openSIS
opensis.comBuild Difficulty: 3/5
Plan for 1-2 weeks of building with AI assistance
The Academic OS - Run every part of your school from one intelligent platform
How to Replace openSISOverview
Features
141 features across 21 categories
Academic Management(56)
Ability for administrators to override teacher attendance markings with comment entry
Ability for administrators to input final grades, standards grades, and effort grades on behalf of teachers
Ability to mark attendance in advance before teachers enter the system
Support for allowable anomalous grading entries
Ability to exempt students from specific assignments
Unlimited attendance category creation and association with course sections
Teachers can add comments to attendance entries
Unlimited attendance code creation, automatic day absence calculation, tardy and excused absence marking, advance attendance entry, and comprehensive attendance reports
Scheduling support for before and after school programs not part of normal school day
Ability to mark absences for a whole class in one click
Calendar day-based scheduling for courses meeting on random days based on demand and supply
Unlimited calendar support with superimposed view, bell schedule entry (A-day, B-day), and event management
Manage programs, subjects, courses, course sections, and course catalog with searchable and filtered options
Support for courses with different start times and durations for different days or periods
Track-based course management (e.g., Honors, AP, College-prep)
Scheduling not following school marking period dates for custom date ranges
Track graduation requirements and student progress toward degree completion
Exam grades marking with automatic calculation into report card final grades
Support for full day and half day attendance calculations
Automatic GPA calculation with historical grades entry and transcript support
Grade level setup with standardized equivalency mapping and next grade level transition
Grade score rounding with options to round up, down, or not at all
Report card grade scale management with multiple grade scale entry options
Teacher gradebook for managing grades, assignments, and student performance with various grading options
Ability to take attendance for homeroom only with automatic full day minutes calculation
Manage honor roll based on grade scoring criteria
Support for interdisciplinary teams with multiple teachers coordinating across 3-5 subjects
Pedagogical process and learning outcome management
Teachers can create, manage, and organize lesson plans within the system
Support for both letter grading based on break-off scores and percentage-based grading
Support for full year, semester, quarter, trimester, and custom date range marking periods with grade posting windows
Ability to view and mark missing attendance for teachers who haven't completed attendance entry
Ability to create course sections spanning multiple periods
Multi-term grades calculation based on percentage allocation to each term
One-click report card and transcript generation from gradebook grades
Ability to identify open periods for students and staff for scheduling purposes
Support for scheduling part-time staff and teaching staff shared with other schools
Ability to take attendance for every period in a day
Canned comments and teacher-written comments for report cards
Automatic report card and transcript generation with grade scales, comments, honor roll management, and historical grade entry
Distinction between required and elective courses
Support for up to 20-day rotating schedules where students attend class once in a 20 school day period
Multiple scheduling options including traditional fixed, variable day-period-time, block scheduling (4x4, alternate day), rotating schedules, mosaic scheduling, and support for summer school
Support for US common core standards, school-specific standards management, effort and performance-based grading, and competency tracking
Sections for managing student cohorts and groupings
Student and parent course enrollment requests with staff capture capability
Ability to schedule students into multiple courses at the same time, ignoring conflicts
Dedicated summer school setup outside regular academic dates
End-of-year processing with automatic system rollover and student progression
Teachers can use their own grade scale for grading
Ability to assign teachers to multiple sections in the same period, ignoring conflicts
Support for team teaching with two or more teachers of the same subject working together
Create unlimited assignment types with customizable weighting to 100%
Create unlimited custom attendance codes (Present, Absent, Tardy, etc.)
