Comparison

Mosyle School vs DERS

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Mosyle School

This tool simplifies the management of Apple devices for educational institutions, enabling secure student device usage for learning. It offers robust classroom management features to minimize distractions and enhance student focus, while providing IT staff and teachers with shared control and real-time insights.

Highlights
  • Apple device deployment and configuration
  • Classroom distraction elimination
  • Student focus monitoring
  • Internet access regulation
  • App management and installation
  • Real-time device inventory and reports
  • Shared IT and teacher management
Features
Read full description

Mosyle School is an MDM solution designed exclusively for Education that streamlines the Apple device management process, simplifies iPad, Mac and Apple TV deployments for Schools and Districts, while ensuring students safely utilize devices for learning. It’s easy to set up, manage, and maintain, while being powerful enough to create the ideal learning environment for any School or District. THE BEST MDM SOLUTION TO GET THE MOST OUT OF ALL OF APPLE’S PROGRAM AND OS FEATURES: - Configure all management settings with Mosyle School to harness all Apple’s education features and deployment programs; - Connect Mosyle School with Apple School Manager, Device Enrollment Program and Volume Program Purchase to assign devices, apps, and configure device settings, apps, and books; - Get the most out of Apple’s Shared iPad and the Classroom App for iPad; UNIQUE & EFFECTIVE CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT TOOLS: - Quickly eliminate any distractions from the devices; - Ensure student focus and attention is within the intended educational application; - Easily assess students during class to evaluate student progress; - Check compliance of student devices and solve any issues right in the classroom; - Customize and regulate student Internet access during class time; - Select apps allowed during class and remotely install them on student devices.
 AN ALWAYS-ON, CLOUD-BASED & SCALABLE SOLUTION TO SIMPLIFY DEPLOYMENTS: - Quickly take inventory and view reports of your device fleet in real time; - Shared management between IT Staff and Teachers; - Create time-based policies and restrictions – to work whether it’s before, during or after school; - Receive notifications when specific events occur across the managed device fleet; - Implement in any type of deployment model (BYOD, School Owned, 1:1 and Shared); - Rapid and easy device enrollment processes and flows; - Automatic load-balancing and fault tolerance across multiple Tier 3 data centers, with a 99.9% uptime guarantee. 
 *Continued use of GPS running in the background can dramatically decrease battery life. Mosyle School is designed to embrace and fully integrate with Apple’s new education features, and deployment programs (Apple School Manager, Device Enrollment Program and Volume Purchase Program). We're so excited with all the new possibilities we decided to include all necessary configuration with them in our basic, free plan. No hidden costs!

About

DERS

This tool assesses the quality of learning environments for children aged 2.5 to 12. It measures environmental design and implementation against desired developmental outcomes, focusing on executive functions, literacy, and social-emotional growth.

Highlights
  • Measures learning environment quality
  • Focuses on executive functions
  • Assesses literacy development
  • Evaluates social-emotional growth
  • Research-based environmental attributes
  • Classroom observation tool
Features
Read full description

The DERS iOS app has been deprecated. New web based DERS is now available. http://www.ders-app.org for more info. The Developmental Environmental Rating Scale (DERS) measures the quality of learning environments offered in classrooms serving children between the ages of 2.5 and 12. It aligns environmental design and implementation with desired outcomes related to executive functions, literacy, and social-emotional development. The DERS consists of 60 research-based environmental attributes or observable behaviors (child and adult) aligned with five broad aspects of human development: initiation and concentration, inhibitory control, working memory, linguistic and cultural fluency, and social fluency and emotional flexibility. The assessment is administered in a 60-minute classroom observation, during which the assessor records the presence, magnitude, and/or frequency for each item. Schools can use the DERS internally to identify priorities for continuous improvement or externally as an assessment of environmental quality. The DERS was developed by researchers at the National Center for Montessori in the Public Sector.

Screenshots

Mosyle School4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: DERS at 5.0 against Mosyle School's 1.8. Mosyle School's advantage is ratings volume (92 vs 4) and update cadence (every 2 months vs every 5 months). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

DERS holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 1.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Mosyle School has 92 ratings behind it against 4, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Mosyle School ships an update every 2 months, DERS every 5 months. The most recent releases landed on November 2, 2026 and October 29, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Mosyle School versus DERS: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMosyle SchoolDERS
PriceFreeFree
Rating1.8 (92 ratings)5.0 (4 ratings) — better
Positive reviews13.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings92 — better4
Update frequencyEvery 2 months — betterEvery 5 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPad
Requires iOS13.4 — better17.6
Further details — not scored
Size84 MB0 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperMosyleNational Centre for Montessori in the Public Sector, Inc.

Customer experience

Mosyle School

All ratings91 ratings
Positive20.9%
Neutral2.2%
Negative76.9%
Written reviews46 reviews
Positive13.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative87.0%

DERS

All ratings4 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

Mosyle School

Reported bugs

6 issues
  • Device management starts randomly
  • Apps disappear and cannot be recovered
  • App won't open during Zoom meetings
  • App crashes everything
  • App rearranges apps alphabetically
Show 1 more
  • App slows down device speed

Requested features

7 requests
  • Allow users to uninstall
  • Allow users to keep apps in original place
  • Add more apps to the store
  • Admin console for QR codes
  • Allow users to play games during free periods/lunch
Show 2 more
  • Fix app rearrangement issue
  • Allow users to control screen recording permissions

DERS

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Mosyle School

No in-app purchases

None

DERS

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Mosyle School free?
Mosyle School is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is DERS free?
DERS is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Mosyle School or DERS?
DERS is rated higher. Mosyle School averages 1.8 out of 5 from 92 ratings, while DERS averages 5.0 from 4 ratings.
Do Mosyle School or DERS have ads?
Neither Mosyle School nor DERS shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Mosyle School or DERS?
Mosyle School ships an update every 2 months, and DERS every 5 months. Most recently, Mosyle School was updated on November 2, 2026 and DERS on October 29, 2026.

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