Disclosure: This comparison is published by Labbaik. We've tried to represent Hidayah fairly using publicly available information, but we naturally know Labbaik in greater depth. If you spot something outdated, let us know.
Quick verdict
Choose Hidayah if: you only need the madrasah basics (fees, registers, Hifz progress and a parent portal) and a low platform fee on online payments matters more to you than anything else.
Choose Labbaik if: you want a free plan to start on, WhatsApp parent messaging, a data processor you can look up on the ICO register, and tools for the wider masjid (donations, events, certificates, payroll) in the same system.
At a glance
Where we couldn't find a feature on Hidayah's public site, we say "Not publicly advertised" rather than assume it's missing.
| Feature | Labbaik | Hidayah |
|---|---|---|
| Attendance registers | ✓ — phone-first | ✓ — tablet or phone, absences, lates and excuses |
| Hifz & Quran progress | ✓ — Sabaq, Sabqi, Manzil | ✓ — Hifz, Qaida and Tajweed per child |
| Parent portal | ✓ — web portal | ✓ — web portal, no app to install |
| Card payments | ✓ — Stripe Connect, Apple Pay & Google Pay | ✓ — Stripe Connect |
| BACS Direct Debit | ✓ — live, in the same Stripe account | Advertised on its UK page; its terms list GoCardless Direct Debit as on the roadmap |
| Platform fee on online payments | From 1.5%, falling as collections grow | 0.3% |
| Subscription pricing | Published — Safar free, Manzil fixed monthly | Tiered by active student count; no setup fee |
| Free ongoing plan | ✓ — Safar, no card, no expiry | Not publicly advertised |
| WhatsApp parent messaging | ✓ — fees, attendance, absence alerts, broadcasts | Not publicly advertised |
| UK payroll (PAYE, NI, pensions) | ✓ — every plan | Not publicly advertised |
| Donations, events & certificates | ✓ | Not publicly advertised |
| Alimiyyah / kitab-level tracking | ✓ — your own PDF syllabus, kitab → section → page | Not publicly advertised |
| Built-in video classes (no Zoom account needed) | ✓ — Labbaik Live: private rooms, attendance on join, 0.35p per person, per minute | Not publicly advertised |
| Recurring compliance & admin tasks | ✓ — WhatsApp alerts for renewals & overdue deadlines | Not publicly advertised |
| ICO registration | ✓ — ZC136003 | None found for Hidayah Ltd, the operator named in its terms |
"Not publicly advertised" means Hidayah's public site doesn't mention the feature, not that it definitely doesn't exist. Check directly with their team if it's a dealbreaker either way.
Where each one shines
Where Hidayah shines
- A low platform fee — 0.3% on online payments, on top of the processor's own fee.
- No setup fee, with subscription tiers set by how many active students you have.
- Nothing for parents to install — each family signs in to a web portal to see attendance, progress, balances and receipts.
- Hifz, Qaida and Tajweed tracked per child.
- A focused, madrasah-only product — fees, registers and progress, without much else around it.
Where Labbaik shines
- Free to start — the Safar plan needs no card and has no trial expiry.
- ICO-registered (ZC136003), with UK data residency (London) and a named data processor you can look up.
- Direct Debit that's live today, in the same Stripe account as cards, Apple Pay and Google Pay.
- WhatsApp built in — fee reminders, absence alerts and broadcasts where parents actually read them.
- The whole organisation — payroll, donations, events, certificates and compliance reminders alongside the madrasah.
Data protection: check who you're signing with
A madrasah system holds children's names, dates of birth, medical notes, attendance and their parents' contact and payment details. Under UK GDPR the software provider is your data processor, and in almost every case a UK organisation that processes personal data has to pay the data protection fee and appear on the ICO register.
Hidayah's terms of service (last updated 5 May 2026) say the platform is operated by Hidayah Ltd, a UK-registered company. When we searched the ICO register on 15 October 2026, we found no entry for Hidayah Ltd. The only active company called Hidayah Ltd on Companies House (15983955) is registered for car and van rental, not software, so we couldn't confirm which company actually signs your data processing agreement.
That may simply be out-of-date wording in the terms, but it's worth settling before you upload any families. Ask Hidayah for the exact legal entity you'd contract with, its Companies House number, its ICO registration number and a signed data processing agreement. Then look the number up yourself on the ICO register. It takes two minutes.
Labbaik is run by Labbaik Labs and is on the ICO register as ZC136003. Our security page and privacy policy set out where data is stored and who processes it.
Fees and Direct Debit
Hidayah's UK page leads with BACS Direct Debit: a parent authorises it once and each month's fee collects itself. Its terms describe card payments through Stripe Connect and list UK Direct Debit through GoCardless as on the roadmap, so it's worth asking which methods are live today.
Hidayah's 0.3% platform fee is lower than Labbaik's, which starts at 1.5% and falls automatically as your monthly collections grow. Labbaik's fee covers card, Apple Pay, Google Pay and BACS Direct Debit in one Stripe account, automatic payment retries, and WhatsApp reminders for families who fall behind. You can model both on our fee calculator.
