Choosing a maktab management system in 2026 is harder than it should be — not because the space is crowded, but because most platforms were built to solve one piece of the puzzle (usually attendance and fees) and have grown add-ons around it ever since.
A maktab today isn't really running one system — it's running a maktab, taking Sadaqah donations, issuing certificates, running online classes and Alimiyyah programmes, and organising events and community classes, often across three or four separate tools that don't talk to each other. This guide takes a straightforward approach:
- Clarifying the features that actually matter for a maktab or madrasah
- Showing how pricing models compare once you look past the headline number
- Walking through the main platforms worth considering in 2026, honestly
What actually matters
Every platform in this space lists "attendance," "fees," and "Quran progress" on its homepage. The real differences show up in a handful of specifics:
i.
Curriculum depth vs. a generic gradebook
Does it actually model Qaidah → Tajweed → Quran → Hifz progression with levels and sublevels, or is Islamic content bolted onto a system built for a mainstream school?
ii.
Where the platform fee comes from
On donation and Sadaqah collection specifically: is the platform's cut ever deducted from the gift itself, or only from an optional “cover the fee” checkbox the donor chooses?
iii.
Parent experience, not just an admin panel
Passwordless access matters more than it sounds — a magic link a parent can tap from WhatsApp beats “download our app and set a password” for a demographic often juggling several children's logins.
iv.
Multi-tenant vs. single-institution architecture
Was it built to run one maktab well, or was it built to run hundreds of independent organisations on shared infrastructure with real data isolation between them?
v.
Scope beyond education
Attendance and fees are one job. Does the platform also handle certificates (Nikah, Ijazah), event registration, and mosque-facing tools, or is that a separate purchase and a separate login?
vi.
Modern infrastructure and pace of updates
Several long-standing platforms were built well over a decade ago and haven't materially changed their interface since. That shows up in mobile experience, support, and how quickly requested features actually ship.
vii.
Does it feel like an app people already use?
Whether it's a parent checking progress on a commute or an admin marking attendance between classes, neither should feel like a back-office enterprise tool. Interfaces built like a modern consumer app get used properly by everyone.
At a glance — the platforms compared
The table below reflects each platform's publicly documented features and pricing as of July 2026. Where a platform doesn't publish pricing, that's noted rather than guessed at.
| Feature | Labbaik | IBEAMS | Ilmify | e-Maktab | MaktabMate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Built for | Masajid, maktabs, madrasahs & community orgs | Madaaris & private schools | Maktabs, madrasas, Niswan, Islamic schools | Maktabs & Madrasahs | Maktabs & Islamic schools |
| Curriculum depth | Structured — Qaidah/Iqra'/Noorani → Tajweed → Quran → Hifz, level + sublevel tracking | Custom curriculum builder, syllabus tracking and Hifz progress diaries | Deep — Sabaq/Sabqi/Manzil, Salah & Tarbiyah tracking | Sabaq assignment & diary; lighter curriculum structure | Basic — sabaq/sabqi/manzil, house points |
| Payments | Stripe Connect, per-org accounts, sibling discounts | Stripe cards, GoCardless Direct Debit & PayFast, paid straight to you | Contact for institutional pricing | Direct debit & Stripe, fee-collection focus | Plan-based, trial included |
| Donations / Sadaqah widget | Yes — Apple/Google Pay, donor can cover the platform fee | No | No | No | No |
| Certificates (Nikah, Ijazah) | Yes — verifiable, institution-branded | No | No | No | No |
| Online classes (Zoom/Meet, OAuth cloud recordings) | Included — auto WhatsApp/email alerts, auto attendance, catch-up recordings | Not publicly documented | Not publicly documented | Not publicly documented | Not publicly documented |
| Alimiyyah / kitab-level tracking | Upload your own PDF syllabus, tracked kitab → section → page | Not publicly documented | Hifz/Nazirah/Tarbiyah module — no kitab detail published | Not publicly documented | Not publicly documented |
| Events & non-educational classes | Yes — bookings, RSVPs, seat capacity (fitness, Arabic, adult courses) | No | No | No | No |
| Embeddable forms for your own website | Yes — classes, events, certificates & Sadaqah, no developer needed | No | No | No | No |
| Parent login | Passwordless: magic link, Google or WhatsApp | Portal login | Mobile app | Portal login | Portal login |
| WhatsApp integration | Native bot for support & automation | Not published | Not published | Not published | Not published |
| Multi-tenant architecture | Yes — slug-based, RLS-isolated | Per-institution deployments | Per-institution deployments | Yes — multi-tenant SaaS | Per-institution deployments |
| Interface design | Modern — built like a consumer app, not a back-office dashboard | Traditional admin dashboard, desktop layout on phones | Functional — feature-dense dashboard layout | Functional — dashboard-first design | Modern — cleaner, streamlined UI |
| Entry pricing | Free (Safar) — platform fee from 1.5% on card payments, dropping as collections grow; custom pricing for larger networks (Manzil) | $19 / $38 / $76 a month by student numbers, no setup fee | Published, banded pricing | Contact for pricing | Plan-based, 30-day trial |
Pricing and features change often — always confirm current details directly with each provider before deciding. "Not published" means the feature isn't documented publicly, not that it definitely doesn't exist.
