Pearspark vs NavEd
For small private schools & microschools · pricing verified September 2026 · written by the Pearspark team (how we compare)
The short answer
NavEd is the closest mirror of Pearspark — self-serve signup, published pricing, no sales call, the same stated audience — and on price it wins. Its flat yearly plans cost less than Pearspark at every size either company publishes, roughly a sixth of our price at 15 students and about half at 1,000, with every feature included at every size. So the honest comparison isn't price, and it isn't which tier carries what. It is scope, and who holds the records if the school closes.
Pearspark
All-in-one platform for small private schools — records, academics, admissions, library, volunteers, scheduling, portal.
Pricing: $50/mo including 20 students, then $2.50/student/mo stepping down to $1.00 at volume. No setup fees, month-to-month, 30-day free trial.
Setup is self-serve, with importers that preview every row before anything is written — no setup fees, and free email support when you're stuck.
NavEd
A self-serve platform for microschools and co-ops, sold as one flat yearly price per school size with every feature included.
Pricing: NavEd sells one flat price per year by school size, with no tiers to choose between: $99 up to 15 students, $299 to 40, $699 to 100, $2,499 to 250, $4,999 to 400, $7,499 to 700 and $9,499 to 1,000. Its pricing page states that every feature is included at every size. The first 5 students are free permanently rather than for a trial window, signup asks for no card, and moving up a plan mid-year is prorated for the rest of the year. No setup fee, no long-term contract, and no monthly option is published. Pearspark charges $50/month covering the first 20 students, then $2.50 each to 100, $2.00 to 300, $1.50 to 600 and $1.00 above that — so the two are shaped differently, and NavEd is the cheaper of them at every size either company publishes (September 2026).
What each costs at small-school sizes
| Students | Pearspark | NavEd |
|---|---|---|
| 25 students | $62.50/mo | $299/year (~$24.92/mo) — the up-to-40 plan |
| 50 students | $125/mo | $699/year (~$58.25/mo) — the up-to-100 plan |
| 100 students | $250/mo | $699/year (~$58.25/mo) — the up-to-100 plan |
| What the price includes | Everything in one plan: records, attendance, gradebook, standards-based grading, report cards, transcripts, admissions, scheduling, tuition billing with family autopay, lending library, equipment booking, volunteer check-in, messaging, and an installable parent app with push notifications. No setup fee, month-to-month. The one thing charged by use is text alerts to families (from 2.7¢ a text, prepaid), because it is the one thing that costs us by use. No fundraising CRM and no subsidy billing. | Every feature at every size: gradebook with weighted categories, custom scales and standards-based grading, attendance with automatic absence notices to parents, transcripts and GPA, parent and student portals, family–teacher messaging, enrollment forms with electronic signatures, tuition and payment plans, service hours, school documents and an AI assistant. Teacher, staff, parent and administrator accounts are included at every tier. First 5 students free permanently. No setup fee. |
NavEd pricing from its published list rates as of September 2026 — see sources below. Always confirm current pricing with the vendor.
Feature comparison
| Feature | Pearspark | NavEd |
|---|---|---|
| Student records (SIS) | ||
| Attendance | ||
| Gradebook & report cards | ||
| Standards-based grading & mastery | Partial | |
| Records protected if the school closes | ||
| Transcripts & GPA | ||
| Missing-data reports & scheduled delivery | ||
| Admissions pipeline | Partial | |
| Class scheduling & rooms | ||
| Lending library & checkout | ||
| Equipment & room booking | ||
| Volunteer tracking & check-in | ||
| Parent & student portal | ||
| Messaging | ||
| Text alerts to families | ||
| Self-serve transcript & gradebook import | ||
| Tuition billing & payments | ||
| Published pricing (no sales call) | ||
| Fundraising & donor CRM | ||
| Subsidy & agency billing |
= varies by plan or not published — check with the vendor. We mark unknowns as unknowns rather than counting them against NavEd. The last three rows are jobs Pearspark does not do, listed for the same reason: a school that runs an annual fund, texts its families, or bills an agency should find that out here. On texting: Pearspark reaches families as push notifications through the installable parent app, plus email — not SMS. Underlined feature names open the Pearspark page for that capability, so you can check what our ✓ actually means.
