The compliance-depth Playground alternative for directors who need more than a clean UI
Playground offers a polished experience for everyday daycare operations. But compliance-heavy centers — those dealing with ratio audits, CACFP claims, or subsidy billing — quickly find they need tools that Playground does not provide. Rawdly was built for those requirements.
Your data is yours. Rawdly lets you export everything — children, attendance, billing, audit logs — as standard CSV or PDF at any time, with no export-unlock fees. Switch in or out on your schedule.
At a glance
The short version. A complete feature-by-feature matrix follows further down.
| Capability | Playground | Rawdly |
|---|---|---|
| Daily check-in + parent updates | ||
| Invoicing + payment collection | Invoicing + offline payment tracking | |
| Transparent pricing page | ||
| Live ratio compliance monitor with alerts | ||
| Inspector-format PDF export (one tap) | ||
| CACFP menu planning + reimbursement | End-to-end | |
| Subsidy split-invoicing + SSPS export (Washington State) | Included | |
| AI incident report drafting (voice) | ||
| Immutable audit log (SOC 2 ready) | ||
| Data export (CSV/PDF, any time, no fee) | Partial | Full, always free |
Feature-by-feature breakdown
Compliance & licensing
| Capability | Playground | Rawdly |
|---|---|---|
| State-licensed daycare ratio config | Configurable per classroom, WA WAC seeded | |
| Live ratio breach alerts | Push + dashboard banner | |
| 30-day ratio history view | ||
| Inspector-format PDF export | One tap | |
| Immutable audit log (every change) | Append-only, 7-year retention | |
| SOC 2 Type II | On the roadmap |
Billing & subsidies
| Capability | Playground | Rawdly |
|---|---|---|
| Invoice + ACH / card collection | Invoicing + offline payment tracking | |
| WCCC subsidy split-invoicing (Washington State) | ||
| DCYF SSPS-format export (Washington State) | ||
| SSPS response-file reconciliation (Washington State) | ||
| QuickBooks / Xero export with COA mapping | CSV only | Saved mappings |
CACFP
| Capability | Playground | Rawdly |
|---|---|---|
| USDA foods catalog | ||
| Meal-pattern compliance rules | ||
| Reimbursement calculator (Tier I + II) | ||
| Monthly claim packet PDF |
AI features
| Capability | Playground | Rawdly |
|---|---|---|
| AI incident report drafting (voice → write-up) | Available today | |
| AI allergy alerts | Available today | |
| AI translation of parent messages | Available today | |
| AI daily summaries for parents | Available today |
What Playground does that Rawdly does not (yet)
- UI polish and simplicity for small programs. Playground is consistently praised for a clean, intuitive interface that requires minimal training. Rawdly's interface has more surfaces given its compliance depth; onboarding takes longer.
- Two free plans: Playground's permanent tier vs. Rawdly's Freemium and free first year. Playground's free plan is permanent, but capped for the smallest programs. Rawdly's Freemium plan is permanent too, free forever for up to 10 children, though it leaves out AI features and multi-location. On top of that, every new account gets a full year of every feature, including AI tools and Washington State subsidy billing, completely free with no credit card required. Compare each plan's current limits before you decide; programs with more than 10 children move to a paid Rawdly plan when the first year ends.
Pricing comparison
Playground publishes transparent pricing starting around $49/month for small programs, scaling with enrollment. CACFP, subsidy billing, and compliance export features are not included in their plans.
Rawdly publishes its tiers: Freemium is free forever for up to 10 children, and Pro is $1.99/child/month, less from the 51st child across all your centers. CACFP and Washington State subsidy billing carry no add-on fee. AI features come with the paid plans, and AI Daily Summaries is $1 per child per month. Price is the same on day one as on day 365.
How to switch from Playground
Average migration time for a single-site, 30-child daycare: under 2 hours.
- 1
Export your data from Playground
Download children, attendance, and billing records as CSV from your Playground account settings.
- 2
Import your children
In Children → Import, choose Generic CSV, upload the file and map its columns. The importer validates rows and shows a preview before anything is saved. It imports children only; our team can help you bring across families and billing setup.
- 3
Reconnect parent accounts
Parents receive an email invite. Check-in and messaging work immediately.
- 4
Configure CACFP and subsidy programs
Set up once; each month, preview the claim and export the OSPI-WINS CSV and the claim packet PDF. Most centers recover the switching cost in the first reimbursement check.
- 5
Generate your first compliance report
Export the 30-day inspector PDF and verify it against a sample of source records. You are audit-ready from day one.
FAQ
Is Rawdly really free to try?
How does Rawdly compare to Playground for small daycares?
Can I export all my data from Rawdly at any time?
Does Rawdly have a free plan like Playground?
Does Rawdly work for home-based daycare providers?
Evaluating multiple platforms? See all Rawdly comparisons →
Compliance is the product
Everything else is table stakes. Book a 15-minute walkthrough or try the live sandbox — no signup, no card, no follow-up sales call.