SkyBadge vs. how agencies track training today
Most small agencies track training on paper or in a spreadsheet, and both work — until an audit, a lawsuit, or a missed expiration. Here is an honest comparison, including where the alternatives are genuinely free.
| Dimension | Paper binders | Spreadsheets | Legacy training software | SkyBadge |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Data entry | Handwritten sheets, filed by hand | Someone retypes every roster, row by row | Someone retypes every roster into web forms | Photograph the sign-in sheet; staff confirms what the AI read |
| Catching expirations | Whoever remembers to check the binder | Manual date math, checked when someone thinks of it | Reports exist if someone runs them | Watched continuously; reminders go out at 90, 60, and 30 days |
| State reporting | Assembled by hand from paper files | Copy-paste into the state format each quarter | Export, then reformat to match state requirements | POST-format report generated from live records |
| Audit trail | Whatever the binder shows — edits are invisible | None — cells change without history | Varies; often edit logs without before/after values | Append-only log of who changed what, when, with before and after |
| Setup time | None, until the first audit | None, until it collapses under its own tabs | Weeks to months, plus training on the system | One afternoon — send one spreadsheet, we do the rest |
| Bringing in old records | They are the old records | Retype the binder, sheet by sheet | Data-migration project, often billed separately | Photograph the binder page by page, or upload any export — staff confirms, SkyBadge types |
| Price | Free, plus the coordinator's hours every week | Free, plus the coordinator's hours every week | Often quote-only; frequently priced per seat | $250–$500/month by agency size, never per seat, public pricing |
We do not name vendors, and legacy systems vary — check any claim here against the specific product you are evaluating. The comparison we care most about is the spreadsheet, because that is what most small agencies actually use.
The most expensive part of cheap software is the person typing into it.
Sticker price is only half the bill. The other half is the coordinator's time — hours every week retyping rosters, chasing dates, and rebuilding reports by hand.
A typical legacy tracker
A low sticker price, plus roughly 8–10 hours a week of coordinator typing.
- Software subscription
- Low
- Coordinator typing, ~8–10 hrs/week
- ~$12–15K/yr
- Real annual cost
- ~$12–15K+
SkyBadge
Public pricing, plus minutes of confirming what the AI read — not hours of typing.
- Small-agency tier, $250/month
- $3K/yr
- Coordinator time: confirm, don't retype
- Minutes/week
- Real annual cost
- $3K
Estimates — your coordinator knows the real hours.
What does your current setup really cost?
Two sliders, no forms — the math happens right here on your screen.
- Hidden annual cost of typing
- $18,720/yr
- SkyBadge, small-agency tier
- $3,000/yr
- Time cost your agency could recover
- $15,720/yr
Estimates — your coordinator knows the real hours.
Switching is the easy part
Coming from any system — or no system.
Send us whatever you can export: spreadsheet, CSV, PDF report, or a photographed binder. We read it, show you exactly what we understood, and load it after you approve. No retyping, no migration project, no data held hostage — leaving is just as free, with a full export anytime.