Education · head to head
Lightspeed Systems vs Securly
Lightspeed Systems
Education
Filtering, classroom management and student safety monitoring for K-12 device fleets
- From
- On request
- Rated
- -
Securly
Education
Web filtering, student safety monitoring and device management for K-12 schools
- From
- On request
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Each has a real cost: Lightspeed Systems no module has published pricing, so districts cannot benchmark a quote without running a formal procurement, and the eventual figure depends heavily on which co-operative contract they buy through.; Securly pricing stacks by module and only Filter has rates that surface publicly, so the quoted total for Filter plus Aware plus On-Call is routinely several times the number a district budgeted from the filtering line alone.
- They diverge on capability: Lightspeed Systems covers Alert, Securly covers Aware.
- Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Lightspeed Systems and Securly actually diverge.
| Attribute | Lightspeed Systems | Securly |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | quote | Per student per year by module |
| Platforms | Web, iOS, Android, Chrome OS, Windows, macOS | Web, iOS, Android, Chrome OS, Windows |
Identical on both: starting price (On request), 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 Lightspeed Systems
- Alert
- Insight
- Signal
- StopIt
- Hall Monitor
Only in Securly
- Aware
- On-Call
- Pass
- Home
- Delegated admin
Both cover
- Filter
- Classroom
- MDM
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Lightspeed Systems
- A district with 15,000 take-home Chromebooks that needs filtering to follow the device onto home and public networksnot Securly
- A technology director being asked to justify the edtech budget, who can use app usage data to cancel licences nobody opensnot Securly
- A school board that has agreed to safety monitoring but has no staff able to respond to alerts at night, and so buys the human review servicenot Securly
- A one-to-one iPad rollout wanting device enrolment, filtering and teacher screen control from one vendornot Securly
Securly
- A district that must show CIPA compliance for take-home Chromebooks used on home broadband, where network-level filtering does nothingnot Lightspeed Systems
- A district whose safeguarding policy requires that a human being reads a self-harm alert within minutes at any hour, including school holidaysnot Lightspeed Systems
- A one-to-one iPad programme needing Apple device enrolment, filtering and classroom control from a single agent rather than threenot Lightspeed Systems
- A district under pressure from parents who want visibility of what their child does on the school device at home, without the school having to field each request by handnot Lightspeed Systems
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
Lightspeed Systems
- No module has published pricing, so districts cannot benchmark a quote without running a formal procurement, and the eventual figure depends heavily on which co-operative contract they buy through.
- Alert detection and the 24/7 human review that makes it actionable are priced separately, so a district that budgets for Alert alone ends up owning the overnight triage burden itself.
- The agent model means coverage stops at the managed device, and students moving to a personal phone on mobile data are outside filtering and monitoring entirely, which undercuts the compliance claim in the exact scenario administrators worry about.
- Teacher screen monitoring is frequently deployed without training, and lessons stall while staff learn the interface, so the first term of a Classroom rollout often produces complaints rather than the intended benefit.
- Buying eight modules from one vendor makes renewal a single high-value negotiation with no partial leverage, and districts locked into a multi-year co-operative contract cannot easily drop a module that underperforms.
Securly
- Pricing stacks by module and only Filter has rates that surface publicly, so the quoted total for Filter plus Aware plus On-Call is routinely several times the number a district budgeted from the filtering line alone.
- The safety scanning generates false positives at volume, including song lyrics, creative writing and health-class assignments, and each one consumes counsellor or administrator time that the vendor does not pay for.
- Alerting on student writing is a surveillance decision with real community consequences, and districts that deploy it without an explicit board policy and parent notification have faced local objections after the fact.
- Coverage is strongest on managed Chromebooks; personal devices, non-Chrome browsers and encrypted apps outside the agent leave gaps that the compliance story quietly depends on nobody testing.
- Per-student pricing is charged on enrolment rather than on devices, so a district that issues devices to only some year groups still pays for every student on the roll.
