Best Free and Open Source School Management Software

Free Online School Management Software

Managing a school is not an easy task - so many aspects must be taken care of daily. In such situations, relying on free and open-source school management software is the best way to streamline your school's efficiency and productivity levels. This revolutionary tool can completely change how your educational institution functions.

Besides, a recent study shows that more and more schools and educational firms are opting to automate their academic processes. Hence, estimates suggest that the school management software market will be amass worldwide.

According to a recent study, more educational institutions are opting to automate their process. Due to this, education and school management software will see a mass revenue of around 7.9 billion USD in 2022. Also, the trends suggest that this sector will grow manifolds reaching 8.3 billion USD by 2023.

Adapting to a robust school management software system will soon be the new normal. So, if you haven’t yet deployed one or are running short of budget to invest in one, this comprehensive list of free and open-source school management software is for you! Delve deeper to make the right choice.

15 Best Free & Open Source School Management Software

Tool #1: Fedena

Fedena is one of the best open-source school management software built on a robust programming framework, Ruby on Rails. From streamlining students’ details to handling all the managerial functions of the school, it takes care of all.

Features

• Paperless Admission: It simplifies admission tracking with the online admission form, document submission, batch allotment, etc.
• Exam & Gradebook: It enables you to conduct online examinations, update the marks, customize report cards, and share them with parents instantly.
• Parents Collaboration: It allows parents to keep track of their child’s academic progress, discuss with teachers, and receive alerts of upcoming events.

Pros

• Engages teachers and parents with no technical expertise
• No limits on the number of students, teachers, and parent logins
• It helps you save 27% of the total cost by going paperless
• Integrates with different payment gateways for hassle-free fees management
• Customizable as per your needs

 Cons

• The open-source version lacks several features, such as inventory, custom reports, etc.
• The student report generated can be more exhaustive

Tool #2: School Time

SchoolTime is a free school management software best suited for smaller educational institutions such as elementary schools. The software is user-friendly, and the administration will not require technical expertise to operate it. SchoolTime is perfect for running a small school in a dynamic environment.

Features

• Library Management: It incorporates the features of school library management software to help you undertake seamless library functions.
• Transport/Fleet Management: It tracks the school transportation details like vehicle number, bus routing, driver identity, etc., to ensure the safety and security of students.
• Time Table Management: It helps teachers to create a flexible schedule for their students.

Pros 

• Use a free version without any complication for an unlimited period
• Automate the complete life cycle of a student from registration till graduation, pass out
• Easy to administer directories and finance reports

Cons

• There is a limit on the number of students accessing free versions.

Tool #3: OpenEduCat

OpenEduCat is an open-source school management software that focuses on providing a seamless experience to users. The cornerstone of this software lies in the fact that it is an all-inclusive software that handles every single aspect of operational functioning.

It can transform the school into a robust functional ecosystem that handles several functions, from payroll management to classroom scheduling to asset and liabilities management.

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Features

• Learning Management System (LMS): It allows you to offer online courses so your students can learn from anywhere. Other online course platforms also give this functionality but aren't as robust as OpenEduCat. 
• Faculty Management: You can manage information about faculties like their skills, degrees, schedules, expenses, payroll, etc. in one place.

• Attendance Management: It helps you eliminate the manual and erroneous efforts of recording students’ attendance.

Pros

• Parents and teachers can easily access all the information related to students, including health profiles, achievements, activities carried out in the classroom, etc.
• Payroll management makes it a comprehensive software

Cons

• Implementation is a little complex and needs a competent IT Team

Tool #4: OpenSis Community

OpenSis Community is a renowned open-source management software that works best for the K-12 level, making it an excellent choice for small and medium-scale schools. 

The community version of this software is free. You can use it for many activities, such as recording attendance, generating customized reports, scheduling activities, etc.

Features

• Student & Parent Portal: Students and parents can access student information, calendar events, internal messaging features, etc.
• Teacher Portal: Teachers can access all the functionalities they can from the web-based interface of their mobile apps.
• Medical Records: openSIS allows you to capture disease information, physician’s contact details, vaccinations, etc., as a part of students’ records.

Pros

• Capability to store unlimited students’ information
• Customizable as per  the needs of the school
• Integration with Moodle LMS makes information management much easier

Cons

• To take complete advantage, IT members should be well versed with PostgreSQL.

Tool #5: SchoolTool

SchoolTool is an online free school management software that provides excellent support for managing the school’s administrative procedures. It runs on all Linux platforms. The software is known for its time-saving features that escalate the school's performance. The performance of the school.

