# Mainstay Software Pricing, Alternatives & More 2026 | Capterra > With the help of Capterra, learn about Mainstay Software - reviews, pricing plans, popular comparisons to other Higher Education products and more. Source: https://www.capterra.com/p/198624/AdmitHub --- # Mainstay Software Review 2026: Features, Integrations, Pros & Cons Last updated on March 13, 2026 Provider data verified by our Software Research team, and reviews moderated by our Reviews Verification team. Independent research methodology Capterra’s researchers use a mix of verified reviews, independent research and objective methodologies to bring you selection and ranking information you can trust. While we may earn a referral fee when you visit a provider through our links or speak to an advisor, this has no influence on our research or methodology. [Learn more](https://www.capterra.com/resources/proprietary-data-research/) How Capterra verifies reviews Capterra carefully verified over 2.5 million+ reviews to bring you authentic software experiences from real users. Our human moderators verify that reviewers are real people and that reviews are authentic. They use leading tech to analyze text quality and to detect plagiarism and generative AI. [Learn more](https://www.capterra.com/resources/how-we-verify-reviews/) How Capterra ensures transparency Capterra lists all providers across its website—not just those that pay us—so that users can make informed purchase decisions. Capterra is free for users. Software providers pay us for sponsored profiles to receive web traffic and sales opportunities. Sponsored profiles include a link-out icon that takes users to the provider’s website. [Learn more](https://www.capterra.com/resources/how-we-ensure-transparency/) [Description](#description)[Use cases](#use-cases)[Alternatives](#alternatives)[Features](#features)[Pricing](#pricing)[Integrations](#integrations)[Support](#support)[Reviews](#reviews) Mainstay ## What is Mainstay? Mainstay is the student engagement platform that's powered by behaviorally intelligent chatbots. It is purpose-built to positively influence students and guide them throughout their academic journeys. Hundreds of higher education institutions and college access networks have partnered with Mainstay to support millions of students. With a research-backed approach to student engagement, Mainstay is proven to close equity gaps, boost enrollment, and improve retention. ## What is Mainstay used for? [Student Engagement Platform](https://www.capterra.com/student-engagement-platform-software/)[Higher Education](https://www.capterra.com/higher-education-software/) Top alternative Featured Overall rating Based on 10 user reviews Reviews sentiment Positive \- Neutral \- Negative \- Contact vendor for pricing Free trial not available Capterra Shortlist charts the highest-rated and most popular products... Our "Best of" badge program showcases products with the highest ratings... Our "Best of" badge program showcases products with the highest ratings... Do you work for Mainstay?[Manage this product listing](https://digitalmarkets.gartner.com/get-listed/claim-bx?url=http://www.mainstay.com&name=Mainstay) ## Compare with a popular alternative Capterra selects software alternatives based on relevant features, verified user reviews and user interactions. Placement may be influenced by client status. ### Mainstay 5.0 (10) VS. [4.7 (704)](https://www.capterra.com/p/152997/BirdEye/reviews/) Starting Price Contact vendor Starting Price Contact vendor Free Trial Free Version Pricing Options Free Trial Free Version Ease Of Use 4.9 (10) Ease Of Use 4.7 (2,889) Value For Money 4.9 (7) Value For Money 4.5 (1,625) Customer Service 4.9 (10) Customer Service 4.6 (1,428) ## Mainstay alternatives [Kahoot!](https://www.capterra.com/p/156399/Kahoot/) [4.7 (2,889)](https://www.capterra.com/p/156399/Kahoot/reviews/) Starting price $17.00 Per User, Per Month Pricing Options Free Trial Free Version User Rating 98% of reviewers rated it above 4 stars [Learn More](https://www.capterra.com/p/156399/Kahoot/) [ClassPoint](https://www.capterra.com/p/209840/ClassPoint/) [4.8 (266)](https://www.capterra.com/p/209840/ClassPoint/reviews/) Starting price $96.00 Per User, Per Month Pricing Options Free Trial Free Version User Rating 98% of reviewers rated it above 4 stars [Learn More](https://www.capterra.com/p/209840/ClassPoint/) [Vevox](https://www.capterra.com/p/185114/Vevox/) [4.8 (410)](https://www.capterra.com/p/185114/Vevox/reviews/) Starting price Contact vendor for pricing Pricing Options Free Trial Free Version User Rating 99% of reviewers rated it above 4 stars [Learn More](https://www.capterra.com/p/185114/Vevox/) Highest Rated [Wayground](https://www.capterra.com/p/207437/Quizizz/) [4.8 (544)](https://www.capterra.com/p/207437/Quizizz/reviews/) Starting