October 24, 2026

Best PBIS Reward Apps for Teachers in 2026

If your school runs PBIS (Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports), you've probably been asked to acknowledge positive behavior often and consistently. A good app makes that much easier. But "PBIS app" can mean very different things: a school-wide platform with referrals and dashboards, or a tool that makes your own classroom more motivating.

In this roundup, we split the options into two groups:

School-wide platforms, bought by a school or district so every staff member uses the same system
Teacher-level tools, which a single teacher can start using in their own classroom

Full disclosure: we make ClassMana, one of the tools in this list. We've tried to be fair to every product, including saying when another tool is the better choice. All information comes from each vendor's public website as of October 2026.

What to look for in a PBIS reward app

Before comparing tools, decide what you actually need. These questions help:

Who is buying it? A school-wide platform needs a school or district decision. A teacher-level tool you can often start today.
Do you need referrals and discipline data? If your PBIS team needs office referrals, alerts and school-wide dashboards, you need a school-wide platform.
Do you need parent communication? Some tools have a parent portal or app; others don't.
Will students stay motivated? A points total works in week one. Keeping students engaged in month eight takes more: progression, privileges and variety.
Is it fast in the moment? If acknowledging a student takes more than a few seconds mid-lesson, it won't happen often enough.
What does it cost, and is the price public? Some vendors publish prices; others are quote-based.

School-wide PBIS platforms

LiveSchool

Best for: schools that want a complete, school-wide PBIS system with transparent pricing.

LiveSchool is a behavior-tracking, points and rewards platform for schools and districts. Staff award positive and corrective points from a customizable behavior matrix, and students spend points in a school, grade or classroom rewards store. It includes house points with a live scoreboard, family engagement with a parent portal and translation, referral and alert documentation, and district dashboards. It has web, iOS and Android apps.

Pros: published pricing (Starter from $1,960 per year for 40 staff), a free pilot for one grade, strong school-wide data and house points
Cons: sold per school, not to individual teachers; game elements are limited to points, houses and the store

PBIS Rewards

Best for: schools that want PBIS points combined with a behavior referral workflow.

PBIS Rewards describes itself as an affordable school-wide PBIS management system. Staff award points on any device, students use them in a rewards store, and families can follow along in a family app. House Groups and Teacher Rewards (staff recognition) are included. The Behavior Referral System and Hall Pass Plus are paid add-ons. It supports Clever and ClassLink rostering.

Pros: purpose-built PBIS and referral tooling, apps for staff, students and families, integrations with case management and SEL tools
Cons: quote-based pricing with separate add-on fees; not available to individual teachers

Dean's List

Best for: schools that want behavior, attendance, referrals, MTSS and family communication in one system.

Dean's List is a broad school-operations platform. It covers merits and demerits, a digital school store, office referrals with restorative-practice tracking, MTSS intervention plans, attendance, a digital hall pass and a family portal with translation and two-way texting.

Pros: one unified system for many school processes; implementation and training included according to the vendor
Cons: quote-based with no public pricing; no free tier found; points are a currency, not a game

ePraise (UK)

Best for: UK primary and secondary schools that want rewards tightly linked to their MIS.

ePraise is a UK school rewards and engagement platform. Students earn praise points and spend them in a rewards shop, on prize draws or on charity donations. It includes house points with leaderboards, a parent portal, a messenger, an interventions module and homework. It integrates with UK MIS systems like SIMS (with two-way writeback), Arbor, Bromcom and iSAMS.

Pros: deep UK MIS integration, broad all-in-one feature set, native apps
Cons: quote-based pricing; focused on the UK school system

Critter Coin

Best for: schools that want a school-wide house system with a strong game feel.

Critter Coin is the most gamified school-wide platform in this list. Students earn coins that count toward their house and their own rewards-store balance. Houses compete in rounds, students can collect critters and care for virtual pets, and an optional add-on adds a shared 3D world. There's an AI setup wizard, quests, QR scanning and parent access (add-on). The core is free for a school's first 20,000 coins; other features are monthly add-ons.

Pros: free core, rich house-based gamification, no student logins required, Clever and ClassLink support
Cons: designed for school-wide setup; add-on costs can add up if you need several

Teacher-level tools

ClassDojo

Best for: elementary teachers who want free points plus parent communication.

ClassDojo is free for teachers and schools. Teachers award points for skills (for example "Growth Mindset"), share photos and videos in Class Story, and message parents with automatic translation in 190+ languages. Schools can also go school-wide with rostering. Parents can buy an optional paid upgrade, ClassDojo Plus.

Pros: free, huge community, excellent family communication
Cons: the game side is light, since the focus is on points, skills and communication

If you're considering switching, see our ClassDojo alternative page and the ClassMana vs ClassDojo comparison.

ClassMana

Best for: teachers who want to turn their school's PBIS expectations into a game students don't outgrow.

ClassMana is a gamified classroom management app. Students customize an animated 3D avatar and level it up with Experience (35 levels of gear). They earn mana for powers (real classroom privileges, a natural fit for PBIS non-tangible acknowledgments), spend gold in a class shop, and protect their health: warnings lower health, and a student who falls redeems themselves with a positive action. Teams, the Monster Battle and the Silence Challenge add whole-class goals. The Activity Log gives reports per student and per period.

Pros: deep, long-term motivation; a single teacher can start today; works from primary through high school; no student emails needed; shared configuration and co-teachers for grade-level teams
Cons: no parent messaging, no referral or discipline tracking, no school-wide PBIS analytics, no native apps; LMS integration is coming soon

ClassMana isn't meant to replace your school-wide PBIS platform. It's the in-class game layer on top of it. See how to use ClassMana alongside your school's PBIS system.

Pricing: free instant tools and a three-week trial class; paid plans from $65 per year per teacher; School plan from $1 per student per year (minimum 150 students). See pricing.

Summary table

Tool	Type	Who buys it	Parent access	Referrals	Game depth	Pricing
LiveSchool	School-wide platform	School / district	✅	✅	➖ Points, houses, store	From $1,960/yr for 40 staff
PBIS Rewards	School-wide platform	School / district	✅	✅ Add-on	➖ Points, houses, store	Quote-based
Dean's List	School-wide platform	School / district	✅	✅	❌ Points as currency	Quote-based
ePraise	School-wide (UK)	School	✅	➖ Interventions module	➖ Points, houses, shop	Quote-based
Critter Coin	School-wide platform	School	✅ Add-on	Not advertised	✅ Houses, coins, pets, 3D world	Free core + monthly add-ons
ClassDojo	Teacher-level tool	Teacher (free)	✅	Not advertised	➖ Points and skills	Free; optional parent upgrade
ClassMana	Teacher-level tool	Teacher or school	❌	❌	✅ Avatars, levels, powers, battles	From $65/yr per teacher

Last updated: October 2026. Features and prices change; check each vendor's website.

Our recommendation: combine a platform with a game layer

For most schools, the best setup isn't one app. It's two layers:

A school-wide platform (LiveSchool, PBIS Rewards, Dean's List, ePraise or Critter Coin) for consistency across the building, family communication, referrals and data
A classroom game for the place where students spend most of their day, so acknowledgments feel exciting instead of routine

That's exactly where ClassMana fits. Name your rewards after your school's expectations, turn your privileges into powers, and let your students level up all year.

Try ClassMana for free. The instant tools are free, and you can use a trial class fully for three weeks.

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