CircleUp vs ThinkWave
CircleUp
getcircleup.com
ThinkWave
thinkwave.comSide by side
| Figure | CircleUp | ThinkWave |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $23/mo | $2.75/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | Yes |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Windows | — | Yes |
| macOS | — | Yes |
| Linux | — | Yes |
| iOS | Yes | Yes |
| Android | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 5 | 20 |
| Spec score · School Management Software | 8.8 (#2) | 8.7 (#5) |
| Integrations | The pricing page identifies Stripe as its online payment processor. | ThinkWave's blog says its gradebook integrates with Google Apps, Microsoft Teams and other digital tools. |
| Privacy | CircleUp says it 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. | ThinkWave says it does not sell student or other user data to third parties. |
| 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 privacy policy states that ThinkWave uses SSL transmission encryption, password-protected accounts and Google App Engine hosting. |
| Support | Users can contact support through a form without an account or by email, and paid tiers list priority support features. | ThinkWave lists support by email for paid subscribers and publishes support videos, FAQs, and a quickstart guide. |
Plans
CircleUp
- FreeFree
- Starter$23 a month
- Pro$60 a month
- Enterprise$100 a month
- Enterprise Plus$159 a month
ThinkWave
- Free Solo GradebookFree
- School 1–15 students$17 a month
- School 16–35 students$32 a month
- Premium Gradebook — 151–175 teachers$32.95 a year
- Premium Gradebook — 126–150 teachers$33.95 a year
- Premium Gradebook — 101–125 teachers$34.95 a year
- Premium Gradebook — 76–100 teachers$35.95 a year
- Premium Gradebook — 51–75 teachers$36.95 a year
- Premium Gradebook — 20–50 teachers$37.95 a year
- Premium Gradebook — 10–19 teachers$38.95 a year
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.
ThinkWave
ThinkWave is cloud-based school administration software combining student administration, grades, attendance, teacher gradebooks, and student and parent portal access. Teachers can post assignments and handouts, collect student work online, and upload files up to 25 MB each; the school system includes 100 GB of storage. It generates customizable report cards and transcripts from grades, comments, attendance, and custom student data. Grading options include points, letter, pass-fail, and custom scales, with assignment weighting and term averages. Schools can send messages and announcements by class, group, or school, including group email. ThinkWave also offers a free online gradebook. Its platforms include Android, iOS, Linux, macOS, web, and Windows. A free 30-day trial of the school administration software includes all features. ThinkWave says it uses password-protected accounts and SSL encryption, stores data in Google Cloud data centers, and does not sell user data. Paid subscribers can get email support; support videos, FAQs, and a quickstart guide are also listed.