Why Village Care charges a service fee (and why it still saves families and daycares thousands)
If you’ve spent any time looking for childcare recently, you already know the system feels broken. Parents are stuck on year-long waitlists for commercial centers, paying thousands of dollars a month, while independent home daycare providers are squeezed by clunky software platforms that strip away their earnings.
When we built Village Care, we set out to create a transparent, sustainable ecosystem that protects both sides of the care equation: parents and independent educators.
To keep our platform running, we charge a 7% ACH transaction fee on payments. We know any fee deserves a clear, honest explanation—so here is exactly why that fee exists, how it works, and why Village Care remains a dramatically better financial option than traditional software and big-box commercial daycares.
Where the 7% fee goes
Unlike massive corporate platforms that hide costs in application fees, mandatory deposit markups, or subscription tiers, we believe in radical transparency. The 7% fee covers the operational infrastructure required to run a safe, reliable, and verified marketplace:
0% cost for providers: We do not take a single cent from the educator’s hard-earned tuition. When a provider sets their rate, they keep 100% of that income.
Bank-level payment security: Processing automated weekly and monthly ACH bank transfers requires encrypted, regulatory-compliant financial infrastructure to protect your family's sensitive data.
Why Village Care still saves families thousands
It’s easy to look at a percentage fee in isolation, but when you zoom out to compare total household costs, the math quickly speaks for itself.
Commercial "big-box" daycares carry massive corporate overhead—commercial real estate leases, industrial facilities, corporate marketing teams, and administrative staff. Every dollar of that overhead is baked directly into your monthly tuition bill.
When you enroll in an independent home daycare through Village Care, the underlying tuition cost is significantly lower because home providers don't carry commercial real estate debt.
Even with the 7% fee included, families using Village Care typically save hundreds of dollars every month compared to commercial franchises—all while securing a cozy, low-ratio environment for their child.
How we compare to traditional daycare software
For home daycare providers, traditional daycare management software is too expensive. Competitors often charge providers heavy monthly subscription fees plus percentage cuts off their tuition processing, or they sell cold parent leads back to educators as "marketplace fees."
Village Care flips this dynamic entirely:
100% tuition protection for educators: Independent providers are small business owners running on thin margins. By placing the operational fee on the transaction rather than taking a bite out of tuition, we ensure educators earn a dignified, full wage.
No hidden parent markups: We don't inflate tuition prices behind the scenes or charge parents surprise registration fees.
Fact-based trust over ad placements: Competitor directories allow centers to pay for top placement in search results. On Village Care, listings are ranked strictly by neighborhood proximity, real availability, and verified state licensing credentials.
Building a sustainable village
We didn't build Village Care to extract maximum corporate profit; we built it to create a calm, sustainable infrastructure for neighborhood early childhood education.
By keeping payment fees transparent and placing zero financial burden on our independent educators, we ensure that local daycares thrive, parents save money, and young children get the consistent, loving care they deserve right down the street.
