A price you can see, in euros
Owly publishes its price for Europe: €169 a site a month, or €149 billed yearly, excluding VAT, with every feature included. There is no quote to request and no plan to upgrade to later.
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Owly vs Illumine
Illumine is an AI-focused childcare platform whose main market is the United States. It does not publish prices, and it splits billing, enquiries and several AI tools across higher plans and add-ons. Owly costs €169 a site a month, or €149 billed yearly, with every feature included, and comes with a 2-week free trial after your demo.
Choose Owly if
- You want a price in euros you can see before talking to anyone
- You want billing, enquiries and AI writing in one plan rather than spread across tiers and add-ons
- You want to try it free for two weeks after your demo
Choose Illumine if
- Your centres are mainly in the United States, where Illumine focuses
- You want an AI agent that answers parent phone enquiries and books tours
- You need a vendor that holds its own SOC 2 Type II report, or a long list of US integrations
Side by side
Owly and Illumine, feature by feature
| Feature | Owly | Illumine |
|---|---|---|
| Published price | €169 a site a month, or €149 billed yearly | Not published. Its pricing page asks you to talk to an expert |
| Priced by | One price per site, any number of children | Per child, or a fixed fee per centre, quoted to you |
| Every feature in one plan | Yes, nothing is an add-on | No. Billing starts on Business, enquiry CRM is Enterprise only, and several AI tools are add-ons |
| Try before you buy | 15-minute demo, then a 2-week free trial | Demo on its website; a 14-day trial in its Malta article |
| Setup, migration and training | Free, most settings live within a week | No setup fee |
| Learning journeys and curriculum | Observations and assessments aligned to your own curriculum framework | Says it supports EYFS and Montessori, among 50+ frameworks |
| AI help with observations | Identifies the learning outcomes an activity covered and drafts the write-up | AI daily reports and newsletters; AI observations and portfolios are add-ons |
| Live message translation | Included for every family, both ways, in 100+ languages | AI translation in 15+ languages |
| Enquiries to enrolment | Website form leads, viewings and one-click conversion to a child record | Inquiry and waitlist CRM on Enterprise only |
| Billing and online payments | Included, with one-click payments in the parent app | From the Business plan |
| Xero or QuickBooks | Coming soon | 50+ integrations, including QuickBooks |
| Main market | Malta and the UK | United States, per its own website |
| Security | GDPR and UK GDPR, hosted on ISO and SOC 2 Type II certified infrastructure (AWS and Laravel Cloud) | SOC 2 Type II certified; GDPR |
| Device-level access control | Photos and child records can be limited to nursery devices | Not listed on its website |
Prices exclude VAT. Where we say not listed, we could not find it on Illumine's published pages, which is not the same as it not existing.
What sets them apart
The key differences
Everything in one plan
On Illumine, billing begins on the Business plan, the enquiry and waitlist CRM is on Enterprise, and AI observations, lesson plans and the enrolment agent are add-ons. Owly includes billing, enquiries, AI writing and live translation for every customer.
Security down to the device
Owly's device-level security policies decide which devices can open what. Children's photos and records can stay on the nursery tablet while carers clock in from their own phones.
Switching
Switching from Illumine
Our onboarding team moves everything across for you, free, and trains your staff. Most settings are live within a week.
How switching works →- Children's records and profiles
- Family contacts and permissions
- Attendance history
- Invoices and billing details
- Learning portfolios and observations
- Staff records and documents
FAQ
Owly vs Illumine: your questions
No. Its European page mentions billing in euros but shows no prices, and its pricing page asks you to talk to an expert. Owly costs €169 a site a month, or €149 billed yearly, excluding VAT, with every feature included.
Where this information comes from
Everything we say about Illumine comes from its own website, checked on 20 October 2026: https://illumine.app/pricing
Owly's prices are on our pricing page. Prices and features change, so if anything here is out of date, tell us at hello@getowly.com.
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See how Owly fits your nursery
A 15-minute demo built around your setting, then a 2-week free trial. No commitment.
A 2-week free trial after your demo. No commitment, free onboarding.