Published by Homeroom · Homeroom reviewed
Homeroom vs. Scholaric
Scholaric is the minimalist’s planner, and for one student it is the cheapest real tool in the category at $3 a month. Single-field lesson entry, a clever series syntax, bump-forward rescheduling, automatic hours. The math changes with family size, and the workflow changes with AI. That is where Homeroom’s case starts.
Competitor sources reviewed . Confirm current pricing and features with the provider.
Homeroom’s lane
Flat price, AI entry
One $49 plan for unlimited students, with photo import, one-sentence logging, grading, and recovery math included.
Scholaric’s lane
Least software possible
Single-field entry, a series syntax that fills a term in one line, bump-forward rescheduling, and automatic hour totals.
Scholaric bills monthly only and prices per student. Every figure on this page is annualized so the numbers are comparable.
Current Homeroom features
Planning, private review and learning records
Homeroom reviewed October 21, 2026. Competitor prices and features retain their separately stated research dates.
Plan with your own AI assistant
ChatGPT and hosted Claude have enabled setup paths through Connections. Browse published curriculum, draft a school year, add custom lessons or propose changes to existing work. Your provider account must support the connection; provider fees and usage limits are separate.
Connection setup and limitsReview changes before they reach your records
Choose the child privately in Homeroom. Review and correct a saved draft, compare versions, then prepare an exact preview and Apply in the app. Saving in chat does not apply changes. Rollback checks for later work before allowing an undo.
Draft review and recoveryBuild from a published curriculum or your own plan
The catalog distinguishes schedulable lessons from reference material. Preview selected lessons on your calendar, or use an assistant to draft custom content. Authorized planner imports bring lesson plans with fresh progress; grades and completion history stay behind. Materials are obtained separately.
Catalog and lesson planningRecord learning outside formal lessons
Log instruction time for Library, field trips, co-op and your family's own activity types. Rename or archive custom types while retaining past entries. Hours combine completed-lesson time and separately logged instruction; avoid counting the same minutes twice.
Hours and activity typesKeep records when plans change
Skip a lesson without awarding credit, archive a subject with its history intact, or preview a school-year rollover. Connected assistants can propose rescheduling, lesson-record updates, reading entries and private reports. Grades remain parent edits in the ordinary app.
Supported planning and record workflowsGive each device the right view
A parent signs in and opens a student's profile on a shared device or the student's own device. An optional PIN protects profile switching; returning to parent controls requires the adult's password. Co-teachers have their own adult sign-ins. Students do not have independent email accounts.
Parent, student and co-teacher accessMCP requires internet access and an owner-authorized connection. Grok, Gemini and unreviewed clients are unavailable. Changes for a child with an external-calendar connection are blocked in MCP. Reports organize your records; they do not certify legal compliance.
At a glance
The quick facts
Same category, meaningfully different value. Swipe the table on a small screen.
| Fact | Homeroom$49/year | Scholaric$36 to $84/year |
|---|---|---|
| Annual price | $49, unlimited students | $36 for one student, up to $84 for five or more |
| Billing | Monthly or annual | Monthly only, no annual discount |
| Free trial | 30 days, no card | 15 days |
| AI helpers | Five built-in helpers; MCP connections also available | None advertised |
| Works offline | Yes, the whole daily check-off loop | No |
| Grading | Per lesson, three scales | Point, equal, and group weighting |
| Hours and attendance | Automatic, with yearly goals | Automatic totals |
The math that decides it
What each one costs by family size
Scholaric charges per student. Homeroom does not. At two students the prices effectively tie, and from the third student on Homeroom is both the cheaper tool and the larger one.
One student
Two students
Three students
Five or more students
Scholaric figures are its monthly per-student prices multiplied by twelve, since it offers no annual discount. Homeroom is $49 a year for unlimited students, or $5.99 a month if you would rather not prepay.
Credit where it is due
Where Scholaric is genuinely better
For a one-student family that wants the least software possible, this is a defensible choice and we will say so plainly.
The one-student price
$36 a year beats $49. If you are homeschooling a single child and want bare-bones tracking, Scholaric costs less and does the job.
