--- title: "Daycare App Builder: Drop-in Childcare Booking | GoodBarber" description: "Build your daycare app without code: registered families book drop-in half-days, future parents book a visit, and every family gets menus and closures." canonical_url: "https://www.goodbarber.com/booking-app/daycare/" lang: en --- # Daycare App Builder: Drop-in Childcare Booking | GoodBarber ![In the morning, in a bright daycare playroom, a childcare worker seen from behind sets out wooden toys on a play mat, near low shelves, a reading corner and little rain boots lined up under the coat hooks](https://portalresize.ww-cdn.com/beautifull_pict/v1/836x470/50x50/6/92/img/1792504247538_30/header-daycare.jpg) Create your daycare app # Daycare app: registered families book a half-day, future parents book a visit, and everyone follows the menus and closures ## Sunday night, Lina's mom books Tuesday morning: two places were left. On Wednesday, a couple expecting their first baby comes for a visit. On Thursday, the boiler breaks down and every family with a booking that day gets an email. An iOS and Android app under your daycare's name, with no code to write: drop-in half-days that only your families can book, visits open to future parents, and menus and closures published in one place. [Start for free](https://www.goodbarber.com/create/) Free 30-day trial - No credit card required ## Pioneers of no-code 15 years of experience building native apps for businesses and content publishers. And the numbers to prove it. [Start for free](https://www.goodbarber.com/create/) 25 000+ Daily downloads for apps built with GoodBarber* 30 000+ Clients have brought their app projects to life with GoodBarber 2011 The year GoodBarber was born: no-code, before anyone else [Trustpilot](https://www.trustpilot.com/review/goodbarber.com) * Source: internal download tracking, App Store and Google Play, April 2026. ### Tuesday morning Lina's mom has a job interview on Tuesday. On Sunday night she opens the Half-days section and reads "2 seat(s) left" on the 8:30 to 12:00 slot. She books, giving Lina's first name, her date of birth and the expected drop-off time; she and the daycare each get an email. [See appointment booking](/extensions/appointment-booking/) ### The visit A couple expecting their first baby in March is touring the daycares in their neighborhood. In the Visits section, open to everyone with no account, they pick Wednesday at 10:00, between morning play and lunch. That evening, they fill in the "Request a place" form from the app. [See the form](/extensions/form/) ### No heating Thursday, 7 a.m., the heating is down. The director adds Thursday to the exceptional closing days of the Half-days section: that day's bookings are canceled and every family affected gets an email. A push notification also reaches the full-time families, who don't book anything. [See push notifications](/extensions/push-notifications/) ## A week at the daycare A half-day booked, a visit, an unplanned closure: three days when the app saves your staff a round of phone calls. [Start for free](https://www.goodbarber.com/create/) ## Your daycare in the app, from the visit to the first half-day What you set up before enrollment, on the day a family joins, then every week. 1. 1 ### Before enrollment A Visits section open to everyone, with one seat per slot, or more for an information session. A single booking form serves the visit and the half-day: ask for the date of birth, or the due date. Next to it, the "Request a place" form collects the days wanted and the start date. 2. 2 ### On enrollment day You create the family's account from the back office, or import all of the new school year's families in one CSV file, with a temporary password that each family replaces through "Forgot password". Self sign-up stays closed: only those families can log in. 3. 3 ### Every week The Half-days section opens with your slots and a number of seats per slot. Tick "Only logged-in users can book", set a minimum delay before each slot and how many days ahead bookings open. The week's menus go out in an article, with an automatic notification. Full-time contracts, daily reports and billing stay in your childcare software: the app doesn't replace them. ## Your app, the phone or the parents' group chat? What each channel brings to a daycare that offers drop-in half-days, and what it doesn't do. | | Your GoodBarber app | Phone and notebook | Group chat | | --------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------- | ------------------------------------- | | Places left shown before booking | ✓ Yes, slot by slot | No, parents have to call | If the staff posts them | | Booking limited to enrolled families | ✓ Yes, to accounts the daycare creates | ✓ Yes, the staff knows the families | Depends on who is in the group | | Canceling without a call, with the place