Comparison

RollCall Parent vs ParentOrbit

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

Head to head
About

RollCall Parent

Track your child's school bus in real-time and receive safety alerts. Manage absences, bookings, and monitor bus activity for a secure commute. This app enhances school bus safety and communication.

Highlights
  • Real-time school bus tracking
  • Bus monitor and guardian features
  • Register absences
  • Adjust bookings
  • Real-time safety alerts
  • Excursion management
Read full description

Know your child is on the right bus, at the right stop, every trip. RollCall is the parent app for schools and bus operators that run on the RollCall school bus management system. When your child taps on with their smart tag or student card, you get a notification. From there you can watch the bus on the live map, all the way to school and home again. Follow every journey • Watch the bus move on the live map, updated in real time • Know the moment your child scans on and scans off • See each trip as a timeline, with the time and place of every scan Bookings made easy • Set up regular term travel in one sitting, morning and afternoon • See the week ahead at a glance and adjust single days • Report an absence in seconds, for one day or a stretch of days • Find the right stop with the built-in stop finder Alerts you choose • Be notified when your child boards, gets off, or gets on or off at the wrong stop • Route changes come straight to you, and you can acknowledge them in the app • Read everything back in the Messages tab, and pick which alerts reach you Payments sorted • Check your balance, see what you have been charged, and top up in the app where your school uses RollCall Pay Share access with carers • Add another parent, a grandparent or a regular helper with their own sign-in, so pick-ups and drop-offs are always covered Signing in is simple. Enter the email address your school has on file and the app works out the rest, including whether you use a password or your school's single sign-on. After that it stays signed in, so the map is only ever a tap away. Behind the app, RollCall pairs travel smart-tag technology with GPS tracking so schools, parents and bus operators all see where students are, from tap-on to tap-off. Drivers complete Bus Guardian walk checks so no child is ever left on the bus, and schools get the real-time visibility their duty of care demands. Your child's data is encrypted in transit, and RollCall's information security management system is independently certified to ISO/IEC 27001. RollCall is for families whose school or bus service uses RollCall. Not at your school yet? Ask them to book a free demo at rollcall.com.au. No obligation. No payment required.

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

RollCall Parent4 screens
ParentOrbit4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: RollCall Parent at 20% against ParentOrbit's 10%. ParentOrbit's advantage is 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.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

RollCall Parent ships an update fortnightly, ParentOrbit every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 12, 2026 and October 15, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
RollCall Parent versus ParentOrbit: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterRollCall ParentParentOrbit
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.9 (14 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews19.8% of reviews — better10.0% of reviews
Number of ratings14 — better—
Update frequencyFortnightly — betterEvery 3 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPod
Requires iOS15.113.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size57 MB75 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperRollCall Safety SolutionsThe Alpha School System

Customer experience

RollCall Parent

All ratings14 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews81 reviews
Positive19.8%
Neutral14.8%
Negative65.4%

ParentOrbit

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

Bugs and requests

RollCall Parent

Reported bugs

39 issues
  • App crashes frequently
  • App logs out repeatedly
  • App won't load or crashes on startup
  • Map won't update or is frozen
  • Login issues (loops, unsuccessful attempts, "something went wrong")
Show 34 more
  • Cannot zoom map
  • Scheduled arrival times are static and do not update
  • Route shows as completed when it has just started
  • No prompt for balance top-up
  • Booking button is off-screen
  • Password reset email not received or link expired
  • Account activation link expired
  • App removes student from account
  • Incorrect bus fare charged
  • Cannot modify or cancel bookings
  • UI layout broken on modern devices
  • Autocompletion issues
  • Items extend beyond screen edges
  • App not recognizing email address on reinstall/re-login
  • Bus location is not updated
  • App sometimes crashes for no reason
  • Reset password required after crash
  • Cannot change password
  • App is down when too many users are on
  • App barely loads or won't load at all
  • App dies and doesn't allow login
  • Sync is not correctly updated
  • Booking is near impossible to change
  • Triggering multiple notifications of wrong trip/off stop exception
  • Route is not logged message
  • App is very slow to open and work
  • Push notifications not working
  • Customer support not helpful
  • Calendar does not show days of the week
  • No mechanism to remove or edit an entry
  • Bus changes section looks good but other sections are problematic
  • App crashes when tapping on bus stop
  • App doesn't mark messages as read
  • App logs out after reading a message

Requested features

15 requests
  • Map search for stops
  • Push notifications for bus location
  • CarPlay integration for map viewing
  • Option to select all messages and mark as read
  • Option to 'opt in' to bus service rather than list absences
Show 10 more
  • Approximate bus times for each stop
  • Ability to modify recurring bookings
  • Ability to delete current bookings and enter new ones
  • Once off booking option
  • Customizable alerts
  • Easier account activation process
  • Fix grammar in password reset prompt
  • Add help files to website
  • Recurring absence option for bus service
  • Option to make specific bus stops a trigger for notifications

ParentOrbit

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

RollCall Parent

No in-app purchases

None

ParentOrbit

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is RollCall Parent free?
RollCall Parent is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is ParentOrbit free?
ParentOrbit is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do RollCall Parent or ParentOrbit have ads?
Neither RollCall Parent nor ParentOrbit shows ads.
Which is updated more often, RollCall Parent or ParentOrbit?
RollCall Parent ships an update fortnightly, and ParentOrbit every 3 weeks. Most recently, RollCall Parent was updated on October 12, 2026 and ParentOrbit on October 15, 2026.

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