The platforms, one by one
IBEAMS
The established choiceIslamic Based Education and Management System · UK · one of the earliest in the space
IBEAMS has served UK maktabs for well over a decade and says more than 200 Islamic schools and maktabs run on it. It covers madrasah administration thoroughly: students and teachers, registers, fees with Stripe and GoCardless collection, a custom curriculum builder with syllabus tracking and Hifz progress diaries, exams, merits, graphical and committee-ready reports, and a comprehensive parent portal.
Strengths
- Long track record: 10+ years and 200+ Islamic schools and maktabs
- Strong reporting and a very comprehensive parent portal
- Simple published pricing: £15, £30 or £60 a month by student numbers
- Card and Direct Debit collection, paid straight to your account
Considerations
- Education-focused: no donation, certificate, online-class or event tooling publicly advertised
- A fixed monthly subscription, with add-ons such as the £10/month Student Diary extra
- A traditional administration-dashboard design rather than a phone-first app
Best forMaktabs and madrasahs that want an established, education-focused system with fixed pricing and strong reporting.
Ilmify
Hifz-deepFormerly “Maktab App” · global reach · strong South Asian & Hifz-school presence
Ilmify (rebranded from Maktab App) goes deeper than most competitors on spiritual and Hifz-specific tracking — Sabaq, Sabqi, Manzil revision, and detailed Salah logging (Fard, Sunnah, Nawafil, on-time vs. Qada) sit alongside the standard attendance and fee tools. It markets broadly across maktabs, madrasas, Niswan schools, and Darul Ulooms, with multi-language support for diaspora communities.
Strengths
- Genuinely deep Hifz and spiritual-tracking features, not just attendance
- Multi-language support (English, Urdu, Tamil, Malayalam, Arabic)
- Serves both small maktabs and large residential Darul Ulooms
Considerations
- No donation/Sadaqah, certificate, online-class, or event/community-class tooling
- Positioned as education-only, not a broader mosque/community platform
- Feature-dense dashboard layout — powerful, but leans toward enterprise back-office
Best forHifz-focused institutions and larger madrasa networks that want deep spiritual-progress tracking above all else.
e-Maktab
Fee-collection focusUK-built · multi-tenant · direct debit & Stripe integration
e-Maktab's clearest strength is fee collection — direct debit integration that removes the manual work of chasing standing orders and reference numbers, which reviewers consistently call out as the standout feature. It supports multiple branches from one account and offers a real-time dashboard for attendance, fees, and messages.
Strengths
- Strong, specifically-praised direct debit and Stripe fee collection
- Multi-branch support with central oversight
- Genuinely multi-tenant architecture
Considerations
- Sabaq assignment and a Sabaq diary, but lighter curriculum structure than education-first competitors
- No donations, certificates, online classes, or event/community-class tooling
- Pricing isn't published publicly
- Dashboard-first design prioritises admin overview over an everyday experience for staff and parents
Best forMaktabs whose biggest pain point is specifically fee collection and chasing payments.
MaktabMate
Modern UI, gamifiedNewer entrant · house-points system · 30-day trial on all plans
MaktabMate leans into a cleaner, more modern interface than most of the incumbents, with an offline-capable attendance recorder and a house-points/leaderboard system aimed at motivating students. It tracks Quran memorisation via Sabaq/Sabqi/Manzil and includes staff-parent messaging with task management.
Strengths
- Modern, streamlined interface compared to older incumbents
- Offline-capable attendance marking
- Gamification (house points) as a genuine differentiator for engagement
- Card payments through the maktab's own Stripe account and Direct Debit through GoCardless or Stripe, with no fee on top
Considerations
- Newer platform with a shorter track record than IBEAMS or Ilmify
- No donations, certificates, online classes, or events/community-class functionality
- Curriculum structure is lighter than dedicated Hifz-tracking platforms
Best forSmaller maktabs that want a modern, simple interface and student-engagement tools without a steep learning curve.
Where Labbaik fits
Every platform above does one job — usually attendance, fees, or Hifz tracking — well. Labbaik's starting premise is different: a maktab's software problem and a masjid's software problem are usually the same institution, wearing two hats, using three separate tools that don't talk to each other.
Labbaik was built by a maktab teacher and an Islamic scholar, not adapted from a generic school platform — which shows up less in any single feature and more in what's connected to what.
Structured curriculum, not a gradebook
Safar, Iqra', and Noorani Qaida with level-and-sublevel tracking, auto-promotion between streams, and monthly progress snapshots — built around how these books are actually taught.
