Freedom251 › Early Childhood Education Software
Pigeonhole
What Pigeonhole is
Pigeonhole is paid nursery-management software for early years settings in England. It combines attendance, funding claims, family communication, learning journals, billing, and administrative records. A live register tracks check-ins and attendance counts across rooms. Setting records can generate digital parental declarations and funding claims, with council forms configured separately for each council. Staff can add photos, child and learning-area tags, and dictated notes to learning journals, then share approved observations with families. AI tools can draft observations, summarize forms and documents, and answer setting questions; staff must review generated content before sharing. Invoices sync with Xero or QuickBooks, and payment information can flow back to mark them paid. A Chrome extension fills recognized fields in council provider portals. Other features include safeguarding, occupancy, rotas, custom forms, a parent portal, announcements, and finance reporting. A 30-day trial requires no card, while subscriptions are paid yearly and exclude VAT.
Who it suits
Pigeonhole suits English early years settings managing attendance, funding, family communication, learning records, and billing. It is aimed at teams needing role-based records and council-specific funding workflows.
What it does well
- Live attendance register across rooms
- Digital funding and parental declarations
- Learning journals with photos and dictated notes
- Xero and QuickBooks invoice syncing
- 30-day trial without card details
What to know first
- Funding forms vary by council
- Chrome extension fills only recognized fields
- Subscriptions are paid yearly
- Prices exclude VAT
Plans
| Plan | Billed and limits | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Pigeonhole | Annual subscription; page lists £55/month plus 20p/month per extra child · More than 200 children · all features included | £49.56 |
As pigeonholeapp.co.uk lists them, read 20 Oct 2026. The maker's own page has the final word.
Verdict
Pigeonhole brings core nursery administration and family-facing records into one system, with accounting integrations and reviewed AI assistance. Check council-form coverage and the extension’s recognized-field limitation for your workflow.
Facts from Pigeonhole's own pages
- Accounting integrations
- Invoices sync with Xero or QuickBooks, and payments can flow back to mark invoices paid. · pigeonholeapp.co.uk, 12 Oct 2026
- AI assistance
- AI can draft observation write-ups, summarize forms and documents, and answer questions about a setting, with generated content subject to human review before sharing. · pigeonholeapp.co.uk, 12 Oct 2026
- Attendance
- The live register tracks check-ins and attendance counts across rooms. · pigeonholeapp.co.uk, 12 Oct 2026
- Attendance and check-in
- Yes · pigeonholeapp.co.uk, 22 Sept 2026
- Billing and payments
- Yes · pigeonholeapp.co.uk, 22 Sept 2026
- Browser extension
- A Chrome extension fills recognized fields in council provider portals and makes other claim figures available to copy. · pigeonholeapp.co.uk, 12 Oct 2026
- Company
- The maker is Pigeonhole Early Years Ltd, registered in England and Wales under company number 16263323. · pigeonholeapp.co.uk, 12 Oct 2026
- Data protection
- The site says Pigeonhole is built for UK GDPR, hosted on Microsoft Azure in the UK, encrypted in transit and at rest, and permissioned by staff role. · pigeonholeapp.co.uk, 12 Oct 2026
- Enrollment management
- Yes · pigeonholeapp.co.uk, 22 Sept 2026
- Family communication
- Yes · pigeonholeapp.co.uk, 22 Sept 2026
- Free plan
- No · pigeonholeapp.co.uk, 22 Sept 2026
- Funding
- It generates digital parental declarations and funding claims from setting records, with council forms configured council by council. · pigeonholeapp.co.uk, 12 Oct 2026
- Learning journals
- Staff can capture photos, tag children and learning areas, dictate notes, and share approved observations with families. · pigeonholeapp.co.uk, 12 Oct 2026
- Notable limits
- Funding forms are configured council by council, and the Chrome extension fills only the portal fields it recognizes. · pigeonholeapp.co.uk, 12 Oct 2026
- Other features
- Features include safeguarding records, occupancy and staff rotas, custom forms, parent portal, announcements, and finance reporting. · pigeonholeapp.co.uk, 12 Oct 2026
- Product
- Pigeonhole is nursery management software for early years settings in England. · pigeonholeapp.co.uk, 12 Oct 2026
- Support
- Customers can email support, and the maker offers onboarding help; terms say support is available during standard business hours. · pigeonholeapp.co.uk, 12 Oct 2026
- Trial and billing
- The 30-day trial requires no card; subscriptions are paid yearly, do not renew automatically, and prices exclude VAT. · pigeonholeapp.co.uk, 12 Oct 2026
Where Pigeonhole stands on Freedom251
- Early Childhood Education Software#26 of 86