Gibbon
Free, open source school platform built by teachers
About Gibbon
Gibbon is a free, open source school management platform created by teachers at International College Hong Kong in 2010 and overseen by the non-profit Gibbon Foundation. It combines student information, attendance, online admissions, timetables, markbooks, fee invoicing, and parent access in one web-based system that schools host on their own servers. The core is translated into 26 languages and is used by international, public, home, and refugee schools.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- No licensing fees for any core module, including admissions, attendance, and fee invoicing
- Self-hosting gives the school full control over student data, backups, and modifications
- Built and maintained by working teachers at an international school, so workflows match daily school life
- Core interface available in 26 languages with right-to-left text support
- Modules can be switched on or off per user role, so small schools start lean
Cons
- Self-hosting means someone on staff has to install, update, and back up a PHP/MySQL server
- Support comes from community forums and docs rather than a vendor helpdesk
- Fee invoices are generated and emailed; online card payment is not part of the core feature list
- No US state reporting or district-level compliance tooling
Key Features
Online Application Form
Public admissions form with a priority-based applicant queue; accepted students and parents get accounts and family links created automatically.
Attendance
Form-group or individual attendance, absence history and patterns, pre-set future absences, and emergency evacuation reports. Parents can view attendance data.
Finance
Manage fees, billing schedules, and invoicees, then generate and email invoices to families.
Markbook
Record academic data across all subjects and optionally share it with students and parents, with longitudinal views for teachers.
Planner
Lesson and unit planning with Smart Blocks, homework collection tied to the Markbook, and curriculum outcome mapping.
Timetable and Facility Booking
Individual student and teacher timetables, room booking, and Google Calendar overlays.
Student Profiles and Alerts
Single profile view pulling academic, behaviour, medical, and SEN alerts from across the system.
Individual Needs
Individual education plans archived over time to track student progress longitudinally.
Data Updater
Parents and staff update personal and medical details online, with changes queued for administrator approval.
Messenger
Send messages to flexible groups of users across the school community.
Pricing
- All core modules
- Self-hosted on your own server
- Community forums and open documentation
- 26 actively translated languages
- Supports Gibbon development
- Extra Query Builder queries and commands
- Offered with Gibbon Education Limited
- Three online Foundation meetings per year with developers
- Listing as a member school
- Funds long-term project maintenance
Best For
International schools on a tight budget
Run admissions, attendance, timetables, and markbooks without per-student licensing costs.
Schools with in-house IT
Host on your own server and customise modules and themes to fit local workflows.
Refugee and community schools
Provide a full school platform where commercial licensing is not an option.
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