Comparison

Zen Educate vs Firstpath

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

Head to head
About

Zen Educate

This app connects educators with schools, streamlining the job search and hiring process. It allows teachers to manage their profiles and availability, while schools can find and book staff efficiently. The platform aims to be a more ethical and cost-effective alternative to traditional recruitment agencies.

Highlights
  • Manage teacher profiles
  • Set work availability
  • Accept/decline job offers
  • Search for screened staff
  • Save and rebook preferred teachers
  • Manage timesheets
Features
Read full description

We're building a fairer and more ethical alternative to traditional recruitment agencies, taking out the hassle — no more paperwork — and the waste — leaving more for the teachers and the pupils. Use our app to... For teachers, teaching assistants and special education paraprofessionals: - manage your teaching profile for how you show up to schools - manage your calendar to set when you want to work and when you don't - accept or decline offers for work from schools - see your past work For schools: - search for fully-screened and interviewed teachers, teaching assistants or special education paraprofessionals and request them for work - save your preferred teachers, check their availability and rebook them for future work - manage and confirm timesheets What people are saying about Zen Educate: "Really have enjoyed working with and for Zen Educate—they are helpful every step of the way" — Claire, Teaching Assistant "A great company who pride themselves on their honesty and ability to deliver good teachers to schools. Staff are paid more and schools pay less compared to competitors." — Colin, Teacher and former Principal "Zen Educate is a much-needed simplification of the substitute industry. Simple but rigorous onboarding, combined with efficient job placement, excellent and punctual pay and responsive support make Zen the go-to for schools and staff. Highly impressed!" — Sean, Teacher “Zen Educate has provided us with a highly professional service, their platform is easy to navigate, and their phone app means that a last-minute booking is easy to make. They've saved us money, without sacrificing the quality of staff we expect." — Yvonne, Exec Director “I now book my supply cover without picking up the phone! It's quicker, cheaper and more reliable than using an agency. I love it!" — Ann, Principal We're always rolling out improvements to our service and want you to be part of it. Please send us your feedback to help us improve.

About

Firstpath

This app allows staff to log their scheduled and manual work hours. It facilitates parent verification for logged time and helps track unverified or overdue schedule entries. Users can view their daily and upcoming schedules, and check for missed or logged hours for assigned children.

Highlights
  • View daily and upcoming schedules
  • Log scheduled and manual time
  • Parent verification for logged hours
  • Track unverified and overdue time
  • Check missed or logged schedule entries
Features
Read full description

Staff can now use the FirstPath app to log the time for their schedule as well as the manual time. Get parent verification done for logged time. Track unverified and overdue schedule time. The Features: - View today and the upcoming schedule. - Log hours on schedule as well as manual time entry. - Get Parent verification done for logged hours. - Check if any schedule is missed or logged by selecting the assigned child.

Screenshots

Zen Educate4 screens
Firstpath4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Zen Educate at 84% against Firstpath's 0%. Zen Educate also leads on rating (4.9 vs 1.9) and ratings volume (1.4K vs 54). Firstpath's advantage is monetization model (free vs free with in-app purchases) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 15.1). On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases 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

Zen Educate holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 1.9. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Zen Educate has 1.4K ratings behind it against 54, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 84% of Zen Educate's written reviews are positive against 0% of Firstpath's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Zen Educate ships an update fortnightly, Firstpath weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 25, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Zen Educate versus Firstpath: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterZen EducateFirstpath
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.9 (1.4K ratings) — better1.9 (54 ratings)
Positive reviews83.9% of reviews — better0.0% of reviews
Number of ratings1.4K — better54
Update frequencyFortnightlyWeekly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.113.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size74 MB47 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperZen Educate LimitedFirstPath Inc

Customer experience

Zen Educate

All ratings1,366 ratings
Positive97.4%
Neutral1.4%
Negative1.2%
Written reviews56 reviews
Positive83.9%
Neutral1.8%
Negative14.3%

Firstpath

All ratings54 ratings
Positive18.5%
Neutral7.4%
Negative74.1%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%

Bugs and requests

Zen Educate

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • Training modules take a long time to load
  • Cannot go backward in CV or interview prep documents on iOS
  • App login issues on iOS
  • App not showing jobs in certain areas
  • App doesn't work

Requested features

5 requests
  • Make job availability more accessible
  • Improve training module loading speed
  • Add backward navigation for CV and interview prep
  • Fix app login issues on iOS
  • Improve job search functionality for specific areas

Firstpath

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Zen Educate

No in-app purchases

None

Firstpath

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Zen Educate free?
Zen Educate is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Firstpath free?
Firstpath is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Zen Educate or Firstpath?
Zen Educate is rated higher. Zen Educate averages 4.9 out of 5 from 1.4K ratings, while Firstpath averages 1.9 from 54 ratings.
Do Zen Educate or Firstpath have ads?
Neither Zen Educate nor Firstpath shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Zen Educate or Firstpath?
Zen Educate ships an update fortnightly, and Firstpath weekly. Most recently, Zen Educate was updated on October 25, 2026 and Firstpath on October 24, 2026.

Other comparisons