--- title: "Skyward Student Management Suite Software Pricing, Alternatives & More 2026 | Capterra" description: "With the help of Capterra, learn about Skyward Student Management Suite Software - reviews, pricing plans, popular comparisons to other Access Governance products and more." source_url: "https://www.capterra.com/p/2185/Skyward-School-Management/" page_type: "product" language: "en" publication_date: "2026-10-21" --- # Skyward Student Management Suite Software Review 2026: Features, Integrations, Pros & Cons Last updated on October 21, 2026 Provider data verified by our Software Research team, and reviews moderated by our Reviews Verification team. [Description](#description)[Use cases](#use-cases)[Alternatives](#alternatives)[FAQs](#faqs)[Features](#features)[Pricing](#pricing)[Support](#support)[Reviews](#reviews) Skyward Student Management Suite ## What is Skyward Student Management Suite? Skyward offers a K-12 student information system and enterprise resource planning software. It provides solutions for school districts and municipalities. The student information system manages administrative tasks, classroom tools, family engagement, and student services. The ERP handles human resources, fiscal management, payroll and timeclocks, employee portals, and asset management. Skyward aims to streamline workflows and provide a better experience for administrators, office staff, teachers, parents, and students. The software provides reporting, training, and support to help schools operate more efficiently. ## What is Skyward Student Management Suite used for? [K-12](https://www.capterra.com/k-12-software/)[Student Information System](https://www.capterra.com/student-information-system-software/)[School Management](https://www.capterra.com/school-administration-software/) Top alternative Featured Overall rating Based on 157 user reviews Reviews sentiment Positive 83% Neutral 8% Negative 9% Starting price $30000 Per Year Free trial not available Free version not included 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 Skyward Student Management Suite?[Manage this product listing](https://www.g2.com/products/skyward-student-information-system/claim_requests/new?auto=true) ## 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. ### Skyward Student Management Suite 4.2 (157) VS. [4.6 (455)](https://www.capterra.com/p/133283/Alma/reviews/) Starting Price $30000 Per Year Starting Price Contact vendor Free Trial Free Version Pricing Options Free Trial Free Version Ease Of Use 3.9 (157) Ease Of Use 4.5 (429) Value For Money 4.1 (77) Value For Money 4.5 (374) Customer Service 4.0 (86) Customer Service 4.7 (371) ## Skyward Student Management Suite alternatives Highest Rated [4.8 (75)](https://www.capterra.com/p/197828/DreamClass/reviews/) Starting price $99.00 Per User, Per Month Pricing Options Free Trial Free Version User Rating 99% of reviewers rated it above 4 stars [4.6 (200)](https://www.capterra.com/p/173831/Tuio/reviews/) Starting price $500.00 Per User, Per Month Pricing Options Free Trial Free Version User Rating 96% of reviewers rated it above 4 stars [4.2 (92)](https://www.capterra.com/p/10010511/Administrator-s-Plus/reviews/) Starting price $4000.00 Per User, Per Month Pricing Options Free Trial Free Version User Rating 77% of reviewers rated it above 4 stars [iGradePlus](https://www.capterra.com/p/121762/iGradePlus/) [4.7 (429)](https://www.capterra.com/p/121762/iGradePlus/reviews/) Starting price Contact vendor for pricing Pricing Options Free Trial Free Version User Rating 98% of reviewers rated it above 4 stars [Learn More](https://www.capterra.com/p/121762/iGradePlus/) [View all alternatives](https://www.capterra.com/p/2185/Skyward-School-Management/alternatives/) ## FAQs about Skyward Student Management Suite Overview ### What problems does Skyward Student Management Suite solve? Skyward Student Management Suite solves fragmented student-record and school operations workflows by centralizing grades, attendance, schedules, enrollment, contact details, IEP documentation, and district reporting. Teachers save time on daily attendance and grade entry, while administrators, counselors, special education staff, and families gain current student progress data, communication tools, and online registration access. Answer based on 121 reviews Overview ### Which roles and teams benefit most from Skyward Student Management Suite? Skyward Student Management Suite is most used by teachers, school administrators, office staff, and families managing day-to-day student information. Teachers track grades, attendance, and course progress; principals and program leaders oversee records and reporting; secretaries support enrollment and communication; parents and students monitor assignments, schedules, and academic updates. Answer based on 151 reviews Overview ### What company size and industries is Skyward Student Management Suite built for? Skyward Student Management Suite is for K-12 schools and districts, primarily small organizations (52%) in Education Management (57%). It also serves enterprise institutions (26%) and midsize organizations (22%), including Primary/Secondary Education (9%) and E-Learning (6%) users throughout the United States and at American embassy schools abroad. Answer based on 157 reviews Features and Usability ### What are the key features of Skyward Student Management Suite? Skyward Student Management Suite includes core access features such as the Information