Pigeonhole vs Nursery in a Box
Nursery in a Box is £149 to £239 a month per nursery, ex VAT, in three size bands. Pigeonhole is from £4.13 a month, and £16.50 for 40 children, with every feature included.
£1,590 a year less than Nursery in a Box.
| Children | Pigeonhole, a year | Nursery in a Box, a year | You save |
|---|---|---|---|
| 15 | £49.56 | £1,788 | £1,738.44 |
| 30 | £99 | £1,788 | £1,689 |
| 60 | £198 | £2,148 | £1,950 |
| 90 | £297 | £2,148 | £1,851 |
| 120 | £396 | £2,148 | £1,752 |
| 150 | £495 | £2,628 | £2,133 |
| 200 | £660 | £2,628 | £1,968 |
Nursery in a Box: Annual billing: £149 a month up to 55 children, £179 for 56 to 120 and £219 for 121 or more, ex VAT. Monthly billing is £20 a month more. 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 Nursery in a Box
A small nursery pays a small price
Priced in smaller bands by the number of children, so a 20-child pre-school pays far less than a 55-child nursery.
Nursery in a Box: Its smallest band is £149 a month billed annually, for any nursery up to 55 children. Source
Terms you can read first
Our terms are public: a year at a time, no automatic renewal, and a refund for every whole month left if you cancel.
Nursery in a Box: Its contract terms aren't published; the site's terms cover the website only. Source
A month to try it
A 30-day free trial with every feature, and no card needed.
Nursery in a Box: Its pricing page doesn't mention a free trial. Source
The price, line by line
| Nursery in a Box | Pigeonhole | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Nursery in a Box: Small (up to 55 children) £149, Medium (56 to 120) £179 and Large (121 or more) £219 a month billed annually, or £169, £199 and £239 billed monthly, per nursery, ex VAT. 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 | Nursery in a Box: Not published on its website. 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 | Nursery in a Box: No setup fees. Data transfer, configuration and team training are included. Source | Pigeonhole: No setup fee for standard onboarding. |
| Free trial | Nursery in a Box: Its pricing page doesn't mention a free trial. Source | Pigeonhole: 30 days with every feature switched on, no card needed. |
| What's included | Nursery in a Box: Every single-site plan is fully featured. NurseryPay managed payments is an optional £49 per setting a month. Source | Pigeonhole: Everything: registers, learning journals, invoicing, council funding forms, custom forms, safeguarding, occupancy, the parent app and more, at every size. |
Nursery in a Box'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 Nursery in a Box is strong
Nursery in a Box was started by people who ran nurseries themselves. Every single-site plan is fully featured, and data transfer and training are included in the price. Source
Moving from Nursery in a Box to Pigeonhole
Nursery in a Box doesn't publish its contract terms, so check your agreement's notice period and end date before you plan the move. 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 Nursery in a Box
30 days with every feature, no card, and no setup fee. Run it alongside your current system until you're sure.