How to use the KindiCare App or Childcare Comparison Website to your best advantage.        

BY HEJIRA CONVERY, KINDICARE

JULY 29, 2025

Whether you need childcare now, or in the future, KindiCare is here to make your search simple and successful! 

The KindiCare platform is totally free for families to use, so all you need to do is install the KindiCare App or jump on kindicare.com to get started.  

You can then search for childcare by postcode, suburb, centre or brand; and our platform enables you to: 

• Compare the quality, cost, convenience and reviews of different services 

• Save your favourites and build a shortlist 

• Enquire with services you’re interested in 

• Book centre visits and tours for your family, and 

• Apply for a great childcare place.  

 

Our app and website are designed to be parent-friendly, so you don’t need endless hours or intense brainpower to make sense of your childcare options.  

However, here are four tips to help you get the very most out of KindiCare’s clever capabilities! 

1. Create an account  

Although you might want to start with a quick, anonymous search, you’ll get a lot more benefit from our platform if you create an account and populate your profile. 

Adding some basic info about your family makes childcare enquiries and applications straight-forward. 

And updating your Child Care Subsidy settings enables you to see your family’s estimated fees after Child Care Subsidy when looking at different services and sessions.  

We also recommend that you tap in your Childcare Match preferences when you’re using the KindiCare App, adding things like your intended start date, preferred quality ratings, ideal location, and budget per day or per session.   

We’ll then serve up Childcare Match suggestions that align with your preferences, and you can decide which ones you love, and which ones you want to dismiss (then maybe revisit with a Second Look).  

2. Take a moment to understand the KindiCare Rating 

You’ll see that every childcare listing has a little pink box with a white figure inside it, and this unique KindiCare Rating is a great guide when you’re thinking about the relative quality, performance and customer satisfaction of a childcare service, compared to all the other services in the market.  

You can read all about the KindiCare Rating here, but generally speaking, the higher the number, the better the service, and a KindiCare Rating between 8.5 and 10 bodes well.  

In each listing, you’ll be able to see the service’s KindiCare Rating compared to the average KindiCare Rating for the area, so make sure your prospective service compares favourably.  

And take some time too, to understand the National Quality Standard (NQS) Rating that a centre has been given by its regulatory authority, because this is based on seven key quality areas and holds a lot of weight.   

3. Consider cost, but also value, when looking at prospective services.  

Childcare isn’t cheap, and although it’s really important to judge different services according to what they charge, and what you can afford after the Child Care Subsidy, it’s also helpful to look at the service’s Value for Money Rating.  

This unique KindiCare Rating tells you whether a service is good value for the price they’re charging, compared with services of the same type in the same area. 

You can read all about it here, but basically, a Good, Very Good or Excellent Value for Money Rating is preferred to a Poor or Fair one. 

4. Keep KindiCare as a great resource 

We’re here to help you find a fantastic childcare fit, but your time with KindiCare needn’t end when your child’s enrolment begins! 

Our Hints, Tips & Stories section is regularly updated, so there’s always something new and interesting to read; and the childcare news, expert tips, yummy recipes and exciting giveaways remain relevant wherever you are on your parenting journey.  

The same goes for our socials.  

KindiCare’s Instagram and Facebook pages are always entertaining, so feel free to follow, like and share, and we hope you find a lot to love about the KindiCare platform.