Comparison
PTO Homeroom vs SignUpGenius
The best sign-up sheet on the internet — and only a sign-up sheet. Most PTOs keep it next to a spreadsheet and a Venmo.
The short answer
SignUpGenius does one thing superbly and charges 5% + 50¢ when money touches it — but a PTO also needs a roster, dues, a fundraiser and books, and it has none of those.
All figures below are the vendors' own published rates, checked on 9 September 2026. Pricing changes — verify with each vendor before deciding.
Pricing, side by side
| PTO Homeroom | SignUpGenius | |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | $0 | $0 – $539.89 / year |
| Fee on payments | 3% | 5% + 50¢ on collected payments |
| Fee on fundraisers | 3% | 5% + 50¢ (no fundraiser product; payments on sign-ups) |
| Card processing | Stripe 2.9% + 30¢ | Included in the 5% + 50¢ |
| Fees passable to the payer | Yes — shown at checkout and covered by the payer by default | Yes — the organizer chooses whether the buyer or the seller pays the fee |
| Processor lock-in | No — funds settle to your PTO's own Stripe account | Yes — SignUpGenius Payments only |
SignUpGenius tiers: Free (ad-supported) · Silver $8.99/mo or $107.89/yr · Gold $22.49/mo or $269.89/yr · Platinum $44.99/mo or $539.89/yr · Enterprise custom.
What a $22,000 year actually nets
Assumes an average payment of $36.67 and that 55% of the total comes from your big fundraiser — the part vendors price differently. Both columns assume fees are passed to the payer, which SignUpGenius allows and we do by default — so the difference here is the subscription, not the rate.
PTO Homeroom
$22,000
No subscription; our 3% is covered at checkout, so you bank the sticker.
SignUpGenius
$21,730
$270 to subscription and fees
What to watch for with SignUpGenius
It isn't a PTO platform
No family roster, no membership, no fundraiser pages, no treasury. The sign-up is the product. That's why most PTOs run it alongside Venmo, Google Forms and a spreadsheet — which is the setup Homeroom replaces.
Ads on the free plan
Ad-free sign-ups start with Silver (one ad-free sign-up) and reach ‘unlimited’ at Platinum, $44.99 a month. Homeroom has no ads at any price.
5% + 50¢ to collect money
SignUpGenius Payments charges 5% plus 50¢ per transaction, and the organizer picks who pays it. Homeroom's 3% is separate from card processing and shown at checkout the same way — but it lands in the treasurer's books automatically.
Admins are a paid feature
10 administrators on Gold, 20 on Platinum. Homeroom's roles are unlimited and free.
Where SignUpGenius is the better choice
We'd rather you pick the right tool than the one that wrote the comparison.
Universal
Anyone can use it for anything — a soccer team, a church, a block party. A PTO platform can't be that.
Fourteen years of polish on one act
Slots, waitlists, reminders, swaps: the single act of signing up is as smooth as it gets, and every parent has already used it.
Text invites on paid plans
150–1,500 texts a month from Silver up. Homeroom is email-first today; SMS is on the roadmap.
Choose SignUpGenius if…
Anyone can use it for anything — a soccer team, a church, a block party. A PTO platform can't be that.
Choose PTO Homeroom if…
You want one tool instead of three, no annual subscription, a published fee you can explain to any parent, and your fundraiser, roster, communication and books in the same place.
Sources
- SignUpGenius — Pricing (rendered page, plans and annual prices)
- SignUpGenius — Set Up Fee Options for Payments — 5% + 50¢, buyer or seller pays (support article)
Checked 9 September 2026. We don't republish figures a vendor doesn't publish; anything unstated is marked “not published” rather than estimated.
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