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Subbey vs. Frontline Education: Which Substitute Teacher App Is Right for Your School?

Choosing substitute teacher management software should not feel harder than finding a sub. Here is an honest, side-by-side look at Subbey and Frontline Education (formerly Aesop), so administrators at public, private, charter, and independent schools can pick with confidence.

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Subbey is a mobile-first substitute teacher app built for schools that want to post a sub job in seconds and have it claimed in minutes, with flat annual pricing and personal onboarding from the founder. Frontline Education is an enterprise absence management system designed for large district HR departments, sold as part of a broader human capital management suite with custom-quote pricing. If you want simple, fast sub management your teachers will actually love, Subbey is the better fit. If you are a large district buying payroll, compliance, and HR tools in one enterprise contract, Frontline may fit that mold.

Table of Contents

What Are Subbey and Frontline Education?

Both platforms help schools handle teacher absences, but they were built for very different worlds.

Subbey: the simple substitute teacher app

Subbey was founded by Shea McGee, a teacher who was tired of the texting, calling, and emailing it took to find a sub. With Subbey, teachers and administrators post a job in a few clicks, every sub in your school's pool gets an instant notification, and the first available sub claims the job with one tap. You can also hand-pick which subs a job goes to.

Subbey includes in-app chat, lesson plan sharing, real-time confirmations, and a full calendar on iOS and Android, and it is trusted by 2,000+ teachers.

Frontline Education: enterprise absence management

Frontline Education's Absence & Substitute Management (formerly known as Aesop) has served large public school districts for over 25 years. It is part of a broader human capital management suite that includes time & attendance, payroll integrations, compliance reporting, and HR tools, and it is used by thousands of districts across the U.S.

That enterprise scope is powerful for big-district HR operations, but for many schools it means more system than they need, with longer setup, more training, and custom-quote pricing.

Subbey vs. Frontline Education: Side-by-Side Comparison

Here is how the two substitute teacher management platforms compare on the things school administrators ask about most.

Substitute teacher software comparison: Subbey vs. Frontline Education (2026)

Feature Subbey Frontline Education
Built forPublic, private, charter, independent schools & preschools of any sizePrimarily large public school districts
Post a sub job A few clicks from your phone Web, app, or phone-in system
Choose which subs see a job Teachers and admins can self-select subs Via preference and exclusion lists
In-app chat with subs Built inNot a core feature
Lesson plan sharing Shared right in the app Attached to the absence
Setup & onboarding Fast: the Subbey team personally onboards your staff and your subsEnterprise implementation, typically driven by district HR/IT
Ease of use for non-tech-savvy staff Designed to be learned in minutesFuller feature set that generally requires training
Bring your own substitute pool Yes, and Subbey can help you source more subs if needed Yes
Pricing One flat annual subscription per school with unlimited staff & subsCustom quote; varies by district size and modules purchased
Support Personal support: you can email the founder directlyEnterprise help desk and knowledge base
Mobile apps iOS & Android for admins, teachers, and subs iOS & Android
Payroll / HR suite add-onsFocused on doing one thing brilliantly: filling sub jobs Time & attendance, payroll integrations, HR & compliance modules
Founded byA teacher who lived the sub-finding problemAn education software company, 25+ years in K-12

Frontline Education and Aesop are trademarks of Frontline Technologies Group LLC. Feature information is based on publicly available materials and may change; verify details with each vendor.

3 Key Differences Between Subbey and Frontline

1

Speed and simplicity vs. enterprise depth

Subbey does one job, substitute teacher management, and makes it effortless. Post in seconds, fill in minutes. Frontline bundles absence management into a district-wide HR platform, which adds capabilities most individual schools never use, along with the complexity that comes with them.

2

Flat pricing vs. custom quotes

Subbey is one flat annual subscription for your whole school: every admin, teacher, and sub included. Frontline's pricing is quoted per district and depends on which modules of the suite you buy, which makes budgeting harder for a single school.

3

A founder you can talk to vs. a help desk

When schools join Subbey, Shea and the team personally set up the account, add staff, and onboard every substitute. Questions go to real people who know your school, not a ticket queue.

How Much Time Is Your Sub Process Costing You?

Drag the sliders to match your school. Whether you are working the phones or clicking through an enterprise system, see how many hours Subbey gives back to your front office every year.

