Free School Management Software for Indian Schools
Chatmadi’s Starter plan is free forever for schools with up to 50 students. No credit card required. No trial period that expires after 14 or 30 days. No features locked behind a paywall. Every module works fully: attendance, fees, homework, exams, report cards, payroll, timetable, transport, and WhatsApp conversation analysis.
What the Free Plan Includes
Every item below works fully on the free plan for up to 50 students. Nothing is grayed out, locked, or restricted.
All 30 items above are included on the free Starter plan for up to 50 students. No credit card. No time limit. No feature restrictions.
What Requires a Paid Plan
These three features require a connected WhatsApp Business API number, which is only available on the Growth plan and above.
Auto-Send to Parent WhatsApp
Sending homework assignments, exam results, fee receipts, and PTM announcements directly to parent WhatsApp numbers requires a connected WhatsApp Business API number. Available from the Growth plan at Rs.500 per month.
Real-Time Message Processing
Processing incoming parent WhatsApp messages in real time without manual upload, including automatic homework completion detection, fee balance auto-reply, and admission lead capture, requires WhatsApp Business API. Available from Growth plan.
Advanced Principal Analytics
Cross-class performance comparison, subject difficulty analysis, at-risk student combined signal flags, and higher AI analysis volume require the Pro plan. Suitable for schools with 150 to 300 students that need deeper analytical tools.
Note: WhatsApp conversation upload and AI analysis is included on all plans including free. The limitation on the free plan is that messages must be uploaded manually as exports rather than processed automatically via the API.
Questions About the Free Plan
Is it really free or does it become paid after a while?
It is genuinely free forever for schools with up to 50 students. There is no trial period. There is no time limit. The free plan does not expire. If you stay under 50 students, you never need to pay anything.
Do I need a credit card to sign up for the free plan?
No. You can create an account and start using Chatmadi immediately without entering any payment information. A credit card is only needed if you choose to upgrade to a paid plan.
What happens when my school grows beyond 50 students?
When your student count approaches 50, Chatmadi will show you an upgrade prompt. Your data is never deleted. You can either upgrade to the Growth plan at Rs.500 per month for up to 150 students, or archive inactive students to remain on the free plan.
Can I use the free plan if I have more than 50 students enrolled but only some are active?
The 50 student limit applies to enrolled (active) students. You can archive students who have left or graduated, which removes them from the active count. Archived student records are preserved and searchable but do not count toward the plan limit.
Is the WhatsApp AI analysis really free?
Yes. Uploading WhatsApp conversation exports and having the AI extract absences, homework completions, and other data is included on the free plan. The paid feature is having messages processed automatically in real time via WhatsApp Business API, which requires the Growth plan.
Can multiple staff members use the free plan?
Yes. There is no limit on the number of staff members you can add to Chatmadi on any plan including the free plan. Class teachers, subject teachers, admin staff, and the principal can all have their own logins.
What Is Included in Chatmadi's Free School ERP
Chatmadi's Starter plan is free forever for up to 50 students. This is not a 14-day trial, not a "first 6 months free" promotion. It is a permanently free school ERP tier built for small schools.
The free plan includes student management (names, classes, parent contact, admission numbers), attendance tracking (WhatsApp-based and manual logging), fee management (invoice generation and Razorpay payment collection), exam management (create exams, enter marks, generate result summaries), homework tracking, basic report cards, PTM scheduling and notes, WhatsApp conversation upload with AI analysis, and parent communication. Every module links cleanly through the single school ERP interface.
What is not included in the free plan: WhatsApp Business API auto-send (requires Pro or School plan), advanced principal analytics (requires Pro or School plan), and unlimited student counts (requires Growth, Pro, or School plan). These are upgrade gates, not crippled versions of otherwise core features.
For most small schools with under 50 students, the free Starter plan covers 95 percent of daily operations. Schools that exceed 50 students move to Growth at Rs.500 per month, which extends the same school ERP without migration work.
The WhatsApp conversation upload and AI analysis feature is free on all plans including Starter. Schools can upload WhatsApp group export files and Chatmadi's AI extracts absences, fee discussions, and welfare signals automatically. This alone is often the reason a school adopts the free school ERP tier.
Why Chatmadi Offers a Truly Free School ERP Tier
Most "free" school ERP offerings are marketing traps. The free tier has one module. Any real operation requires immediate payment, and the school feels baited within the first week.
Chatmadi's approach is different. The Starter plan is genuinely functional for a 50-student school. The school can run operations indefinitely without paying. The monetization assumption is simple: as the school grows past 50 students or wants WhatsApp Business API, the upgrade to a paid plan is natural and proportional.
This model works because Indian schools prefer predictable monthly costs over upfront commitments. A small school cannot commit to Rs.1 lakh for software before knowing if it works. Chatmadi lets them try everything free, see the impact across attendance, fees and parent communication, then upgrade the school ERP when they are ready.
Related plans and pages: best school ERP India, small school management software, Chatmadi pricing.
Free School Management Software That Is Actually Worth Using. Start in 2 Minutes.
Create your free Chatmadi account now. No credit card. No demo call. No sales process. Add your school details, import your students, and start using every feature immediately. Your first attendance record can be logged within 10 minutes of signing up.