back online | ✓ Yes, from the app or the email | No | The message gets lost in the thread | | An email to each family when the daycare closes on a booked day | ✓ Yes, sent with the cancellation | One call per family | One message to the whole group | | Parents' phone numbers kept by the daycare | ✓ Yes, nothing is shown to other families | ✓ Yes | No, everyone sees the group's numbers | | Menus and closures in one place | ✓ Yes, in the app | No, on paper | Buried in the messages | ## What families find in the daycare's app ### This week's menus One article a week in [CMS Articles](/extensions/cms-article/), and a notification that goes out on its own when you publish, thanks to [Automatic push](/extensions/scheduled-push/). ### Closures and long weekends Public holidays, bridge days, staff training days and the summer closure, in the [agenda](/extensions/cms-agenda/) that parents add to their own calendar. ### What to pack Spare clothes, diapers, cream, a favorite cuddly toy: what each child brings, depending on age. ### Your policies Drop-off and pick-up times, the people allowed to collect a child, what happens when a child is sick. ### Report an absence A [form](/extensions/form/) for full-time children: first name, days away, a note for the staff. Each one reaches the daycare by email. ### Request a place The form for future families: date of birth or due date, days wanted, start date. Answers export to CSV when you decide on enrollments. ### The team and how to reach it A [Contact](/extensions/cms-contact/) section with the director's phone number and email, the daycare's address and its opening hours. ## AI in your daycare Three uses: the families' settling-in schedule, tasks handed to your assistant, the week's texts. To build ### The settling-in schedule With the AI Extension Builder, describe a "My settling-in" section: the parent enters the first day's date, kept on their phone, and the app works out five weekdays, from one hour with the parent to a full day with a nap. Today's step stands out, past steps are grayed out, and each day says what to bring. You decide the steps when you write the request. Free To operate ### Tomorrow's bookings, read by your assistant "List tomorrow morning's bookings with the answers to the form." "Publish this week's menu from this PDF." With MCP, Claude or ChatGPT takes care of it once you agree, then reports back on each action. Included To write ### The weekly note to families The back office AI Assistant drafts the week's article from your notes, and translates an article in one click for a family more at ease in another language. Included Extension Store The extensions a daycare installs. With Premium, Appointment booking and Authentication are added to the subscription; Pro includes both. Everything else is free: Form, CMS, notifications, AI Extension Builder, AI Assistant and MCP. [illustration for Appointment booking Appointment bookingDisplay your availability and let your customers book an appointment from your application$15/month](https://www.goodbarber.com/extensions/appointment-booking/) [illustration for Authentication AuthenticationAuthorize access to all or a part of your app only to users who have a username/password$12/month](https://www.goodbarber.com/extensions/authentication/) [illustration for Form FormInteract with your app users and collect data with GoodBarber's Form integration.Free](https://www.goodbarber.com/extensions/form/) [illustration for CMS Agenda CMS AgendaPublish your events in your appFree](https://www.goodbarber.com/extensions/cms-agenda/) [illustration for CMS Articles CMS ArticlesCreate and publish articles from your back officeFree](https://www.goodbarber.com/extensions/cms-article/) [illustration for CMS Contact CMS ContactFacilitate the dialogue with your usersFree](https://www.goodbarber.com/extensions/cms-contact/) [illustration for Push notifications Push notificationsSend notifications to keep your users engaged and informedFree](https://www.goodbarber.com/extensions/push-notifications/) [illustration for Automatic push Automatic pushSomething new with your app? Automatically notify your usersFree](https://www.goodbarber.com/extensions/scheduled-push/) [illustration for AI Extension Builder AI Extension BuilderDescribe a feature, AI creates it in your appFree](https://www.goodbarber.com/extensions/ai-extension-builder/) [illustration for AI Assistant AI AssistantSimplify content creation with AI Assistant, powered by OpenAIFree](https://www.goodbarber.com/extensions/ai-assistant/) [illustration for MCP MCPConnect your content app to Claude, ChatGPT, or any AI assistant through MCP, and manage your content by conversation.Free](https://www.goodbarber.com/extensions/mcp/) ## How much does a daycare app cost? The native iPhone and Android app starts with Premium. Booked half-days need Appointment