Teachworks is great for some setups. Here's where Presently differs.
I'm James, half-owner of a dance studio. Teachworks is well-known among music schools and tutoring centers for its scheduling and per-lesson billing. Presently is built for term-based, ensemble-based, recital-prep studios. Different architectures, different ideal fits.
If you're on Teachworks and considering a change, here's a real comparison.
What Teachworks gets right
What Teachworks does well.
Per-lesson scheduling and billing.
Teachworks excels at the "individual lesson with a specific teacher at a specific time" workflow common in music schools, language tutoring, and academic tutoring centers.
Teacher availability and conflicts.
Their scheduler handles teacher availability, room assignments, and recurring lessons cleanly.
Established and reliable.
Teachworks has been around for over a decade. The product is mature.
Where Presently is genuinely different
Presently is built for a different rhythm: term-based group classes, recital prep, sibling discounts, family ledgers. Here's where that shows up.
1. Term-based tuition vs per-lesson billing.
Teachworks charges per lesson or by lesson pack. Presently charges term tuition (e.g., "$120/month for Ballet Intermediate, August through May") with automatic sibling discounts, holiday-aware proration, and family-level caps. If your studio operates on the term/season model, Presently is the natural fit.
2. Recital and ensemble tools.
Teachworks has no recital lineup tools because most of its customer base doesn't need them. Presently's lineup editor with conflict warnings, multi-show events, intermissions, and PDF/Excel exports is built for studios with year-end performances.
3. Family-centric data model.
Teachworks structures around students-and-teachers. Presently structures around families-with-multiple-students. One login per household. One ledger. Sibling discounts automatic. The way most dance/music studios actually bill.
4. No payment markup.
Teachworks adds processing fees on top of Stripe's standard rate. Presently uses Stripe Connect directly. You pay Stripe; we take nothing on top.
Side-by-side
Not a checkmark table. Real differences, in prose.
Business model fit
Individual or small-group lessons. Per-lesson billing or lesson packs. Music schools, tutoring centers, language schools.
Term-based group classes. Monthly tuition, sibling discounts, family caps, holiday-aware proration. Dance studios, music academies with ensembles, performing-arts schools.
Pricing
Per-student pricing, typically $40–150+/month depending on student count. Payment processing fees on top.
$49, $99, or $149/month flat by tier. No payment markup. Month-to-month.
Recital/event tools
None natively.
Full recital lineup editor with conflict warnings, multi-show events, PDF/Excel exports. (Event Management add-on, $9/mo.)
What switching actually looks like
Migrating studio software is real work. Here's how we'd handle it:
A 30-minute call.
Not a sales demo. What's working in Teachworks, what's broken, what scares you about switching.
Migration during a quiet stretch.
Not during recital, not during enrollment. Usually late summer or mid-winter. I run the data import personally.
Parallel run before cutover.
Keep Teachworks available read-only for 30 days while Presently is primary. We fix anything missing before the full switch.
Extended trial if you need it.
Standard trial is 30 days. I'll extend it on a case-by-case basis. Nobody should be racing a clock.
Questions worth asking
Should I stay on Teachworks?
If your business is mostly individual lessons billed by the lesson or in lesson packs, Teachworks is genuinely a better fit. Presently would be fighting your workflow.
What if I do a mix?
Some music academies run group ensembles with term tuition and private lessons with per-lesson billing. Presently handles the group side beautifully and is workable for privates if the instructor handles their own scheduling. Worth a 30-min call to talk through your specific mix.
Can you import my Teachworks data?
Yes. Students, families, payment history, class records. I run the import personally. Free, part of onboarding.
How small is your company?
Small. My wife and I run a dance studio; I'm the developer. Real, mature product.
Want to talk it through?
The best next step isn't signing up — it's a 30-minute call with me to see if Presently actually fits. Two studio owners comparing notes.