Pigeonhole vs Kinderly
Kinderly Together is £137.50 to £550 a year plus VAT when paid annually, for settings of up to 100 children. Pigeonhole is from £4.13 a month, and £16.50 for 40 children, with every feature included.
£77 a year less than Kinderly.
| Children | Pigeonhole, a year | Kinderly, a year | You save |
|---|---|---|---|
| 15 | £49.56 | £137.50 | £87.94 |
| 30 | £99 | £275 | £176 |
| 60 | £198 | £275 | £77 |
| 90 | £297 | £550 | £253 |
| 120 | £396 | Not published | — |
| 150 | £495 | Not published | — |
| 200 | £660 | Not published | — |
Kinderly: Paid annually: £137.50 a year up to 20 children, £275 for 21 to 60 and £550 for 61 to 100, +VAT. Over 100 children is by quote. Source
A year is twelve months of each provider's cheapest published plan at that size. All prices exclude VAT. One-off setup or training fees are left out of the chart and listed below. Checked 10 November 2026; prices change, so please check before deciding.
Where Pigeonhole stands out against Kinderly
The whole nursery, not just the journal
Registers, council funding forms, occupancy, safeguarding and invoicing sit alongside learning journals, in the one price.
Kinderly: Its plans list observations, assessment, parent communication, invoicing and daily diaries. Source
Published prices at every size
Prices are public at every size, including above 100 children.
Kinderly: Over 100 children is by quote. Source
Nothing renews behind your back
A year at a time with no automatic renewal.
Kinderly: Subscriptions renew automatically unless cancelled, with one month's notice. Source
The price, line by line
| Kinderly | Pigeonhole | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Kinderly: Small (up to 20) £12.50, Medium (21 to 60) £25 and Large (61 to 100) £50 a month +VAT, or £137.50, £275 and £550 a year. Over 100 children by quote. Source | Pigeonhole: From £4.13 a month, set by the number of children; £16.50 a month for 40 children. Every feature in every size, billed annually, ex VAT. |
| Contract | Kinderly: Renews automatically each month or year, with one month's notice to cancel and no refund of fees paid. Source | Pigeonhole: A year at a time, and it doesn't renew automatically. Cancel within 30 days for a full refund, or later for a refund of every whole month left. |
| Setup | Kinderly: Not stated on its pricing page. Source | Pigeonhole: No setup fee for standard onboarding. |
| Free trial | Kinderly: A free 30-day trial. Source | Pigeonhole: 30 days with every feature switched on, no card needed. |
| What's included | Kinderly: Its plans list observations, assessment, cohort trackers, parent communication, invoicing and expense tracking, and daily diaries. Source | Pigeonhole: Everything: registers, learning journals, invoicing, council funding forms, custom forms, safeguarding, occupancy, the parent app and more, at every size. |
Kinderly's details are from its own website, checked on 10 November 2026. Where it doesn't publish something, we've said so rather than guess. Prices change, so please check before deciding.
What every nursery gets with Pigeonhole
Everything, at every size
No modules and no add-ons. The register, learning journals, termly reviews, invoicing, council funding forms, custom forms, safeguarding and occupancy are in the one price, so the only thing that changes it is the number of children.
Council funding forms, done for you
Parents fill in and sign their council's funding declaration online, and you get a correctly completed form every term. If your council isn't set up yet, upload its form and we'll add it.
Invoices from the sessions children attend
Invoices are worked out from each child's sessions, funded hours and extras, then synced to Xero or QuickBooks.
A parent app with nothing to set up
Families get photos, the care diary, news, invoices and forms on iPhone or Android, with a Face ID or fingerprint lock. It already works for every family at your nursery.
Learning journals written faster
Staff capture a photo and a rough note or a voice note, and AI turns it into a written observation for a manager to approve.
Built for a shared room tablet
The staff app signs people in with a PIN, so a key person can do observations and termly reviews on the room's tablet in a quiet moment.
Where Kinderly is strong
Kinderly is low-cost, with a plan for childminders and nannies. It offers a free 30-day trial and free one-to-one tutorials, and Coram PACEY members get 20% off. Source
Moving from Kinderly to Pigeonhole
Kinderly's terms ask for one month's notice to cancel, and fees already paid aren't refunded, so give notice a month before your renewal. Source
Start a free trial
30 days with every feature switched on, and no card. Run it alongside your current system until you're happy.
Bring your children and families across
Upload a spreadsheet or an export from your current system, and AI matches each column for you to check. Children come across with their parents, carers and emergency contacts; staff and funding forms import the same way.
Or copy records straight from your old system
The Pigeonhole Chrome extension reads a child's page in your current software and adds them to Pigeonhole, with no export needed.
Switch over between terms
Most nurseries move at the start of a term or month, so invoices and funding claims start cleanly in Pigeonhole.
“Pigeonhole has been the most intuitive and useful software I have used in my career in Early Years.”
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Try Pigeonhole beside Kinderly
30 days with every feature, no card, and no setup fee. Run it alongside your current system until you're sure.