User Reviews Overview
About FACTS
FACTS is a school management system that helps administrators streamline processes related to student enrollment, attendance tracking and course management. The student information system (SIS) enables teachers to generate report...
Learn moreAll FACTS Reviews Apply filters
Browse FACTS Reviews
All FACTS Reviews Apply filters
- Industry: Education Management
- Company size: 1,001–5,000 Employees
- Used Daily for 2+ years
-
Review Source
Excellent product for a VERY niche market
Pros
RenWeb is School Information System software. It allows the user to take attendance, track grades, generate report cards, as well as a HOST of other features. Very feature-rich. In years past, RenWeb sort of lost its way with not really understanding who its core customer was - K-12 schools. After the acquisition by FACTS, RenWeb has really turned the ship around.
Cons
I do not like that FACTS is completely re-branding RenWeb as FACTS SIS. It doesn't sound as good. It looks like they're admitting failure. My preference would simply to be a major revision overhaul and re-branding with the same name.
- Industry: Education Management
- Company size: 51–200 Employees
- Used Weekly for 2+ years
-
Review Source
Exceeded expectations
After initial setup, usability and reliability are better than expected.
Pros
FACTS handles tuition billing. collections, and integration with Quickbooks Online.
Cons
Some features are tricky to use, but we are able to adapt to the software in order to achieve desired results.
- Industry: Education Management
- Company size: 2–10 Employees
- Used Daily for 6-12 months
-
Review Source
ISM issues with FACTS
Support for our teachers was very poor. Twice when we placed calls for assistance, the support person couldn't provide help but stated that we would be put on hold while they ask their manager. After you are on hold for about 10 minutes, they disconnect the call.
Pros
The SIS system is definitely what has been developed the most.
Cons
When FACTS took over renweb, it would appear they didn't know as much about how to build the educational component (LMS) that makes it user friendly for teachers and students.
Top FACTS Alternatives
- Industry: Primary/Secondary Education
- Company size: 51–200 Employees
- Used Daily for 1-5 months
-
Review Source
An Incomplete Design
While we've only been using it for a few weeks at this point, it seems that the software design lacks a clear plan and doesn't offer the tools and features that schools need. Everything from a clunky integration with Google Classroom to "hyperlink blue" text that isn't clickable makes this software lacking in features, usability, and design.
Pros
I liked that it has theoretical flexibility to meet school needs.
Cons
Despite the theoretical flexibility of the platform, it's plagued by poor design, dead ends, and does not meet the immediate needs of our faculty or staff. The front office has indicated that the attendance tracking is a nightmare. As a teacher, it does not have logical tools that allow easy navigation; rather, each tool requires a separate click and opens a new tab. That's just poor design.
- Industry: Retail
- Company size: 11–50 Employees
- Used Daily for 1+ year
-
Review Source
Facts site
Pros
What I like most is, it keeps student information, up-to-date, and accessible
Cons
There’s nothing I like least about the site
- Industry: Education Management
- Company size: 11–50 Employees
- Used Daily for 2+ years
-
Review Source
So difficult to use, ugly interface, annoying to toggle between student and financial...
As an end user, I absolutely LOATHE FACTS. It is one of the worst user experiences I have ever had.
Pros
I do not like anything about FACTS except having access to lesson plans for our hybrid homeschool
Cons
I have been forced to use FACTS since the 20teens when my two older daughters were in school. At that time it was only for financial purposes, and I hated it then. It was cumbersome and difficult to use, and figuring out how the math was done was an exercise in frustration. Fast forward to the mid 20 twenties when my younger sons' school uses it for both class/assignment/grade management and financial management, and I know why I hated it then and still do. The class assignment section is ugly and outdated looking. And now with the financial 'upgrade', we have to login in AGAIN within the website to review the financial portion. I understand from the school that they also can't put in manual changes from their end, so basically everyone is at the mercy of unseen software administrators. Having to pay $25 to pay my balance in full is also really annoying, when I know the school is also paying for the 'privilege' of using the system and being paid. Last year they charged $.85 PER TRANSACTION! To draft money out of my account! So not only do they charge you, but you literally have no option but to give this company your sensitive financial information for them to store 'securely'. I guess? So far so good on that front, but who's to say how long that will last. The app costs as well, in addition to the school paying, and me paying for the privilege of paying tuition, we also have to pay for the app.
- Industry: Education Management
- Company size: 201–500 Employees
- Used Weekly for 1+ year
-
Review Source
Great compliment with Renweb
Pros
We at our school love the fact that Facts is now integrated with Renweb. This allows for us to keep all of our student information in one "basket". The cafeteria cash register has completely allowed us to go cashless, which has been wonderful!
Cons
Keeping up with all the charges and fees can be confusing for our families. We tend to get several calls weekly having to explain what the charges are for.
- Industry: Education Management
- Company size: 51–200 Employees
- Used Monthly for 2+ years
-
Review Source
Tuition Collection
Pros
I love having a software that takes care of the tuition collection. It's great for parents to be able to monitor their accounts online and make online payments. They can also set up auto payments.