Where NavEd shines
- Cheaper than Pearspark at every school size either company publishes — $99/year up to 15 students, $699 up to 100
- No feature tiers: the $99 plan and the $9,499 plan carry the same product
- Nothing is held back for a bigger plan — capacity is the only difference between tiers
- First 5 students are free permanently, not for a trial window, and signup takes no card
- Self-serve throughout — no sales call, no setup fee, no long-term contract
- Built for microschools, co-ops and hybrid programs rather than adapted from a district product
Worth knowing
- Plans are capacity bands, so crossing a cap is a step rather than a slope — a 41st student moves a school from $299/year to $699
- Billing is annual only; no monthly plan is published
- Its features page names standards-based grading, but its gradebook documentation covers percentages, points, letter grades and weighted categories — worth confirming directly if mastery tracking matters to you
- Parent access is a mobile-friendly web portal — no native or installable app with push notifications is described
- A lending library, equipment and room booking, and volunteer tracking aren't described in its materials
- No self-serve transcript or gradebook import is described, so moving existing records in is an open question
- Nothing published describes what happens to student records if the school closes
When NavEd is the better choice
Usually, on price, and it isn't close at the small end. NavEd costs $99/year at 15 students against our $600, $299 at 40 against $1,200, $699 at 100 against $3,000, and $9,499 at 1,000 against $18,000. There is no size at which our published price is lower, and because NavEd gates nothing, its cheapest plan is its whole product. If a school needs records, attendance, a gradebook with standards, transcripts, a parent portal and tuition collection — and not a lending library, equipment booking or volunteer check-in — NavEd does that work for a fraction of what we charge, and it is the right purchase. The case for paying us more rests on the scope past that list, and on a family still being able to retrieve a transcript after the school has shut down. Where neither matters, NavEd is the better buy.
When Pearspark is the better choice
Pearspark is built for small private schools — from a couple of students to a few hundred: microschools, classical schools, Montessori programs, hybrid schools, and homeschool co-ops. Everything is included at one published price: student records, a spreadsheet-style gradebook with built-in student analytics (trends, score distributions, missing-work tracking), report cards, printable transcripts with GPA, school-year attendance calendars, admissions, class scheduling, tuition billing with online payments, a lending library with barcode checkout, equipment booking, volunteer check-in, messaging, and a parent/student portal. Setup is self-serve, and built-in migration tools import your rosters, transcripts, and gradebooks from NavEd CSV exports with a dry-run preview.
The parts this comparison turns on
Common questions
Is NavEd cheaper than Pearspark?
Yes, at every school size either company publishes, and by a wide margin at the small end. NavEd is $99/year up to 15 students against Pearspark's $600, $299 up to 40 against $1,200, $699 up to 100 against $3,000, $2,499 up to 250 against $6,600, and $9,499 up to 1,000 against $18,000. There is no size at which our published price is the lower one. If price is the deciding factor, NavEd wins it.
Does NavEd hold features back on its cheaper plans?
No. Its pricing page states that every feature is included at every size, so the $99 plan and the $9,499 plan carry the same product and the only difference is how many students you may enroll. Pearspark also sells a single plan with everything in it, so on this point the two work the same way. One thing worth checking directly with them: their features page names standards-based grading, but the gradebook their documentation describes works in percentages, points, letter grades and weighted categories.
What happens when a school crosses one of NavEd's student caps?
It moves to the next plan, and NavEd prorates the difference for the rest of the year. Because the plans are capacity bands rather than a per-student rate, the step can be a large one: a school at 40 students pays $299/year, and its 41st student moves it to the $699 plan. Pearspark charges per student above the first 20, so growth moves our bill gradually instead of in steps. Neither shape is better in the abstract — it depends on whether your enrollment sits near one of NavEd's caps.
What does Pearspark do that NavEd's materials don't describe?
The wider school operation, and the record that outlives the school. NavEd's published materials describe records, gradebook, attendance, transcripts, portals, messaging, enrollment forms, tuition plans and service hours. They don't describe a lending library, equipment or room booking, volunteer tracking and check-in, a self-serve transcript and gradebook import, an installable parent app with push notifications, or what becomes of student records if the school closes. Pearspark ships all of those. If your school won't use them, you'd be paying us for scope you don't need.
Do both offer a free trial?
Both let you start without paying, on different terms. NavEd's first 5 students are free permanently rather than for a trial window, and its signup asks for no card. Pearspark gives 30 days free across the whole school, then $50/month covering the first 20 students; card details are taken at signup, nothing is charged until day 31, and you can cancel before then. A school opening with 5 students can run on NavEd indefinitely at no cost; a school opening with 25 has everyone covered during Pearspark's trial.
See Pearspark for yourself
Every task is on video — one minute each — and your first 30 days are free. No sales call.
Support: email support answered by a person is included with every plan, along with how-to videos and guides — there are no paid support tiers.
Sources
Last reviewed September 2026. Spotted something out of date? Email us and we'll fix it.
NavEd in a wider comparison
These guides price NavEd alongside every other system in this list, at 25, 50 and 100 students.