If you’re registering students for classes, you need software. But finding the best registration software for classes can be confusing. Every solution has different features and pricing models. Some are customized for specific learners and types of courses, while others seem determined to serve everyone.
How do you find the right fit for your program and students? We’ve compared nine of the best registration software solutions to make it easy for you to find the best online signup tool for classes. From adult ed to kids activities, we’ll walk you through available options and features to tell you where each of these solutions shines.
1. Best Registration Software for Adult Education, Community Education Programs, and Arts Organizations
CourseStorm
Coursestorm is the impossibly simple class registration software designed to help local programs save time and enroll more students. CourseStorm’s cloud-based registration system is a perfect fit for programs offering education to adults as well as those serving both kids and adults.
With online and mobile registration and payment processing, CourseStorm helps programs register students quickly. Email marketing and customized registration forms build relationships with students. Waiting lists, promo codes and payment plans come standard. So do reporting and integrations.
CourseStorm has a unique pricing model where you only pay when you register a student. We charge 4% on each registration plus credit card fees. For programs that offer free classes, there are flexible subscription options as well. Whether you’re offering in-person or online courses, CourseStorm can simplify your registration process.
Pros: No monthly fees, email marketing, payment plans, group registration
Cons: Not ideal for credit-based courses, no attendance tracking
2. Best Event Registration Software
RegFox
RegFox bills itself as event registration software. Classes come third on their list of priorities after conferences and camps. Marketed as easy to use, the system may be best suited to organizations looking for an alternative to Eventbrite and Cvent.
They offer support for merchandise and product sales, social incentives, and editing and upgrading of existing orders. All of this is well-targeted to event management, but less relevant for class registration.
Pricing is $0.99 per attendee plus a $2.99 credit card processing fee. It’s important to note that while signup confirmation emails are free, RegFox charges $0.02 per recipient for email invitations and follow-ups, meaning they might not be the best solution for building a long-term relationship with students.
Pros: Synchronized reports, host virtual events in platform, flexible forms, multi-class registrations
Cons: Event focused, marketing emails cost extra, no customer profile, no payment plans
3. Best Registration Software for Subscription-Based Programs
RegPack
RegPack was originally designed for billing automation. Unsurprisingly, they’re very focused on the billing aspect of course registration. Their online registration tool may be best suited for subscription-based programs. For example, a gym with a year-long contract might use it to collect monthly subscriptions.
They offer automatic course billing, discounts and variable pricing for learners, and a centralized registration database that features your branding. You can also share live-stream or pre-recorded video content with registrants.
The cost is $125 per month, per admin plus 2.1% payment processing. That means you would have to pay $125 even if you didn’t have any registrations in that month.
Pros: Mobile ready, form builder, group registration, e-signature capabilities, payment plans
Cons: Pricing per admin, no phone support, slow support response times
4. Best Registration Software for Children’s Activities
Sawyer
Focused on kids classes, camps and events, Sawyer lists classes directly on their website. You can also embed listings on your own site. Because they’re kid-focused, they offer features like family profiles so parents can list authorized caregivers. Sawyer will also email your customers to suggest other classes their kids might like, including classes not offered by your organization.
You can email registered parents through class rosters, but if you want to customize emails, you’ll need a Zapier integration, which is only available at the $329 per month subscription level. Which brings us to the question of cost.
Sawyer is a robust platform with many useful features, but the cost quickly adds up. Their entry-level price is $109 per month billed annually. The price jumps to $129 if you’re on a monthly plan. That doesn’t include credit card processing fees, which are charged per registration.
Registrations made on their marketplace also incur a 30% “marketplace fee.” This fee shrinks as you upgrade your plan. To get custom forms and waitlists, you’ll need to upgrade to the $169 per month plan.
Pros: Large feature set, modern interface, gift cards
Cons: Kid-focused, markets other ed providers, additional cost for growth features
Informal learning rarely gets access to the industry-wide data that other sectors of education do. We don’t think that’s fair. To help close this information gap, we compiled what we’ve learned from facilitating more than 1 million class registrations to unearth patterns and strategies that you can apply to your education program. Download the State of Informal Learning report now!
