Canvas Parent vs KnightsNow
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Canvas Parent
This app allows parents and guardians to monitor their child's academic progress, communicate with teachers, and receive important updates. It helps families stay involved in their student's education by tracking grades, assignments, and feedback.
- Message teachers directly
- View grades and assignments
- Receive real-time notifications
- See teacher feedback
- Use calendar view for upcoming tasks
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Stay connected. Encourage success. Canvas Parent helps parents and guardians track student progress, support learning, and communicate with teachers in real time. What you can do • Communicate: Message teachers directly to ask questions or follow up on school updates or particular grade & page • Check progress: View grades, assignments, due dates, and homework across all courses • Get alerts: Receive real-time notifications for missing work, low scores, or new announcements • Encourage: See teacher feedback, celebrate milestones, and help your student stay organized • Plan ahead: Use the calendar view to track upcoming tasks, events, and class updates Canvas Parent is more than a grade monitor—it’s a progress tracker that helps families and schools work together.
KnightsNow
Manage your school day with a visual schedule, track class time, and view upcoming events. Browse the weekly school menu and set reminders for important activities. Personalize your schedule with custom names and colors for easy organization.
- Visual class timers
- Weekly school menu
- Upcoming event calendar
- Customizable class names and colors
- Event reminders
- Lunch period notifications
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Today Page - Check today’s schedule, updated for any special schedules - Track remaining class time with a visual progress bar and countdown timer - See an “Up Next” list of remaining classes for the day - Personalize class names to match your own schedule - Assign colors to classes so their icons and timers are easy to spot at a glance Menu Page - Browse the weekly school menu, Monday through Friday - See details for each day including break snack, main hot lunch, grill item, and soup Events Page - View all upcoming school events for the next two weeks - Filter events by grade level or event group - Set reminders to get notified one hour before an event starts Settings Page - Set your lunch time for each block day to view your individual schedule - Update class names and colors at any time - Turn on lunch period notifications to alert you as lunch is ending - Choose your preferred time format
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: KnightsNow at 100% against Canvas Parent's 9%. KnightsNow also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.4). Canvas Parent's advantage is ratings volume (112K vs 8) and update cadence (monthly vs every 2 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
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
KnightsNow holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Canvas Parent has 112K ratings behind it against 8, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 9% of Canvas Parent's written reviews are positive against 100% of KnightsNow's.
Canvas Parent ships an update monthly, KnightsNow every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 28, 2026 and October 18, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Canvas Parent | KnightsNow |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.4 (112K ratings) | 5.0 (8 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 9.0% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 112K — better | 8 |
| Update frequency | Monthly — better | Every 2 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 18.0 | 17.6 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 172 MB | 3 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Instructure Inc. | Episcopal High School |
Customer experience
Canvas Parent
KnightsNow
Bugs and requests
Canvas Parent
Reported bugs
4 issues- Frequent log-out issues
- Inability to access account or find school
- Delayed or inaccurate display of assignment statuses and grades
- Calendar view and other key features not functioning as expected
Requested features
4 requests- Ability to view submitted assignments and teacher feedback
- Better organization and sorting of assignments by due date
- Improved communication and coordination between parents, students, and teachers
- More consistent and intuitive user experience across the platform
KnightsNow
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Canvas Parent
No in-app purchases
KnightsNow
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Canvas Parent free?
Is KnightsNow free?
Which has better reviews, Canvas Parent or KnightsNow?
Do Canvas Parent or KnightsNow have ads?
Which is updated more often, Canvas Parent or KnightsNow?
Other comparisons
