School Management Software Comparison: Gradelink vs TeacherEase
Gradelink and TeacherEase are both popular student information systems for private K–12 schools. In this comparison, we’ll break down pricing and key features—like gradebooks, tuition management, parent communication, and support—to help you choose the right fit. While both offer similar tools, many schools prefer Gradelink as a more complete, all-in-one solution. Let’s take a closer look.
Pricing Models and Affordability
Gradelink offers a flat monthly rate based on student enrollment, with all core SIS features included—like attendance, report cards, tuition tracking, parent access, medical, and behavior records.
- Up to 50 students: $117 per month ($1,404 per year)
- 51–100 students: $159 per month ($1,908 per year)
Gradelink also offers optional upgrades, such as text messaging and admissions tools. With those add-ons, a 100-student school typically pays $159 to $200 per month.
This pricing includes unlimited support, training for all staff, and no extra fees for parent or teacher accounts.
TeacherEase, on the other hand, charges an annual fee per teacher—about $169 per teacher per year for small schools, with administrators billed at two-thirds the teacher rate. However, that pricing only covers a gradebook.
To access core SIS tools, like attendance, report cards, billing, scheduling, discipline, health records, and parent communication, schools must also subscribe to SchoolInsight, which is sold separately by the same company.
Cost comparison for 100 students (with full SIS features):
- Gradelink: $159–$200 per month
- TeacherEase + SchoolInsight: $581 per month
Bottom line: Gradelink offers clear, predictable pricing with everything schools need in one system. While TeacherEase may appear cheaper upfront, getting the same functionality quickly adds up.
How much does a student information system cost?
Total Annual Cost Comparison
| Gradelink | TeacherEase | |
| 2 Admins | Included | $221 per year |
| 5 Teachers, including gradebooks | Included | $840 per year |
|
100 Students, including the following features:
|
$159-200 per month | $491 per month |
| Total | $1908-$2406 per year | $6953 per year |
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Ease of Use and User Experience
Both Gradelink and TeacherEase are user-friendly, but Gradelink stands out for its simplicity and intuitive design. Teachers and admins consistently praise how easy it is to take attendance, enter grades, and manage records—with minimal training.
TeacherEase is also easy to use, especially for teachers. However, admins report that initial setup (like configuring report cards or new school years) can be more challenging. Some parts of the system, especially in the SchoolInsight modules, feel dated, although updates are underway.
Bottom line: Both systems are accessible, but Gradelink has an edge with a more modern, streamlined experience that works well for all user types.
Parent Experience
Both Gradelink and TeacherEase offer mobile apps for parents—but the difference in quality is clear.
Gradelink’s Parent/Student Mobile App has over 10,000 reviews and maintains an impressive 4.8-star average rating on the App Store. Parents consistently praise its ease of use, clear layout, and reliable access to grades, attendance, and communication.
TeacherEase’s parent app, by contrast, has a much lower 1.9-star rating based on 250 reviews. Many parents report issues with usability, bugs, and difficulty accessing information, suggesting a frustrating user experience.
Bottom line: Both systems provide mobile access, but Gradelink clearly offers a superior parent experience, as reflected in hundreds of positive reviews. For schools prioritizing strong parent communication and satisfaction, Gradelink has the advantage.
Gradebook and Academic Tracking
Both Gradelink and TeacherEase offer robust online gradebooks, but they cater to different needs.
Gradelink is ideal for traditional grading. Its clean interface makes entering grades easy, and it supports custom grading scales, standards-based grading, GPA calculations, and automatic report card generation. Everything integrates smoothly—grades, attendance, and transcripts—saving teachers time and reducing errors.
TeacherEase shines in standards-based grading (SBG). It allows teachers to attach standards to assignments, track mastery, and generate detailed SBG reports. It’s a great fit for schools that prioritize skill-based assessments. However, to generate traditional report cards or transcripts, schools may need to upgrade to the SchoolInsight SIS.
Bottom line: Choose Gradelink for traditional grading and transcripts. Consider TeacherEase if your school focuses heavily on SBG and detailed skills tracking.
Tuition Collection and Financial Management
Gradelink includes built-in tuition and billing tools at no extra cost. Schools can track charges, payments, discounts, and scholarships, and set up flexible payment plans. Online payments are optional and supported through integrated processors, with low transaction fees. Everything—from invoicing to year-end tax statements—is managed within Gradelink, alongside student data.
