Frequently Asked Questions

Child Runner is a web-based software platform built specifically for child transportation companies. It helps you manage routes, track pickups in real time, schedule absences, communicate with families, and run your operation more efficiently — all from one dashboard.

Child Runner is designed for transportation businesses that move children — school bus companies, private shuttle services, childcare transport providers, and similar operations. It works for businesses of all sizes, from a single driver to a large fleet.

When you sign up, you get 14 days of full access to Child Runner at no charge. No credit card is required to start. You can set up routes, invite your team, and use every feature during the trial. At the end of the 14 days, you can subscribe to continue.

No. You can start your 14-day free trial without entering any payment information. We only ask for billing details if you choose to continue after the trial.

Child Runner has two plans. The Lite plan is $50/mo (or $550/yr) and includes 2 routes, 1 driver seat, and up to 15 children — with optional add-ons at $10/mo each for extra routes, drivers, children, or admin seats. The Professional plan is $150/mo (or $1,650/yr) and includes unlimited routes, drivers, children, and admin accounts. Both plans include a 14-day free trial with no credit card required.

When your 14-day trial ends, you will be prompted to add a payment method to continue. Your data and settings are preserved. If you choose not to subscribe, your account will be locked but your data will be retained for 30 days before deletion.

Yes. There are no long-term contracts. You can cancel your subscription at any time from the billing page in your dashboard. You will retain access until the end of your current billing period.

When a driver starts a run session, each child on the route appears as a pending stop. The driver marks each child as picked up (or absent/no-show) as they go. These updates appear instantly in the guardian portal, so families know the moment their child has been picked up.

Yes. Guardians have their own portal where they can see their child's pickup status in real time during an active run, view upcoming absences they have scheduled, and review the last 14 days of pickup history.

Guardians can mark their child as absent directly from their portal before the route starts for the day. Admins and owners can schedule absences for any future date. When a driver starts a run, any children with a scheduled absence are automatically marked as absent on the route — no manual updates needed.

From the Team page in your dashboard, you can send email invitations to drivers and admins. They will receive an invite link, create their account, and be added to your business automatically. Each person gets role-appropriate access — drivers see their routes, admins see everything.

Guardians can request access from the invite page using your business's unique invite code. Once you approve their request from the Guardians page in your dashboard, they can log in and view their children's information.

Yes. Every completed run session has a print-optimized report page that shows all stops, each child's pickup status, timestamps, driver notes, and a summary. You can open it from any run detail page or from the Reports section and use your browser's "Save as PDF" to generate a compliance-ready document.

Yes. Owners and admins can log incidents — such as accidents, behavioral events, or safety concerns — with a date, type, severity level, associated driver, route, and description. Incidents can be marked resolved and are searchable. This supports the record-keeping requirements many childcare operators face.

Yes. Every account owner has a unique referral link on their Billing page. When someone signs up using your link and makes their first payment, you automatically receive a $20 credit applied to your next invoice — no action needed.

Yes. All data is encrypted in transit using TLS. Authentication is handled by Supabase, which uses industry-standard security practices. We do not sell your data or use it for advertising. Each business's data is isolated — users can only see data within their own account.

Yes. The Messages feature lets you send email broadcasts to all guardians, all drivers, all admins, guardians on a specific route, or any individual. All messages are sent via email and a history of sent messages is kept in your dashboard.

It depends on your plan. The Lite plan includes 2 routes, 1 driver seat, and 15 children — you can add more with $10/mo add-ons. The Professional plan has no limits: unlimited routes, drivers, children, and admin accounts.