price $99.00 Per User, Per Month Pricing Options Free Trial Free Version User Rating 98% of reviewers rated it above 4 stars [Learn More](https://www.capterra.com/p/207437/Quizizz/) [View all alternatives](https://www.capterra.com/p/198624/AdmitHub/alternatives/) ## Features Features with the highest number of reviews are displayed first. Those that have no reviews appear next, sorted alphabetically. Communication Management 5.0 (1) 100.00% of 1 reviewers that rated this feature as important or highly important Manage and track all internal and external communication conducted via calls, email, text, or chat Event Calendar 5.0 (1) 100.00% of 1 reviewers that rated this feature as important or highly important A list of events with their respective dates Third-Party Integrations 5.0 (1) 0.00% of 1 reviewers that rated this feature as important or highly important Set up connections to third-party platforms to improve business processes Activity Dashboard Dashboard to view the status of ongoing processes, identify current incidents and track past activities Activity Tracking Track and document all activities across devices, networks, and other systems Alerts/Notifications Alerts or notifications of various types such as pop-up messages, sounds, banners, or badges Mainstay 27 features Dashboard to view the status of ongoing processes, identify current incidents and track past activities Track and document all activities across devices, networks, and other systems Alerts or notifications of various types such as pop-up messages, sounds, banners, or badges Application programming interface that allows for integration with other systems/databases Communicate using direct chat or messages within the system Manage and track all internal and external communication conducted via calls, email, text, or chat Add customized logos and colors to align with company branding Alter the layout and content of reports A list of events with their respective dates Manage information and/or provide updates regarding student financial aid Software designed for higher education organizations Store, manage and track all forms in a centralized location Software designed for kindergarten through 12th grade schools Observe and track the demand, usage, progress or quality of a system, product, or user A set of indicators that tracks the performance of networks, applications, systems, teams, etc. Enable custom polls/voting to facilitate decision-making or increase engagement Analyze and gain insights into data in real-time Receive data and information in real time Notifications that are delivered to users as soon as an event occurs Timed notification for any upcoming task, deadline, appointment, or activity Collection, analysis, and representation of numerical data and generation of reports to understand various patterns View and track pertinent metrics to find patterns and gain insights from data Search and filter data across systems to locate required information by entering keywords or certain criteria Online portal through which end users can access the system, manage tasks, or obtain information Database of students to track personal information of individuals and families Gauge satisfaction and receive information for improvement and success Set up connections to third-party platforms to improve business processes Features 4.9 (10) 4.9 Based on 10 reviews ## Pricing Value for money 4.9 (7) ### Starting price Contact vendor for pricing Free trial available Value for money 4.9 (7) 4.9 Based on 7 reviews ## Integrations [ HubSpot CRM](https://www.capterra.com/p/152373/HubSpot-CRM/)[ Canvas](https://www.capterra.com/p/127214/CANVAS/)[ Blackboard](https://www.capterra.com/p/14500/Blackboard-LMS-for-Business/)[ Oracle PeopleSoft](https://www.capterra.com/p/155958/Oracle-PeopleSoft/)[ Ellucian](https://www.capterra.com/p/135932/Ellucian/)[ Slate](https://www.capterra.com/p/140281/Slate/)[ Salesforce.org Nonprofit Cloud](https://www.capterra.com/p/265078/Salesforceorg-Nonprofit-Cloud/)[ Jenzabar One](https://www.capterra.com/p/132292/Jenzabar-ERP/) ## Support, customer service and training options Customer Service 4.9 (10) Support - Email/Help Desk - FAQs/Forum - Knowledge Base - Phone Support - 24/7 (Live rep) - Chat Training - In Person - Live Online - Webinars - Documentation - Videos Deployment - Web - Android - iPhone/iPad Typical users - Freelancers - Small businesses - Mid size businesses - Enterprises Customer Service 4.9 (10) 4.9 Based on 10 reviews ## User reviews Overall rating 5.0 Based on 10 reviews Filter by rating 5(10) 4(0) 3(0) 2(0) 1(0) Mentioned topic Sorted by most recent SH Sheenah H. Executive Director of Enrollment Services Higher Education ### "Chatbot for Enrollment and Retention" 5.0 Overall Rating 5.0 5.0 