Compare all five + recommendation
SmartCare today against Illumine, brightwheel, iCare, and Five Star for the preschool, before and after school care, and Camp Whatakid. Leadership can stop after the first section; staff detail follows.
Recommendation
Choose brightwheel, on one condition: a scripted demo must show Camp Whatakid weekly registration and FCPS-calendar school-age billing working. If it cannot, run the free iCare trial next. Treat Illumine as the highest-risk full option, and Five Star as a forms tool, not a replacement.
None of the four is a clean fit for all three programs. brightwheel carries the least vendor risk and the best parent experience. iCare fits camp and school-age care best on paper but has the least proof. Illumine has the smallest US track record, unpublished support hours and fees, and key features in higher tiers. Five Star covers enrollment forms only, with no published camp, school-age, or billing tools.
If leadership keeps Illumine as the required choice, use the checklist on the Illumine page: written US-hours support, a single-center price that includes assessments, named payment processor and fees, US hosting, Virginia or Delaware law, and a 90-day data export window.
Fit by program
How well each option covers the Silo Center's three programs and the office work behind them.
| Area | SmartCare today | Illumine | brightwheel | iCare | Five Star |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Preschool | Basic | StrongCurriculum in higher tier | Strong | Strong | Forms only |
| Before and after care | Works today | Unproven | PartialManual closures | StrongClosures built in | Not described |
| Camp Whatakid | Works today | WeakSeparate product | PartialWorkaround | Strong | Not described |
| Parent experience | Dated | Strong | Strongest | Weak | Unproven |
| Billing and office | Works today | Verify | Verify | Verify | Card invoices only |
| Vendor risk | Moderate | High | Low | Medium | High |
Full scorecard
| Factor | SmartCare today | Illumine | brightwheel | iCare | Five Star |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Company | Vanco / RevTrak, private-equity backed, US | Bengaluru, India; about 78 staff; $3.28M raised | San Francisco; about 400–510 staff; $88.8M+ raised | Boxborough, MA; founder-led; about 5–50 staff | Ohio LLC; size, leaders, and funding not published |
| Support | US phone line | Claims 24/7; hours unpublished; staffed in Bengaluru | Live chat 9:00 am–8:00 pm ET; scheduled calls | Phone and email; hours unclear | Email and phone; hours not published |
| Parent app | No direct teacher messaging | Two-way chat, translation in 15+ languages | Two-way chat, three app languages | English only; poor recent reviews | Messages and check-in; 100+ downloads, no ratings |
| Check-in and ratios | Kiosk and phone | QR or PIN, ratio alerts | Kiosk, QR, signature, ratio alerts | Geofenced phone, lobby kiosk, ratio alerts | App check-in; no kiosk or ratios described |
| Enrollment and forms | Online enrollment, waitlist | State forms, form builder | Admissions packets, e-signed contracts | Online registration, e-signatures | State forms, e-signatures, pre-fill (core product) |
| Camp weeks | Supported | Bookingo, separate product | One program per week workaround | Session enrollment, weekly rates | Not described |
| School calendar | Supported | Not documented | Pause plans by hand | Closures flow into billing | Not described |
| Buses | Bus logs used today | Bus GPS tracking | None | Separate routing product | Not described |
| Billing | Autopay, split, third-party payers | ACH, autopay, subsidy | ACH, autopay, agency payers | Card and ACH autopay, vouchers | Card invoices; ACH and autopay not described |
| Curriculum | Basic | AI lessons, 25+ frameworks (Growth tier) | Included in Premium; faith add-on | Lessons, assessments, standards | Not described |
| CACFP | Reports | Meal planner | Claims export to My Food Program | Meal signatures and reports | Not described |
| QuickBooks | Desktop | QuickBooks Online | CSV export only | Chart-of-accounts export | Not described |
| Security | Vanco payments | SOC 2 Type II; hosting "USA and Europe" | US AWS; no own SOC 2 | AWS; no SOC 2; Android label concern | No SOC 2; 2019 privacy policy; no public terms |
| Data on exit | 30 days, CSV | 30 days | Download or request | 24 hours | Not described; app says data "cannot be deleted" |
| Pricing published | No | No | No | Yes | No |
Costs side by side
Only iCare publishes prices. Illumine and brightwheel figures are third-party estimates for about 100 enrolled children. Five Star publishes nothing. Replace all of them with written quotes.
