Comparison · Education

Element451 vs OpenApply

Element451 and OpenApply side by side for education: scores by criterion, native features, and pricing.

Updated September 26, 2026

Higher scoreEducation CRM

Element451

7.1

Fairout of 10

AI-native higher-ed CRM (Element) plus Bolt agents for marketing, admissions, student success, and CE — engagement-first, with a public pricing calculator but no fixed list rate.

Contact for pricing

Read full profile Official site

Education CRM

OpenApply

6.4

Fairout of 10

School admissions CRM — enquiry to enrolment, parent experience, re-enrolment, events, and finance integrations — lighter than a full SIS, stronger than a generic sales board.

Contact for pricing

Read full profile Official site

Criteria where Element451 wins

Ties

Criteria where OpenApply wins

Score by criterion

In green, who wins the criterion. The overall score uses education weights: enrollment & admissions and tuition & billing weigh more.

CriterionElement451OpenApply

Enrollment & admissions1.4×
Inquiry-to-enroll pipeline — campus visit, application, review, and decision — without a parallel spreadsheet.
8.6
8.2
Tuition & billing1.1×
Contracts, deposits, tuition plans, or student-account collections in the same product — not only a “won” stage.
4.0
6.5
Retention & re-enrollment1.1×
Student success, attrition risk, or re-enrollment for current families — not only prospecting new applicants.
8.0
7.5
Family outreach0.9×
Native SMS or messaging inbox on the candidate or family record, with team history. WhatsApp Business API also counts. Email-only, portal-only, and school apps do not.
8.7
4.0
Price and transparency0.8×
Public plan in USD, trial, and what sits outside the annual license. Opaque institutional quotes lower the score.
5.0
4.0
Learning curve0.8×
English UI, admissions vocabulary, and time until staff can work without a long implementation project.
7.5
7.0
Overall score
7.1
6.4

Native features

Only what is part of the product counts. Marketplace integrations or third-party apps are out.

FeatureElement451OpenApply

Enrollment pipelineYesYes
Online enrollment or admissionsYesYes
Tuition & collectionsNoYes
Retention & re-enrollmentYesYes
Native messagingYesNo
Family portal or appYesYes
SIS / academic opsNoNo
Native marketingYesYes

Compare with another rival

Each pair has its own page. The ranking only highlights the main duels — the rest are here and on each CRM profile.

Compare Element451 with

Compare OpenApply with