Softwr

Education · head to head

Elevate vs Skyward

Elevate logo

Elevate

Education

Cognitive skills training app from Elevate Labs covering reading, writing, maths and speaking games

From
Free
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

  • Only Elevate has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Elevate the free tier limits daily games enough that the personalised programme the app is designed around is effectively a paid-only feature.; 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: Elevate covers Daily game sets, Skyward covers Qmlativ SIS.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Elevate and Skyward actually diverge.

Attributes where Elevate and Skyward differ
AttributeElevateSkyward
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelFree with a Pro subscriptionquote
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsiOS, AndroidWeb, iOS, Android

Identical on both: 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 Elevate

  • Daily game sets
  • Personalised training plan
  • Progress tracking
  • Reading and comprehension drills
  • Maths and estimation games
  • Writing and proofreading games

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.

Elevate

  • An adult wanting short daily practice on workplace writing and proofreading skillsnot Skyward
  • Someone preparing for a maths or verbal reasoning assessment who wants low-stakes daily drillsnot Skyward
  • A user comparing Elevate against Lumosity on whether they want practical skills or abstract cognitive gamesnot Skyward
  • A buyer wanting to sample the format on the limited free tier before committing to a subscriptionnot 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 Elevate
  • A Wisconsin or Texas district where state submission deadlines are the dominant compliance burden and prebuilt state packs remove weeks of extract worknot Elevate
  • A district still on the older PaC client-server product deciding whether to migrate to Qmlativ or replace the SIS outrightnot Elevate
  • A county government buying the finance and HR half on its own, separate from any school usenot Elevate

Where each one falls short

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

Elevate

  • The free tier limits daily games enough that the personalised programme the app is designed around is effectively a paid-only feature.
  • As with the brain training category generally, evidence that improved performance on Elevate specific games transfers to broader real-world cognitive or task performance is weaker than marketing framing implies.
  • The annual subscription auto-renews and, as with most mobile subscriptions, must be cancelled through app store settings rather than inside the app itself.
  • Game variety within each skill category is finite, and long-term daily users report the exercises becoming repetitive after extended use.
  • It does not replace structured instruction for skills like reading comprehension or maths where a genuine foundational gap exists; it is practice and drilling rather than teaching from first principles.

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

Elevate

Free
  • Elevate Pro$9.99/month
    • Free tier gives a limited number of games per day
    • Pro unlocks the full game library and personalised training plan
    • Annual Pro plans typically run $44.99 to $59.99, cheaper per month than monthly billing

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 Elevate if

  • You need daily game sets.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on iOS, Android.
  • You also want personalised training plan.
Elevate 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 Elevate or Skyward better?
Neither clearly leads. Elevate starts at Free and Skyward at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Elevate or Skyward?
Elevate has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Elevate and On request for Skyward.
Does Elevate or Skyward run on more platforms?
Elevate runs on iOS, Android. Skyward runs on Web, iOS, Android.
Can I use Elevate for free?
Yes. Elevate has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Skyward starts at On request.
What is Elevate best used for?
Elevate is most often used for an adult wanting short daily practice on workplace writing and proofreading skills, someone preparing for a maths or verbal reasoning assessment who wants low-stakes daily drills, a user comparing elevate against lumosity on whether they want practical skills or abstract cognitive games, a buyer wanting to sample the format on the limited free tier before committing to a subscription. Of those, an adult wanting short daily practice on workplace writing and proofreading skills and someone preparing for a maths or verbal reasoning assessment who wants low-stakes daily drills are not what Skyward is typically brought in for.
What can Elevate do that Skyward cannot?
Elevate covers Daily game sets, Personalised training plan, Progress tracking, Reading and comprehension drills. Skyward covers Qmlativ SIS, School Business Suite, Position control, Family and student access.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Elevate: Is Elevate free?

A limited number of games per day are free. The full library, personalised training plan and progress tracking require Elevate Pro.

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.

Elevate: Does Elevate improve real-world cognitive ability?

It reliably improves performance on the specific games practised. Evidence that this transfers broadly to real-world cognitive or task performance is limited, consistent with the brain training category generally.

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.

Elevate: How is Elevate different from Lumosity?

Elevate focuses on practical skills such as reading, writing and workplace maths, while Lumosity is built around broader abstract memory, attention and reasoning games.

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.

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.

Share

Related pages

More on Elevate

More on Skyward

Keep looking

Other head to heads