TeacherEase, by itself, does not include tuition management. To access billing features, schools must upgrade to SchoolInsight, its full SIS. While this add-on enables similar functionality, it increases the total costs.
Bottom line: Gradelink offers integrated tuition tracking out of the box. With TeacherEase, you’ll need to purchase extra modules for similar features. For most private schools, Gradelink’s all-in-one system is the simpler, more cost-effective option.
Gradelink Customer Reviews
Gradelink is an outstanding SIS that truly revolutionizes the way schools manage their administrative and academic processes, from seamless grade tracking to effortless communication between teachers, students, and parents.
—Waylynn S., Principal
Gradelink is the right choice! Gradelink is great. Easy to use, and all school data needed can be entered in one location. Great and useful reports I can generate with ease.
—Maria P., Account Administrator
Gradelink has done a good job of moving us off of our previous SIS (TeacherEase, which was overly complicated) and making it easier and more user-friendly to keep track of students, attendance, tuition, etc.
—Steve P., Principal
Parent Communication Tools
Both Gradelink and TeacherEase offer built-in tools for parent communication, including emails, portal updates, and automated alerts.
Gradelink enables teachers and admins to send messages to individuals, classes, or the whole school. Parents can receive notifications for grades, attendance, missing assignments, and behavior. The parent portal also provides access to a calendar, school news, and teacher pages with additional information. For schools needing texts or voice alerts, Gradelink offers SmartSend Pro as an optional add-on.
TeacherEase also supports parent emails, notifications, and a parent portal. Schools can purchase the “Enhanced Parent Communication” to send mass texts and voice messages.
Bottom line: Both systems offer strong communication tools. Gradelink has a slight edge for its ease of use, higher user satisfaction, and more integrated messaging experience.
Medical and Health Record Tracking
Gradelink includes built-in health tracking at no extra cost. Schools can record immunizations, medications, allergies, and nurse visits—all in the student’s profile. Since parents submit their child’s health history through enrollment forms, it’s easy for schools to run custom reports, allowing staff to manage medical information quickly and securely.
TeacherEase requires an add-on (via SchoolInsight) for health records. Once enabled, it offers similar features, but it’s not included by default.
Bottom line: Both systems offer solid medical tracking, but it’s included in Gradelink for no additional fee, saving schools time and money.
Behavior and Discipline Tracking
Gradelink includes a full discipline tracking system at no extra cost. Teachers and admins can log incidents, add comments, assign consequences, and generate reports. Schools can also choose whether to share discipline records with parents through the portal. Features like demerit tracking and monthly incident summaries are built in, making it easy to stay on top of student behavior.
TeacherEase allows for basic behavior notes in the gradebook, but for full discipline tracking—including office referrals, suspensions, and reports—schools must purchase the SchoolInsight Discipline module. Once added, it offers similar features to Gradelink but comes at an additional per-student cost.
Bottom line: Gradelink includes discipline tools out of the box, while TeacherEase requires an upgrade for comparable functionality.
TeacherEase Customer Reviews
This is one of a few grading programs that actually allow standards-based grading to be entered into the system in a logical and meaningful way. PowerSchool could not provide the same level of standards-based grading that TeacherEase does.
—Jeanne S., Assistant Superintendent
Most things that we want to do differently in Teacherease that aren't built in are not doable …we are always having to adapt what we do, or find a workaround. Teacherease doesn't often seem able to work for us… The teachers hate the gradebook, my admin hates the grade reporting, and I have to work harder to merge reporting.
—Cay T., Director of Operations
The area I like most is the standards-based gradebook. It allows for multiple standards to be chosen for assignments and allows it to link to progress reports and report cards.
—Mary C., Instructional Technology Specialist
Customer Support and Training
Gradelink includes top-rated support and onboarding with every subscription—at no extra cost. Schools get a dedicated support rep, unlimited phone and email support, free staff training, and access to a comprehensive library of tutorials. Gradelink is known for fast, reliable help from dedicated people who understand schools’ needs. Its customer support holds a rating of 4.9 stars out of 5 on GetApp.
TeacherEase offers support via phone, email, and online guides, but full onboarding and training (called SmartStart) is a paid add-on. Some schools have reported difficulty reaching TeacherEase by phone, though the support team is responsive by email. Overall, their support is rated 4.2 out of 5 stars—good, but not as highly rated as Gradelink.
