Key facts
| Who it suits | Coaching centres, tuition chains, hobby and skill academies, small schools |
|---|---|
| First Build | Enquiry pipeline, admissions, batches, attendance, fee tracking, parent updates |
| Typical range | ₹1.7L–₹2.5L with WhatsApp updates |
| Timeline | 3–4 weeks for a first version |
| Ownership | Code, hosting and data belong to you |
How does an institute run on sheets and groups today?
Enquiries come from walk-ins, calls, Instagram and Google listings. A counsellor writes them in a notebook. After a demo class, follow-ups depend on memory. Once a student joins, the batch is a WhatsApp group, attendance is a register, and fees are a sheet with a column for each month.
Every term, the same pain returns: who has not paid, who has been absent for a week, which batch has space, which parent was promised a call.
What actually breaks?
- Enquiries go cold because nobody owns the follow-up.
- Fee dues are chased by a staff member who must first work out who owes what.
- Part payments and sibling or scholarship discounts live in the head of one accountant.
- Parents learn about absences from a student, if ever.
- Batch changes and timetable clashes are fixed on the day.
- Teachers' payouts depend on classes taken, which nobody tracks cleanly.
These are record-keeping and reminder problems, and a small system handles them well.
What would a first Build contain?
- An enquiry pipeline: source, course interest, demo date, counsellor, next follow-up.
- Admission form that creates a student record and assigns a batch.
- Batches and timetable, with capacity and a clash check for rooms and teachers.
- Attendance taken on a phone by the teacher, with an absence message to the parent.
- A fee plan per student: instalments, discounts, part payments, receipts and a dues list.
- Fee reminders by WhatsApp or SMS, before and after the due date.
- A parent page showing attendance, fees and announcements, opened with a phone-number code.
- An owner dashboard: enquiries to admissions, collection against dues, batch fill.
Payments can go through your existing gateway or UPI link, with reconciliation done in the tool. Each gateway is an integration and is scoped separately.
What should an institute not build first?
Do not start with a learning app, recorded lectures, live classes or an online test engine. Mature products exist for these and they take real effort to match. Do not build a student social feed. Do not add AI tutoring in version one.
Student data, especially for minors, deserves care: collect only what you need, limit who can see it, and decide retention with your own advisers. Whether a school must follow specific rules from its board or the state is a matter for you to confirm.
What does it cost in INR?
| Scope | What it covers | Price | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Build: admissions and fees | Enquiries, admissions, batches, fee plans and dues | ₹1.7L–₹2.5L | 3–4 weeks |
| Build: with parent page | Adds attendance, parent view, reminders and online fee link | ₹1.5L–3.5L | 3–4 weeks |
| Platform | Multiple branches, teacher payouts, staff roles, accounting export | ₹3.5L–8L | 5–8 weeks, then phases |
Messaging and payment-gateway charges are paid to those providers. The cost estimator shows how roles and integrations change the range.
When is a ready-made school ERP enough?
A school that needs report cards, transport, library and board-specific formats is often better served by a ready-made school product. Custom fits an institute with its own batch and fee logic, or a chain that wants one lean tool across centres. The comparison in replace spreadsheets with custom software will help you think it through, and how we build describes a typical project.
Frequently asked questions
Can parents pay fees online?
Yes, through a payment gateway you already use. The gateway's charges go to that provider.
Can teachers mark attendance from a phone?
Yes. It works in a phone browser with no app to install.
Can we run several branches?
Yes, with branch-level access. That usually moves the scope toward a Platform package.
Do you build online classes?
No. Use a dedicated product for live classes and connect it if needed.
How is student data protected?
It is held in your cloud account with role-based access. Retention and consent decisions are yours.
How long does a first version take?
About 3–4 weeks. We start with your fee sheet and batch list, show a prototype in week one, and hand over after a test with your real student data.
Can we import our existing student list?
Yes. Importing from your sheet is part of the scope. Messy columns, duplicate phone numbers and missing fees are cleaned together before go-live.