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Education · head to head

Skyward vs Udemy

Skyward logo

Skyward

Education

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

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Udemy logo

Udemy

Education

World's largest marketplace for online learning

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Udemy has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: 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.; Udemy course quality varies significantly as Udemy allows anyone to create and sell courses without vetting
  • They diverge on capability: Skyward covers Qmlativ SIS, Udemy covers Video courses.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Skyward and Udemy actually diverge.

Attributes where Skyward and Udemy differ
AttributeSkywardUdemy
Starting priceOn requestFree
Pricing modelquoteUnknown
Free tierNoYes
FoundedUnknown2010

Identical on both: 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 Skyward

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

Only in Udemy

  • Video courses
  • Quizzes
  • Assignments
  • Certificates
  • Mobile learning
  • Offline viewing
  • Q&A
  • Reviews

What people use each for

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

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 Udemy
  • A Wisconsin or Texas district where state submission deadlines are the dominant compliance burden and prebuilt state packs remove weeks of extract worknot Udemy
  • A district still on the older PaC client-server product deciding whether to migrate to Qmlativ or replace the SIS outrightnot Udemy
  • A county government buying the finance and HR half on its own, separate from any school usenot Udemy

Udemy

  • Skill buildingnot Skyward
  • Career transitionnot Skyward
  • Professional developmentnot Skyward
  • Team trainingnot Skyward

Where each one falls short

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

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.

Udemy

  • Course quality varies significantly as Udemy allows anyone to create and sell courses without vetting
  • No formal credentials or degrees offered, unlike Coursera and edX which offer institution-branded certificates
  • Courses are self-paced with no instructor interaction or support, making structured learning difficult for some students

Pricing, plan by plan

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

Udemy

Free
  • Personal$19/month
    • 11,000+ courses access
  • Team$360/year
    • For 5-20 people

Which should you pick?

Choose Skyward if

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

Choose Udemy if

  • You need video courses.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want quizzes.
Udemy review

Questions people ask

Is Skyward or Udemy better?
Neither clearly leads. Skyward starts at On request and Udemy at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Skyward or Udemy?
Udemy has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for Skyward and Free for Udemy.
Does Skyward or Udemy run on more platforms?
Both run on Web, iOS, Android, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
Can I use Udemy for free?
Yes. Udemy has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Skyward starts at On request.
What is Skyward best used for?
Skyward is most often used for 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 nightly, a wisconsin or texas district where state submission deadlines are the dominant compliance burden and prebuilt state packs remove weeks of extract work, a district still on the older pac client-server product deciding whether to migrate to qmlativ or replace the sis outright, a county government buying the finance and hr half on its own, separate from any school use. Of those, 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 nightly and a wisconsin or texas district where state submission deadlines are the dominant compliance burden and prebuilt state packs remove weeks of extract work are not what Udemy is typically brought in for.
What can Skyward do that Udemy cannot?
Skyward covers Qmlativ SIS, School Business Suite, Position control, Family and student access. Udemy covers Video courses, Quizzes, Assignments, Certificates.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

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.

Udemy: Does Udemy offer team/business pricing?

Yes, Udemy's Team plan costs $360 per user annually for groups of 5 to 20 people, in addition to individual Personal plan at $19/month.

Source
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.

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.

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