Comparison
SmartNursery or Famly? A straight comparison.
Famly is a large, well-established platform used by many of the UK's biggest nursery groups. SmartNursery is smaller, built and used inside our own nursery group. They suit different settings, so here's a factual side-by-side, including where Famly does more than we do.
Famly details taken from famly.co and help.famly.co on 12 October 2026. Prices exclude VAT for both.
Price
What you'd pay each month
SmartNursery is one plan with everything included, at £3 per child per month (£75 minimum). Famly's pricing page lists three plans, each at a fixed monthly price with no per-child charge shown. Rotas, automatic invoicing, staff absence management and accident forms come with every SmartNursery account; at Famly, rotas and automatic invoicing are on the Professional plan.
| Children on roll | SmartNursery | Famly Foundation | Famly Professional |
|---|---|---|---|
| Up to 25 | £75 | £79 | £209 |
| 40 | £120 | £79 | £209 |
| 50 | £150 | £79 | £209 |
| 69 | £207 | £79 | £209 |
| 80 | £240 | £79 | £209 |
Like for like
Against Famly Professional, the plan with rotas and automatic invoicing, SmartNursery costs less for settings with up to 69 children. From 70 children, Famly Professional is cheaper per month.
If you need less
Famly Foundation at £79 is cheaper than SmartNursery for settings with 27 or more children, but it doesn't include rotas, automatic invoicing, absence management or accident forms.
Both offer an annual discount: SmartNursery charges 10 months for 12; Famly lists a £240 annual saving on Premium and Professional. Neither charges a setup fee. Groups of 10 or more sites get custom pricing from Famly; talk to us about groups too.
Features
Feature by feature
Where a Famly feature is only on certain plans, we've named the plan.
| Feature | SmartNursery | Famly |
|---|---|---|
| Fees & funding | ||
| Invoicing | Included | All plans |
| Automatic invoicing | IncludedFrom each child's booking pattern | Professional |
| Funded hours | Included15 and 30 hours, term-time or stretched | All plans |
| Parents pay by card in the app | Not offered | All plans |
| Xero integration | Not offered | Yes |
| Staff | ||
| Staff sign in and out | Included | Yes |
| Staff rotas | Included | Professional |
| Absence management | IncludedWith Bradford Factor on each staff profile | Premium and above |
| Parents | ||
| Online registration | Included | YesCustomisable forms on Professional |
| Request extra sessions | Included | Yes |
| Report sickness and holidays | Included | Yes |
| Messaging and newsfeed | Push notifications only | All plans |
| Live translation | Not offered | ProfessionalAdd-on on other plans |
| Care & compliance | ||
| Accident records | Included | Premium and above |
| Daily logs (sleep, nappies, meals) | Not offered | All plans |
| Observations and learning journeys | Not storedObservation helper writes them up for Tapestry or similar | All plans |
| AI writing help | ||
| Writing assistant | IncludedObservations, accident reports and emails to parents | All plansSidekick writing assistant |
| Getting started | ||
| Setup and data migration | Free | Free |
| Try before you buy | Trial with your own data | 2-week free trial |
| Notice to cancel | 30 days | One month |
Where Famly is ahead
- Observations, learning journeys and a curriculum builder, so you don't need a separate journal.
- Two-way messaging, a newsfeed with photos, and daily logs that parents see.
- Parents can pay invoices by card in the app, and it links to Xero.
- Live translation of messages and observations.
- A large company with a help centre, webinars and a community for practitioners.
What SmartNursery brings
- Everything on one plan, priced by the number of children you have.
- Built inside a working nursery group, so changes to funding rules or Ofsted expectations are dealt with as they happen.
- AI help with writing up observations, including suggested EYFS areas, plus accident reports and emails to parents.
- Injuries on arrival recorded on a body map and acknowledged by parents online.
- Photos of every authorised collector, with uploads checked automatically for a clear, real face.
- A device register and log of unannounced device checks.
- Forms and contracts signed online, with a PDF and audit trail kept for each.
- You deal directly with the person who builds the system.
Which suits you?
If you want one system that also runs your learning journeys and parent messaging, Famly is worth a look. If your priority is fees, funding, rotas and Ofsted records, priced fairly for a small or medium setting and backed by people who run nurseries themselves, we'd like to show you SmartNursery.
Sources for Famly information (checked 12 October 2026)
- Famly pricing (UK & Ireland)
- Famly finances
- Famly staffing
- Famly parent partnerships
- Famly help: parents request extra sessions
- Famly help: parents report absence
Famly is a trademark of its owner. SmartNursery is not affiliated with Famly. Prices and features change; check Famly's website for their current offer. Spotted something out of date? Email sales@smartnursery.co.uk and we'll correct it.