Cons
I don't like the automatic late fees that FACTS imposes. I'd rather have a date I could add them manually. I'd like the tax statements for parents to have a button to click instead of having to navigate through menus to find it. I think sometimes the emails to parents are not clear about what they owe and why.
- Industry: Photography
- Company size: Self Employed
- Used Weekly for Free Trial
-
Review Source
Good Program For Education
Overall I can see and understand the value and the importance of using a program like FACTS. It works, it’s easy, it is supposed to be very secure, and it something that works.
Pros
So far from the experience I have had with FACTS, is that is it an excellent program for educators and education, tuition management and other forms of management! It’s very in innovative and sun synchronizes well well other programs.
Cons
The only thing that bother me in general about FACTS or any other platform within Google is the amount of information they have about you and you’re financial and educational histories. The AI is so advanced that they can pin point you to you’re very location at any given time. Same is true most other programming as well.
- Industry: Religious Institutions
- Company size: 11–50 Employees
- Used Monthly for 1+ year
-
Review Source
Running From RenWeb
Pros
This software was suitable for the needs of our school in the beginning but our needs grew. The ease of entering data was nice.
Cons
They weren’t able to keep up with the changing times and provide updated software.
- Industry: Education Management
- Company size: 11–50 Employees
- Used Daily for 2+ years
-
Review Source
Affordable SIS
It is a full SIS with some limitations, but that is to be expected for the price. Their customer service is primarily operated through chat and they do a good job!
Pros
FACTS is an affordable SIS. The system maintains all of our records and has capability for customization within reports such as building your own report card. FACTS is always improving. They take user requests seriously and we can vote on which requests we'd like them to prioritize. Last year, they updated to a mobile web-based platform that can be accessed across all devices. They also offer communication services such as mass texting (for an additional fee). A definite pro is that this one system manages everything from tuition payment, grant services, grading, lesson planning, reporting and communication!
Cons
At times, FACTS can be click-intensive, requiring multiple steps to get something done. The standards-based grading portion is not yet fully developed to allow for true standards based grading and reporting. For example, there is no way to record/notify parents of missing assignments when using standards based grading in FACTS.
- Industry: Education Management
- Company size: 11–50 Employees
- Used Daily for 2+ years
-
Review Source
Trying to keep up
We were with FACTS for about 9 years. We had frequent complaints about how difficult the interface was for parents and teachers. Parents didn't like that they had to pay for the app. We needed a more economic, user-friendly system, so we switched to something else. In retrospect, you always get what you pay for. It might be good for FACTS to consider rebundling their pricing to reduce the nickel and dime effect.
Pros
FACTS (formerly known as RenWeb) is a robust SMS / SIS software. It has a full spectrum of features and functions that schools need. Their customer service was very accessible/responsive most of the time.
Cons
It's been around a long time, and it seems like they have struggled to keep up/update their platform/interface. It's not very intuitive to use. There are MANY features that you need/want that cost extra, and the nickel and dime effect was significant.
- Industry: Education Management
- Company size: 51–200 Employees
- Used Daily for 2+ years
-
Review Source
Once I got the hang of it, Renweb is a great resource for classroom grades
Our entire school's information and grading is found in one system - it is connected and has everything I need for the gradebook aspect.
Pros
I appreciate the functionality of renweb especially with grading. It is easy to align the grading system to the system you want for you classroom. Also, it allows parents to get connected to your student's progress.
Cons
Sometimes, certain features feel like they are 100 clicks away. Especially to send home messages through the program itself. I relied on my regular email far more often. Putting in behavior reports was also not my favorite feature.
- Industry: Education Management
- Company size: 11–50 Employees
- Used Daily for 2+ years
-
Review Source
RenWeb app
I have used RenWeb for several years at my school and I'm really enjoying the new updates. It was a bit clunky before and is now quite smooth and intuitive.
Pros
RenWeb online is fantastic. The way it is graphically organized makes it very simple and intuitive to access grades, report cards, contact parents and staff, see individual student information, Etc. I'm over all very happy with the software.
Cons
The RenWeb Android app really doesn't let you do much. I can access student information and take attendance, but that's pretty much it. It's not organized terribly well and is slow as well. I look forward to an updated version in the future as they have updated their website.
- Industry: Primary/Secondary Education
- Company size: 201–500 Employees
- Used Daily for 1+ year
-
Review Source
Renweb basically works, though it shows its age.
Renweb appears to have been developed on a PC years ago at a private religious school in Texas and has expanded since then to be the go-to system for conservative Christian schools. It shows its age but basically works well. Not for Mac! and Not for overseas (that is, it had no provision for A4 paper or date-format or multiple currencies). It has elaborate grade-calculation settings and reasonably good attendance and grade-input methods. E-mail communication from teachers to students & parents is reasonably well done. Ironically, we missed all these basic functions when our administration switched to a glitzy new facebook-like system. Renweb recently merged with a finance company, so it is not clear how that will affect this core business--maybe better, maybe not.
Pros
All the basic teacher / admin functions are covered reasonably well. The system is stable.
Cons
Old look, Windows bias.
