Sandbox Childcare Software Pricing in 2026: What It Costs and What's Missing

Sandbox Pricing Tiers

Hidden Costs You Won't See on the Pricing Page

• ⚠ Subsidy reconciliation for CCDF and DHS voucher billing is not included — centers billing subsidy agencies need a separate workflow or system
• ⚠ Ratio tracking is not built in — directors must maintain manual logs to demonstrate compliance during licensing audits
• ⚠ Audit-ready record formatting requires manual export — Sandbox records are designed for operations, not licensing inspectors
• ⚠ Pricing requires a sales call — no self-serve pricing page means you cannot comparison-shop without committing to a conversation

What Sandbox actually costs

Sandbox does not publish its pricing. To get a number, you contact their sales team for a quote.

This is a common model in childcare software — Brightwheel does the same. The practical effect for directors evaluating platforms is that comparison shopping requires an outbound contact step with each vendor before you can put actual numbers side by side.

What is publicly available: Sandbox uses a per-center or per-enrollment model and does not require a long-term contract, which reduces the commitment risk compared to platforms with annual-only pricing.

What Sandbox includes

Sandbox was built to address the UX problems of older platforms. Digital check-in and check-out, parent daily reports, invoicing, enrollment management, and a parent app are all included. The interface is cleaner and more modern than legacy competitors.

For centers that have struggled with older software and want something with lower day-to-day friction, the operational and communication layer Sandbox provides is real.

What premium tiers add

Sandbox’s higher tiers add advanced reporting, multi-room support, and enhanced parent communication features. These are operational and administrative improvements on top of the core platform.

As with the pricing structure, the specific feature breakdown per tier is not listed publicly and would need to be confirmed through a sales conversation.

What is missing at every tier for licensed centers

The gap for licensed programs is consistent across all of Sandbox’s tiers.

Ratio tracking. State licensing requires continuous staff-to-child ratio compliance — not just at check-in and check-out, but throughout the operating day. When a licensing officer arrives and asks for ratio records at a specific time, Sandbox does not produce them. Directors must maintain manual ratio logs alongside the platform.

Subsidy reconciliation. Sandbox’s billing features handle private-pay invoicing. CCDF and DHS voucher billing requires more: attendance documentation by funding source, state-formatted reimbursement claims, and reconciliation of payments against voucher authorizations. Directors billing subsidy volume on Sandbox typically manage those workflows manually or in spreadsheets.

Audit-ready records. Sandbox records are built for daily operations and family communication. Licensing inspectors need time-stamped attendance with sign-in and sign-out, room-level ratio logs, and subsidy billing records that match what was submitted to the state. The formatting difference is significant and requires manual work to bridge.

Offline access. Sandbox requires connectivity. A licensing inspection during a connectivity interruption leaves directors without access to records.

How PebbleDesk compares

PebbleDesk Starter at $29/month covers what Sandbox leaves out: continuous ratio tracking, attendance records in audit-ready format, and offline access. Professional at $49/month plus $1.50/child adds subsidy reconciliation for CCDF and DHS voucher billing.

At 30 children, Professional is $94/month. That covers the compliance layer alongside the operational administration — without a separate manual system to maintain alongside the software.

Sandbox works well for programs where parent communication and operational administration are the primary software needs and compliance documentation is either simple or handled separately. For licensed centers where the compliance layer is the constraint, the coverage gap matters.