Softwr

Education · head to head

Aeries Student Information System vs Clever

Aeries Student Information System logo

Aeries Student Information System

Education

Student information system built around California state reporting for public school districts

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Clever logo

Clever

Education

Single sign-on and roster synchronisation between district student records and classroom applications

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Clever has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Aeries Student Information System the core advantage is California specific. A district outside California pays for a system whose main differentiator does not apply to its state reporting obligations.; Clever coverage is built around United States district data models and state reporting patterns, so schools outside the United States often find their student information system unsupported and their local identity conventions unrepresented.
  • They diverge on capability: Aeries Student Information System covers CALPADS reporting, Clever covers Secure Sync.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Aeries Student Information System and Clever actually diverge.

Attributes where Aeries Student Information System and Clever differ
AttributeAeries Student Information SystemClever
Starting priceOn requestFree
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWeb, iOS, Android, WindowsWeb, iOS, Android, ChromeOS

Identical on both: pricing model (quote), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Education).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Aeries Student Information System

  • CALPADS reporting
  • Attendance accounting
  • Scheduling and gradebook
  • Self-hosted or hosted
  • Parent and pupil portals
  • Query and report writer

Only in Clever

  • Secure Sync
  • Clever portal
  • Clever Badges
  • Instant Login
  • Clever IDM
  • Application analytics

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Aeries Student Information System

  • A Californian district that wants CALPADS submissions produced natively rather than by an external consultant each reporting windownot Clever
  • County offices of education that must support many small districts on one shared instancenot Clever
  • Districts with existing Microsoft SQL Server capability that prefer to keep the student record on their own infrastructurenot Clever
  • Replacing a legacy system where average daily attendance accuracy is directly tied to funding receivednot Clever

Clever

  • A district that has bought forty classroom applications and wants pupils to reach all of them without forty passwordsnot Aeries Student Information System
  • Primary schools where pupils cannot yet type a password reliably and need badge loginnot Aeries Student Information System
  • District IT that needs accounts created and revoked automatically as pupils enrol and leavenot Aeries Student Information System
  • Evidencing to a board which licensed applications are used enough to justify renewalnot Aeries Student Information System

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Aeries Student Information System

  • The core advantage is California specific. A district outside California pays for a system whose main differentiator does not apply to its state reporting obligations.
  • The third party application ecosystem is smaller than that of the national vendors, so some education technology suppliers support it only through generic rostering rather than a native integration.
  • The self-hosted option shifts patching, backup and database administration to district staff, and districts that choose it for cost reasons often lack the staffing to sustain it.
  • The interface reflects a long product history and is dense, so training time for new registrars and office staff is longer than for more recently rewritten competitors.
  • Reporting flexibility depends on staff who understand the underlying data model, and when that person leaves, the district loses a large amount of undocumented institutional capability.

Clever

  • Coverage is built around United States district data models and state reporting patterns, so schools outside the United States often find their student information system unsupported and their local identity conventions unrepresented.
  • Because application vendors pay and districts do not, a district has no commercial leverage when a sync breaks, and support priority follows the paying side of the market.
  • Rostering is a single point of failure. One bad field mapping propagates wrong class lists to every connected application at once, and unpicking it means correcting the source system and waiting for the next sync cycle.
  • Sync is scheduled rather than immediate for many connections, so a pupil who transfers mid week can sit in the wrong class in several applications for a day or more.
  • Ownership moved to Kahoot! in 2021 and then to a private equity consortium in 2023, so a district is now depending on infrastructure whose long term roadmap is set by investor timelines rather than by education procurement cycles.

Pricing, plan by plan

Aeries Student Information System

On request
  • Aeries Student Information System$undefined/year
    • Quoted per pupil per year
    • Hosted and self-hosted licensing differ
    • Implementation and data conversion quoted separately

Clever

Free
  • Clever core rostering and single sign-on$undefined/year
    • Free to United States districts
    • Funded by application vendors rather than the district
    • Secure Sync, portal and Badges included
  • Clever paid district products$undefined/year
    • Identity management and account provisioning
    • Multi-factor authentication for staff
    • Pricing quoted per district, not published

Which should you pick?

Choose Aeries Student Information System if

  • You need calpads reporting.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android, Windows.
  • You also want attendance accounting.
Aeries Student Information System review

Choose Clever if

  • You need secure sync.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android, ChromeOS.
  • You also want clever portal.
Clever review

Questions people ask

Is Aeries Student Information System or Clever better?
Neither clearly leads. Aeries Student Information System starts at On request and Clever at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Aeries Student Information System or Clever?
Clever has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for Aeries Student Information System and Free for Clever.
Does Aeries Student Information System or Clever run on more platforms?
Aeries Student Information System runs on Web, iOS, Android, Windows. Clever runs on Web, iOS, Android, ChromeOS.
Can I use Clever for free?
Yes. Clever has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Aeries Student Information System starts at On request.
What is Aeries Student Information System best used for?
Aeries Student Information System is most often used for a californian district that wants calpads submissions produced natively rather than by an external consultant each reporting window, county offices of education that must support many small districts on one shared instance, districts with existing microsoft sql server capability that prefer to keep the student record on their own infrastructure, replacing a legacy system where average daily attendance accuracy is directly tied to funding received. Of those, a californian district that wants calpads submissions produced natively rather than by an external consultant each reporting window and county offices of education that must support many small districts on one shared instance are not what Clever is typically brought in for.
What can Aeries Student Information System do that Clever cannot?
Aeries Student Information System covers CALPADS reporting, Attendance accounting, Scheduling and gradebook, Self-hosted or hosted. Clever covers Secure Sync, Clever portal, Clever Badges, Instant Login.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Aeries Student Information System: Is Aeries usable outside California?

Yes, and it is in use in several other states, but the state reporting depth that makes it compelling in California is not replicated everywhere, so it competes on general merit elsewhere.

Clever: Does Clever really cost a district nothing?

The core rostering and single sign-on service is free to districts. Application vendors pay for the connection and build that cost into what they charge the district, so the money reaches Clever through the software bill instead of a direct invoice.

Aeries Student Information System: Can we host it ourselves?

Yes. Aeries still supports district hosted deployment on Microsoft SQL Server, which is uncommon among current student information systems and is a genuine reason some county offices stay.

Clever: Is Clever FERPA and COPPA compliant?

Clever operates as a school official under FERPA, acting on district instruction, and relies on district consent rather than parental consent for COPPA. It has signed the Student Privacy Pledge.

Aeries Student Information System: How does it handle FERPA?

The district remains the data owner and controller of the education record. Aeries acts under district direction, and access is controlled through district assigned roles and permissions.

Clever: What happens if we leave Clever?

Every connected application loses its roster feed and needs a replacement method, either a competing rostering service or manual CSV uploads per application. That is why districts rarely switch once more than a handful of applications depend on it.

Share

Related pages

More on Aeries Student Information System

More on Clever

Keep looking

Other head to heads