Ease of Use 5.0 5.0 Features 5.0 5.0 Customer Service 4.0 4.0 Likelihood to Recommend 10/10 August 23, 2022 Pros The customer service is stellar and the actual AI conversations are highly atuned to higher education. Our students enjoy interacting with the chatbot - both for enrollment and retention purposes. We are able to get valuable student insight in real time with Mainstay. Cons During the implemention, it took a few weeks for us to really see automation start to work. The bot would often say "i'm not sure," which was annoying. It did get better, though - much better! Alternatives considered [Ivy](https://www.capterra.com/p/249588/Ivy/) Review source Incentivized review: software users are invited to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive for their time and effort. All incentivized reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication. DR dr raveenia h. Executive Director Higher Education ### "Highly Recommend Mainstay " 5.0 Overall Rating 5.0 5.0 Ease of Use 5.0 5.0 Features 5.0 5.0 Customer Service 5.0 5.0 Likelihood to Recommend 10/10 December 19, 2021 Thus far we have had an overall wonderful experience. Mainstay has helped Admissions with attracting students and with retaining them too while enrolled. The mms features have kept our students updated and not missing critical deadlines. Further, the reporting tools have helped us quantify and analyze such impacts. Pros It was easy to use, great onboarding and training sessions, and the price was unbeatable for what you get, the flexibility of the product is awesome and covers beyond our scope of use, the backend is easy to use and update information as necessary. Our students love it! Cons Not really. We are still maximizing the full potential of the system for our purposes Reasons for choosing Mainstay price, flexibility, features Review source Incentivized review: software users are invited to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive for their time and effort. All incentivized reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication. Cara D. Assistant Director for the Academic Advisement Center Higher Education ### "AdmitHub (Mainstay) has changed the way we communicate with students!" 5.0 Overall Rating 5.0 5.0 Ease of Use 5.0 5.0 Features 5.0 5.0 Customer Service 5.0 5.0 Likelihood to Recommend 10/10 July 13, 2021 AdmitHub helped us increase retention by 3% for our first to second year students DURING a Pandemic. Not only that, but it was a great resource for us to have when the Pandemic struck so we could keep in contact with our students. It was a very difficult time, but I feel that Coop (our Chatbot) was able to be there for our students. Pros I like that we can personalize the chatbot to fit our mascot's personality. This really helps the students be able to connect and identify with our school and mascot. Cons AdmitHub is fast changing! As a startup, the software is always developing and changing which is great! However, as someone who has been with them since their older software, it is difficult to get caught up with the new features. Thankfully, AdmitHub has done a great job keeping me up to date with these changes and helping me get caught up. Review source Incentivized review: software users are invited to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive for their time and effort. All incentivized reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication. ES Emily S. Admissions Counselor Higher Education ### "AdmitHub Review " 5.0 Overall Rating 5.0 5.0 Ease of Use 4.0 4.0 Features 5.0 5.0 Customer Service 5.0 5.0 Likelihood to Recommend 9/10 June 7, 2021 Pros The best part about AdmitHub is the ability to connect with students without the loss of valuable employee time. Our office sends out mass messages to thousands of students and the chatbot can respond to questions quickly and efficiently. Cons The only improvement for my office would be easier integration with our CRM (Recruit - but we are transitioning to Target X). It would streamline the process so we could contact the list of students quicker and more effectively. Review source Incentivized review: software users are invited to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive for their time and effort. All incentivized reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication. KH Kylie H. Assistant Director, Admissions Communications Higher Education ### "The Best Addition to Our Enrollment Communication Strategy" 5.0 Overall Rating 5.0 5.0 Ease of Use 5.0 5.0 Features 4.0 4.0 Customer Service 5.0 5.0 Likelihood to Recommend 9/10 April 20, 2021 Pros Not only does AdmitHub offer SMS texting, but it also has sophisticated surveying technology, web chat, and Facebook Messenger options. Although we originally purchased the product