Grading weights
Point, equal, and group weighting options that Homeroom does not have. Homeroom grades per lesson on three scales, without category weighting.
Radical simplicity
Single-field entry and the Lesson {1-170} series syntax are genuinely fast once you have learned them, and there is very little interface in the way.
The other lane
Where Homeroom is ahead
Two of these are about money and the rest are about what happens after the plan meets a real week.
Family math
At two students the prices tie. At three or more, Scholaric’s monthly-only billing runs $60 to $84 a year while Homeroom stays at $49 for unlimited students, billed annually if you want.
AI does the entry instead of syntax
Scholaric’s series syntax is clever. Photographing the table of contents and getting a numbered, dated sequence is faster and needs nothing memorized. Add one-sentence logging, photo worksheet grading, essay feedback, and the catch-up planner, all included.
Status integrity
Missed work turns red on its own at your daily cutoff, and nobody can repaint it. Scholaric tracks what you enter. Homeroom’s board enforces what happened.
Recovery with a preview
Forward All shows exactly what moves and the new finish dates before you commit, and refuses to overflow the school year silently.
Offline and frozen records
The daily loop works with no connection, and every Monday last week’s report freezes into a permanent copy that later edits cannot rewrite.
A community in the app
A real forum with channels and direct messages with other homeschool families, included in the same $49.
Feature by feature
The full capability board
Full, basic, or none, scored from vendor documentation and public reviews. Scholaric wins three of these cells outright.
| Capability | Homeroom | Scholaric |
|---|---|---|
| Planning and lesson entry | Full Four entry paths plus AI photo import | Full Series syntax |
| Smart rescheduling | Full Forward with preview and year-end guard | Full Bump a series forward |
| Copying between students | Full Dedupe-safe | Basic |
| Grading depth | Basic Per lesson, three scales | Full Point, equal, and group weighting |
| Attendance and hours | Full Yearly goals, Library and custom activity types | Full Automatic totals |
| Transcripts and reports | Full Printable records, saved snapshots and school-year archives | Full |
| Student self-access | Basic Parent-opened student profile; optional PIN | Full Checklist logins |
| Marketplace and plan sharing | None Copying between your own students only | Basic Share lessons |
| State compliance documents | Basic General-purpose reports | Basic State-requirement progress |
| AI assistance | Full Five built-in helpers plus connected-assistant workflows | None advertised |
| Native mobile app | Basic Installable web app | Basic Mobile web |
| Works offline | Yes The daily check-off loop | No |
| Built-in community | Full Forum channels and direct messages | None |
The trust line
Privacy and your data
The useful version, in plain English.
Homeroom runs no ads and no third-party advertising trackers, exports your full account as a ZIP any time, and keeps everything printable after you cancel.
Built-in helpers send their submitted inputs and needed context to an AI processing provider. Connected assistants have their own data-use terms. Review Homeroom’s current Privacy Policy and the provider’s terms before using either.
The correction-sharing preference is in Settings. For connected assistants, select the child privately in Homeroom and review drafts before Apply. Information you enter or authorize an assistant to read in another service remains subject to that service’s terms.
Read Homeroom’s privacy policyThe decision
The honest bottom line
Pick Scholaric if
One student, and less is more.
Choose Scholaric if you have one student, want minimal software, and $36 beats $49 in your budget. That is a real case and it wins on its own terms.
Pick Homeroom if
Two or more kids, or you want the AI.
Choose Homeroom if you have two or more students, want AI handling entry and grading, or want hours, attendance, and frozen weekly reports that stand up on their own. From the third student on, Homeroom is both the better tool and the cheaper one.
Try Homeroom freeHomeroom is free for 30 days with no card. After that it is $5.99 a month or $49 a year for unlimited students, and your price never goes up while you stay subscribed.
Verification notes
Checked August 2026. Prices and features change. Tell us if an official source has moved or the product has changed and we will re-check it.
Scholaric facts and per-student tiers come from its public site as of August 2026. Because it bills monthly only, the annual figures here are twelve times the monthly price. Check current tiers before you buy.
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