Check-in & safe pickups
Families check in at a front-desk tablet with their family PIN. One-time pickups are approved in advance with a place to record the ID check, and anyone on a do-not-release list is stopped at every pickup screen.
For home daycares and childcare centers
Run your daycare, not your paperwork.
Check-ins, daily reports, photos, messages, billing and staff schedules in one simple app. Pickups are checked against your do-not-release list, every family stays in the loop, and every price is right on this page.
Beta access code required · No credit card · Every feature on every plan
Today · Director
Sample data
42/48
children checked in
3
requests waiting
Pickup stopped
This person is on Mia's do-not-release list. The director has been alerted.
This person is on Mia's do-not-release list. The director has been alerted.
Sunflowers14 / 16 in · ratio OK
Rainbow Stars12 / 12 in · ratio OK
Little Oaks16 / 20 in · ratio OK
Leo's day
7:52 AM Checked in by Mom
9:15 AM Breakfast · ate all
12:30 PM Nap · 1 h 35 min
Pickup Grandma Rose · ID checked
Message Ms. Carla
Prices published, not quoted
No contracts or setup fees
Every feature on every plan
Your price locked for 12 months
Made for home daycares too
The whole day, in one place
From the first check-in to the last pickup: everything your team and your families need, without juggling five tools.
Daily reports & photos
Meals, naps, diapers and activities logged in seconds. Choose which teachers publish straight to families and whose reports come to you first. Photos reach only the right families.
Messages that stay organized
A staff channel for each room, room updates for families, and private one-to-one conversations. Parents reply privately, never to the whole room.
Billing without the chasing
Invoices, reminders, late-pickup fees and year-end tax statements. Private billing for separated families. Online tuition payments are coming soon.
Staff schedules & time clock
Build schedules around your real opening hours. Time-off requests and schedule changes you approve, and staff clock in at the same tablet.
Health & incidents
Sick notes from parents, medication logs, incident reports parents acknowledge, plus allergies and emergency contacts on every child's profile.
One inbox for every request
Pickup changes, absences, time off and more land in one place for the director, with a full history of what was approved and when.
Enrollment from your website
Families apply from a link on your own site, and you review every application on one admissions board. Import current families from a spreadsheet.
Safety & privacy
Built around the child, not the spreadsheet.
Lantern holds some of the most sensitive information a family has. We designed every screen so the right people see the right things, and nobody else does.
Custody rules always win
A do-not-release list is checked on every pickup screen, every time.
Room-by-room access
Teachers only see records for children in their own rooms. Directors see the whole daycare.
Photo consent per child
Families choose whether photos of their child can be shared. Room photos go only to that room.
Sensitive changes are logged
App access, settings, pickup-list removals, one-time pickups, and invoice voids and waivers all record who acted and when.
Your daycare stays separate
Each daycare's information is kept separate. Your staff and families only ever see your daycare.
Encrypted and protected
Data is encrypted in transit and at rest, with two-step login available.
Made for the way your daycare actually works
Home daycares
A real plan for small programs, starting at $18 a month for up to 12 children. Everything the big centers get, with nothing you don't need in the way.
Childcare centers
Rooms, ratios, staff schedules and billing for up to 200 children on one simple plan. Bigger than that? We'll build a plan with you.
Directors
See the whole day at a glance: who's in, what needs an answer, and what's owed.
Teachers
Log the day in a few taps and spend the rest of it with the children.
Families
Photos, reports, messages and bills on any phone. Nothing to download.
Get started in three steps
- 1
Open your daycare
Sign up with your email and your daycare's name. No credit card.
- 2
Add rooms and families
A short setup guide walks you through rooms and hours. Import families from a spreadsheet.
- 3
Invite your team and families
Everyone gets an email invitation and chooses their own password.
Simple prices, right here
Your plan depends only on how many children you have enrolled. Every plan includes every feature, for your whole team and every family.
40 children · Growth plan · $49 a month
Your plan
Home
$18 / month
Up to 12 children
Your plan
Starter
$29 / month
Up to 25 children
Your plan
Growth
$49 / month
Up to 60 children
Your plan
Pro
$79 / month
Up to 120 children
Your plan
Large
$119 / month
Up to 200 children
More than 200 children, or several locations? Talk to us and we'll build a plan with you.
- 30-day free trial. No credit card. Pick a plan when you're ready.
- No contracts, no setup fees. Month to month, cancel anytime.
- Your price is locked for 12 months, with 60 days' notice before any increase after that.
- A busy month won't bump you up. You move to a bigger plan only after two month-ends over its limit, and back down automatically.
- Unlimited staff and families. No per-user or per-parent charges.
- Beta testers pay nothing during the private beta.
Prices in US dollars. Sales tax may apply.
Questions directors ask us
Lantern is open to a small group of invited testers while we polish it. You need an access code to sign up. Please use made-up names and details only: the beta isn't for real children's information, and beta data is deleted before launch.
No. Lantern is month to month with no setup fee. Cancel anytime from your account.
You get 30 days with every feature and no credit card. When the trial ends, you add a payment method and your plan is set by how many children you have enrolled.
No. Lantern works in any phone or computer browser, so there's nothing to download. The front-desk kiosk can be added to a tablet's home screen so it opens full-screen. Native phone apps are planned.
A photo of one child goes only to that child's family. Room photos go only to families in that room, and only after the teacher confirms that no child without photo consent is in the picture. Families choose their consent in the app.
Directors keep a do-not-release list for each child. It is checked on every pickup screen, a refused pickup alerts the director, and releases at the tablet or the staff check-out screen record who collected the child. A guardian who isn't the billing contact can also lose app access without affecting anyone else in the family.
Yes. Download our spreadsheet template, fill it in (one row per child), review it in Lantern, then import. Nothing is sent to families until you choose to invite them.
Help us build the daycare app you'd actually choose.
Join the private beta, or let us walk you through Lantern in 20 minutes.