# Canvas Parent vs First Bell

The clearest difference is review sentiment: First Bell at 50% against Canvas Parent's 9%. First Bell also leads on rating (4.8 vs 4.4) and update cadence (every 9 days vs monthly). Canvas Parent's advantage is ratings volume (112K vs 15). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model there is nothing between them.

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

First Bell holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Canvas Parent has 112K ratings behind it against 15, 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 50% of First Bell's.

Canvas Parent ships an update monthly, First Bell every 9 days. The most recent releases landed on October 23, 2026 and October 6, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Canvas Parent | First Bell |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | [4.4 (112K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/canvas-parent/id1097996698/reviews) | **[4.8 (15 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/first-bell/id6751309514/reviews)** |
| Number of ratings | **112K** | 15 |
| Positive reviews | 9.0% of reviews | **50.0% of reviews** |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Monthly | **Every 9 days** |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Size | 172 MB | 0 MB |
| Requires iOS | 18.0 | 18.0 |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Instructure Inc.](https://appshunter.io/developer/418441198) | [Subramanian Ramaswamy](https://appshunter.io/developer/1834509675) |

## What reviewers say

### Canvas Parent

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/canvas-parent/id1097996698)

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.

**Highlights:** Message teachers directly, View grades and assignments, Receive real-time notifications, See teacher feedback, Use calendar view for upcoming tasks

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases:** none

**What reviewers like**

- 🚀 Convenient for tracking assignments and grades
- 👍 Allows communication with teachers
- 🤖 Useful for remote/virtual learning

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Buggy and unreliable
- 🤯 Confusing and not user-friendly
- 🔍 Lack of visibility into student work and progress
- 🔀 Inconsistent implementation across teachers and schools
- 🤖 Struggles with remote/virtual learning needs

**Reported bugs**

- 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**

- 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


### First Bell

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/first-bell/id6751309514)

This app helps high school students manage their daily class schedules with personalized views and live timers. Input your classes once to instantly organize your day and always know what's next.

**Highlights:** Personalized class schedules, Live timers for current block, View today's full schedule, Input class names and room numbers, Organized daily view

**In-app purchases:** none


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Canvas Parent free?

Canvas Parent is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Is First Bell free?

First Bell is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Which has better reviews, Canvas Parent or First Bell?

First Bell is rated higher. Canvas Parent averages 4.4 out of 5 from 112K ratings, while First Bell averages 4.8 from 15 ratings.

### Do Canvas Parent or First Bell have ads?

Neither Canvas Parent nor First Bell shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, Canvas Parent or First Bell?

Canvas Parent ships an update monthly, and First Bell every 9 days. Most recently, Canvas Parent was updated on October 23, 2026 and First Bell on October 6, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*