Features

• Progress Reports: It enables you to customize students’ progress reports and gain insights.
• Third-party Integrations: It integrates with transportation, food services, and online registration platforms for easy management.
• Discussion Area: It provides a discussion area where students and parents can share their queries and teachers can resolve them.

Pros

• Provides robust features like classroom participation journals, tracks teachers and students, etc.
• Calendar integrates with Google Calendar to help you keep track of the daily schedule.

Cons 

• It lacks the features required for human resource management and an online payment gateway.

Tool #6: FeKara

FeKara is an open-source school management powerhouse that works best for schools with fifty or fewer students. It is user-friendly, flexible, and allows the institute to manage day-to-day activities from admission to financial management to students' graduation.

Features

• Fee Management: You can set up fee collection monthly, quarterly, semi-annually, annually, or at custom intervals.
• Messaging System: Its integrated messaging system enables smooth communication between teachers, students, and parents.
• Academic Reports & Delivery: You can send academic reports like guidebooks, attendance reports, etc., to parents using SMS.

Pros

• It is available in 15 languages, i.e., you can customize it per your language preference.
• FeKara Pro version unlocks all the features from exams and assignments to budgeting and internal management of employees.
• It provides a mobile app for convenient and on-the-go use

Cons

• The software is free as long as there are fifty students and five teachers, after which you must subscribe to a premium version to unlock all the features.

Tool #7: Gibbon

Gibbon is an open-source school management software solution that gives you an “all-in-one” experience in school management. All the users, including teachers, administration, parents, and students, can utilize the benefits of this tool.

Various teaching tools such as rubrics, assessment sheets, worksheet planning, library catalog, etc. simplify the daily functional tasks of teachers.

Features

• Planner: It lets your staff plan lessons with its rich multimedia and enables them to share the same with students and parents.
• Markbook: It records and reports academic data across all subjects and makes it available for students and parents.
• Crowd Assessment: It enables peer assessment, i.e., it lets you share student work with flexible users.

Pros

• Helps to streamline administrative features and other management functions such as payroll, staff management, finance, and invoicing
• Features email sending in Messenger and 75 more enhancements
• It is free, open-source, and flexible to meet the needs of any school size

Cons 

• You have to maintain the data on your server

Tool #8: TS School

TS School is a simple and effective open-source school management software that gives you access to all the essential features irrespective of the number of students and teachers. Its robust human management features handle all HR and Payroll functions without any manual intervention.

Features

• Athletics: It manages all of your school athletics activities - be it setting up disciplines, heats, templates, trial teams, etc.
• Awards: Right from award ceremonies to certificates, pamphlets, and associated documentation, this module keeps track of everything.
• Hostel Management: It handles the setting up of dormitories and allocating students and staff to them.

Pros

• Excellent human resource tool for managing your staff
• Ideal for creating error-free records and following up on classroom management strategies

Cons 

• You cannot access reporting and inventory management on the free version.

Tool #9: AscendSM

AscendSMS is available to catholic schools at no cost. The software helps in the seamless integration of daily school functions. It also removes communication barriers by establishing a network between parents and educators.

Features

• Timetable Management: Teachers can pre-set timetables for all the classes, create different class timings, allocate subjects, and do much more.
• Fleet Management: It helps you and the parents to monitor every movement of the school buses, thus, ensuring students are safe.
• Library Management: It keeps a tab on the books issued and returned and students’ information and automates the library management. to ease the librarian’s task.

Pros

• Easy creation of health reports and transcripts
• Faculty management streamlines administrative procedures.

Cons

• The user interface is fundamental, and there is a scope of upgrades

Tool #10: FenixEdu

FenixEdu is a free school management software for higher educational institutions' educational and administrative management. The software has in-built tools such as tutorials and assignments to enhance academic performance. It creates a structured communication channel between school authorities and parents for the continuous flow of information.

Features

• Examination Management: It eases the tasks of exam processes like configuring exam rules and more in schools.
• Event Calendar: It helps you track multiple school schedules, including upcoming events.
• HR & Payroll: It maintains all the staff information along with easy payroll management and leaves while reducing paperwork.

Pros 

• The centralized working system ensures that teachers, administrators, and students receive regular updates about various activities.
• Highly modular and requires no extra effort for installation
• Easy customization to suit your requirements

Cons

• Proficient IT team required to take advantage of all the features

Tool #11: RosarioSIS

This is one of the most flexible and uniquely designed software that provides a comprehensive set of tools to run an educational institution. It lets you embed YouTube videos, PDFs, and Word files to portal notes. Such features make RosarioSIS one of the best open-source school management software that helps manage day-to-day activities.