Bottom line: Gradelink includes white-glove onboarding and unlimited training for free, making it easier for schools without IT staff. TeacherEase provides helpful support, but you may need to pay extra for onboarding and wait longer for phone assistance.
Feature Comparison Table
To recap the feature-by-feature comparison, the table below summarizes how Gradelink and TeacherEase stack up on key aspects for private K–12 schools:
| Feature | Gradelink | TeacherEase |
| Pricing Structure | Subscription based on student count. (e.g. $117/month up to 50 students) Includes all features. Teacher, student and parent accounts free. |
Subscription based on staff count (≈$169/teacher/year for small schools) Modules like report cards, tuition, etc., may cost extra. |
| Ease of Use | Very intuitive, modern interface. High ease-of-use rating (4.6/5). Minimal training needed; quick setup with support help. | User-friendly for teachers, but some interfaces feel dated. Ease-of-use ~4.1/5 . Initial setup can be tricky without guidance. |
| Gradebook | Included. Traditional gradebook with customizable scales and automatic report cards. Simplified for quick entry and tracking. Standards available as an add-on. | Included. Standards-based gradebook with rubrics and mastery tracking. Great for SBG. Standard report cards require SIS upgrade. |
| Tuition Collection | Built-in tuition and fee billing module (ledgers, invoices, payment plans) included at no extra cost. Online payments via integrated partner (transaction fees apply). | Available with SchoolInsight SIS core or Financials module. Not in base TeacherEase, requiring add-on purchase. Supports online payments (extra). |
| Parent Communication | Email, announcements included. Parent portal provides real-time updates. Optional SmartSend add-on for text/voice broadcasts. Highly rated for easy communication. | Email notifications and parent portal included. Optional Enhanced Parent Comm (autodialer) module for mass text/voice. Effective, but some advanced features cost extra. |
| Medical Tracking | Health records module included (immunizations, allergies, nurse logs). Part of core student profile. | No health tracking in base TeacherEase. Health Records module must be added to track immunizations and medical data. |
| Behavior Tracking | Included (incident reports, consequences) as a core feature. Can share behavior reports with parents. | Optional. Basic behavior notes possible in gradebook, but full referral tracking requires add-on. |
| Parent Portal | Included for all parents and students. Real-time grades, attendance, homework, behavior, and billing info in one portal. Free mobile app available. | Included for all parents and students (free accounts). Real-time grades, attendance, etc., shown. Mobile app available. (Scope of info depends on modules owned.) |
| Support and Training | Unlimited support and training included. Renowned customer service (rated 4.9/5). Very responsive. Onboarding assistance provided. | Support included. Generally helpful (rated ~4.2/5). Training offered (SmartStart onboarding); may incur extra cost for extensive training. |
As the table shows, Gradelink bundles more functionality into its base price, whereas TeacherEase is modular, starting with a lower-cost gradebook and requiring users to add features as needed. Depending on your school’s needs, one model may be more economical or convenient than the other.
Ratings
| Ratings from G2 | Gradelink | TeacherEase |
| Overall Rating |  4.7 |
4.3 |
| Meets Requirements |  |
 |
| Ease of Use |  |
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| Quality of Support |  |
 |
| Product Direction |  |
 |
G2 Ranks Gradelink as one of the top alternatives to TeacherEase.
Which School Management System is Right for Your Private School?
Both Gradelink and TeacherEase can meet the needs of private K–12 schools—but they take different approaches.
Gradelink is an all-in-one system that includes everything: grades, attendance, billing, communication, and support. It’s easy to use, quick to set up, and backed by top-rated customer service—all with transparent pricing. For schools that want a full-featured system without piecing together modules, Gradelink is a strong choice.
TeacherEase is good for public and charter schools focused on standards-based grading. It’s modular, so schools start with the basics and add features as needed (via SchoolInsight). This works well for very small schools or those on a tight budget, although it may require more setup and management over time.
Bottom line: Gradelink is better suited for K-12 private schools that need a complete, ready-to-go solution with strong support. TeacherEase offers flexibility but may require more effort and additional costs to match the same functionality. Trying a demo of both is the best way to determine which one fits your school best.
Take the Next Step
Click here for a video demo or here for a free trial, and experience the difference for yourself. Empower your school with a system that makes administration easier, so you can focus on what truly matters: providing quality education to your students.