What is Labbaik?
Labbaik is a UK-built, GDPR-first, ICO-registered (ZC136003) maktab and madrasah management platform that is live, in use by paying customers and free to start. You can sign up today, import students, take attendance, collect fees via Stripe in GBP, message parents on WhatsApp, track Hifz progress and publish a public educational page in roughly ten minutes, with no sales call.
Where Labbaik differs
- Free Safar plan. No card and no trial expiry, so smaller schools can use it indefinitely.
- Full WhatsApp integration. Fee reminders, attendance, absence alerts and broadcasts.
- UK payroll on every plan. PAYE, National Insurance, pensions and student loan deductions, with payslips and P45/P60s.
- Built-in video classes with Labbaik Live. Run private online classes and events inside Labbaik with no Zoom account: students join from the portal, attendance marks itself, and it costs 0.35p per person, per minute, with 2,500 free minutes to start. See Labbaik Live.
- Kitab-level Alimiyyah tracking. Upload your own PDF syllabus and Labbaik breaks it into sections; teachers track progress page by page, visible live in the parent/student portal.
- Whole masjid and madrasah tools. Donations, community events and bookings, verifiable certificates, and recurring compliance task reminders with WhatsApp alerts, all in the same platform.
Which should you pick?
If all you need is fees, registers and a parent portal, and the lowest possible platform fee is the deciding factor, Hidayah is worth a look. Confirm its legal entity, ICO registration and which payment methods are live before you commit.
If you want to start free, message parents on WhatsApp, and run payroll, donations and events from the same place, Labbaik's Safar plan takes about ten minutes to set up and you can decide for yourself.
Frequently asked questions
Is Hidayah ICO registered?
Hidayah's terms name Hidayah Ltd as the operator. When we searched the ICO register on 15 October 2026 we found no entry for Hidayah Ltd, and the only active Hidayah Ltd on Companies House is a car rental company. Ask Hidayah for its ICO registration number and check it on the ICO register yourself. Labbaik is registered as ZC136003.
Is Hidayah cheaper than Labbaik?
On online payments, Hidayah's 0.3% platform fee is lower than Labbaik's, which starts at 1.5% and falls as collections grow. Hidayah also charges a subscription tiered by active students, while Labbaik's Safar plan is free with no expiry. Which works out cheaper depends on your size and how much you collect online, so model both on the Labbaik fee calculator.
Does Hidayah support BACS Direct Debit?
Hidayah's UK page advertises BACS Direct Debit, but its terms (May 2026) list GoCardless Direct Debit as on the roadmap, so ask which is live today. Labbaik supports BACS Direct Debit now, in the same Stripe account as card payments, with no separate Direct Debit provider.
Does Hidayah have WhatsApp messaging?
We couldn't find WhatsApp messaging on Hidayah's public site. Labbaik sends fee reminders, attendance and absence alerts, and broadcasts over WhatsApp as a core feature.
Does Hidayah track Hifz?
Yes. Hidayah advertises Hifz, Qaida and Tajweed tracking per child. Labbaik tracks Hifz and Quran progress (Sabaq, Sabqi, Manzil) too, and adds kitab-level Alimiyyah tracking from your own PDF syllabus.
Do parents need to install an app?
Not for either. Hidayah's parent portal is a web page each family signs in to, and Labbaik's parent portal works in the browser too, with WhatsApp messages for the things parents need to see straight away.
Can I move from Hidayah to Labbaik?
Yes. Export your students, families and fee records as a spreadsheet and Labbaik's Hijrah migration imports them for free. Get in touch on WhatsApp and we'll help you set it up.
We compared Labbaik and Hidayah using publicly available product information as of October 2026. Where possible, we checked the pages below directly rather than relying on secondhand summaries. Feature availability and pricing can change — the source is the most up-to-date word on either platform.
Labbaik isn't only maktab and madrasah software — the same platform also runs donations, community certificates, events and non-educational classes, so a masjid can run its whole community on one system. It adapts to the organisation you run, so a madrasah or maktab only sees the tools it uses. See how Labbaik adapts to your organisation →
Parents and students sign in with a magic link sent to their email, with Google, or with a code sent on WhatsApp to the number the madrasah has for them. Admins and teachers sign in with a magic link, Google or a passkey, which uses their phone or computer's face, fingerprint or screen lock. Nobody has a password to set, forget or reset. Tour the parent portal →
Send us whatever you're using today — a spreadsheet, e-Maktab, IBEAMS, IlmFlow, or a folder of paper registers. We'll set Labbaik up for you and migrate every student, family, class and fee balance across ourselves, at no cost.
If your committee isn't ready to take its first register yet, that's fine too — we'll finish the whole setup so it's ready the moment you are. Get in touch and tell us what you're moving from.
Compare Labbaik with another platform
See how Labbaik stacks up against more of the alternatives UK maktabs and madrasas evaluate.