Pricing, plan by plan
Lightspeed Systems
On request- Lightspeed Filter$undefined/year
- Device-level content filtering on and off network
- YouTube and social media policy controls
- Quoted per student device per year
- Lightspeed Alert$undefined/year
- Safety signal detection
- 24/7 human review sold as an additional service
- Quoted
- Lightspeed Classroom, Insight, Signal, MDM, StopIt and Hall Monitor$undefined/year
- Each sold as a separate per-student module
- Quoted, commonly bundled
Securly
On request- Filter$undefined/year
- Web filtering on and off network
- Tiered per-student rates that fall as enrolment rises
- Published in some purchasing co-operative catalogues, not on the vendor site
- Aware$undefined/year
- Automated scanning of email, documents and search for safety risk
- Quoted per student, no public rate
- On-Call$undefined/year
- 24/7 human review and escalation of serious alerts
- Quoted per student, priced on top of Aware
- Classroom, MDM and Pass$undefined/year
- Sold as separate per-student modules
- Quoted
Which should you pick?
Choose Lightspeed Systems if
- You need alert.
- You work on Web, iOS, Android, Chrome OS, Windows, macOS.
- You also want insight.
Choose Securly if
- You need aware.
- You work on Web, iOS, Android, Chrome OS, Windows.
- You also want on-call.
Questions people ask
- Is Lightspeed Systems or Securly better?
- Neither clearly leads. Lightspeed Systems starts at On request and Securly at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Lightspeed Systems or Securly?
- Lightspeed Systems starts at On request and Securly at On request.
- Does Lightspeed Systems or Securly run on more platforms?
- Lightspeed Systems runs on Web, iOS, Android, Chrome OS, Windows, macOS. Securly runs on Web, iOS, Android, Chrome OS, Windows.
- What is Lightspeed Systems best used for?
- Lightspeed Systems is most often used for a district with 15,000 take-home chromebooks that needs filtering to follow the device onto home and public networks, a technology director being asked to justify the edtech budget, who can use app usage data to cancel licences nobody opens, a school board that has agreed to safety monitoring but has no staff able to respond to alerts at night, and so buys the human review service, a one-to-one ipad rollout wanting device enrolment, filtering and teacher screen control from one vendor. Of those, a district with 15,000 take-home chromebooks that needs filtering to follow the device onto home and public networks and a technology director being asked to justify the edtech budget, who can use app usage data to cancel licences nobody opens are not what Securly is typically brought in for.
- What can Lightspeed Systems do that Securly cannot?
- Lightspeed Systems covers Alert, Insight, Signal, StopIt. Securly covers Aware, On-Call, Pass, Home. Both handle Filter, Classroom, MDM.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
Lightspeed Systems: How much does Lightspeed Filter cost per student?
Lightspeed does not publish rates. Pricing is quoted per student device per year and varies with district size, module mix and which purchasing co-operative contract you buy through.
Securly: Does Securly publish pricing?
Not on its own site. Tiered per-student rates for Filter appear in some US purchasing co-operative catalogues, falling as enrolment rises, but Aware, On-Call, Classroom, MDM and Pass are quoted.
Lightspeed Systems: Is 24/7 human alert review included with Alert?
No. Alert provides the detection; the staffed round-the-clock review service is an additional purchase, and it is usually what districts actually need.
Securly: What is the difference between Aware and On-Call?
Aware is the automated detection that produces alerts. On-Call is the staffed service that reads the serious ones out of hours and phones your escalation contacts. Buying Aware alone leaves the triage with your own staff.
Lightspeed Systems: Does filtering work when students are at home?
Yes, the agent runs on the device rather than the network, so policy follows the Chromebook or laptop off site.
Securly: Does it filter on home internet?
Yes, filtering follows the managed device rather than the network, which is the point for take-home Chromebook programmes.
Lightspeed Systems: What does Insight actually do for the budget?
It reports which licensed apps are opened and by whom, which districts use to cancel subscriptions with low usage. It also flags whether an app meets named privacy and accessibility standards.
Securly: Is student data used for anything else?
Securly signs the US Student Privacy Pledge and district data processing agreements; check the specific DPA rather than the marketing page, since scanning scope and retention are negotiated terms.
Related pages
More on Lightspeed Systems
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