- Industry: Education Management
- Company size: 51–200 Employees
- Used Daily for 6-12 months
-
Review Source
Not a fan
I have not been very impressed when working with RenWeb. I find that it is not intuitive, and has a number of unnecessary issues that make it difficult to use. I don't recommend it.
Pros
I've had good experiences with customer support.
Cons
Running reports out of RenWeb is a pain, and you are extremely limited on what information you can filter in order to get the report that you need/want. Also, if you enter a payment prior to the charge being added to the account, that charge will not be automatically cleared once it is on the account. You can have a credit on the account, but charges will still show as being not cleared, which, in turn, skews your accounting reports.
-
Review Source
Program is Very Good, Customer Service is Excellent
The benefits: Complete from inquiry to admissions to enrollment. Can tailor to suite needs with checklist items, automatic emails etc. Reports are easy to create.
Cons: Inquiry reporting is separate from admissions and enrollment reporting. Would be helpful to have one report to show inquiries that moved to admissions that moved to enrolled/finished.
The directions on RenWeb University seem scattered and I found it very difficult to learn the process for starting a new year and running through re-enrollment. I took the webinars which were very helpful, but I am a checklist person. So I called RenWeb many times to have them walk me through the process so I could write it down step by step.
The Customer Service was a life saver! This is my first big project creating re-enrollment from scratch. From creating the enrollment packets to testing them and learning the process for release, your reps were patient, kind and so helpful. I called so many times I began to recognize their voices when they picked up! I could only imagine when they asked my name and district code they probably saw a list pages long with my name popping up! Oh her again. They never made me feel silly for calling so much and took the time to help me walk through step by step and explain things in a way I grasped. I knew that I could take a risk and click a button not being completely confident what would happen, because if it caused a problem, someone would be able to help me. They were a huge safety net. As a result, we released online re-enrollment/enrollment two days ago and the world has not collapsed! lol. Can't say enough. Thank you, thank you!
- Industry: Education Management
- Company size: 2–10 Employees
- Used Daily for 2+ years
-
Review Source
Great product for parents and students
Pros
I enjoy using it to check on my children and communication with teachers is such an ease.
Cons
It would be nice to see the app with the ability for the teacher to take pictures for parents to view.
- Industry: Sports
- Company size: 51–200 Employees
- Used Daily for 2+ years
-
Review Source
RenWeb
I enjoy using this software, but I would enjoy a short training lesson to learn how to access the website's other features that I am unaware of.
Pros
What I like most about this software is that I can easily access students' information when needed. I can also easily access each student's parent contact information which is very helpful.
Cons
I don't have any negative comments for the software.
- Industry: Education Management
- Company size: 51–200 Employees
- Used Daily for 2+ years
-
Review Source
Making Progress
Pros
Has a lot of features
Is a one stop shop
Cons
Want communications to have mail merge capabilities.
A little more intuitive,
- Industry: Religious Institutions
- Company size: 51–200 Employees
- Used Weekly for 2+ years
-
Review Source
Helpful for Teachers and Parents
Renweb has been a good step forward for our small, private school to connect teacher's to parents and the information both are looking for.
Pros
The best part of Renweb is the web based setup that gives teachers an easy way to give information to families in real time.
Cons
Some of the navigation is tricky. Recently I had trouble accessing class listing in a way that made sense to me. I couldn't remember the teacher and there wasn't an easy option to sort the view by class subjects.
- Industry: Education Management
- Company size: 11–50 Employees
- Used Daily for 2+ years
-
Review Source
A must product to use
am really glad to have such an amazing software like this cause it has helped me maximize the school profits and also helped me on the day today business experience
Pros
the school management and account billing is one of ma favorite
Cons
it lucks some modules that might have been good for me
- Industry: Education Management
- Company size: 51–200 Employees
- Used for 1+ year
-
Review Source
RenWeb
Overall, our school had a good experience with RenWeb and the tools available with it.
Pros
RenWeb was a great tool for our school to share information about our students with their parents. Being able to email parents and have all of the information readily available when needed was very helpful. I also liked that I was able to keep track of grades and attendance all in one place.
Cons
There were a few things that were difficult to navigate for both parents and teachers. There were some times that we were not able to do everything that we wanted.
- Used Daily for 6-12 months
-
Review Source
Simple, east to use with a good amount of functions and features
Pros
Saves grades and comments automatically, is very easy to use and set up, and allows for assignments to easy be posted and viewable to anyone who has access.
Cons
Formatting and the automatic saving can be a catch-22. If you accidentally click on another student and hit different numbers, it can change a grade and save automatically. If you do this and do not recognize it, it can become a problem.
- Industry: Education Management
- Company size: 51–200 Employees
-
Review Source
Complete school suite with great customer service
RenWeb is a good option for K-12 schools, but it does require a full-time manager within the school.
Pros
The package is very comprehensive for running a school, including admissions, simple financials, scheduling, course management...
Cons
Little-to-no integration with Google (Classroom, email, calendar...). The learning curve seems steep for both admins and teachers, but the company is in the process of releasing a better interface that should help with that. THe UI look is a bit lackluster, though not a huge factor for us.