| Cost | SmartCare today | Illumine | brightwheel | iCare | Five Star |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Software, per year | About $2,400 | About $1,200–$3,600 | About $1,800–$4,800+ | About $4,000–$5,500 | Unknown |
| Basis | G2: $199/month flat (undated) | $0.99–$2.99 per child/month, unconfirmed | $150–$400+/month, competitor estimates | Published rate card, three program lines | "Contact Us for Pricing" |
| Setup | Already paid | None claimed | Onboarding included | Implementation fee, unpublished | Unknown |
| Parent card fee ($1,000) | Per proposal | Unpublished | $29.50 (2.95%) | About $20 (2%, claimed) | Unpublished |
| Parent ACH fee ($1,000) | Per proposal | Unpublished | $2.00 (capped) | Unpublished | ACH not described |
| Likely extras | None new | Assessments, AI, Bookingo, SLA support | Payroll, curriculum boxes, renewal increases | Bus routing, three lines vs. one | A second system for camp, school-age care, and billing |
| Contract | One year, auto-renews | Annual prepay, non-refundable | Monthly or annual, auto-renews, non-refundable | One-year minimum, auto-renews | Not published; Ohio arbitration |
| Free trial | n/a | 30 days | Free plan (limited) | Three months with migration | Demo by request |
At roughly 100 children, Illumine, brightwheel, and iCare land in a similar range of about $1,500–$5,500 a year, so software price should not decide this. Parent fees, add-ons, and renewal terms will matter more over three years. Five Star would add a second system on top, so it cannot be compared on price alone.
Reviews side by side
Illumine
- App Store4.7
- Google Play4.5
- G24.4
Mostly non-US; about 92% of recent G2 reviews vendor-solicited.
brightwheel
- App Store4.9
- Google Play4.7
- Trustpilot1.4
Large, current, US base. Trustpilot is parents unhappy about fees.
iCare
- App Store4.7
- Google Play4.2
- G24.7 (3)
Thin, old evidence; recent parent reviews all 1–3 stars.
Five Star
- App Store0 ratings
- Google Play100+ downloads
- Testimonials3 (vendor)
No independent reviews exist.
brightwheel's rating rests on thousands of current US reviews. Illumine's rests on about 100 mostly older, mostly non-US reviews. iCare's rests on 16 reviews that stop in 2022. Five Star has no independent reviews at all. Weight them accordingly.
What changes day to day
What directors, teachers, and the front office would notice in the first month on each option.
On Illumine
- Parents can message teachers and read messages in their own language
- Teachers log activities with AI help and voice notes
- Camp sign-up may run through a second tool, Bookingo
- Support requests go to a team in Bengaluru
On brightwheel
- The app most parents already know from other centers
- Office builds one program per camp week to manage spots
- School closures and snow days are handled by pausing plans
- Live chat help from 9:00 am, not at the 6:30 am opening
On iCare
- Camp weeks and school closures work the way the office thinks
- Parents get a simpler app with more login complaints
- Billing needs close checking in the first months
- Phone support, but hours need confirming
On Five Star
- Parents fill out state forms online and sign electronically
- Forms pre-fill from last year
- Camp, school-age care, and billing still need another system
- Staff work in two systems every day
Next steps
- By Friday, October 16th: Send the demo and quote emails on the brightwheel and iCare pages, and the terms email on the Illumine page. Send the Five Star email only if leadership wants it considered as a forms add-on.
- October to early November: Run the same scripted demo with every vendor: eight camp weeks, an FCPS month with closures and a snow day, subsidy attendance, and a month of CACFP.
- November: Start the iCare trial only if brightwheel's demo fails camp or school-age care. Have five parents test the leading app.
- By Tuesday, December 15th: Leadership decides with written quotes, fees, and contract terms in hand.
- January–February 2027: Migrate, run one parallel billing month, and move parents to new autopay.
- Before camp registration opens: Go live, so Camp Whatakid 2027 registers on the new system. Avoid any cutover from late May to mid-September.
Read each vendor review
Updated October 2nd, 2026. Ratings and prices change often; sources are listed on each vendor page. Third-party price estimates are not quotes.