — custom is the smarter long-term investment.

ii.

vs. Large software agencies

Large agencies handle childcare platforms occasionally — it is rarely their specialism. You will get generalist developers who need to learn the domain on your budget. We bring engineers who have lived inside these data models — child profiles, session-based billing, ratio management — and know the compliance edge cases that trip up first-timers.

iii.

vs. Freelancer

A freelancer can build the parent app or the admin portal — but rarely both well, and almost never the compliance reporting, the payment integration, and the multi-site architecture simultaneously. Our studio covers the full scope. One engagement, one accountable team, no handoff chaos.

Daycare platforms typically begin as an MVP build and evolve through ongoing product scaling engagements as multi-site and compliance needs grow. See our full set of capabilities, read about how we work, or learn more about the team behind The Yellow Labs.

FAQ

Common questions.

How much does custom daycare management software cost?

We bill hourly from $40/hr. A focused module — say, a parent communication app or an attendance system — typically runs 80–200 hours. A full daycare management platform covering enrollment, billing, attendance, parent portal, and staff management generally falls between 300–700 hours. We scope carefully upfront and report hours weekly.

Can you build software that is compliant with OFSTED or CQC requirements?

Yes. We design data models, audit trails, and reporting features with regulatory frameworks in mind from the start. This includes safeguarding record-keeping, incident logs, staff-to-child ratio tracking, and inspection-ready reporting exports. We work closely with your operations team to map requirements before writing a line of code.

Should I build custom software or use an off-the-shelf platform like Famly or Brightwheel?

Off-the-shelf platforms are a great fit if your operations match their assumptions. Custom makes sense when you have multiple sites with different workflows, a franchisor/franchisee model, a specific billing structure that generic platforms cannot support, or when you want to own the platform and not pay per-child SaaS fees indefinitely. We can help you evaluate both options honestly.

What features do daycare management platforms typically include?

Core features we commonly build: child enrollment and profile management, digital check-in/check-out with PIN or QR code, parent-facing mobile app for updates and messaging, automated invoicing and payment collection, session and room scheduling, staff rota management, medication and incident recording, daily diary entries, and regulatory reporting exports.

How do you handle sensitive child data and data protection?

Child data is among the most sensitive category of personal data under GDPR and similar frameworks. We design systems with role-based access control, encrypted storage, minimal data collection principles, and clear data retention policies. We can work with your DPO to produce the technical documentation required for a DPIA.

Can the platform handle multiple nursery sites or a franchise model?

Yes. Multi-site and franchise architectures are a strength of custom software. We design tenant isolation so each site has its own data and staff, while a central admin console gives management a consolidated view of occupancy, revenue, and compliance across all locations.

Let's begin

Ready to build your
childcare platform?

Book a free 30-minute call. We'll walk through your operational workflows, understand your compliance requirements, and give you an honest assessment of scope.

Book a Free Call

What to expect

Duration30 minutes
FormatZoom / Google Meet
CostFree
BillingHourly from $40/hr
Follow-upNo pressure