5. Best Software Solution for Gymnastics & Dance Schools
Jackrabbit
Jackrabbit helps gymnastics, dance, swim, cheer and music programs to register students. They focus specifically on schools or youth activity centers that offer these courses and their features are tailored to the needs of these types of schools.
Jackrabbit includes a point of sale system for the front desk, skill tracking so teachers can share student progress, and a time clock for tracking staff hours. With built-in costume and recital management you can get organized for a recital, track costume sizes, and even offer online payment options for costume orders.
Pricing is based on the size of the school. It starts at $49 per month for schools with 100 or fewer students and billing is based on the number of students in your database each month.
Pros: Includes staff time clock, skills tracking through parent portal, low cost
Cons: Focused on specific industries, limited website integration
6. Best Software for Ticketing and Fundraising
PatronManager
PatronManager isn’t really designed to be class registration software, but some arts programs are using it as one. It’s a program they already know and use for ticketing, fundraising and marketing, so it seems natural that they should try to make it work for class registration as well.
PatronManager excels at fundraising and donor development, they’re pros at ticketing and box office management. They can even help you market your arts programs. However, PatronManager was never meant to be a course management system. It doesn’t have roster management, waiting lists, group registrations or any of the other features that makes for powerful class registration software.
Fortunately for arts programs, CourseStorm integrates with PatronManager so you can keep the ticketing and fundraising software you love, and add on all of the course management solutions you need!
Pros: Great at ticketing and fundraising
Cons: Not designed for class registration
7. Best for Traditional Programs Operated by Universities
AceWare
One of the older course management and student registration software solutions out there, AceWare offers many features but they may not be as user friendly as modern users expect. Their extensive list of features comes packaged in older style format that may not excite students.
Unlike other systems, AceWare grants you a perpetual license to their programs for the hefty price tag of $32,495. If you want support and maintenance you’ll pay another 16% per year on top of the total cost of purchase.
Pros: Students can print unofficial transcripts, track student comments and feedback
Cons: Older-style, capital investment, separate payment processing, refunds are challenging
8. Best Registration Software for Modern Institutions of Higher Ed
Ellucian Elevate
An enterprise resource planning solution for colleges and universities, Ellucian is helping higher ed institutions to modernize their education programs. They work with 2 and 4-year private, public and for-profit schools. They have tools to support alumni relations, campus life, and financial aid among other essential functions of a full-scale university.
Recently they partnered with CampusLogic, the student financial success software company, to help students overcome financial barriers to enrollment.
All-in-all, Ellucian is a powerful solution for universities that is likely too complex for adult and community education programs. Because they’re so focused on credit-based programs, the non-credit side of their course software may not get the attention it deserves. Ellucian is also an enterprise level solution with enterprise level pricing. You’ll need to contact them directly for pricing.
Pros: All-in-one solution for higher ed
Cons: Poor fit for smaller programs, high initial investment, complex
9. Best Registration Software for Non-traditional Student Management
Augusoft Lumens / Modern Campus
Augusoft Lumens was recently acquired by Modern Campus. The Modern Campus platform now combines Destiny One and Lumens into a platform for non-traditional student management. Class schedule management is just one of the services they offer. They also provide curriculum, marketing, reporting, finance, and systems administration.
You can use the platform to create customized offerings aimed at specific corporate partners and offer digital credentials that help students share their progress with employers.
If you’re supporting adults who are seeking non-degree programs to advance their careers, Modern Campus might be the right solution. This is another enterprise level solution with a price tag to match. If you’re not a university or college with a large budget, this probably isn’t the right registration software for you.
Pros: Robust, multi-service platform
Cons: High cost, add-on costs, complex
Find the Best Registration Software For Your Classes
Hopefully this article has given you an idea of what registration software is available to you. Information is great, but we think the best way to choose registration software is by testing it out for yourself.
Get your free trial of CourseStorm today and find out if our impossibly simple class registration software is right for you.
Greg Shula
Greg has spent a decade analyzing business and marketing performance metrics of the companies he has worked with. He uses his analytical mind and investigative skills to find trends and simple answers from complicated data sets. Greg is also an amateur photographer who loves to capture nature from new perspectives.