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Education · head to head

Aeries Student Information System vs UltraCamp

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
-
UltraCamp logo

UltraCamp

Education

Camp registration priced per reservation, with the fee schedule published in full

From
$4/reservation
Rated
-

The short version

  • 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.; UltraCamp per-reservation pricing scales linearly with growth, so a large camp pays substantially more than it would under a flat licence and has little leverage until it passes 2,000 reservations and enters quoted territory.
  • They diverge on capability: Aeries Student Information System covers CALPADS reporting, UltraCamp covers Per-reservation registration.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

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

Attributes where Aeries Student Information System and UltraCamp differ
AttributeAeries Student Information SystemUltraCamp
Starting priceOn request$4/reservation
Pricing modelquotePer reservation
PlatformsWeb, iOS, Android, WindowsWeb, iOS, Android

Identical on both: free tier (No), 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 UltraCamp

  • Per-reservation registration
  • Billing and payment plans
  • Facility and retreat rentals
  • Point of sale
  • Photo gallery
  • Custom reporting
  • Unlimited staff users
  • Online store

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 UltraCamp
  • County offices of education that must support many small districts on one shared instancenot UltraCamp
  • Districts with existing Microsoft SQL Server capability that prefer to keep the student record on their own infrastructurenot UltraCamp
  • Replacing a legacy system where average daily attendance accuracy is directly tied to funding receivednot UltraCamp

UltraCamp

  • A camp that wants to know its software cost per registration before the season rather than negotiate an annual licencenot Aeries Student Information System
  • A conference or retreat centre that rents facilities off-season and needs booking as well as camper registrationnot Aeries Student Information System
  • A small camp whose volume would make a flat enterprise licence poor valuenot Aeries Student Information System
  • A camp switching vendors that wants a named price for data migration rather than an open-ended services quotenot 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.

UltraCamp

  • Per-reservation pricing scales linearly with growth, so a large camp pays substantially more than it would under a flat licence and has little leverage until it passes 2,000 reservations and enters quoted territory.
  • UltraCamp retains 30% of photo gallery sales, a revenue share far above the 3% it takes on merchandise, which turns a parent-facing nicety into a meaningful cost of doing business.
  • Health and medical record handling is thinner than CampMinder's, so camps with a staffed health centre and daily medication rounds often find it insufficient.
  • The interface and reporting are functional rather than modern, and building the unlimited custom reports on offer takes administrator time the camp has to fund itself.
  • The $1,200 annual minimum means very small camps pay for reservations they never make, so the effective per-reservation cost for a camp of two hundred is closer to $6.

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

UltraCamp

$4/reservation
  • Reservations 0 to 999$4/reservation
    • $4.00 per reservation
    • $1,200 annual minimum in reservation fees
    • Unlimited staff users and custom reports
  • Reservations 1,000 to 1,999$3.75/reservation
    • $3.75 per reservation
    • Above 2,000 reservations priced by quote
    • Card processing about 2.5% plus $0.35 and roughly $20 a month in gateway fees
  • Optional modules$600/year
    • Point of sale $600 a year
    • Facility rental and retreat management $700 a year
    • Photo gallery with 30% of sales retained by UltraCamp

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.

Choose UltraCamp if

  • You need per-reservation registration.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want billing and payment plans.

Questions people ask

Is Aeries Student Information System or UltraCamp better?
Neither clearly leads. Aeries Student Information System starts at On request and UltraCamp at $4/reservation, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Aeries Student Information System or UltraCamp?
Aeries Student Information System starts at On request and UltraCamp at $4/reservation.
Does Aeries Student Information System or UltraCamp run on more platforms?
Aeries Student Information System runs on Web, iOS, Android, Windows. UltraCamp runs on Web, iOS, Android.
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 UltraCamp is typically brought in for.
What can Aeries Student Information System do that UltraCamp cannot?
Aeries Student Information System covers CALPADS reporting, Attendance accounting, Scheduling and gradebook, Self-hosted or hosted. UltraCamp covers Per-reservation registration, Billing and payment plans, Facility and retreat rentals, Point of sale.

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.

UltraCamp: What will it actually cost us?

Take your reservation count times $4.00, or $3.75 above a thousand, subject to a $1,200 annual minimum, plus $299 setup and any data import. Then add card processing at roughly 2.5% plus $0.35 on tuition.

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.

UltraCamp: Is there a contract?

No. UltraCamp sells without a term contract, which is unusual in this market and materially reduces switching risk.

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.

UltraCamp: What does the photo gallery cost?

UltraCamp keeps 30% of photo sales. If parents spend heavily on photos, price that before enabling the module.

UltraCamp: How does it compare to CampMinder on health records?

CampMinder is stronger. If you run a health centre with a nurse and medication logs, test that area carefully before choosing UltraCamp.

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