A website that gives parents comprehensive, trustworthy reviews of child care and daycare providers, alongside clear price comparisons so they can easily weigh their options.
Who it's for
Parents and families researching child care / daycare options for their children.
How it makes money
Three revenue streams: parent subscriptions + provider lead generation + advertising.
Parent membership. Parents who sign up pay a subscription to access the comprehensive information — full verified reviews, accurate price comparisons, and the complete provider directory. Basic/high-level info is free; the comprehensive detail sits behind the membership. Memberships are offered with a choice of monthly or annual billing (annual priced to reward commitment). Premium members get an ad-free experience as part of the membership.
Provider lead generation. CareCompare also earns by bringing parents (client leads) to daycare providers. Providers pay us — via featured/marketplace listings, sponsored placements, or per-lead referral fees — for access to our audience of actively-choosing parents.
Advertising. Clearly-labeled advertising on the site (display/sponsored placements) generates additional income from traffic; ads never influence review scores or ranking integrity.
Membership structure (owner-confirmed)
Free: browse the directory; see provider names, star ratings, and price ranges. Supported by clearly-labeled advertising.
CareCompare Premium (single tier): full verified reviews + ratings breakdowns, complete side-by-side price comparisons, the full provider directory with advanced filters, early access to new providers, and an ad-free experience.
Monthly: $9.99/month
Annual: $79/year (≈$6.58/mo, about two months free)
Critical integrity rule that anchors the model: reviews, star ratings, and price comparisons must remain genuinely independent of who pays us — whether the payer is a member parent, a listed provider, or an advertiser. Our trustworthiness is the asset that attracts parents, and it's the reason providers are willing to pay for leads. Ads and paid placements are always clearly labeled and never influence review scores or ranking integrity.
Current focus
Buildout of the core product: a provider directory, price-comparison tooling, and a membership model that gates deep detail behind a subscription, with email capture for launch interest. Now starting to replace the sample provider set with real, clearly-labeled data, beginning with an Austin, TX pilot sourced from the state childcare licensing registry; pricing (provider self-report) and verified parent reviews follow. The Premium membership checkout (monthly $9.99 + annual $79) is live via Stripe. Real provider data and lead-gen/advertising tooling come after demand validation and content gathering.
KPIs (to establish as we launch)
Email signups from the landing page (top-of-funnel demand signal)
Number of paid memberships from parents (monthly + annual)
Number of verified reviews and providers listed
Leads delivered to paying providers (once lead-gen is live)