Comparison

OWNA Childcare App vs ParentOrbit

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

Head to head
About

OWNA Childcare App

This app connects childcare centers, educators, and parents, offering features for curriculum planning, daily routine tracking, portfolio creation, and secure communication. It streamlines administrative tasks for center management and provides parents with real-time updates on their child's day.

Highlights
  • Curriculum programming and planning
  • Child portfolios and daily routine tracking
  • Secure messaging and notifications
  • Digital attendance and check-in/out
  • Center administration dashboard
  • Document and policy management
Features
Read full description

Welcome to the OWNA Childcare App! The Best Childcare App for Families and Centres and it's all for FREE. For Educators - Curriculum Programming & Planning - Upload Images, Videos & PDFs - Portfolios - Observations, Follow Ups, Learning Stories ++ - Record Daily Routine - Meals, Sleep, Sunscreen, Nappies, Bottles, Sleep Check++ - Complete Checklists - Private Messaging - Receive Notification Alerts - Checkin/Out (Timesheets) - QIP - View & Contribute - Looks Great & Easy to use - Super fast and robust - Plus loads more+++ For Parents - View children's Daily Stats (meal, sleep, bottles etc) with past history - Digital Attendances (time logged, signature captured) - View Writeups, Images and Videos - Read Children's Portfolios - Notify Centre of Non Attendances - Upload Immunisation Record - View Programs, Policy Documents & more - Events Calendar - Secure Communication with Centre - Receive Notification Alerts - Looks Great & Easy to use - Plus loads more+++ For Owners/Directors/Management - App for both Educators & Parents - Responsible Person & Daily RP Log - Room Ratio/Across the Service Check - Digitise Reports - as per ACECQA's req'd - Administration Dashboard to oversee your Centre or multiple Centres - Centre Documents, Policies & Procedures, Helpful websites and more - Staff Timesheets, Stats & Performance - Events Calendar - Centre's Menus with automatic rotation - QIP Report - Safe & Secure Platform. Data stored locally. Adhere to industry standards. - Plus loads more+++ So if your centre is not on OWNA - tell them to get on it now! Enjoy and do let us know what you think. - OWNA Childcare App

About

ParentOrbit

This app provides parents with a centralized platform to access school-related information, manage tasks, and handle payments. It offers insights into student details, school events, and financial accounts, ensuring seamless communication with educational institutions.

Highlights
  • Student information access
  • School calendars and notices
  • Account balance viewing and payment
  • Event invitations and sign-ups
  • Multi-school account management
  • Targeted school notifications
Features
Read full description

Developed by TASS, the Parent Orbit app is designed to allow parents at schools to access important information, accept invitations, action tasks and pay for school items. The app is connected to your school system and includes the following features: Students Access your child’s information including general students, school details and medical information. Calendars and Notices The School Calendar, Student eDiary and Daily Notices ensure you’re up-to-date with all school events, appointments, parent teacher interviews, curricular activities and more. Accounts View outstanding balances and pay for your school fees. Invitations View, sign-up, acknowledge and pay for school events. Multi-School Access For parents who have children at more than one school, easily toggle between school accounts. Branded The app will be branded to match your schools identity. Notifications View and acknowledge targeted notifications from your school, including a history and ability to search.

Screenshots

OWNA Childcare App4 screens
ParentOrbit4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: OWNA Childcare App at 60% against ParentOrbit's 10%. OWNA Childcare App also leads on update cadence (every 9 days vs every 3 weeks). ParentOrbit's advantage is iOS requirement (13.0 vs 15.0). 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.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

OWNA Childcare App ships an update every 9 days, ParentOrbit every 3 weeks. Both last shipped on September 23, 2026.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
OWNA Childcare App versus ParentOrbit: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterOWNA Childcare AppParentOrbit
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.7 (6 ratings) — better
Positive reviews60.0% of reviews — better10.0% of reviews
Number of ratings6 — better
Update frequencyEvery 9 days — betterEvery 3 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPod
Requires iOS15.013.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size76 MB75 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperOwnaThe Alpha School System

Customer experience

OWNA Childcare App

All ratings6 ratings
Positive66.7%
Neutral0.0%
Negative33.3%
Written reviews135 reviews
Positive60.0%
Neutral6.7%
Negative33.3%

ParentOrbit

Written reviews20 reviews
Positive10.0%
Neutral15.0%
Negative75.0%

Bugs and requests

OWNA Childcare App

Reported bugs

20 issues
  • App crashes and freezes frequently
  • Sign-in/sign-out not registering properly
  • Photos and videos fail to load or load slowly
  • Video playback without sound
  • Notifications delayed by hours or days
Show 15 more
  • Date picker selecting wrong year (2025 vs 2026)
  • Child profile photos not displaying (only initials)
  • Some notifications missing from in-app list
  • Ad pop-ups blocking account switching
  • Dynamic Island covering video player buttons on iOS
  • Single tap on photos unexpectedly exits view
  • Like button slow to register
  • Comments and notes disappearing from checklists
  • Attendance records not showing after sign-in
  • Form data not saving properly on connection drop
  • Mute button for conversations not functioning
  • Dark mode toggle not working
  • Back gesture not supported on iOS
  • Photo gallery not updating properly on iPad
  • Slow performance and responsiveness issues

Requested features

19 requests
  • Dark mode or customizable color themes
  • Multi-child support in single login account
  • Direct messaging with educators
  • Ability to mark favorite or pin important items
  • Photo thumbnail preview while scrolling
Show 14 more
  • Live chat support, especially for finance
  • Multiple parent/guardian access from one account
  • Permanent booking options
  • Group booking and cancellation functionality
  • Draft save feature for long enrollment forms
  • Confirmation copy of submitted forms
  • Badge notifications for new posts
  • Chronological photo viewing by child
  • Better iPad landscape/portrait layout support
  • Ability to filter marketplace by multiple locations
  • Notification preferences and mute options
  • Improved roster viewing for staff
  • Under/over threes staff ratio display
  • Integrated form functions instead of linked ones

ParentOrbit

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

OWNA Childcare App

No in-app purchases

None

ParentOrbit

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is OWNA Childcare App free?
OWNA Childcare App is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is ParentOrbit free?
ParentOrbit is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do OWNA Childcare App or ParentOrbit have ads?
Neither OWNA Childcare App nor ParentOrbit shows ads.
Which is updated more often, OWNA Childcare App or ParentOrbit?
OWNA Childcare App ships an update every 9 days, and ParentOrbit every 3 weeks. Most recently, OWNA Childcare App was updated on September 23, 2026 and ParentOrbit on September 23, 2026.

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