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Choose the Best Registration Software – 5 Options Compared
Education directors at nonprofits usually turn to class registration management software because they’re:
- Ready to move away from manual payments and inefficient registration systems
- Seeking time savings and want an efficient system to promote classes
- Looking for a streamlined process for canceling classes and issuing refunds
- Under pressure to provide better reporting and proof of impact
Registration software saves time and reduces errors by allowing attendees or students to directly input their information. The best registration software systems also allow you to create reports and sync registrant data with other software including email, donor management, and event ticketing tools.
How to Find the Best Registration Software for Your Organization
We’ve compared 5 of the best registration software solutions. Our goal is to help you find the one that fits your needs. From adult education to kids camps and activities, we’ll walk you through the available options and show you where each one shines.
If you’d rather skip the list and try a solution for yourself, start your free trial of CourseStorm today.
Options Compared:
CourseStorm: Best Registration Software for Classes
CourseStorm is the impossibly simple class registration software designed to help community education and arts and culture programs save time and enroll more students. CourseStorm’s cloud-based platform is the best class registration software for programs offering education to kids and adults.
Key Feature 1 – Students register and pay seamlessly and securely online
Some registration systems aren’t really systems at all. They cobble together multiple tools to gather information, share policies, and take payments. This results in lost information, frustrated students, and extra work for your team.
CourseStorm streamlines the registration and payment process into a single mobile-friendly system with secure payment processing. Your students can register and pay quickly from wherever they happen to be. Meanwhile, your team can spend less time on administrative tasks and more time delivering the services and programs your patrons love.
Key Feature 2 – Collect the exact information you need from students
Some registration systems use the same form for every course. This leads to issues like adults having to answer questions about their age, when that’s really only relevant for kids classes. When you ask the right questions, you get the information you need and avoid frustrating registrants.
CourseStorm’s custom registration forms make your process more efficient. You get the information you need and students get a quick and painless registration process. They type their information once and answer only the most pressing and relevant questions.
For instance, if you’re running a kids’ class you will want to get emergency contact information for each student. You can easily customize the registration form in CourseStorm to collect this at the same time parents or caregivers register their child.
Key Feature 3 – Easily cancel, change, or refund payments for classes
Nobody likes canceling classes or issuing refunds, but it’s part of running an education program. People get sick, weather intervenes, and sometimes a class just doesn’t get the traction it deserves. When this happens, some software tools make you jump through hoops to cancel classes and issue refunds.
Not CourseStorm. We made canceling, changing, and refunding payments for classes as simple as possible. You have full control and can make changes with the push of a button, no tech support required.
Let’s say someone registers for a class held on a Tuesday. Their schedule changes, and they’d like to switch to the Saturday session instead. You can easily do this in CourseStorm, even if the classes are different prices.
Key Feature 4 – Information about your program’s performance is at your fingertips and can be easily exported
You should have complete access to your own data, yet some software solutions make it almost impossible to find what you’re looking for. They use proprietary systems, complex reports, or just don’t sort data in ways that make sense for you and your nonprofit.
At CourseStorm, we recognize that reporting helps you make smart decisions and prove your program’s worth to your board or funders. That’s why we offer clear, intuitive reporting. Sort data in your CourseStorm dashboard, or export an Excel file for even more control.
We’re always working to make reporting easier, more useful, and more streamlined. Right now, we’re working on AI-powered reporting to help you build custom reports. It will be available on our Pro plan soon. Stay tuned!
We’re convinced that CourseStorm is the best registration software for nonprofits that need class registration and payment processing. But don’t take our word for it, start your free trial today and see for yourself.
RegFox
RegFox bills itself as event registration software. Classes come third on their list of priorities after conferences and camps. Marketed as easy to use, the system may be best suited to organizations looking for an alternative to Eventbrite and Cvent.
They offer support for merchandise and product sales, social incentives, and editing and upgrading of existing orders. All of this is well-targeted to event management, but less relevant for class registration.
Features and Capabilities:
- Synchronized reports
- Host virtual events in platform
- Multi-class registrations
- Flexible forms
Regpack
Regpack was originally designed for billing automation. Unsurprisingly, they’re very focused on the billing aspect of registration. Theirs may be the best registration software for subscription-based programs. For example, a gym with a year-long contract might use it to collect monthly fees.
They offer automatic course billing, discounts and variable pricing for learners, and a centralized registration database that features your branding. You can also share live-streamed or pre-recorded video content with registrants.
Features and Capabilities:
- Mobile-ready
- E-signature capabilities
- Payment plans
- Group registration
Sawyer
Focused on kids classes, camps and events, Sawyer lists classes directly on their website. You can also embed listings on your own site. Because they’re kid-focused, they offer features like family profiles so parents can list authorized caregivers.
Sawyer is a robust platform with many useful features, but the cost quickly adds up. Registrations made on their marketplace also incur a 30% “marketplace fee.” This fee shrinks as you upgrade your plan.
Features and Capabilities:
- Kid-focused marketplace
- Family profiles and group registration
- Basic reporting
- Online and in-person classes
Jackrabbit
Jackrabbit helps gymnastics, dance, swim, cheer, and music programs register students. They focus specifically on schools or youth activity centers that offer these courses and their features are tailored to the needs of these types of schools.
Jackrabbit includes a point-of-sale system for the front desk, skill-tracking so teachers can share student progress, and a time clock for tracking staff hours. All of these features make them the best class registration software for dance and gymnastics schools.
Features and Capabilities:
- Built-in costume and recital management
- Staff time clock
- Skills tracking through parent portal
- Made for dance and gymnastics classes
Test and Find the Best Registration Software for You
Hopefully this article has given you an idea of what registration software is available to you. Information is great, but we think the best way to choose registration software is by testing it out for yourself. Get your free trial of CourseStorm today and find out if our impossibly simple class registration software is right for you.
All information current at the time of publication. Please verify prices before purchasing.
Greg Shula
Greg has spent a decade analyzing business and marketing performance metrics of the companies he has worked with. He uses his analytical mind and investigative skills to find trends and simple answers from complicated data sets. Greg is also an amateur photographer who loves to capture nature from new perspectives.