specifically for texting and AI capabilities, we continue to find new ways to utilize the product - including managing Facebook Messenger and adding the Web Chat to our website. The AdmitHub team is constantly looking for ways to improve the product, and they actively solicit user feedback to ensure updates and features are what the user community needs. Before AdmitHub, we knew that email wasn't always the best way to reach students, but it was our only option. Adding AdmitHub to our multi-modal communication strategy helped us communicate with students more effectively and see more engagement than before. Other departments at the University send us updates and deadline reminders to share via AdmitHub because they know students will take action after receiving a text. Many students come back to the bot with questions (even when they have not received a nudge) because they know they will receive a quick response. Cons As the AdmitHub team frequently adds more features, it has become much easier to integrate with our other communication software - previously it required a ticket, but now you can do it yourself. Reasons for choosing Mainstay The AdmitHub team is easy to work with - they keep us updated on important analytics, new features, and best practices. They offer "Office Hours" webinars to demonstrate their new features and share success stories from partners. These webinars have given us some great ideas to implement in our communications (even things as simple as last-minute reminder invitations to virtual events, which have gotten us big gains in attendee numbers). Review source Incentivized review: software users are invited to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive for their time and effort. All incentivized reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication. SM Sue M. Assistant Provost for Retention Initiatives Education Management ### "The Best Bot for Student Success and Retention!" 5.0 Overall Rating 5.0 5.0 Ease of Use 5.0 5.0 Features 5.0 5.0 Customer Service 5.0 5.0 Likelihood to Recommend 10/10 April 18, 2021 Pros AdmitHub (soon to be Mainstay) is, by far, the best student success and retention tool I have used in my 30+ years in higher education! The quality, ease of use, features and functionality of the bot make it all highly effective. The bot answers our students’ seemingly countless questions in a matter of seconds, 24-7; allows us to send nudges about important matters; engages students in creative ways that enable us to understand their needs; and enables our staff to spend more time having meaningful interactions with students. As if that weren’t enough, Admithub's (soon to be Mainstay's) customer support is highly personalized and beyond exceptional! Cons I honestly can't think of any downsides or features I like the least! Review source Incentivized review: software users are invited to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive for their time and effort. All incentivized reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication. JA Jason A. Associate Director Marketing & Communication Higher Education ### "Allegheny loves our AdmitHub chatbot." 5.0 Overall Rating 5.0 5.0 Ease of Use 5.0 5.0 Features 5.0 5.0 Customer Service 5.0 5.0 Likelihood to Recommend 10/10 April 16, 2021 AdmitHub offers us a way to connect with students that is both high tech yet also very personalized and highly personal. Our students develop a rapport with the bot and become quite attached. We get responses via AdmitHub campaigns quicker and with response rate compared to email or print. It's a vital part of our communication stream to students. Pros The ease of developing message campaigns, some with complex decision trees, is one of the best features of AdmitHub, but it's hard to overlook the artificial intelligence knowledge base as the key feature. It handles the bulk of student questions and allows for a lot of customization. AdmitHub is easy to use, didn't require laborious set-up and constantly offers improvements and new features. Customer service is beyond compare. Cons It's hard, nearly impossible, to say what I like least. Viewing replies used to be slightly more time consuming but improvements have been made in that area already. It's really as close to perfect for software as you can get. Reasons for choosing Mainstay AdmitHub's customer service and innovative artificial intelligence were huge factors in our choice. We knew we could find ways to send SMS messages but it didn't solve the problem of staff time needed to answer replies from this new communication stream. Our bots AI's handles the overwhelming majority of questions so it's like having an additional staff member or two on the team. Review source Incentivized review: software users are invited