Software Comparison
MicroCampus vs Spark Your School
Both platforms serve microschools and learning pods. The biggest difference: Spark charges per student on top of a monthly fee. MicroCampus is flat-rate.
Spark Your School and MicroCampus are aimed at similar communities — microschools, hybrid homeschools, co-ops, and alternative educators. Both cover attendance, payments, parent portals, gradebooks, and enrollment. Where they diverge: Spark leans into student-facing tools like a daily planner, assignment submissions, and a rewards system. MicroCampus leans into school operations — donations & fundraising, accounting, analytics, staff hours, and learning plans.
Feature Comparison
| Feature | MicroCampus | Spark Your School |
|---|---|---|
| Flat monthly pricing (no per-student fees) | ✓ | ✗ |
| Donations & fundraising | ✓ | ✗ |
| Accounting / ledger | ✓ | ✗ |
| Analytics dashboard | ✓ | ✗ |
| Staff hours tracking | ✓ | ✗ |
| Student planner & assignments | ✗ | ✓ |
| Rewards / points system | ✗ | ✓ |
| Attendance tracking | ✓ | ✓ |
| Tuition & payment collection | ✓ | ✓ |
| Parent portal | ✓ | ✓ |
| Progress reports | ✓ | ✓ |
| Enrollment forms | ✓ | ✓ |
| Free trial, no credit card | ✓ | ✗ |
✓ = Yes · ✗ = No · ~ = Partial or limited
Who Spark Your School is best for
Spark is a good fit if student-facing features matter most to you — a student planner, assignment submissions, mastery grading, and a rewards system that lets kids earn and redeem points. If your students are active users of the platform (not just parents and staff), Spark's student portal experience is worth considering.
Who MicroCampus is best for
MicroCampus is the right choice if you're focused on the operational side of running your school: flat-rate pricing with no per-student fees, built-in donations and fundraising, accounting, staff hours tracking, and analytics. It's also the better fit if you want tuition collection wired directly to your own Stripe account with no middleman.
Where MicroCampus stands out
Features built specifically for microschools, learning pods, and alternative programs.
Flat-rate pricing — no per-student fees
Spark's Microschool plan starts at $34.99/mo plus $1.49 per student over 25. A 30-student school pays ~$42/mo with Spark; with MicroCampus Grow it's $39/mo flat, no matter how many students you add up to your plan limit.
Donations & fundraising built in
MicroCampus includes a public-facing donation page with a goal tracker and direct-to-your-Stripe payouts. Spark doesn't offer fundraising tools.
Operations-first vs. student-first
Spark invests heavily in the student experience — planners, assignments, rewards. MicroCampus invests in the operator experience — accounting, analytics, staff hours, and a clean admin workflow.
Your Stripe, your money
MicroCampus connects directly to your own Stripe account. Tuition payments, fee collections, and donations go straight to your bank with no middleman.
MicroCampus Pricing
Seed
$24/mo
Up to 15 students
Grow
$39/mo
Up to 30 students
Thrive
$69/mo
Up to 60 students
No per-student fees. 14-day free trial. No credit card required.
See MicroCampus for yourself
Start a free trial — no credit card required. Most schools are up and running in an afternoon.
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