Bloomily vs. Squarespace

Squarespace in its own words

Squarespace invites you to "Create a website and grow your business" (Squarespace). Its camps page offers "customizable event listings, registration forms, and attendee management features." It says you can "collect deposits and payments for sessions" and track your finances. In its FAQ, Squarespace says it "provides all the tools required to build, brand, and run your camp online" (Squarespace for camps).

For classes and bookings, Squarespace offers Acuity Scheduling. Its group classes can have size limits, one-off or multiple sessions, and registration forms at sign-up. Acuity takes payment through Stripe, Square or PayPal, collects deposits and sends invoices. Its payment processors are separate from the ones your Squarespace website uses. It also sends reminder texts and confirmation emails (Acuity Scheduling). Squarespace's pricing page says invoices are free to send and process on all plans. You can also sell weekly or monthly subscription products (Squarespace pricing).

Where Bloomily fits a camp or preschool better

Bloomily is built around the program itself, from the first signup to the afternoon pickup.

Registration that matches your weeks. Open a camp week, and families can register on your page (Bloomily website). Each week has its own capacity, and a full week keeps a waiting list (Bloomily for camps). A family picks exactly the weeks it wants, and each week keeps its own price. Sibling discounts, early-bird prices and promo codes apply at checkout (Bloomily camp registration).

Money that follows the family. Camp deposits come in at registration, and the balance bill is made for you (Bloomily for camps). Camp weeks and add-ons such as before care or lunch land on one family balance with one autopay (Bloomily programs). For a preschool, tuition bills on your charge day, and families on autopay pay without a nudge (Bloomily for preschools). Either way, the money goes to your own Stripe account (Bloomily payments).

A camp day counselors run from a phone. Counselors check campers in and out from the staff app on iPhone. Campers sit in groups, and counselors share a photo album with each group (Bloomily camp registration). Families check in and out at the kiosk with a PIN, or on their own phone. They see their group's album in the app (Bloomily for camps).

A website that is part of the system. Set your logo and brand color once. They carry through the parent portal, emails, receipts and your public pages (Bloomily branding). For a preschool, parents pick real tour slots, and requests land in your enrollment pipeline (Bloomily website builder).

Families who hear from you. Your messages arrive translated into each parent's language, and replies come back in yours (Bloomily communication). Families use the parent app on iPhone and Android (Bloomily for parents).

Using Squarespace and Bloomily together

If your Squarespace site is the face of your camp and you like it, keep it. Your camp programs can publish to your own page on a bloomily.app address (Bloomily program pages). Your Squarespace site can link to that page for registration.

A single event with a form and one payment can stay a Squarespace listing. A full season asks more: weekly sessions, deposits and balances, a morning check-in and family updates. Those jobs need to share each family's record, and that is the part Bloomily runs.

If you take payments through Acuity today, its page notes that its processors are separate from your Squarespace website's. Decide which payments move to Bloomily, where money goes to your own Stripe account (Bloomily payments), so no family is billed twice.

Moving from Squarespace to Bloomily

Bring the list you keep today, as it is. AI help does the reading. That list can be a spreadsheet, another system's export, a PDF or a photo of a paper list. Nothing saves until you approve it.

When you are ready, send each family one invite. Their child is already on their account. Your Squarespace site can stay live while you switch. Keep your old system running beside Bloomily as long as you like (Switching to Bloomily).

Questions to ask in both demos

• How would a family enroll one child in several camp weeks and see one balance with the deposit already credited?
• How would a full week's waiting list offer the spot to the next family?
• How would a sibling discount apply when two children register?
• How would counselors record check-in, check-out and the pickup person each day?
• How would counselors see each camper's allergies and emergency contacts on a roster?
• How would monthly preschool tuition be charged automatically?
• Where would families see photos and messages from their child's group?

Which one fits your camp

Choose Bloomily when you want registration, balances, check-in and family updates in the same system. Keep Squarespace when the website and its design are the main job, and link it to Bloomily when you need more. See Bloomily for camps, Bloomily for preschools, Bloomily's camp pricing and Bloomily's preschool pricing.