What class software actually costs, hidden fees included

The quote is rarely the biggest number. A first year of class software at three sizes, the hidden fees under the price, and the question that finds them.

Nov 1, 2026 · 5 min read

The number on a software quote is the number you compare. It's rarely the number you pay. By the end of the first year, the monthly plan is often a quarter of what the software really cost, and the rest arrived in pieces: card fees, setup, texting, a second login, a website on the side.

None of it is secret. It's spread across terms pages, help articles and sales calls instead of sitting next to the price. We sell software like this, so apply every question below to us too; our own numbers are at the end.

The pieces of the bill

Whatever the quote says, a year of class software is made of the same parts:

• The plan itself: monthly, yearly, per student, or a share of what you collect.
• Card processing: the card processor's fee on every payment families make. Around 2.9% plus 30¢ a payment is common in Canada and the US. It isn't the software's fee, but it's money leaving your account because of how you take payments, and it's almost always the biggest line.
• Setup: a one-time fee to set up your account or import your families.
• Extras: texting, a second location, more staff logins, phone support, a card reader at the desk.
• What you used to pay elsewhere: a website, a form tool, a separate email tool. Some software replaces them; some doesn't.

A first year at three sizes

A small studio. 60 students, one room, $5,000 a month in tuition, all by card in about 55 payments, quoted $79 a month. The plan is $948, card processing about $1,940, setup and import $250, a texting add-on at $15 a month $180, and a website kept separately at $20 a month $240. First year: about $3,560, and the plan you compared is just over a quarter of it.

A busy studio. 180 students, three rooms, $16,000 a month in about 150 card payments, quoted $189 a month. The plan is $2,268, card processing about $6,110, setup $500, texting at $40 a month $480, and two more staff logins at $10 each a month $240. First year: about $9,600. The card fees alone are more than double the plan.

Two locations. 400 students, $40,000 a month in about 330 card payments, quoted $399 a month plus $99 for the second location. The plan is $5,976, card processing about $15,110, setup $1,000, texting at $90 a month $1,080, and phone support at $50 a month $600. First year: about $23,770, the software a quarter of it.

These numbers are illustrations, not anyone's real price list. But the shape holds at every size: card processing is the largest line, extras add roughly half as much again as the plan, and the quote you compared is the smallest part of the total.

The hidden fees, line by line

A markup on card fees. Some software adds a percentage of its own on top of the processor's rate, or builds it into a single card rate that's quietly higher, say 3.5% instead of 2.9%. On $16,000 a month, that 0.6% is $96 a month, more than many plans. Ask for the processor's rate and the software's share as two separate numbers, and whose account the money goes through: if it's an account in your business's name, your history goes with you if you leave.

Texting. Rarely in the base price, and owners underestimate it. 200 families × 4 texts a month is 800 texts, and more in a snow week or the week of a show. Multiply by the per-text rate, then add what the number itself costs each month.

Setup and moving your data. Charged once, often after you've decided. Ask whether moving your data is included and who does the work: "we'll help you move" and "we'll move you" are different offers, and the difference is a week of your evenings.

Logins and locations. The plan was quoted for one location and two logins. Count your real ones: every teacher who takes attendance, the front desk, your bookkeeper, the door volunteer at the recital, and you.

Support tiers. Same-day answers, phone support or a named contact may be on the plan above yours. You won't notice until the week you need it, and that week will be registration week.

Add-ons. The family portal, online registration, reports, a waitlist, your website. A cheap base plan plus three add-ons is often dearer than one price with everything in it, so compare what you'd actually be running, assembled.

Paying a year up front, and tax. A yearly discount is real, and it's also twelve months committed, charged at once. Depending on where you are, sales tax is added to the software's own price too.

How the price grows with you

Per-student pricing rises as you grow. Ask exactly what counts: active this term, or everyone who ever registered and was never removed (per-student pricing). Per-location pricing stays flat, then doubles the day you open a second space. A share of payments rises with your success, every month.

Work out the bill at today's size and at the size you hope to be in two years. The cheapest option now is often the most expensive one then, and by then changing is a project, not a decision.

The one question

Ask every company this, in writing, before any demo:

For a business with [N] students or clients, at [L] locations, taking roughly [$X] a year by card, with [S] staff who need to sign in: what will I pay you in total over twelve months, including setup, card processing, texting and every login I need? And is there a contract, what does it cost to leave, and can we take our data with us?

A company that answers plainly has told you something. So has one that won't, and there's more on why in hidden pricing.

Ours, in one paragraph

Caletan has three plans, with every feature on every plan, no charge per student, login or location, free to start and no contract. Pay as you go costs nothing a month, with a service fee of 0.2% of card payments, in Canada and the US alike. Direct is $9 a month for collecting payments yourself, by cash, cheque, e-transfer or your own card machine, with no service fee. Pro is $100 a month, with no service fee. Stripe's own card fee is separate and goes to Stripe, through your own Stripe account. Texting, if you turn it on, is paid as you use it, from a balance you top up. At the three sizes above, Pay as you go would be $10, $32 and $80 a month; Pro's $100 only costs less above $50,000 a month in card payments. It's all on our pricing page, and there's more on Caletan's class registration software.