TinyGuard vs Brightwheel

Management app
vs. cameras + management in one platform.

Brightwheel runs 50,000+ centers as the dominant childcare management app — check-in, billing, parent messages, lesson plans. They don't do cameras. TinyGuard does cameras AND every operations module Brightwheel ships, on a Pi that stays in your building, with CCDF subsidy billing in every tier and pricing you can see without booking a demo.

TinyGuard

Cameras + full ops
in one Pi-hosted platform

Pi on your network · footage never leaves · cameras + billing + subsidy tracking · AI $50/mo add-on · published pricing from $99/mo + $2.50/child

Brightwheel

Management app
(no cameras)

Cloud-hosted · 50,000+ centers · $600M valuation · pricing requires a demo (reported $2–4/child/mo) · CCDF gated to higher tiers

Cameras are in the box — not a separate vendor

Brightwheel has no native camera product. Centers that want parent video pair Brightwheel with a separate camera vendor (WatchMeGrow, Procare cameras, or generic IP cameras) and pay twice. TinyGuard ships cameras + management on one Pi, one subscription. Parent-trust feature, ratio enforcement, incident review — all on one screen.

Your data stays on your network

Brightwheel routes every check-in, parent message, photo, and billing record through their cloud. TinyGuard processes and stores on a Pi you own — live video never leaves your building, the only cloud archive is opt-in plan-tiered. For directors with a data-governance policy or a state-specific child-records statute, this is a procurement difference your IT person will notice.

CCDF subsidy in every tier, not an upsell

Brightwheel gates CCDF subsidy billing behind premium tiers. TinyGuard includes subsidy tracking in the Facility plan — no upsell, no demo, no "talk to sales." For OR / IA / TX / KS centers running on state CCDF dollars, this is core, not optional.

Feature	TinyGuard	Brightwheel
Video & safety
Live parent video (in-app)
In-room camera hardware (PoE)	Standard PoE — no lock-in
Body-worn cameras for staff
AV1 cloud backup recordings	30–365 days by plan
Motion alerts + supervision AI
Data location	Pi-local — your network	Brightwheel cloud only
No-biometrics covenant in MSA §3	tinyguard.co/legal/covenants	Not contractually disclaimed
Operations & billing
Check-in / check-out (parent + staff)
Billing + tuition management
ACH payments
CCDF subsidy tracking	Every tier	Higher tiers only
Staff scheduling + payroll
Ratio tracking + live alerts		Manual
Incident reports (print-ready)
Staff certification tracker
CACFP meal reporting
Parent app & communication
Parent mobile app		(industry-leading polish)
Daily reports + photos	AI-drafted (AI add-on)	Manual entry
Parent messaging
Milestone tracking
Lesson plans	96-template library
AI & curriculum
AI-drafted daily reports (AI add-on)
Named AI assistant (AI add-on)
AI observation → portfolio (AI add-on)
Vision-AI from in-room cameras	Active dev
Pricing & terms
Published pricing	tinyguard.co/pricing	Demo required
Facility — software	$99/mo + $2.50/child	~$2–4/child/mo (reported)
Brand (multi-location) — software	$99/site + $200/mo + $2.50/child	Demo required
AI assistant + drafted reports	$50/mo add-on	Demo required
Live video — per camera	from $7/camera/mo · you pick retention (30-day $12)	No camera product
60-child center monthly (est.)	$249/mo software + cameras from $7/cam	$120–240 management only — cameras separate
Hardware lock-in	None — standard PoE cameras	N/A — no hardware
Pi 5 Setup Kit (one-time)	$299

Included Partial / tier-gated Not offered Brightwheel pricing requires a demo — "Demo required" reflects their gated disclosure model. Per-child rate from third-party reviews.

If your state distributes Brightwheel free via CCDF

Kansas, Iowa, and Texas now offer Brightwheel free to all licensed providers via state CCDF infrastructure grants. Free is hard to beat on price. But "free" Brightwheel is the management app — not cameras, not in-room AI, not in-room ratio enforcement, not the parent-trust differentiator that converts enrollment leads. Pair-deployments work: many centers run state-subsidized Brightwheel for parent comms + check-in and add TinyGuard for the camera/safety layer their CCDF dollars don't cover. Conversation worth having with your state DELC / DOE contact: is the subsidy locked to Brightwheel exclusively, or open to any compliant operator?

When a prospect brings up Brightwheel

Don't dismiss them. 50,000 centers and a $600M valuation means a lot of directors are happy with what they have. Lead with the camera gap and the data-sovereignty story — the two places Brightwheel structurally can't compete:

"Brightwheel is the industry leader on the management side — check-in, parent messaging, billing. The gap is cameras: they don't build a camera product, so centers either run without parent video or pay a second vendor on top. TinyGuard does both on one Pi that stays in your building, so the footage never leaves your network. If you already have Brightwheel, we don't need to displace it — we can run alongside for the camera layer. If you're evaluating Brightwheel for the first time, the cost question matters: TinyGuard Facility at $99/mo plus $2.50/child gives you management AND cameras (from $7/cam) for what Brightwheel charges for management alone."

Where Brightwheel has an edge — be honest about this

Scale + brand: 50,000 centers, $600M valuation, $158M+ raised. The dominant childcare CMS in the US. We are pre-revenue. Don't pretend that's not real.
Parent app polish: Years of iteration. Their iOS/Android app is industry-best on download counts and review scores. Our parent app is functional and improving — be honest about the maturity delta.
State-subsidy distribution: KS / IA / TX already distribute Brightwheel free via CCDF. If your state joins that list, "free" wins on price. Pair-deployment is the play, not displacement.
Ecosystem of integrations: Brightwheel has more 3rd-party partners than we do today. The integrations we ship are first-party (cameras, billing, AI) — we win on depth in our own stack, not breadth across other vendors.
Sales guidance: Don't lead with "Brightwheel is bad." Lead with what Brightwheel doesn't do (cameras, in-room AI, your-network data) and let the director decide whether those gaps matter to their facility.

Other childcare comparisons

vs Procare

Legacy CMS leader — 40K centers, deep billing

vs WatchMeGrow

Cameras-only — 5,000+ schools

Multi-vendor table →

Side-by-side: TinyGuard vs all the above

Cameras. Billing. AI.
One Pi on your network.

Pi 5 Setup Kit $299 one-time. Published pricing — no sales call required to see what it costs. Pair-deploy with your existing Brightwheel if that's the right move for your center.

Get started → See all plans Talk to the founder

Management appvs. cameras + management in one platform.

Other childcare comparisons

Cameras. Billing. AI.One Pi on your network.

Management app
vs. cameras + management in one platform.

Cameras. Billing. AI.
One Pi on your network.