booking, and the logged-in-only option needs Authentication: two extra extensions with Premium, both included in Pro. | **Premium** · iOS, Android and web app | $55 /month, billed annually | | --------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------- | | Appointment booking, with Premium | $15 /month | | Authentication, with Premium | $12 /month | | **Pro** · booking and Authentication included | $105 /month, billed annually | The Standard plan, web only, offers neither appointment booking nor Authentication. Apple and Google bill the daycare's developer account themselves. [See all pricing](https://www.goodbarber.com/pricing/content/) ## What our customers say Reviews posted by GoodBarber customers, across all industries. ### [GoodBarber is a powerful app builder.](https://www.trustpilot.com/reviews/60f08679f9f48702a8e6869e) GoodBarber is a powerful app builder. If you want to build your app using a pre-built template, GoodBarber is ideal for you. At Global Academy, we almost completed the 5th year using their easy-to-use pre-built platforms to build premium Apps for our customers. Also, Goodbarber's customer support is excellent. Highly recommended. Melissa Okta ### [Great support and always very helpful answers.](https://www.trustpilot.com/reviews/60c0ca7cf9f487099ce24eb9) Great support and always very helpful answers. Nothing is too trivial for the team to answer. ### [Responsive support and usually quick.](https://www.trustpilot.com/reviews/60ad3c03f9f4870a94ace1d1) Responsive support and usually quick. Software is by far the best in the market, with tremendous capabilities for configurations. ## Daycares and drop-in centers: questions about the app **### Which app builder should a daycare or drop-in childcare center use?** One that handles what the phone does badly: drop-in half-days, visits from future parents, keeping families informed. GoodBarber lets you put that app together yourself, without programming, and publish it on iPhone, Android and the web: [create your daycare's app](/create/). For childcare at home, see the [babysitting agency](/booking-app/babysitting/) page; for school breaks, the [kids' club](/membership/family-kids-events/) page. **### Does the app replace our childcare management software?** No. Daily reports, check-in and check-out, and billing remain the job of your software. The app covers other ground: visits, drop-in half-days and keeping every family informed. **### How do we keep half-day bookings for enrolled families only?** In the section's settings, tick "Only logged-in users can book": a visitor without an account is asked to log in. Then close self sign-up, and the only accounts are the ones the daycare creates, one at a time or through a CSV import. This takes the Authentication extension. **### Can a family cancel a half-day?** Yes, in the app or through the link in their confirmation email. Their place opens up again in the calendar, and the daycare receives a cancellation email. **### How far ahead, and how late, can families book?** Two settings handle it: how many days ahead bookings open, say the next fourteen, and a minimum delay before each slot, say twelve hours, so the staff knows the night before who is coming the next morning. **### What happens when the daycare has to close for a day?** Add that day to the section's exceptional closing days: its bookings are canceled and every family affected gets an email. A push notification lets all the others know. Bridge days and the summer closure are set the same way, ahead of time. **### How much does a daycare app cost?** Premium with Appointment booking and Authentication, or Pro, which includes them. The price block shows the amounts in your currency; the other plans are on the [pricing page](/pricing/). **### Should we declare the app as an app for kids?** No: it's for parents, not for children. Apple actually reserves words like "for kids" for apps in its Kids category, in the name as well as on the store listing: present it as the app for your daycare's families. **### Do full-time families need to book?** No: their days are set by their contract, outside the app. They report absences through the form and follow menus, dates and closures like every other family. With GoodBarber, your daycare brings its half-days, its visits and its news for families together in one native app under its own name An app to fill empty places, welcome future parents and keep every family in the loop, leaving daily reports and billing to your software. [Explore all the benefits](/extensions/) [PreviousBabysitting agency app: registered families book their evening with the sitter of their choice](https://www.goodbarber.com/booking-app/babysitting/)[NextKids' club and day camp app: the activity program, sign-ups and photos only parents can see](https://www.goodbarber.com/membership/family-kids-events/)