Features

• Messaging: It provides an internal messaging system for communication between students, teachers, and parents.
• Student Billing: From invoicing to online bill payments, tuition plans, and financial reporting, it takes care of all aspects.
• Online Registration: It provides a platform for students to enroll online for the registration process and speeds up the administrator’s task.

Pros

• It has a built-in PDF generator
• It includes Moodle LMS integration
• It is compatible with smartphones and tablets

Cons

• The learning curve can be a little difficult, and you will need extra support for the installation.

Tool #12. QuickSchool

QuickSchool comes with an incredible set of school management software features and unlimited training materials. It provides a wide range of functionalities to support administrative functions. Moreover, the dashboard provides a parent-teacher portal where parents can track children's performance and activities carried out in the classroom.

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Features

• School Schedule: It lets you define how often each course gets taught in a week, schedule classes in the available slots, etc.
• Gradebook: You can set up multiple grading scales and redefine grade weightage per the class’s needs.
• Transcripts: It enables you to create beautiful transcripts, save it for future reference, and access them whenever needed.

Pros

• The system also allows you to send voice messages and texts
• Synchronizes information in real-time to access the system from anywhere

Cons 

• You can not access customization features with the free version

Tool #13. Veyon

One of the best freest school management software, Veyon, is famous for its intuitive interface. It helps monitor and remote control all computers and also broadcasts screens to students. You can use it for classroom management and monitoring. It is compatible with devices running on Linux and Windows. Besides, the software integrates with your network and directory services. It is a must-have tool for distance learning.

Features

• Monitor: Veyon gives you complete control over your classroom regardless of where you are.
• Broadcast: Share your screen with students and demonstrate whatever is important in an instant.

• Integrate: You can integrate it with your network and Veyon will keep the information up-to-date.
  • Allows you to take a screenshot of another computer with a single click
  • Educators can have single-key access to other computers
  • Enables you to broadcast your screen to students’ screen
  • Educators can have Internet access control
  • Available in multiple languages
  • Easy integration with a personal network using built-in LDAP/AD option

Pros

• Allows you to take a screenshot of another computer with a single click
• It is available in multiple languages
• Easy integration with a personal network using built-in LDAP/AD option

Cons

• Having single key access can raise security questions

Tool #14. SchoolGen

SchoolGen is a practical, integrated, and comprehensive school management software suitable for all educational institutions. It creates a central database where teachers and administrators can easily maintain and access student records. It also helps to assist in various managerial functions such as financial management and payroll administration.

Features 

• Attendance Management: It is quick and easy for teachers to create a daily attendance bulletin with SchoolGen.
• Progress Report: Students can track their progress in any subject and check their performance and score.
• Parental Access: Parents can keep track of their child’s reports, homework, assignments, exams, and more in real time. 
  • Easy generation and disbursement of salary
  • Transportation tracking
  • Library book tracking
  • Customizable student report card formats
  • Provides students with online tutoring, reference materials, and classroom notes
  • Gives access to important student information from admission to graduation

Pros

• Provides students with online tutoring, reference materials, and classroom notes
• Tracks the detailed history of students' and teachers’ performance
• It is a maintenance-free school management solution and upgrades automatically

Cons

• No mobile accessibility

Tool #15: MyClassCampus

MyClassCampus is the most advanced web and app-based school management software. With 40+ modules, it provides the best school management practices. Its abilities, like QR code scanning profiles, GPS tracking, and smart cards, power up your operational efficiency.

Features

• Inventory Management: You can create and manage items such as uniforms, stationery, books, etc. to distribute among students or teachers and keep track of the same.
• Lesson Planning: It helps create a structured plan for students and equip them with the coming day’s plan and schedule.
• Wireless Biometric: It lets you record attendance based on fingerprint, face recognition, RFID card, and walkthrough.

Pros 

• It comes with an integrated mobile app for easy access from anywhere
• It equips you with various features, including compliant/grievance management, hostel management, financial management, etc.

Cons 

• No cons, the software has almost all the features required for the automation of processes.

Final Word

Open-source school management software makes classroom monitoring and administrative procedures of an educational institution more efficient. Most of these systems come with a user-friendly interface so that the installation and the entire usage mechanism are hassle-free. 

It is rightly  said that “higher management qualities are associated with better educational outcomes.” Hence, it becomes relevant that educational institutions opt for such free school management systems to relieve the teachers so they can focus on core activities.

The above 15 software are free and will help you on this automation journey. Let us know your experience if you are using any of this software. If not, which one do you use? Do let us know in the comments section. We’d be happy to explore some more options!