Comparison

Edsby vs SchoolMessenger

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

Head to head
About

Edsby

Access key school communication and learning management features on your mobile device. Stay connected with your school community, track progress, and manage assignments. Designed for K-12 education, it offers a streamlined experience for students, parents, and educators.

Highlights
  • On-the-go access to school features
  • Community engagement
  • Learning management
  • Assessment & reporting
  • Student well-being tracking
Features
Read full description

If your school uses Edsby, this free app lets you access some of its features on the go. The Edsby app has many of the capabilities of the main Edsby web browser interface. Some complex features for certain types of users, such as the Edsby gradebook used by teachers, aren't available on devices with small screen sizes. Edsby is helping education transform to the modern digital era. School districts, states, provinces, and countries adopt Edsby for community engagement, learning management, assessment & reporting, and student well-being. Your education organization manages its own, private Edsby system. To log into it, you’ll need to know its Edsby server address. If you don’t know it, ask your school.

About

SchoolMessenger

Stay connected with your school or district through this app. It provides a unified inbox for notifications and messages, allowing for two-way communication between teachers, parents, and students. Manage your notification preferences and receive alerts for important updates.

Highlights
  • Unified inbox for notifications and messages
  • Two-way teacher-parent-student communication
  • Scrollable notification history
  • Customizable notification preferences
  • Push notifications for alerts
Features
Read full description

The new SchoolMessenger app gives busy parents, students, and staff a powerful way to stay engaged with their school or district, and connect to each other. App Features: - Easy-to-read inbox that captures all SchoolMessenger notifications, and now two-way teacher-parent-student messages (if enabled by school or district) - Scrollable notification view to review all phone, email, and text content in a single place - Detailed preference control allows adjusting notification settings - Push notifications are available for alerts when school or district sends a message Requirements: - For notifications, school or district has SchoolMessenger notification service subscription with SchoolMessenger app enabled - For notifications, valid email address on file with your school or district - WiFi or data plan for internet access - iOS 14+ Note: SchoolMessenger app is not for sending broadcast messages. If you are a SchoolMessenger Communicate notification customer looking to send broadcast messages, please download the SchoolMessenger Admin sender app.

Screenshots

Edsby4 screens
SchoolMessenger2 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: SchoolMessenger at 4.5 against Edsby's 1.3. SchoolMessenger also leads on review sentiment (53% vs 13%) and ratings volume (802 vs 9). 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

SchoolMessenger holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 1.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: SchoolMessenger has 802 ratings behind it against 9, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 13% of Edsby's written reviews are positive against 53% of SchoolMessenger's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Edsby ships an update every 3 months, SchoolMessenger every 2 months. Both last shipped on October 3, 2026.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Edsby versus SchoolMessenger: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterEdsbySchoolMessenger
PriceFreeFree
Rating1.3 (9 ratings)4.5 (802 ratings) — better
Positive reviews13.1% of reviews53.2% of reviews — better
Number of ratings9802 — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 monthsEvery 2 months — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.6 — better16.0
Further details — not scored
Size31 MB43 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperCoreFour Inc.PowerSchool Group LLC

Customer experience

Edsby

All ratings9 ratings
Positive0.0%
Neutral11.1%
Negative88.9%
Written reviews274 reviews
Positive13.1%
Neutral5.5%
Negative81.4%

SchoolMessenger

All ratings802 ratings
Positive86.8%
Neutral2.4%
Negative10.8%
Written reviews216 reviews
Positive53.2%
Neutral6.0%
Negative40.7%

User reviews

Edsby

From 9 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Helpful for tracking grades and assignments
  • 🚀 Easy access to school information
  • 💡 Useful communication tool between teachers and students

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Frequent crashes and glitches
  • 🔍 Poor organization and navigation
  • ⏱️ Slow and laggy performance
  • 🔒 Login and account issues
  • 💬 Unreliable notifications and messaging

SchoolMessenger

From 802 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Easy to use
  • 🚀 Convenient for reporting absences
  • 📢 Helpful for staying informed about school events
  • 💡 Consolidates all school communications in one place

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Messages still show as unread after being read
  • 🔍 Difficult to mark multiple messages as read
  • 🔄 Frequent log-outs and need to re-login
  • 🔔 Excessive and repeated notifications for the same message
  • 📱 Small text size and poor formatting in the app

Bugs and requests

Edsby

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Disappearing grades and assignments
  • Inability to access certain features or content
  • Inconsistent behavior across devices and platforms

Requested features

4 requests
  • Improved notification system with push alerts
  • Better organization and customization options
  • Seamless integration with other educational platforms
  • Streamlined grading and assignment submission

SchoolMessenger

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Inability to report late arrivals or early departures
  • Attendance reporting not working for some users
  • Syncing issues between app and school records
  • Verification emails not being delivered

Requested features

4 requests
  • Add option to mark all messages as read
  • Improve navigation and message management
  • Implement dark mode and accessibility features
  • Allow parents to initiate messages to teachers

In-app purchases

None

Edsby

No in-app purchases

None

SchoolMessenger

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Edsby free?
Edsby is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is SchoolMessenger free?
SchoolMessenger is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Edsby or SchoolMessenger?
SchoolMessenger is rated higher. Edsby averages 1.3 out of 5 from 9 ratings, while SchoolMessenger averages 4.5 from 802 ratings.
Do Edsby or SchoolMessenger have ads?
Neither Edsby nor SchoolMessenger shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Edsby or SchoolMessenger?
Edsby ships an update every 3 months, and SchoolMessenger every 2 months. Most recently, Edsby was updated on October 3, 2026 and SchoolMessenger on October 3, 2026.

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