With Subbey, posting a job takes about a minute. Then your subs are notified instantly and the first to tap claims it. No phone tag, no follow-up.

115 Hours saved per year with Subbey
120 hrsYour process now
5 hrsWith Subbey
17School days back
Reclaim those hours. Book a demo

Which Schools Should Choose Subbey Over Frontline?

Subbey is substitute teacher software for every kind of school, here is how each one benefits.

Private & independent schools

Most enterprise absence systems are priced and built for big districts. Subbey gives private and independent schools a modern sub management app sized and priced for a single school, with the personal support smaller teams expect.

Public schools

Public schools use Subbey to cut the daily scramble of covering absences. Front-office staff post jobs in seconds instead of working the phones, and principals see coverage confirmed in real time.

Charter schools

Charter schools and networks love that Subbey is fast to roll out, easy for every campus to adopt, and does not require an enterprise IT project to launch. Add campuses and administrators as you grow.

Preschools & early learning centers

Coverage matters even more when ratios are on the line. Subbey helps preschools and early childhood programs alert their subs instantly, so classrooms stay covered and compliant.

See Subbey in action, in 20 minutes.

Book a live demo with Shea, Subbey's founder and a former teacher. He will show you exactly how your school would post jobs, notify subs, and fill absences in minutes, and answer every question about switching from Frontline.

Book a demo with Shea

Frequently Asked Questions: Subbey vs. Frontline Education

Subbey is a mobile-first substitute teacher app built for individual schools that want to post sub jobs in seconds and fill them fast, with flat annual pricing and personal onboarding from the founder. Frontline Education (formerly Aesop) is an enterprise absence management system designed for large district HR operations, sold as part of a broader human capital management suite with custom-quote pricing.
Yes. Subbey is a leading Frontline alternative for schools that want simple, fast substitute teacher management without enterprise complexity. Jobs are posted in a few clicks, subs in your school's own pool are notified instantly, and the first available sub claims the job, often within minutes.
Subbey. It was built for schools, private, independent, charter, public, and preschools, that manage their own substitute pools. It replaces the calls, texts, and emails of finding a sub with instant notifications, one-tap claiming, in-app chat, and lesson plan sharing, all under one flat annual subscription.
A teacher or administrator creates a sub job in a few clicks. Subbey instantly notifies the substitutes in your school's pool, and the first sub to claim the job gets it. Prefer certain subs for certain classes? Teachers and admins can self-select exactly who a job is sent to. Everyone gets real-time confirmation, and lesson plans and messages are shared right in the app.
Yes. Subbey works for public schools, private schools, charter schools, independent schools, and preschools. Smaller schools love how lightweight it is, and multi-campus organizations use it to run a consistent sub management system across buildings with multiple administrators.
Subbey is one flat annual subscription per school that covers every administrator, teacher, and substitute: no per-user fees, no surprise add-ons. Frontline Education uses custom-quote pricing that varies by district size and which suite modules you purchase. Book a demo with Shea to get exact pricing for your school.
Yes. Most schools bring their existing substitute list. After you sign up, the Subbey team reaches out to your subs directly and helps them set up their accounts, so your current pool is ready to receive jobs immediately. Need more subs? Subbey also offers optional sub-sourcing services.
Jobs are often claimed within minutes, and most are covered within the hour. The moment a job is posted, every available sub in your pool gets a push notification: no phone tag, no voicemails, no email chains.
Yes. Aesop was a widely used absence management system that became part of Frontline Education. Today it operates as Frontline Absence & Substitute Management, though many school staff still call it Aesop.
They do, administrators, teachers, and subs alike. Reviewers call it “so incredibly easy and effective” and say they “would be lost without Subbey.” Because it was founded by a teacher, the app is designed around how schools really handle absences, not around HR workflows.
It is easy. Book a demo with Shea, and after the call the Subbey team sets up your school's account, adds your staff, and personally onboards your substitute pool. Most schools are posting and filling jobs almost immediately.
Yes. Subbey is available on iOS and Android. Substitutes see open jobs, accept with one tap, chat with the school, view lesson plans, and manage their whole schedule from their phone.
Get Subbey… Your Teachers Will Thank You.

Join the schools that traded phone trees and enterprise logins for a substitute teacher app people love.

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