Walk-in scheduling and group scheduling of students and teachers
Weighted grade scale based grade entry and calculation
Administration(2)
Administrator ability to impersonate staff accounts for support and troubleshooting
Administrator ability to impersonate student accounts for support and troubleshooting
Admissions(4)
Complete admissions workflow with application forms, applicant dashboard, enrollment tracking, and rejection management
Dashboard showing applications received, processing, enrolled, rejected, and demographic breakdown
Customizable application forms for admissions with multiple field types and validation
Re-enrollment capability for previously dropped and graduated students
Communication & Portals(8)
AI-enabled intelligent communication tools for smarter messaging between all school stakeholders
School-wide announcement and notice management with WYSIWYG editor and profile/date-range controlled display
CRM-like features including notes, phone call tracking, and meeting activity capture
Communication via email, app, SMS, and system messages with all stakeholders
Dedicated portal for parents to access student records and information with customizable access controls
Multi-user internal comments entry on student records for collaboration
Student portal with self-service password management, portal access controls, and academic record viewing
Dedicated portal for teachers to manage grades, attendance, lesson plans, and communicate with students and parents
Core Management(2)
Complete staff information management with custom fields, employment history, certification tracking, and staff portal access
Comprehensive student data capture including identification, demographic information, enrollment history, custom fields, and rich data management
Customization(6)
Unlimited custom categories and fields for students, staff, and other entities to meet institution-specific needs
Custom module development for District/Enterprise tier clients
Custom school-based subdomain for the institution's portal
Customizable list of values for dropdown fields and system configuration
Unlimited custom fields for school-level data entry and configuration
White label solution for District/Enterprise tier clients
Data Management(6)
Automatic backup of all data with cloud-based storage
Bulk student data import from auto-generated Excel templates
Request complete account and data deletion upon cancellation
Admin users can export data in delimited file formats from Tools menu
Various data export options in Excel formats for data portability and analysis
Ability to update student information in bulk across multiple records
Document Management(1)
File and document management cabinet for each student with multi-user access
Finance & Billing(1)
Streamline student fee collection, manage school-specific subscriptions, and handle flexible billing options
Health & Safety(3)
Capture and manage student health information including primary care physician, health insurance, dentist, eye doctor, immunization records, and critical health alerts
Capture and manage mental health information with WYSIWYG editor and date-range controlled display
Track student health information including physician details, health insurance, immunizations, physical records, and in-school infirmary visits
Infrastructure(1)
Fully cloud-based SaaS platform with no installation, servers, or IT infrastructure required
Integrations(3)
Automatic Google Maps integration for address entry and mapping
Bidirectional integration with learning management systems including Moodle and Canvas
Bidirectional integration with QuickBooks for accounting and financial management
Localization(2)
Support for English, Spanish, French, Arabic, Chinese, Italian, Japanese, and custom language support available
Configurable timezone and date format settings for global institutions
Mobile(2)
Native Android and iOS mobile apps for students, parents, and teachers to access gradebook, attendance, and academic records
Responsive design usable on phones, tablets, laptops, and desktops of any size
Reporting & Analytics(7)
Design, save, and export student reports with chosen fields, filters, AND/OR/NOT conditions, and advanced query capabilities
Advanced data visualization tools for District/Enterprise tier clients
Data warehouse and business intelligence capabilities for District/Enterprise tier clients
Administrative district-level dashboard for monitoring multiple schools
Real-time dashboard providing at-a-glance view of attendance, grades, tasks, and key school information
Progress reports showing raw score and weighted score at any given time
State-level reporting for Department of Education (DOE) compliance
School Administration(3)
Physical classroom details management with capacity tracking
Ability to copy one school's configuration as a template for adding multiple similar schools
Water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) information tracking for school facilities
Security & Administration(7)