Hub, Mobile App, and Student Portal. Its most-discussed functions are Student Information/Records for maintaining student biographical and contact details, Gradebook for entering grades, and the Parent/Student Portal for giving families and students access to relevant school information. Answer based on 15 reviews Getting Started and Support ### How easy is it to onboard and train a team on Skyward Student Management Suite? Skyward Student Management Suite offers in-person training, live online sessions, webinars, and documentation. Reviewers say new staff, teachers, parents, and students can learn routine tasks with training, but administrators and users working with gradebooks, financial tools, settings, and reports often face a steep learning curve and need ongoing guidance. Answer based on 24 reviews Getting Started and Support ### What customer support options does Skyward Student Management Suite offer, and how do users rate the experience? Skyward Student Management Suite offers chat support. Users often describe chat as a quick, efficient way to resolve issues, with some noting helpful follow-up and fast solutions. However, experiences vary: some report longer response waits, dismissive assistance, and support that does not fully address complex needs. Answer based on 15 reviews Security ### How does Skyward Student Management Suite handle data security and access control? Skyward Student Management Suite protects data through secure separate logins, access limited to users’ needs, and activity logs that record who made changes and when. Reviewers describe privacy and student information as secure. However, frequent password expirations, lockouts, and reset issues can hinder access, and one reviewer notes the lack of two-factor authentication. Answer based on 14 reviews Features and Usability ### How easy is Skyward Student Management Suite to use? Skyward Student Management Suite gives educators, district staff, and families access to core tasks after initial training, with modules for grades, reports, and communication. Many users find daily work manageable and organized, but new users can face a steep learning curve, crowded navigation, confusing charts, and less friendly mobile workflows. Answer based on 45 reviews Features and Usability ### How well does Skyward Student Management Suite manage grades? Skyward Student Management Suite keeps grades visible and current for teachers, students, and families through online gradebooks, assignment details, and progress tracking. Educators value quick score entry, grade edits, and parent communication, while some teachers find gradebook setup, reporting, extra credit, and importing grades from external learning platforms time-consuming. Answer based on 44 reviews ## Features AI summary Based on 1,318 Access Governance reviews Capterra data shows that buyers of K-12 software rank the following features as their top priorities: - **Attendance Tracking** (**49%** of reviewers rated this feature as critical) - **Student Information/Records** (**45%**) - **Gradebook** (**56%**) Skyward Student Management Suite supports all three of the features reviewers rate most important: **Attendance Tracking**, **Student Information/Records**, and **Gradebook**. Together, these capabilities help schools monitor student presence, maintain accurate academic and administrative records, and track grading in one system, allowing teams to make informed decisions and keep day-to-day school operations running efficiently. Attendance Tracking 4.0 (7) 114.29% of 7 reviewers that rated this feature as important or highly important Track the attendance of specific individuals or groups Student Information/Records 4.1 (15) 60.00% of 15 reviewers that rated this feature as important or highly important Create lists of student grades, transcripts, class lists, course schedules, etc. to be shared with instructors and administration Gradebook 3.8 (17) 64.71% of 17 reviewers that rated this feature as important or highly important Track student's scores and grades on course materials Learning Management 4.0 (8) 37.50% of 8 reviewers that rated this feature as important or highly important Organize and track educational activities Class Scheduling 3.6 (17) 58.82% of 17 reviewers that rated this feature as important or highly important Schedule in-person or online classes Parent/Student Portal 3.9 (17) 64.71% of 17 reviewers that rated this feature as important or highly important Online gateway through which parents and students can view material and communicate with teachers Skyward Student Management Suite 49 features ### All Features - Accounts Payable: Track money owed to a company's creditors/suppliers - Admissions Management: Handle the registration and admission process for existing and new students - Assessment Management: Creation, administration, and evaluation of assessments or tests - Attendance Management: Manage attendance for classes, shifts, meetings, or events - Attendance Tracking: Track the attendance of specific individuals or groups - Billing & Invoicing: Create, manage, and send invoices or bills to customers - Budgeting/Forecasting: Create budgets based on historical data and future projections - Built-in LMS: LMS functionality built-in for content delivery - Cafeteria Management: Manage cafeteria operations such as menu creation, payment processing, order intake, or vendor management - Class Registration: Online registration for classes - Class Scheduling: Schedule in-person or online classes - Classroom Management: Plan and schedule lessons and maintain students' behavior in the classroom - Collaboration Tools: Provides a channel for team members to share AI models, media files, communicate, and work together - Communication Management: Manage and track all internal and external communication conducted via calls, email, text, or chat - Course Management: Create, organize, and assign courses to users - Curriculum Management: Map out the subjects that comprise courses of study - Discipline Management: Allow staff users to manage and track disciplinary interactions with students and to view individual student's discipline records - Enrollments/Onboarding: Manage the enrollment and onboarding of all new members and accepted applications - Faculty/Staff Management: Track and manage staff profiles, recruitment, schedules, productivity, career development and performance - Fee Management: Track collected or paid charges for services performed or access granted - Financial Management: Plan, manage, and track the financial activities of an individual or organization - For Classroom: The software is designed for classrooms - For Schools: Designed to be used by kindergarten, primary, middle, and senior secondary schools. - Fund Accounting: Manage revenue acquired through grants, donations, and other sources (accountability vs. profitability) - General Ledger: Centralized accounting record which tracks all financial transactions - Gradebook: Track student's scores and grades on course materials - Independent/Private: Software designed for private/independent schools - Information Hub: A centralized repository of all information that might be useful to students - K-12: Software designed for kindergarten through 12th grade schools - Learning Management: Organize and track educational activities - Mobile App: Access the system via a mobile application - Online Calendar: Online calendar of upcoming events/activities viewable to members and visitors - Online Payments: Accept and process online payment transactions - Parent Portal: Portal for parents to see and update childrens' info, track progress & more - Parent/Student Portal: Online gateway through which parents and students can view material and communicate with teachers - Payroll Management: Manage employee salary processes, data, taxes, and records administration efficiently - Progress Reports: Document and report the progress of ongoing projects - Purchasing & Receiving: Workflows that help acquire inventory, issue purchase orders and receive and store items in required quantity - Real-Time Chat: Engage in direct, instant messaging with customers, users, etc. - Remote Access/Control: Access work applications remotely, for when working away from the office and/or traveling - Report Cards: Create, manage, and distribute student reports that document their academic progress and achievements - Reporting & Statistics: Collection, analysis, and representation of numerical data and generation of reports to understand various patterns - Reporting/Analytics: View and track pertinent metrics to find patterns and gain insights from data - School District: Software designed for school districts - Special Education: Software designed for special education institutions - Student Information/Records: Create lists of student grades, transcripts, class lists, course schedules, etc. to be shared with instructors and administration - Student Management: Database of students to track personal information of individuals and families - Tests/Assessments: Create tools to measure student retention of learning material and lessons - Transcripts: Export text transcripts for the chat between two or more individuals --- Get Advice We can help you find the software with the features you need. Features 4.2 (155) 4.2 Based on 155 reviews ## Pricing Value for money 4.1 (77) Basic $30,000 Per Year Value for money 4.1 (77) 4.1 Based on 77 reviews Connect with a Capterra advisor for a free 15-minute consultation Get a personalized software list aligned to your business needs with guidance from our expert advisors. Our team has helped 1 million+ businesses like yours find options that fit their needs. ## Support, customer service and training options Customer Service 4.0 (86) 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 4.0 (86) 4.0 Based on 86 reviews ## User reviews Overall rating 4.2 Based on 157 reviews Filter by rating 5(84) 4(47) 3(12) 2(3) 1(11) Mentioned topic Sorted by most recent Ryan W. Parent Education Management ### "How Does Any School District Use This Garbage?" 1.0 Overall Rating 1.0 1.0 Ease of Use 1.0 1.0 Features 1.0 1.0 Customer Service 1.0 1.0 Likelihood to Recommend 0/10 September 29, 2026 Pitiful. Clean this garbage website up to make it more user friendly for starters. Then, add email threading that allows the parents to reply directly within an email rather than having to login. Pros Not a darn thing. How in the heck does this management software have anything other than a 1 star review? The software is so convoluted and confusing I want to just switch back to paper notices for everything. Cons Everything. I don't like the layout, it's FAR too cluttered. I don't like that I get 12 emails a day from both of my kids schools. I don't like that I have to decode abbreviations to figure out report cards. I don't like that you can't simply reply from an email to respond to a teacher's