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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 + EVV · AI from Standard ($199) · published pricing from $99/mo
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
01
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.
02
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.
03
CCDF subsidy in every tier, not an upsell
Brightwheel gates CCDF subsidy billing behind premium tiers. TinyGuard includes subsidy tracking + EVV in Starter — 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 locationPi-local — your networkBrightwheel cloud only
No-biometrics covenant in MSA §3✓ tinyguard.co/legal/covenantsNot contractually disclaimed
Operations & billing
Check-in / check-out (parent + staff)✓✓
Billing + tuition management✓✓
ACH payments✓✓
CCDF subsidy + EVV tracking✓ Every tierHigher 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 (Standard+)✓ Manual entry
Parent messaging✓✓
Milestone tracking✓✓
Lesson plans✓ 96-template library✓
AI & curriculum
AI-drafted daily reports (Standard+)✓—
Named AI assistant (Standard+)✓—
AI observation → portfolio (Standard+)✓—
Vision-AI from in-room cameras✓ Active dev—
Pricing & terms
Published pricing✓ tinyguard.co/pricingDemo required
Starter base$99/mo~$2–4/child/mo (reported)
Standard base$199/moDemo required
Professional base$399/moDemo required
60-child center monthly (est.)$219 (Starter + 60×$2)$120–240 management only — cameras separate
Hardware lock-in✓ None — standard PoE camerasN/A — no hardware
30-day money-back guarantee✓ Subscription + hardwareAnnual contract typical
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/EVV 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 and EVV layer. If you're evaluating Brightwheel for the first time, the cost question matters: TinyGuard Starter at $99/mo plus $2/child gives you management AND cameras for what Brightwheel charges for management alone."
Where Brightwheel has an edge — be honest about this

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. EVV. AI.
One Pi on your network.

Pi 5 Setup Kit $299 one-time. 30-day money-back on subscription + hardware. 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

Brightwheel feature data from their public marketing site, Capterra reviews, and Bob's BO124 competitive intel (May 2026). Per-child rate ($2–4) from third-party reviews — Brightwheel does not publish pricing. State-subsidy partnerships per Kansas / Iowa / Texas DELC announcements. TinyGuard pricing from tinyguard.co/pricing. Spot something wrong?