SchoolMessenger vs ApplyToEducation
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- Unified inbox for notifications and messages
- Two-way teacher-parent-student communication
- Scrollable notification history
- Customizable notification preferences
- Push notifications for alerts
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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.
ApplyToEducation
Manage your career in education with this platform. It helps schools handle employee careers and allows approved occasional employees to receive and accept daily assignments from school boards, giving you control over your work schedule.
- Manage employee careers
- Receive daily assignments
- Accept job offers
- Control work schedule
- School board communication
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ApplyToEducation is the software 5,500 schools in 49 countries use to manage each stage of their employees' careers. EasyConnect is how you approved occasional employees can receive and accept daily assignments from School Boards they work for. Receive offers, click accept, and take control of your work schedule.
Screenshots
Verdict
SchoolMessenger and ApplyToEducation both sit at 4.5 stars, but that hides the real split: 53% of SchoolMessenger's written reviews are positive against 16% of ApplyToEducation's. SchoolMessenger also leads on ratings volume (802 vs 109). ApplyToEducation's advantage is update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 2 months). On price, rating, 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
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.5 for SchoolMessenger against 4.4 for ApplyToEducation. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: SchoolMessenger has 802 ratings behind it against 109, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 53% of SchoolMessenger's written reviews are positive against 16% of ApplyToEducation's.
SchoolMessenger ships an update every 2 months, ApplyToEducation every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 24, 2026 and September 22, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | SchoolMessenger | ApplyToEducation |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.5 (802 ratings) — better | 4.4 (109 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 53.2% of reviews — better | 16.3% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 802 — better | 109 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Every 3 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 16.0 | 16.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 43 MB | 79 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | PowerSchool Group LLC | Passion Inc. |
Customer experience
SchoolMessenger
ApplyToEducation
User reviews
SchoolMessenger
From 802 App Store ratingsWhat 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
ApplyToEducation
From 109 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Simple and easy to use
- 👍 Well laid out and intuitive
- 👍 Fast performance
- 👍 Calendar tab is helpful
Room to improve
- 🐛 Frequent login issues
- 🐛 App crashes often
- 🐛 Inconsistent performance
- 🐛 Jobs not removed when filled
- 🐛 Missing vital job details
Bugs and requests
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
ApplyToEducation
Reported bugs
24 issues- No notifications for new jobs
- Job offer feature for preferred schools is inconsistent
- System broken often, long response times
- Cannot view jobs in app on phone
- Cannot login after updates
Show 19 moreShow fewer
- Technical issues after updates
- Cannot sign absence
- Jobs listed as available are already filled
- Jobs disappear after accepting
- Auto logout when assignment is tapped
- Error codes upon login
- App crashes on startup
- Login loops back to login page
- Password rejected even after reset
- App redirects to web browser instead of app screen
- Font size is too large and overlapping on iPhone
- Calendar crash
- Newest version crashes
- Jobs that are taken should be automatically removed
- Postings missing staff member name
- Cannot turn phone sideways or adjust to read due to font size
- Scrolling ability disabled due to font size
- Side tab navigation is an extra step
- Screen and font size too big, letters not fully visible
Requested features
7 requests- Add more options/filters (e.g., afternoons only)
- Ability to switch between school boards easily
- Summation option for total completed jobs
- Display teacher's name and grade in job description
- Dark mode option
Show 2 moreShow fewer
- Add option to share calendar with other apps
- Indicate day of the week before month in dates
In-app purchases
SchoolMessenger
No in-app purchases
ApplyToEducation
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is SchoolMessenger free?
Is ApplyToEducation free?
Which has better reviews, SchoolMessenger or ApplyToEducation?
Do SchoolMessenger or ApplyToEducation have ads?
Which is updated more often, SchoolMessenger or ApplyToEducation?
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