IEP data collection apps compared: AbleSpace, Sperro, Brolly — and the spreadsheet you already have
Search for SPED data collection software and you’ll find the products’ own homepages and a lot of Facebook-group threads asking “what does everyone use?” — but almost no neutral comparison. Here’s one. We build IEP-writing software, not a data app, so we have no horse in this race: what follows is what each tool says it does (checked against their own sites), who it fits, and the honest case for the spreadsheet. The compliance stake underneath is 34 CFR §300.320(a)(3): every IEP must describe how progress on each annual goal is measured and when reports go out — so the tool you pick has to produce the exact number each goal’s criterion names.
The comparison
| Tool | Built for | Data-collection strengths | Pricing |
|---|---|---|---|
| AbleSpace | Individual SPED teachers, therapists, and caseload managers; school/district plans available | Goal tracking with standard goal types, reports and graphs, service time tracking, scheduling, mobile app, Medicaid billing; unlimited students on every tier | Free Basic tier; individual paid plans; custom school/district/enterprise pricing |
| Sperro | Schools, tutoring companies, and adult-services agencies tracking IEP/IPP/ISP goals | Goal upload and progress tracking, multiple data points per day, shareable progress graphs, parent-facing progress reports, customization for agencies | Not published — quote-based |
| Brolly (Level Data) | District special education teams standardizing service tracking across schools | Service-minute documentation against IEP frequencies, progress monitoring toward IEP goals, admin dashboards and reports for IDEA compliance visibility | Not published — district sales |
| Spreadsheet / paper sheets | Anyone; the default most caseloads actually run on | Free, fully flexible, matches any goal format; works offline; nothing to procure. Manual graphing, no multi-staff sync, no service-minute reporting | Free |
AbleSpace: the individual-teacher default
AbleSpace positions itself as caseload management: IEP goal tracking, reporting, service time tracking, and Medicaid billing in one place, with a mobile app for taking data on the floor. Its published free Basic tier is the real differentiator for a teacher paying out of pocket — data tracking, graphs, scheduling, service-time logs, and unlimited students cost nothing, while custom goal types, student groups, and admin features sit in the paid and district tiers. If you’re a solo case manager who mostly needs trial data and graphs for progress reports, this is the lowest-friction starting point of the three apps. If AbleSpace specifically isn’t fitting — wrong job, district procurement, or you want the document itself checked, not just tracked — our AbleSpace alternatives guide maps the options by the job each one does.
Sperro: goals beyond the K-12 IEP
Sperro pitches itself as the simplest way to replace spreadsheets: upload goals, track progress, generate reports, and share graphs with families. Its distinctive angle is breadth of setting — the same platform markets to schools, tutoring companies, and adult-service agencies tracking IPP/ISP goals, behavior data, and employment outcomes. That makes it worth a look for transition programs and districts whose students carry goals past 18, but pricing isn’t published, so budget a sales conversation.
Brolly: the district service-minute ledger
Brolly, now part of Level Data, approaches from the administrator’s side: document service details, track delivered minutes against IEP frequencies, and roll progress up into dashboards so a district can see whether services are actually being delivered as written. That’s less about a teacher’s daily trial data and more about IDEA-compliance visibility — missed service minutes are compensatory-services liability, and Brolly’s pitch is making them visible before they compound. It’s sold to districts, not individuals.
What none of these apps do — and where the data actually goes
A data app is only as good as the goal it’s tracking. “Will improve work habits with 80% accuracy” can’t be tracked by any app, because no data sheet computes “accuracy of work habits” — the fix happens at writing time, which is why we keep a criterion-computability test in our data collection sheets guide. And none of these tools write the IEP itself: present levels, state-specific compliance language, and the goal wording all live upstream. That’s the layer CompliantIEP covers for $7.99/month — upload an IEP, get back a state-compliant, cited draft with goals written so your data system (app or spreadsheet) can actually measure them. For choosing the measurement cadence and turning data into the reports parents receive, see IEP progress monitoring and progress report comments; for the writing-software side of the market, our IEP writing software comparison covers it the same way this page does.
How to choose in five minutes
- Solo teacher, no budget: start with AbleSpace’s free tier or a disciplined spreadsheet; upgrade only when multi-staff collection breaks it.
- Multiple paras collecting on one student: any of the three apps beats paper — shared access and timestamps are the point.
- District buying for everyone: compare Brolly’s service-minute accountability against AbleSpace’s district tier; ask both how data exports if you switch.
- Transition/adult programs: shortlist Sperro for its post-18 goal types.
- Whatever you pick: audit five goals first — if a criterion can’t be computed from a data sheet, no app can save it.
FAQ
What is an IEP data collection app?
Software that replaces paper data sheets and spreadsheets for tracking progress on IEP goals — trial-by-trial data, task analyses, service minutes, and behavior frequency — and turns the entries into graphs and progress reports. The federal hook is that every IEP must state how progress toward each annual goal will be measured and when reports will be provided (34 CFR §300.320(a)(3)), so whatever tool you use has to produce data matching each goal's criterion.
Which IEP data collection app is free?
Of the tools compared here, AbleSpace publishes a free Basic tier (data tracking, reports and graphs, scheduling, service time tracking, unlimited students, mobile app), with individual paid plans and custom school/district plans adding features like custom goal types and admin portals. Sperro and Brolly (Level Data) do not publish self-serve pricing — both are quote-based. A well-built spreadsheet is free but does all its computation and graphing by hand.
Do data collection apps write the IEP too?
No — that's a different layer. Data apps capture evidence of progress; the IEP document itself (present levels, goals, services, state-specific compliance language) is written in your district's IEP system or a dedicated writing tool. That's the layer CompliantIEP covers: upload an IEP, get back a state-compliant, cited draft. The two layers meet at the goal criterion — a goal written with a computable criterion is the only kind any data app can actually track.
Can I just use a spreadsheet for IEP data collection?
Yes, and many case managers do — it's free, flexible, and audit-friendly if disciplined. The costs are manual graphing, no prompts for missed sessions, fragile sharing with paraprofessionals, and no service-minute logs for Medicaid or compliance reporting. Apps earn their price when multiple staff collect data on the same student or when service-time documentation is required.