Class Manager vs Akada Comparison: Everything You Need to Know Before Choosing

Class Manager is administration software for businesses and organisations that teach classes to recurring groups of students — dance schools, gymnastics and martial arts clubs, swim schools, music academies, theatre groups and similar activity providers. These operations share a set of administrative problems that neither a general booking tool nor a school management system addresses well: pupils enrol for a term rather than a single session, fees are charged monthly or termly by direct debit rather than per visit, families have multiple children across different classes at different levels, attendance must be recorded for safeguarding and progression, and the person running the business is usually also the person teaching. The platform handles enrolment into classes with capacity limits, waiting lists, levels and progression between them, and manages the family as the billing unit rather than the individual pupil, so a parent receives one account covering several children with sibling discounts applied automatically. Recurring fee collection by direct debit or card is the function that most changes a school's finances, replacing cash and cheques handed over at the door with automated collection, and outstanding balance tracking makes arrears visible rather than forgotten. Class registers support attendance marking on a tablet or phone at the studio, with absence tracking and trial class management. A parent portal lets families view timetables, update details, book trials, pay invoices and give consent without telephoning the office. Communication tools send email and text announcements to whole classes, levels or the full membership, which matters for weather closures and event notices. Additional capabilities typically include costume and uniform ordering, event and show ticketing, awards and grading records, staff scheduling and payroll hours, and reporting on enrolment, retention, revenue and class utilisation. Data handling accommodates child safeguarding and consent requirements. A free trial is available, with paid pricing scaled by student numbers; there is no permanently free version.