Arc vs CHARMS: a broad platform against a narrow one
CHARMS is the widest system in this comparison: fostering, adoption and residential care across the UK and Republic of Ireland. Arc does one setting, deliberately. If you run children's homes and nothing else, that focus is what separates the two.
Every claim about CHARMS on this page is taken from their own public material and linked to the page it came from. Where they don't publish something, we say so rather than guess. Last checked August 2026.
Arc and CHARMS, row by row
Same rows on every comparison we publish, so nothing is chosen to flatter us. Numbers in brackets link to the CHARMS page each claim came from.
| CAPABILITY | Arc | CHARMS |
|---|---|---|
| COST AND TERMS | ||
| Published price |
ARC LEADS
£249 per home / month, published on our pricing page. |
Not published on the UK site; quote on request. [1] |
| What the price is charged on Per-home, per-licence and per-bed models produce very different bills for the same home. |
ARC LEADS
The home. Staff accounts are unlimited and never change the price, whether you run five staff or twenty-five. |
Not published. [1] |
| AI included in the price |
ARC LEADS
Included. Advisory drafts, de-identified before inference, UK-only and audited, at no extra charge. |
Not published. [1] |
| Minimum contract |
ARC LEADS
None. Billed monthly, cancel at any time. |
Not published. [1] |
| Setup and migration fees | None. Onboarding, training and help moving your existing records across are in the monthly price. | None. Implementation, training and data import are stated as free, as are custom reports. [1] |
| Price across a group of homes Some vendors discount the per-home rate as you add homes. | £249 per home, combined billing across the group, and the same all-in price at every home — no renegotiation as you grow. | Not published. [1] |
| THE RECORD AND THE REGULATIONS | ||
| Who the product is built for |
ARC LEADS
UK children's residential homes only. |
Broad social care: fostering, adoption and residential, across the UK and Republic of Ireland. [2] |
| One record per young person |
ARC LEADS
One living record: timeline of every event and entry, care plans and goals, keywork, contact, and wishes and feelings. |
Case management with referral and care planning; single-record structure not described. [1] |
| Daily recording | Structured daily journals that compile from what staff log during the shift, with mandatory-field prompts. | Mobile-enabled note-taking. [1] |
| Handover |
ARC LEADS
Compiled automatically from the shift rather than re-typed at the end of it. |
Not published. [1] |
| Incident tracking | Incidents stay open until they are formally resolved and signed off, with missing episodes, return home interviews and physical intervention records. | Incident reporting. [1] |
| Safeguarding workspace |
ARC LEADS
A separate, role-restricted workspace rather than a folder everyone can open. |
Not published as a separate restricted area. [1] |
| Regulation 40 notifications |
ARC LEADS
Raised by a manager at incident review, where the decision belongs, then tracked per recipient with a 24-hour overdue clock and a compiled PDF for the Ofsted submission. |
Not published. [1] |
| Regulation 44 independent visits |
ARC LEADS
Structured independent-visit record with the monthly due date tracked. |
Not published; confirm Reg 44 templates. [1] |
| Regulation 45 quality of care reports |
ARC LEADS
Compiled from the record already entered, with manager sign-off and a full audit trail. |
Not published; confirm Reg 45 templates. [1] |
| DATA AND ASSURANCE | ||
| Where the data is held |
ARC LEADS
United Kingdom. |
Not stated; infrastructure described as meeting UK GDPR. [2] |
| Independent security certification Formal certification held by the supplier. | UK data hosting, role-restricted access and a full audit trail on every record. Arc does not yet hold ISO 27001 or Cyber Essentials. |
CHARMS LEADS Cyber Essentials Plus. [2] |
| Homes using it today How long the product has been running and how widely. | Launching in 2026. Join the waitlist before launch and your first home is free for its first year. |
CHARMS LEADS Over 600 organisations and 50,000 practitioners. [2] |
Sources
- [1] https://socialcarenetwork.com/Product/Page?pageType=Charms_Child_Residential_Care “Free Implementation & Data Transfer - We handle the complete migration of your existing data securely and at no extra cost. All implementation, training, and data import included free of charge.” “mobile-enabled note-taking” “incident reporting”
- [2] https://socialcarenetwork.com/ “trusted by over 600 organisations and 50,000 practitioners across the UK and Republic of Ireland” “meet the full requirements of UK GDPR” “Cyber Essentials Plus certified - the highest level of UK government-backed cyber security accreditation”
CHARMS information taken from their own public material, last checked August 2026. We re-check every comparison at least every 6 months. If anything here is out of date or wrong, email hello@arccare.co.uk and we will correct it.
When CHARMS is the better choice
If your organisation does more than run children's homes, CHARMS is the better answer and it is not close: fostering, adoption and residential in one system with one supplier is worth more than depth in any one of them. CHARMS also builds custom reports free of charge, has 600 organisations and 50,000 practitioners behind it, and holds Cyber Essentials Plus, which Arc does not.
Compare the whole bill, not the headline
Arc is £249 per home per month. That covers unlimited staff accounts, every feature, AI, onboarding and migration, with no minimum term. There is no premium tier and the price does not move as your team grows.
Headline prices in this market are rarely the whole bill. Add-ons, per-licence charges, setup fees and the discount that only applies on a three-year tie-in all change the number. Ask every supplier the same five questions and compare what comes back.
And for year one, the comparison is simpler than any of this: request a demo before 1 January 2027 and your first home costs nothing for twelve months.
See Arc's full pricing →Questions to ask any supplier
- Is the price per home, per registered place, or per user?
- Which features sit behind a higher tier or an add-on — including AI?
- What do onboarding, training and data migration cost?
- Is that price conditional on a one, two or three-year term?
- Where is our data hosted, and where does any AI processing happen?
Arc and CHARMS: common questions
How much does CHARMS cost?
Social Care Network does not publish CHARMS pricing on their UK site; they quote on request. Their US site lists per-licence pricing, but that is a different market and should not be assumed to apply here. Arc publishes £249 per home per month with unlimited staff accounts.
Does CHARMS charge for implementation?
No. CHARMS states that implementation, training and data import are included free of charge, along with complete migration of existing data and custom reports. Arc also includes onboarding and migration in the monthly price.
Is CHARMS just for children's homes?
No, and that is the main difference. CHARMS serves fostering agencies, adoption agencies and residential providers across the UK and Republic of Ireland. Arc is built only for UK children's residential homes.
Moving from CHARMS to Arc
Changing recording system mid-placement is a real risk, so we plan the move around your home rather than the other way round. Onboarding and migration are included in the monthly price.
Review what you hold
We look at your current records together and agree what must come across and what can be archived.
Migrate the record
Young person records, plans and open incidents are moved and checked before anyone relies on them.
Train on shift
Short sessions with the people who will use it, in the home, on real entries.
Run in parallel
A short overlap so nothing is lost, then a clean cut-over on a date you choose.