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Education · head to head

Jackrabbit Class vs Skyward

Jackrabbit Class logo

Jackrabbit Class

Education

Class management for dance, gym, swim and music schools, priced by student count

From
$49/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Skyward logo

Skyward

Education

Student information and school ERP for K-12 districts and municipalities

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Jackrabbit Class billing counts every student record in the account, active and inactive, so studios that never archive leavers pay for a larger tier than their real enrolment and only discover it when someone audits the database.; Skyward no pricing is published anywhere, so the only way to learn what a district of your size pays is to enter a sales cycle, and comparative quotes across vendors are hard to obtain before a board meeting deadline.
  • They diverge on capability: Jackrabbit Class covers Class scheduling, Skyward covers Qmlativ SIS.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Jackrabbit Class and Skyward actually diverge.

Attributes where Jackrabbit Class and Skyward differ
AttributeJackrabbit ClassSkyward
Starting price$49/monthOn request
Pricing modelPer month by student countquote

Identical on both: free tier (No), platforms (Web, iOS, Android), 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 Jackrabbit Class

  • Class scheduling
  • Recurring tuition billing
  • Parent portal
  • Attendance and skills
  • Staff portal
  • Jackrabbit Pay
  • Reporting
  • Online registration

Only in Skyward

  • Qmlativ SIS
  • School Business Suite
  • Position control
  • Family and student access
  • State reporting packs
  • Municipality edition
  • Data mining and reporting
  • Employee access

What people use each for

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

Jackrabbit Class

  • A dance studio moving recurring tuition off manual card charges onto automatic monthly billing with family accountsnot Skyward
  • A gymnastics club tracking skill progression per athlete alongside attendancenot Skyward
  • A multi-site swim school that needs one enrolment view across locationsnot Skyward
  • An owner who wants published software pricing rather than a quote, so the cost of growth is predictablenot Skyward

Skyward

  • A district of 8,000 students that wants payroll, position budgeting and the SIS on one vendor contract instead of paying an integrator to reconcile employee records nightlynot Jackrabbit Class
  • A Wisconsin or Texas district where state submission deadlines are the dominant compliance burden and prebuilt state packs remove weeks of extract worknot Jackrabbit Class
  • A district still on the older PaC client-server product deciding whether to migrate to Qmlativ or replace the SIS outrightnot Jackrabbit Class
  • A county government buying the finance and HR half on its own, separate from any school usenot Jackrabbit Class

Where each one falls short

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

Jackrabbit Class

  • Billing counts every student record in the account, active and inactive, so studios that never archive leavers pay for a larger tier than their real enrolment and only discover it when someone audits the database.
  • Payment processing through Jackrabbit Pay is charged on top of the subscription and typically exceeds it in absolute terms, so the published tier price understates the real monthly cost considerably.
  • Marketing capability is minimal: there is no meaningful lead capture, nurture or campaign tooling, so studios run a separate marketing stack and reconcile enrolments manually.
  • The interface is dense and dated, and part-time front desk staff need more training than the price point suggests, which is a recurring cost in a sector with high staff turnover.
  • Feature parity between the web application and the mobile apps is incomplete, so administrators end up back at a desktop for anything beyond attendance and rosters.

Skyward

  • No pricing is published anywhere, so the only way to learn what a district of your size pays is to enter a sales cycle, and comparative quotes across vendors are hard to obtain before a board meeting deadline.
  • State reporting depth is uneven: the packs are excellent in the states where Skyward has a large installed base and thin elsewhere, so a district in a low-penetration state inherits reporting work the vendor absorbs for others.
  • The third-party integration ecosystem is much smaller than PowerSchool's, so an edtech tool your teachers want may support the market leader first and Skyward months later or not at all.
  • Two product generations are still live and the migration from PaC to Qmlativ is a project in its own right, meaning a district can be paying for a modernisation programme rather than new capability.
  • Buying SIS and ERP from one vendor concentrates risk: a pricing increase, an ownership change or a product direction you dislike affects enrolment, payroll and the general ledger simultaneously, and unpicking that is a multi-year replacement rather than swapping one system.

Pricing, plan by plan

Jackrabbit Class

$49/month
  • 0 to 100 students$49/month
    • All core class management features
    • Unlimited staff users
    • Parent portal
  • 101 to 250 students$89/month
    • Same feature set
    • Billed on month-end student count
  • 251 to 500 students$129/month
    • Same feature set
    • Billed on month-end student count
  • 501 to 1,000 students$169/month
    • Same feature set
    • Billed on month-end student count

Skyward

On request
  • Student Management Suite$undefined/year
    • Enrolment, scheduling, attendance and grading
    • State reporting
    • Family and student portals
  • School Business Suite$undefined/year
    • Finance, payroll and HR
    • Position control
    • Usually quoted alongside the SIS as a bundle
  • Municipality Edition$undefined/year
    • Finance and HR for local government
    • Quoted per organisation

Which should you pick?

Choose Jackrabbit Class if

  • You need class scheduling.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want recurring tuition billing.
Jackrabbit Class review

Choose Skyward if

  • You need qmlativ sis.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want school business suite.
Skyward review

Questions people ask

Is Jackrabbit Class or Skyward better?
Neither clearly leads. Jackrabbit Class starts at $49/month and Skyward at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Jackrabbit Class or Skyward?
Jackrabbit Class starts at $49/month and Skyward at On request.
Does Jackrabbit Class or Skyward run on more platforms?
Both run on Web, iOS, Android, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
What is Jackrabbit Class best used for?
Jackrabbit Class is most often used for a dance studio moving recurring tuition off manual card charges onto automatic monthly billing with family accounts, a gymnastics club tracking skill progression per athlete alongside attendance, a multi-site swim school that needs one enrolment view across locations, an owner who wants published software pricing rather than a quote, so the cost of growth is predictable. Of those, a dance studio moving recurring tuition off manual card charges onto automatic monthly billing with family accounts and a gymnastics club tracking skill progression per athlete alongside attendance are not what Skyward is typically brought in for.
What can Jackrabbit Class do that Skyward cannot?
Jackrabbit Class covers Class scheduling, Recurring tuition billing, Parent portal, Attendance and skills. Skyward covers Qmlativ SIS, School Business Suite, Position control, Family and student access.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Jackrabbit Class: How is the student count calculated?

On the total number of students in your account at month end, including inactive ones. Archive former students before the billing date or you will pay a higher tier than your enrolment warrants.

Skyward: Was Skyward bought by PowerSchool?

No. Skyward remains an independent company based in Stevens Point, Wisconsin, and competes directly with PowerSchool in the K-12 SIS market. It is one of the few SIS vendors of scale not owned by a private equity roll-up.

Jackrabbit Class: What does payment processing cost?

It is charged separately from the subscription through Jackrabbit Pay and is quoted rather than published. For most studios it is the larger cost, so get the rate in writing.

Skyward: Is pricing per student?

Yes, the student system is generally quoted per student per year with the finance suite priced separately, but no rate card is published and discounts vary heavily by district size and term length.

Jackrabbit Class: Is there a per-user charge?

No. Staff users are unlimited on every tier, which suits studios with many part-time instructors.

Skyward: Can we buy just the finance and HR suite?

Yes. School Business Suite is sold on its own, and there is a municipality edition for city and county government with no school component.

Jackrabbit Class: Does it handle multiple locations?

Yes, with location-level scheduling and reporting, though very large multi-site operators find the reporting shallower than a purpose-built enterprise system.

Skyward: What is the difference between Qmlativ and PaC?

PaC is the older client-server generation and Qmlativ is the current browser-based product. New districts buy Qmlativ; existing PaC districts are being migrated.

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