email - I have to login to this god forsaken website and reply there. This isn't making communication easier, it puts an extra path in the way. Review source Non-incentivized review: any software user can leave a review for any product listed on our site. All submitted reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication. Teresa L. Counselor Education Management ### "Staying in the Know - Grades, Assignments and More" 4.0 Overall Rating 4.0 4.0 Ease of Use 4.0 4.0 Features 4.0 4.0 Customer Service 1.0 1.0 Likelihood to Recommend 8/10 August 29, 2026 Overall, I really enjoyed learning how to use this tool and even showing parents and students how to use to stay on top of their grades, advocating for themselves and parents to stay in the know. Pros Skyward was one of the frist tools I used to help with school communication and grades for my students and my own children. Once I learned how to navigate both online and desktop features, I felt more in control of what was going in my classroom and with my own children. I like the fact it was secure and that it made it easy to manage grades for both teachers and students. Cons From the use of it as a teacher and parent, I honestly don't have any complaints at this time. Like any software, it's great until it's not, or if there are technological glitches, which, thank goodness, I haven't experienced to date. Review source Non-incentivized review: any software user can leave a review for any product listed on our site. All submitted reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication. AK Austin K. SHUT UP Airlines/Aviation ### "Skyward better than anything" 5.0 Overall Rating 5.0 5.0 Ease of Use 5.0 5.0 Features 4.0 4.0 Customer Service 4.0 4.0 Likelihood to Recommend 10/10 June 10, 2026 Pros It really helps with managing grades to see if you need help of to improve and it is really fun to go on to compete with who has the best grades Cons P.S. I use it for Marysville Middle School and it is amazing to use for your grade and if you get ungrounded Review source Non-incentivized review: any software user can leave a review for any product listed on our site. All submitted reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication. Response from Vendor June 16, 2026 Thanks for the review, Austin. We're so glad you find Skyward easy to use for managing grades! BS Ben S. Infrastructure Architect Education Management ### "The Skyward Student Management Suite is the best solution for SIS in K-12" 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 27, 2026 The Skyward Student Management Suite has been a major improvement over the past two SIS/BIS systems we have used with the ISD. Support has been excellent, it easily integrates with ClassLink and MFA, and the system has been extremely easy to maintain and upgrade. Pros The Skyward Student Management Suite is the best available SIS/BIS for K-12. The product is 100% web based, all Windows integrated software with IIS and MSSQL, is fast, efficient, and the best database table layout of any product we have every used. 10/10 Cons The only real improvement I would like to see with the Skyward Student Management Suite would be the ability to easily identify and kill long and expensive reports that can slow down the system. Switched from [Focus/SIS](https://www.capterra.com/p/54489/Focus-SIS/) Focus is entirely Linux based as the only OS option. The vendor could not support the product in any way. Focus had no trained developers to be able to handle all the problems related to the operating system. Focus was slow, unreliable, and full of critical bugs that were never able to be resolved by the Focus developers. Alternatives considered [Infinite Campus SIS](https://www.capterra.com/p/188836/Infinite-Campus/) Reasons for choosing Skyward Student Management Suite The Skyward Student Management Suit was simply the best overall product due to cost, speed, support, compatibility, and legal requirements. Review source Non-incentivized review: any software user can leave a review for any product listed on our site. All submitted reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication. Response from Vendor June 16, 2026 Thank you for your review, Ben! We appreciate your feedback and are happy to hear how Skyward has made it easier to integrate with other programs you and your district use. We're also glad to hear you've had positive support experiences. Kimberly L. Teacher Primary/Secondary Education ### "User Experience... have you heard of it?" 1.0 Overall Rating 1.0 1.0 Ease of Use 1.0 1.0 Features 3.0 3.0 Customer Service 3.0 3.0 Likelihood to Recommend 0/10 October 2, 2025 Honestly, it's an outdated system with a terribly overcomplicated setup, and the worst setup ever. If I could, I'd stick with a better option. Pros Skyward is a fairly complex and comprehensive system with plenty of options for employees to use at work, and decent privacy systems. Cons We recently had to switch over to Skyward because the state required it. It's been an utter nightmare. We've had more problems with expense reimbursement and student and teacher management than we've ever had. Switched from [isolved](https://www.capterra.com/p/164417/iSolved/) The state required us to use the approved system. 