Data isolation with dedicated database for District/Enterprise tier clients
Strong data privacy compliance with FERPA and GDPR standards
Strong password creation rule enforcement and self-service password reset
Granular permission management tailored to each role (admin, teacher, parent, student) with menu and sub-menu level control
SSO integration with Office 365 (O365) and Google Workspace for seamless user authentication
Comprehensive logging of system access and user activities for security and compliance
User login with remember-me option and login failure/inactivity management
Staff Management(4)
Support for staff employed at multiple schools
Emergency contact information management for staff members
Track subjects taught and grade levels taught indicators for each teacher
Capture and track teacher certification information with expiry indicators
Student Management(15)
Manage student behavior incidents, discipline records, and behavioral data
Complete enrollment history with drop, add, transfer, and school transfer details
Enrollment with rolling retention option for yearly progression
Capture and track estimated graduation date for students
Manage family member records, legal custody designation, and family member portal access
Home and mailing address capture with automatic Google Maps integration
Ability to enroll home-schooled students taking one or more courses in the school
Multiple emails, phone numbers, and social media handles per student
Support for students enrolled in multiple schools simultaneously
School transfer with lookup and automatic data transfer between schools
Ability to group and link sibling students within the same school district
Comprehensive demographic data capture including gender, race, ethnicity, DOB, marital status, nationality, and languages
Multiple student ID number capture including system ID, district ID, state ID, and social security number with masking
Student photo upload capability with photo ID card badge generation including bar codes and QR codes, printable on Avery card stock
Track 504 eligibility, economic disadvantage, free lunch eligibility, special education enrollment, and limited English proficiency
Support & Services(7)
Dedicated account manager support for District/Enterprise tier clients
Free data migration and switchover assistance from current SIS to openSIS
Support available via phone, email, WhatsApp, and social media channels
On-site training services for District/Enterprise tier clients
In-system support portal access with ticket submission and knowledge base
In-system access to support video tutorials and guides
White-glove implementation assistance for District/Enterprise tier clients
Pricing
Core/Startup
- ✓Student information
- ✓Medical records
- ✓Staff information
- ✓Parent information
- ✓Course manager
- ✓Scheduling
- ✓Attendance
- ✓Gradebook
- ✓Report card and transcript
- ✓Teacher portal
- ✓Student and parent portal
- ✓Standards based grading / US common core
- ✓Efforts grading and competencies
- ✓5 staff accounts
- ✓50 student accounts
- ✓100 parent accounts
- ✓Single school
Essential
- ✓Everything in Core/Startup
- ✓AI-Enabled Experience
- ✓Smart reports
- ✓Intelligent communication
- ✓Unlimited schools
- ✓Unlimited student records
- ✓Unlimited parent records
- ✓Unlimited staff records (pay per staff)
- ✓Multichannel communication
- ✓Billing and fees management
- ✓Lesson plan management
- ✓Behavior and discipline management
- ✓Bi-directional LMS integration (add-on)
- ✓Single sign-on - Office 365 and Google Workspace (add-on)
- ✓Free switchover from current system
- ✓5 minimum staff to start
Advanced
- ✓Everything in Essential
- ✓Admissions and applicant processing
- ✓Degree Audit - Graduation requirements and progress
- ✓Single sign-on - Office 365 and Google Workspace
- ✓Bi-directional LMS integration
- ✓Bi-directional QuickBooks integration
- ✓Free switchover from current system
- ✓10 minimum staff to start
District / State / Enterprise
- ✓Everything in Advanced
- ✓White label
- ✓Data isolation (dedicated database)
- ✓Custom modules
- ✓Custom integrations
- ✓Data warehouse and business intelligence
- ✓District dashboard
- ✓Advanced reporting with custom reports
- ✓State reporting (for DOEs)
- ✓Data visualization
- ✓White-glove implementation assistance
- ✓On-premises training
- ✓Dedicated account manager
- ✓Per student based pricing option
- ✓Fixed annual pricing
- ✓200 minimum staff subscription required (Advanced Tier)
Cost Calculator
Keep Paying openSIS
Build It Yourself
Total Cost Comparison
DIY hosting estimate based on Vercel + Supabase free/pro tiers (~$20/mo). Build time estimated from 141 features at moderate complexity.
Build vs Buy
Should you build a openSIS alternative or buy the subscription? Estimate based on 141 features.
Buy openSIS
Better ValueBuild Your Own
Buying openSIS saves ~$256,920 over 3 years vs building.
Estimates based on 141 features and a BuildScore of 3/5. Actual costs vary.
Integrations
8 known integrations