CircleUp vs EMPOWER SIS
CircleUp
getcircleup.comEMPOWER SIS
empowersis.comSide by side
| Figure | CircleUp | EMPOWER SIS |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $23/mo | — |
| Free plan | Yes | — |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| iOS | Yes | — |
| Self-hosted | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 5 | 2 |
| Spec score · School Management Software | 8.8 (#2) | 7.3 (#31) |
| Integrations | The pricing page identifies Stripe as its online payment processor. | The interfaces page lists LMS connections including Blackboard, Canvas, Moodle, and Schoology, plus gateways including PayPal Payflow Link, CardPointe, and Authorize.Net. |
| Security | The privacy policy says payment information is processed by Stripe and CircleUp does not store card numbers; it also states that it uses industry-standard security measures. | The website says the student self-service access can be configured with strict security controls. |
| Support | Users can contact support through a form without an account or by email, and paid tiers list priority support features. | EMPOWER describes support as including platform design, training, ongoing maintenance, and US-based customer support. |
Plans
CircleUp
- FreeFree
- Starter$23 a month
- Pro$60 a month
- Enterprise$100 a month
- Enterprise Plus$159 a month
In their own words
CircleUp
CircleUp is a member-management platform for homeschool co-ops and community groups, combining class registration, event scheduling, online payments, and communication. Its calendar provides day, week, and month views, with RSVPs, attendance tracking, recurring events, and automated reminders. Class tools cover registration with capacity limits, waitlists, enrollment, attendance, and gradebooks. A searchable directory supports family profiles and custom fields; families control whether their details appear in the opt-in directory. Members also get a feed for announcements, photos, and updates, plus group and class chat. Other tools include volunteer signups and hour tracking, documents and forms, a group store, reporting, roles, and permissions. CircleUp is available on web and iOS. The free plan supports up to 10 families. Starter costs $23 a month, billed at $276/year, and supports up to 50 families. Online payments use Stripe, with its standard fee of 2.9% + 30¢ plus a 0.5% CircleUp platform fee; cash and check payments have no CircleUp fee.
EMPOWER SIS
EMPOWER SIS has no write-up on Specifiction yet; its figures are above.