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. Response from Vendor October 3, 2025 In reading your review, we are pretty sure your school is not using the latest version of Skyward (Qmlativ). Our newest platform is a more modern, intuitive version of Skyward. We are in the process of getting customers moved over, however with 2500+ customers it's a large undertaking that, unfortunately, can't happen overnight. Hopefully once your district is on Qmlativ, you'll have a better experience. AW Amanda W. Sub Education Management ### "CRAPPY APP - DO BETTER " 1.0 Overall Rating 1.0 1.0 Ease of Use 1.0 1.0 Features 1.0 1.0 Customer Service 1.0 1.0 Likelihood to Recommend 0/10 September 6, 2025 CRAPPY. I've had this app for 5-6 years now and I've only ever been able to log into it 3 times. I hate that. It's really annoying Pros Can see the kids grades and that's about it. I don't like much else about the app. It's not user friendly Cons Customer support SUCKS. Can't log in half the time because the website/app forgets your password. Says you will get an email soon but never sends one. App is not user friendly. Every time I try to log in it forgets my password and I have to contact I.T. for a reset and even if I remember my password it will still not let me log in if I log out after that. Absolutely ridiculous. Review source Non-incentivized review: any software user can leave a review for any product listed on our site. All submitted reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication. Response from Vendor September 8, 2025 We’re sorry you had a negative experience with our mobile app, Amanda. We don’t typically hear of the login issues you’ve been experiencing. Many people find the app to be a great resource. PN Pam N. Principal Education Management ### "Great info for parents " 5.0 Overall Rating 5.0 5.0 Ease of Use 5.0 5.0 Features 5.0 5.0 Customer Service 0.0 0.0 Likelihood to Recommend 8/10 July 23, 2025 Pros Easy access to all of the student information such as schedule, contact info, test scores, records, etc. Cons It doesn’t really give a place to reach out to teachers directly. Or it’s not easy to find if it is an option. Review source Non-incentivized review: any software user can leave a review for any product listed on our site. All submitted reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication. KL Kara L. Director of Business Services Education Management ### "Good experiend" 4.0 Overall Rating 4.0 4.0 Ease of Use 4.0 4.0 Features 4.0 4.0 Customer Service 2.0 2.0 Likelihood to Recommend 8/10 February 28, 2025 We only the use the Skyward's financial system. We use it for every financial aspect of running our District. Overall, the experience has been positive, we have become more efficient with timekeeping and time cards and Q has allowed other staff to record transactions which saves the business office from having to touch everything. Pros Initially, I started on the SMS version and loved it. It was so easy to use, had great reporting and provided me what I needed. I am now on Q and the District users like this . They find it easier to use compared to our old software. Cons I wish there were more useful reports and that the reports that are available, I wish they had the ability to limit the data or query it. I also wish that support was quicker with responses. The capital asset module is very disappointing. There could be so many useful reports added but it's like they started developing it and then just suddenly stopped and called it good. Review source Non-incentivized review: any software user can leave a review for any product listed on our site. All submitted reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication. Response from Vendor March 4, 2025 Thank you for your review, Kara! We appreciate your feedback and hope your district continues to enjoy Qmlativ's finance system. JB James B. Student Accounting ### "Best app! Easy to mess with!" 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 January 24, 2025 If your looking for a app that shows grades! THIS IS THE ONE YOU NEED! 10/10 Pros I love how the layout of it is. It makes it easy and I love the app itself it tells my grades. Cons The Charts are a little confusing but other wise great Switched from [GRADEpro](https://www.capterra.com/p/10014603/GRADEpro/) It's does not to as good with layout! 10/10 Review source Non-incentivized review: any software user can leave a review for any product listed on our site. All submitted reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication. Response from Vendor January 27, 2025 Thank you for your review, James! We hope you have a great rest of your school year! HE Holly E. Special Education Administrative Assistant Education Management ### "Skyward Student Management Review" 4.0 Overall Rating 4.0 4.0 Ease of Use 4.0 4.0 Features 4.0 4.0 Customer Service 4.0 4.0 Likelihood to Recommend 7/10 December 17, 2024 I spent five years as an elementary secretary. The trainings offered and skydoc are really useful. Pros The ease of reports and data mining creativity. Cons I honestly do not use much as I do special education mostly. Switched from [DMSchedules: Special Education](https://www.capterra.com/p/209026/Special-Education/) Easier product to use and share with 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. Response from Vendor December 23, 2024 Thank you for the review, Holly! We appreciate your feedback and hope you have a wonderful 2025-26 school year. [View all Reviews](https://www.capterra.com/p/2185/Skyward-School-Management/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. 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