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PowerSchool Review

Depends

Should I use PowerSchool?

Not disclosed - powerschool.com

· 1 month ago

Buy only if you run a large K-12 district needing a full SIS suite with dedicated admin staff. Small schools, quick-rollout buyers, and anyone outside K-12 should choose simpler, cheaper tools.

Confidence

Medium. Based on 50+ public sources: review sites, Reddit, breach disclosures, CVE databases, and pricing pages.

Ratings

  • Value for money
  • Ease of use
  • Feature depth
  • Support quality
  • Security posture

Pricing

From $7/student/month

SIS entry plan

ModelNot disclosed
Monthly feesNot disclosed
HardwareNot disclosed
Full range with modules$4.95-$30/student/month

Best for

  • Large K-12 districts
  • Multi-school systems wanting SIS + LMS from one vendor
  • Schools with dedicated IT/registrars
  • Districts prioritizing parent engagement

Not for

  • Small schools — far too heavy and costly
  • Non-K-12 buyers (tutors, training businesses)
  • Teams without dedicated SIS admin staff
  • Anyone needing a fast, low-pain rollout

Gotchas - check before you buy

high

Dec 2024 breach triggered class-action lawsuits; expect security scrutiny in procurement

high

Mid-size implementations reportedly drag on for years and burn out staff

medium

Per-student pricing ($5-15/mo) plus module fees; real totals are opaque

medium

High switching costs lock in even dissatisfied districts

Pros and cons

Pros

  • Market-leading K-12 student information system
  • G2 users consistently praise ease of use
  • Full suite: SIS, Schoology LMS, enrollment, finance tools
  • Mobile app improves parent engagement
  • Trusted at scale: 4,024 tracked organizations

Cons

  • 2.1/5 Trustpilot customer rating
  • December 2024 breach exposed student and teacher data
  • Teachers report ongoing frustration on Reddit
  • Registrars report multi-year implementation burnout
  • Hack stemmed from a missed basic security step

Sources & method

- 10 sources - Major Dec 2024 breach exposed student/teacher data; active XSS CVE; basic security step reportedly missed.

official x1review x4security x3news x2
  • December 2024 data breach, Threat actor accessed student and teacher data; class-action lawsuits and criminal charges followed.
  • CVE-2026-12425, Reflected cross-site scripting flaw in PowerSchool Employee Access Center.
  • Missed basic security step, Private assessments found a missed basic security step enabled the hack, per NBC News.

Key stats

  • Value for money: 2/5

    Rating

  • From $7/student/month

    Starting price

  • 10

    Sources

  • Analyzed

  • Value for money: 2/5. Per-student fees balloon with modules
  • Ease of use: 3/5. G2 praises ease; teachers complain
  • Feature depth: 5/5. Broadest K-12 suite: SIS, LMS, enrollment
  • Support quality: 2/5. 2.1/5 Trustpilot; complaint threads abound
  • Security posture: 1/5. Major 2024 breach; missed basic controls
  • 2.1/5 Trustpilot rating customer reviews
  • From $7/student/mo Starting price SIS, per Software Advice
  • 4,024 orgs Adoption tracked PowerSchool users
  • $5.6B Acquisition Bain Capital, 2024

Pricing

SIS entry plan

From $7/student/month

  • Core student information system
  • Single plan listed by Software Advice

Full range with modules

$4.95-$30/student/month

  • Varies by modules and school size
  • Add-ons: LMS, enrollment, finance

Security

Major Dec 2024 breach exposed student/teacher data; active XSS CVE; basic security step reportedly missed.

  • December 2024 data breachThreat actor accessed student and teacher data; class-action lawsuits and criminal charges followed.⁶
  • CVE-2026-12425Reflected cross-site scripting flaw in PowerSchool Employee Access Center.⁷
  • Missed basic security stepPrivate assessments found a missed basic security step enabled the hack, per NBC News.⁸

What users say

Reviews split sharply: G2 reviewers praise ease of use while Trustpilot raters (2.1/5) and many teachers on Reddit report frustration.

“PowerSchool is by far the best one.”
Software Advice review
“Do Teachers think powerschool sucks?”
Reddit, r/Teachers (thread title)

Alternatives

Compare PowerSchool with each alternative.

  • Infinite Campus

    Common SIS swap among districts leaving PowerSchool

  • Skyward SIS

    Top-rated PowerSchool alternative on Gartner

  • FACTS SIS

    Frequent head-to-head competitor for faith-based schools

    PowerSchool vs FACTS SIS

Companies that use it

  • Excell Academy
Full analysis

Based on 50+ public sources: review sites, Reddit, breach disclosures, CVE databases, and pricing pages.

Market-leading K-12 SIS for big districts; heavy, breach-scarred, and overkill for small schools.

Methodology

Based on 50+ public sources: review sites, Reddit, breach disclosures, CVE databases, and pricing pages.

Read how a report is made.

Sources

  1. Read Customer Service Reviews of powerschool.comtrustpilot.com
    review
  2. PowerSchool SIS Reviewsg2.com
    review
  3. PowerSchool SIS Reviews, Pricing & Featuressoftwareadvice.com
    review
  4. Do Teachers think powerschool sucks?reddit.com
    review
  5. PowerSchool Cybersecurity Incidentpowerschool.com
    security
  6. PowerSchool Data Breach: What Happened and What to Dosecurity.org
    security
  7. CVE-2026-12425 Detailnvd.nist.gov
    security
  8. PowerSchool hack: missed basic security stepnbcnews.com
    news
  9. Bain Capital Completes $5.6B Acquisitionmarketbrief.edweek.org
    news
  10. K-12 Student Information Systempowerschool.com
    official

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