Comparison

Seesaw vs SchoolMessenger

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

Head to head
About

Seesaw

This educational platform empowers elementary students to showcase their thinking and creativity through multimodal tools. It facilitates authentic assessments and fosters inclusive communication between students, teachers, and families, enhancing the learning process for all.

Highlights
  • Student digital portfolios
  • Multimodal learning tools
  • Inclusive family communication
  • Standards-aligned instruction
  • Formative assessments
  • Ready-to-teach lessons
Currently charting
Read full description

Beloved by teachers around the world, Seesaw is the only educational platform built specifically to address the unique needs of elementary classrooms. Seesaw brings together high-quality instruction, authentic assessments that drive deep learning insights, and inclusive communication – in one place. With Seesaw, students have the power to show their thinking and share their learning, ideas and creativity with their teachers and families. Used by 10M teachers, students and families in over a third of elementary schools in the US. Beyond the US, Seesaw is used in over 130 countries! Teachers love Seesaw—out of 1000 teachers surveyed, 92% said Seesaw makes their lives easier. Built on extensive educational research, Seesaw is validated by industry-leading third-party LearnPlatform as a designated evidence-based intervention, eligible for ESSA Federal Funding with Tier IV designation. Awarded the ISTE Seal of Alignment. Grounded in learning science research and based on practitioner experience, the ISTE Standards ensure that using technology for learning can create high-impact, sustainable, scalable and equitable learning experiences for all learners. High Quality Instruction - Enable teachers to deliver high-quality, standards-aligned instruction that encourages student voice and choice - Multimodal tools make learning accessible and engaging. Tools include video, voice, screen recording, photos, drawing, labeling and more! - Present to Class mode designed for front of class modeling, whole class instruction and discussions - Assign activities to all students for center/stations work or whole class independent work. Use student groups to easily differentiate assignments - Over 1600 research-based and ready-to-teach lessons created by Seesaw’s curriculum experts with whole group instruction videos, 1:1 or small group practice activities and formative assessments. Includes robust lesson plans to support teacher implementation. - 100k ready-to-assign activities created by our community of educators and 1600+ ready-to-teach scaffolded lessons Inclusive Family Engagement - Engage families as partners in the learning process through inclusive two-way communication through portfolios and messages - Provide a window into the classroom and insight into their child's progress with frequent sharing of student posts and assignments - Robust messaging with built-in translation into over 100 home languages - Message Progress Reports to families to keep them informed Digital Portfolios - Capture learning completed within and outside of Seesaw through digital portfolios that showcase student growth. - Organize student work by folder and skill - Simplify parent-teacher conferences and report cards Assessment to Support Data-Driven Decisions - Routinely assess student learning to glean meaningful insights into their understanding and make data-informed instructional decisions - Formative assessments with auto-graded questions provided detailed and actionable reporting - Tie skills and standards to activities for easy progress monitoring of key learning objectives Accessible and Differentiated Learning - Enable developmentally appropriate, accessible, and differentiated instruction to reach and engage all learners Seesaw is COPPA, FERPA and GDPR compliant. Learn more at web.seesaw.me/privacy Need help? Visit our Help Center at help.seesaw.me.

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

Seesaw4 screens
SchoolMessenger2 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: SchoolMessenger at none against Seesaw's 1. Seesaw's advantage is update cadence (weekly vs every 2 months) and ratings volume (100K vs 802). On price, review sentiment, ads and device support 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. Seesaw sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. SchoolMessenger asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Seesaw holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Seesaw has 100K ratings behind it against 802, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 46% of Seesaw's written reviews are positive against 53% of SchoolMessenger's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Seesaw ships an update weekly, SchoolMessenger every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 20, 2026 and October 19, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 5 level
Seesaw versus SchoolMessenger: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSeesawSchoolMessenger
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (100K ratings) — better4.5 (802 ratings)
Positive reviews46.0% of reviews53.1% of reviews — better
Number of ratings100K — better802
Update frequencyWeekly — betterEvery 2 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
Best chart rank#138 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS16.616.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size86 MB43 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperSeesaw Learning, Inc.PowerSchool Group LLC

Customer experience

Seesaw

All ratings100,070 ratings
Positive95.1%
Neutral1.8%
Negative3.1%
Written reviews966 reviews
Positive46.0%
Neutral12.0%
Negative42.0%

SchoolMessenger

All ratings802 ratings
Positive86.8%
Neutral2.4%
Negative10.8%
Written reviews224 reviews
Positive53.1%
Neutral6.3%
Negative40.6%

User reviews

Seesaw

From 100K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Easy to use
  • 👍 Great communication tool
  • 💡 Versatile for teachers and students
  • 🚀 Efficient for remote/online learning
  • 👍 Engaging for students

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Buggy and glitchy
  • 💡 Limited text editing options
  • 🔒 Security and privacy concerns
  • 👎 Difficult to navigate
  • 👎 Confusing interface

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

Seesaw

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • Crashes and freezes
  • Losing work when switching apps
  • Inconsistent performance on different devices
  • Issues with uploading and sharing content
  • Notification problems

Requested features

6 requests
  • Allow parents to post and comment
  • Improve text editing capabilities
  • Add auto-save functionality
  • Provide better organization and tracking of assignments
  • Enhance video recording and editing options
Show 1 more
  • Allow for easier switching between student accounts

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

1 purchases

Seesaw

One-time1
  • 1 Month of Seesaw Plus$12.99
None

SchoolMessenger

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Seesaw free?
Seesaw is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is SchoolMessenger free?
SchoolMessenger is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Seesaw or SchoolMessenger?
Seesaw is rated higher. Seesaw averages 4.8 out of 5 from 100K ratings, while SchoolMessenger averages 4.5 from 802 ratings.
Do Seesaw or SchoolMessenger have ads?
Neither Seesaw nor SchoolMessenger shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Seesaw or SchoolMessenger?
Seesaw ships an update weekly, and SchoolMessenger every 2 months. Most recently, Seesaw was updated on October 20, 2026 and SchoolMessenger on October 19, 2026.

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