Total cost of ownership for a childcare app: a worked example at 120 children

The setting

120 children, six rooms, expected to be 150 in two years. Three options: an all-in-one platform's mid tier, a free classroom tool, and a focused parent feed (Oyku at under $10 per child per month).

Direct costs (annual, at 150 children)

• All-in-one mid tier at ~$8/child/month: ~$14,400. Plus onboarding if charged.
• Free classroom tool: $0 direct. Paid tier for school controls: varies.
• Oyku: under $18,000; most centers near $9,000. Every feature included, no setup fee, no tiers.

Indirect costs

• Teacher time on parent-facing writing: a newsletter and daily-sheet prose can cost 5 hours/room/week. At six rooms and a modest hourly cost, that's tens of thousands a year — the largest line in any TCO.
• The second tool: if parents don't open the platform's tab, a communication layer gets added anyway.
• Consent incidents: one is expensive in trust and time.
• Lost families: US center-based care averages ~$15,570 per child per year (FFYF, 2025). One family kept pays for most tools many times over.

Reading the result

Direct costs favour the free tool and are broadly similar across paid options; indirect costs punish anything teachers stop using or parents don't open. The right stack is usually a business platform for the office plus a feed families love — and the deciding number is teacher hours and families kept, not the subscription line. Full method: pricing guide.