You're not the first to think about it. Studios leave Jackrabbit for a few reasons — the interface hasn't kept up, pricing keeps climbing, the family portal frustrates parents. If you're at the point where you're actively looking, this is the guide.
I'm James. My wife and I run a dance studio; I built the software you're reading about. This page is the practical version: what to export, how long it takes, what breaks, what to watch for.
Jackrabbit isn't a bad product. It's been running studios since 2003 and handles almost every edge case in dance billing. If you're a 700-student multi-location studio with complex needs, the switching pain might not be worth it. Their feature depth is real.
But here are the situations where switching genuinely makes sense:
If most of these sound familiar, keep reading. If they don't, and Jackrabbit is working, stay. I'd rather tell you the truth than sell you software.
Jackrabbit's own export tools are decent. You'll want CSVs of:
In Jackrabbit: Reports → Family Reports → Family List (Detail). Export to Excel. Includes primary contact, email, phone, address, active status.
Reports → Student Reports → Student List (Detail). Includes family relationship, DOB, active status, notes.
Reports → Class Reports → Class List. Filter to active classes for the season you're migrating. Includes instructor, room, day, time, tuition rate, capacity.
Reports → Enrollment Reports → Enroll List. This is the join between students and classes. Filter to active enrollments in your current + next season.
Reports → Transaction / Financial → Balance Owing. Only if you're migrating mid-season and want to carry balances over. Most studios cut over at a season boundary so this isn't needed.
Historical transactions, old attendance records, past enrollments from seasons that are done. Jackrabbit is your archive for those. You only need what's active going forward.
Presently has bulk import for each of the categories above:
The Combined import takes one CSV with a row per student, family fields duplicated across their students' rows. Presently deduplicates families automatically. This is the fastest path — you don't have to run families then students then link them.
Classes import supports weekly schedules (day + time + duration) and date-specific classes (camps, intensives). Rate group is set on the class type, not the class itself — so classes with the same tuition structure share a rate group and get billed identically.
Import maps students to classes by name/email. There's an in-app resolution wizard for any rows where the match is ambiguous — you fix a few dozen entries once, and it remembers your choices for the rest of the import.
Import status tracks success + failure per row. You see exactly which rows failed and why. Failed rows can be re-imported after fixing the CSV; successful rows aren't re-imported.
For a 200-student studio, budget:
That's a week if you spread it out. A focused weekend if you're pushing.
Jackrabbit's tuition is per-class. Presently groups classes by class type into rate groups, and each rate group defines its own tuition schedule + discounts. Spend an hour up front deciding: which classes belong in which rate group? Usually 3-6 rate groups covers most studios (Regular Classes, Company, Preschool, Camps).
Jackrabbit's sibling discounts are set per-family. Presently's are per-rate-group. Set them once when you configure the rate group; they apply automatically to any family with siblings in classes on that rate group.
Payment methods do NOT migrate. Families have to add their card to Presently's family portal. Send a "please add your payment method" email as part of the cutover. Most families add a card within a week when they get their first Presently invoice.
Simplest path: cut over at a season boundary with all Jackrabbit balances at zero. If you have to migrate mid-season with outstanding balances, import them as opening ledger entries — supported but adds a step.
Send families a heads-up 2 weeks before cutover: "We're switching software. Here's what's changing: the portal will be at a new URL. You'll get an email with a magic link to set up your account. Your class schedule and family data are moving with us." Then send the actual magic links on cutover day.
A typical 200-student studio on Jackrabbit is paying about $130-$180/month once you count the base subscription, family portal add-on, and any usage-based charges.
Presently's Professional plan is $99/month. Add costume management ($9) if you order costumes, event management ($9) if you run recitals, live chat ($9) if you want it. Most studios end up at $99-$126/month.
Difference: $30-$80/month, or $360-$960/year. Not enormous. Enough to matter over a few years. And you're not paying it to run enterprise software you're not using.
The real value isn't the monthly savings — it's the front-desk hours you get back and the parents who stop complaining about the portal.
If you're seriously evaluating a switch, email me directly at hello@usepresently.com. I'll walk through your specific Jackrabbit setup on a call, help you plan the migration, and be on-hand during the actual cutover if you want. No sales team, no funnel — just the person who built the software.
Or, if you'd rather kick the tires yourself first, start a free 30-day trial. Import a batch of families, click around, and see if it fits.
30-day free trial. No credit card required. Real support from the person who built it.
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