Guide · Pricing
What school ERP really costs in India
Most ERP quotes hide the true number across three documents: licence, implementation, and annual maintenance. This guide names the four pricing models, the five hidden costs, and the one-line test every quote should pass — with Classfold's own published plans as the transparent reference point.
The four pricing models
One: perpetual licence plus AMC — a large upfront fee (often lakhs) plus 15–25% yearly maintenance; the classic enterprise model. Two: quote-based SaaS — yearly subscription sized by modules and students, negotiated per deal, renewals creeping. Three: per-student monthly SaaS — a flat rupee rate per student per month, scaling linearly with school size; Classfold's STARTER ₹180/month (90 students), BASIC ₹599/month (300), PRO ₹1,299/month (700) sit here. Four: freemium or marketplace — free core funded by commissions on fees or courses, where the vendor's incentives quietly diverge from yours.
- Perpetual licence + AMC: big upfront, yearly maintenance percentage
- Quote-based SaaS: negotiated yearly, renewals drift upward
- Per-student monthly: linear, predictable, comparable across vendors
- Marketplace freemium: free entry, commission on your revenue
The five hidden costs
Implementation fees for data migration and configuration. Training billed per day or per batch. SMS and messaging packs sold separately from the 'communication module'. White-label or custom-domain charges for your own branding. And support tiers where fee-season help costs extra. A quote missing any of these is not lower — it is incomplete. Demand the three-year total in writing: licence plus implementation plus three years of maintenance, support, messaging and branding.
- Data migration and configuration implementation
- Training days and onboarding assistance
- SMS/WhatsApp messaging packs outside the base price
- White-label domain and branding surcharges
- Priority support during admission and fee season
The one-line annualisation test
Take any quote and reduce it to one line: total rupees per year for everything — software, migration, training, messages, branding, support. If the vendor cannot produce that line, the quote is a starting bid, not a price. Then divide by students for the per-student monthly figure and compare honestly: legacy stacks typically land several multiples above per-student SaaS, before counting the staff evenings manual reconciliation consumes.
What Classfold charges, stated plainly
Monthly plans by student count, support and branding included, no implementation project to bill: STARTER ₹180/month up to 90 students, BASIC ₹599/month up to 300, PRO ₹1,299/month up to 700. The pricing page carries the current list with distributor and network tiers for groups. Annualising any of them takes one multiplication — which is rather the point.
Everything in one place
What the platform covers
Published per-student plans
STARTER, BASIC and PRO priced monthly by enrolment — comparable at a glance.
Support included
Onboarding help and fee-season support in the plan, not a support tier.
Brand included
Your domain and logo by default — no white-label surcharge line.
Migration help included
Spreadsheet imports and setup assistance instead of implementation billing.
Messaging in-platform
Parent communication inside the system rather than a separate SMS contract.
No marketplace cut
Course and fee revenue stays yours — flat plans, zero commission.
Questions, answered
Frequently asked questions
How much should a 300-student school budget for ERP software?
On per-student SaaS: roughly ₹599/month on Classfold BASIC — about ₹7,200 a year. On legacy quote models: expect multiples of that once implementation and AMC are added. Always annualise the full quote before comparing.
What is AMC in school ERP quotes?
Annual Maintenance Charges — typically 15–25% of the licence fee yearly for updates and support. SaaS monthly plans fold this in; perpetual licences bill it separately, forever.
Are there free school ERP options?
Open-source and freemium options exist, but budget honestly: hosting, implementation, training and support still cost, and marketplace-free models often take commission on your fee or course revenue instead.
Does Classfold charge for implementation?
No implementation project, no implementation billing — migration help and onboarding support are part of the monthly plans.
Can pricing change at renewal?
Published per-student tiers make renewal maths visible in advance, unlike negotiated quotes. Check the pricing page for the current list before each academic year.