Donations built in, not bolted on
A one-tap Sadaqah widget with Apple Pay, Google Pay, and card support, with no platform fee on donations — no separate donation tool needed.
Certificates you can trust
Nikah, Shahada and Ijazah certificates, verifiable and institution-branded — so a certificate's authenticity can always be confirmed, not just taken on trust.
Online classes without extra software
Run live classes with Labbaik Live, built in at 0.35p per person, per minute, or connect your own Zoom account by OAuth. Labbaik alerts enrolled students by WhatsApp and email when a session starts, marks attendance automatically as they join, and publishes catch-up recordings from your own Google Drive or Dropbox — never seeing more than the files you choose to share.
Alimiyyah tracking from your own syllabus
Upload a PDF syllabus for Alimiyyah or any other Islamic-studies programme and Labbaik breaks it into kitab, section and page — teachers track progress page by page, visible live in the parent/student portal.
Events and community classes, not just maktab lessons
Bookings, RSVPs and seat capacity for ticketed events and non-educational classes — fitness, Arabic, adult courses — run through the same registration engine as maktab enrolment, with sibling discounts applied automatically.
Embed it on your own website
Classes, events, certificates and Sadaqah donations each have their own embeddable form that drops straight into your existing website — no developer needed. No site yet? Get a hosted public page out of the box instead.
One login, four pillars
Education, mosque tools, imam tools, and events sit in one platform — a parent, a teacher, and an imam all work from the same system instead of three.
Designed like an app, not a dashboard
Simple, uncluttered screens for everyone who touches the platform — admins, teachers and parents alike. If a screen needs explaining, it's too complicated.
Which platform fits your situation?
Different maktabs and masajid have different starting pains. Here's how that maps.
You just need reliable attendance and fee collection
IBEAMS, e-Maktab, or MaktabMate all cover this well. e-Maktab is the strongest specifically on direct-debit fee collection if that's your single biggest headache.
You run a Hifz programme or large Darul Uloom
Ilmify is the deepest option here for Sabaq/Sabqi/Manzil tracking and detailed spiritual-development logging at scale.
Your masjid also takes donations and issues certificates
Labbaik is built for this specifically — none of the education-only platforms above offer donation tooling, verifiable certificates, online classes, Alimiyyah/kitab-level tracking, event/community-class bookings, or embeddable website forms, which means running extra systems alongside them.
You're evaluating fresh in 2026 with no existing platform
Worth comparing feature depth across at least two options before committing — switching costs are real once student and payment data are in a system.
Frequently asked questions
Which is the best maktab management software?
There's no single best — it depends on what your maktab or masjid actually needs. If you only need attendance and fees, several established options handle that well. If you're also running donations, certificates, or events alongside education, Labbaik is currently the only platform in this comparison built to cover all of it in one place.
Is IBEAMS still worth using in 2026?
Yes, for many maktabs. It's an established, education-focused system with fixed published pricing, strong reporting, a comprehensive parent portal and card and Direct Debit collection. If you also run donations, events, certificates or payroll, or want a phone-first app, compare it with Labbaik before committing.
Do any of these platforms handle Sadaqah or donation collection?
Not among the education-focused platforms compared here. Labbaik is the one platform in this set with a built-in Sadaqah/donation widget, and it charges no platform fee on donations.
What should a small maktab with one teacher prioritise?
Simplicity and mobile-first attendance marking matter more than feature breadth at small scale. A single teacher managing everything from a phone shouldn't need training beyond a short onboarding.
How does pricing typically work across these platforms?
Most fall into either a flat monthly subscription banded by student count, or a transaction-based model tied to payment processing. Always confirm current published pricing directly with the provider.
What does Labbaik actually charge?
Labbaik's Safar plan is free, with no student cap and no card required. The platform only earns money on card payments collected through Stripe — starting at 1.5% and automatically decreasing as an organisation's monthly collections grow, in addition to Stripe's own standard processing fee. Cash and bank transfer payments logged in Labbaik are never charged a platform fee, regardless of volume.
Does Labbaik support online classes and Alimiyyah tracking?
Yes. Labbaik runs live online classes with Labbaik Live, built in, or your own Zoom account connected by OAuth, with automatic WhatsApp/email alerts, attendance marked automatically on joining, and catch-up recordings published from your own Google Drive or Dropbox. For Alimiyyah or any other Islamic-studies programme, upload your own PDF syllabus and Labbaik tracks progress down to the page. None of the other platforms compared here publicly document either feature.
Can I embed Labbaik's forms on my own website?
Yes — classes, events, certificates and Sadaqah donations each have their own embeddable form that drops straight into your existing website, no developer needed. If you don't have a site, Labbaik also gives you a hosted public page out of the box, with the same forms built in.
Sources: publicly available provider documentation, pricing pages, and app listings as of July 2026.