to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive for their time and effort. All incentivized reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication. JH Jandro H. Associate Director of Admissions Higher Education ### "Game Changer" 5.0 Overall Rating 5.0 5.0 Ease of Use 5.0 5.0 Features 5.0 5.0 Customer Service 5.0 5.0 Likelihood to Recommend 10/10 April 15, 2021 The team at Admithub from the top to our consultant have been great, real people who understand the every hustle and grind of Higher Education, they hear are our issues and work with us on developing new campaigns that we may not have considered. Pros The best part about the software is how easy it was to implement and start using, every week we get more comfortable with the software and are able to deploy more elaborate campaigns. The response rate from a text campaign compared to an email campaign is unbelievable. Cons All of the features are great and easy to use, we have no found any issues that we do not enjoy. Review source Incentivized review: software users are invited to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive for their time and effort. All incentivized reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication. SH Sheenah H. Executive Director of Enrollment Services Higher Education ### "Reggie to the Rescue!" 5.0 Overall Rating 5.0 5.0 Ease of Use 5.0 5.0 Features 5.0 5.0 Customer Service 5.0 5.0 Likelihood to Recommend 10/10 April 13, 2021 Working with Admithub has been much more like building a friendship than a client/vendor relationship. They truly believe in helping us engage with our students in a meaningful way and are passionate about bettering their products to assist us. Admithub is extremely sensitive to our needs and responsive in any support issues that may come up. They listen to our feedback, which creates an organic two-way street which has strengthened the relationship. Pros Working with the system has been really easy, from implementation to maintenance. Using conversational AI to engage students and retain relationships has been instrumental for our institution. The ability to send surveys has been extremely helpful in making data-driven decisions, especially throughout the global pandemic. The system itself is easy to train end-users on. The company is always working towards continuous improvement and really values client relationships. Cons Sometimes getting the information off of a survey requires a little bit of finagling; it isn't initially intuitive. Reasons for choosing Mainstay Cost-effective, friendly and not pushy sales reps, higher-education focused only, demonstration was very effective and strong. Review source Incentivized review: software users are invited to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive for their time and effort. All incentivized reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication. JC Jared C. Vice President for Enrollment and Marketing Higher Education ### "Game Changer " 5.0 Overall Rating 5.0 5.0 Ease of Use 5.0 5.0 Features 5.0 5.0 Customer Service 5.0 5.0 Likelihood to Recommend 9/10 April 13, 2021 Strong experience, the founders I respect immensely: \[SENSITIVE CONTENT HIDDEN\] Pros Being able to engineer digestible student-focused communication journeys via live responsive texts has changed they way we can implement the right conversations at the right time. Cons I wish they would treat all size universities the same with pricing. Reasons for choosing Mainstay Excellence and focus on higher education AI specialization. Review source Incentivized review: software users are invited to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive for their time and effort. All incentivized reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication. [View all Reviews](https://www.capterra.com/p/198624/AdmitHub/reviews/) ## Top-rated software of 2026 ### Fill out the form and we'll send a list of the top-rated software based on real user reviews directly to your inbox. Independent research methodology Capterra's researchers use a mix of verified reviews, independent research and objective methodologies to bring you selection and ranking information you can trust. While we may earn a referral fee when you visit a provider through our links or speak to an advisor, this has no influence on our research or methodology. [Learn more](https://www.capterra.com/resources/proprietary-data-research/) How Capterra verifies reviews Capterra carefully verified over 2.5 million+ reviews to bring you authentic software experiences from real users. Our human moderators verify that reviewers are real people and that reviews are authentic. They use leading tech to analyze text quality and to detect plagiarism and generative AI. 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