Arc vs Clearcare: what a home actually pays

Clearcare is the established name in this market, and on the headline licence fee they start lower than Arc. The headline is not the bill, though: AI is charged on top, and the best rates need a three-year commitment. Compare what a home actually pays each month and the picture changes.

Every claim about Clearcare 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.

Request a demo Jump to the comparison

The short version

Arc includes AI; Clearcare charges for it

Clearcare prices AI as an optional extra, £30 to £80 a month by bed band. A seven-to-ten bed home pays £250 plus £80 — £330 a month against Arc's £249 with AI, unlimited staff and migration already in.

Arc asks for no commitment

Clearcare's cheapest rates are on a three-year contract. Arc is billed monthly and you can leave whenever you need to, so the price you see is not conditional on signing away three years.

Clearcare has the longer track record

Over twenty years, ISO 27001, and thousands of homes. If certification is a procurement requirement for you, start there.

£249 / home / month, all in

See what's included →

Side by side

Arc and Clearcare, row by row

Same rows on every comparison we publish, so nothing is chosen to flatter us. Numbers in brackets link to the Clearcare page each claim came from.

Arc leads on 9 of 18 rows Clearcare leads on 2, level on 7. Shaded cells show which way each row goes.

Comparison of Arc and Clearcare across cost, the young person record, the regulations, and data assurance
CAPABILITY	Arc	Clearcare
COST AND TERMS
Published price	£249 per home / month, published on our pricing page.	£150–£250 per home / month excluding VAT on a one-year contract, by bed band. Lower on longer terms: £100–£200 on three years. [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.	The home, banded by bed count and contract length. [1]
AI included in the price	ARC LEADS Included. Advisory drafts, de-identified before inference, UK-only and audited, at no extra charge.	No. AI is an optional extra charged on top, from £30 to £80 per month by bed band. [2]
Minimum contract	ARC LEADS None. Billed monthly, cancel at any time.	Yes. Pricing is quoted on one, two and three-year terms, with the lowest price on the longest tie-in. [1]
Setup and migration fees	None. Onboarding, training and help moving your existing records across are in the monthly price.	No set-up fee, and a three-month implementation period with no licence fee. [2]
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; personalised packages are offered on request. [1]
THE RECORD AND THE REGULATIONS
Who the product is built for	ARC LEADS UK children's residential homes only.	Children's homes and supported accommodation. [3]
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.	Not described as a single record; confirm the structure. [3]
Daily recording	Structured daily journals that compile from what staff log during the shift, with mandatory-field prompts.	Daily logs, including from a staff companion app. [2]
Handover	ARC LEADS Compiled automatically from the shift rather than re-typed at the end of it.	Not published. [3]
Incident tracking	ARC LEADS Incidents stay open until they are formally resolved and signed off, with missing episodes, return home interviews and physical intervention records.	Incident tracking alongside behaviour, wellbeing and progress. [3]
Safeguarding workspace	ARC LEADS A separate, role-restricted workspace rather than a folder everyone can open.	Not published as a separate restricted area; confirm visibility controls. [3]
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. [3]
Regulation 44 independent visits	Structured independent-visit record with the monthly due date tracked.	Yes, named. [3]
Regulation 45 quality of care reports	Compiled from the record already entered, with manager sign-off and a full audit trail.	Yes, named. [3]
DATA AND ASSURANCE
Where the data is held	United Kingdom.	United Kingdom. [4]
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.	CLEARCARE LEADS ISO 27001, ISO 9001 and Cyber Essentials Plus. [4]
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.	CLEARCARE LEADS Over 3,250 children's homes claimed. [1]

Sources

[1] https://www.clearcaresolutions.co.uk/price-setup/ “1-3 Bed Home · One Year Contract · £150 · PER MONTH · Excluding VAT” “7-10 Bed Homes” “Three Year Contract” “Join over 3,250 Children's Homes currently using Clearcare!”
[2] https://www.clearcaresolutions.co.uk/faqs/ “AI is an optional extra - and there is an additional cost. ... The cost of AI is based on the number of beds in each home. 1-3 Bed Home £30 excluding VAT 4-6 Bed Home £55 excluding VAT 7-10 Bed Home £80 excluding VAT” “No, we no longer charge a set-up fee. ... At Clearcare we give you a three-month implementation period where you will not pay for your license fee.” “Create Daily Logs”
[3] https://www.clearcaresolutions.co.uk/home-and-staff-management/ “Reg 44 & Reg 45 for Children's Homes, and Annex A, Annex A1 & Reg 32 for Supported Accommodation Provisions” “Clearcare tracks behaviour, incidents, wellbeing and progress” “Reg 44 & Reg 45 for Children's Homes”
[4] https://www.clearcaresolutions.co.uk/benefits-of-clearcare-childrens-social-care-settings-software/ “Our ISO 27001 accreditation requires us to store all of your data in the UK” “Clearcare maintain rigorous security standards which are reflected in our ISO 27001, ISO 9001 and Cyber Essentials Plus certification.”

Clearcare 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.

The honest bit

When Clearcare is the better choice

Clearcare holds ISO 27001, ISO 9001 and Cyber Essentials Plus, which Arc does not, and they have been running for over twenty years with thousands of homes on the system. If your local authority or board requires a certified supplier, that settles it. Their smallest band is also £150 a month on a one-year term, so a one-to-three bed home that does not want AI can run Clearcare for less than Arc.

Cost

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?

Questions

Arc and Clearcare: common questions

Is Clearcare cheaper than Arc?

It depends on the size of the home. Clearcare's one-to-three bed band is £150 per month excluding VAT on a one-year contract, against Arc's flat £249. For a seven-to-ten bed home it is £250, and Clearcare charges £80 per month more for AI, taking it to £330 against Arc's £249 with AI included. For year one the question does not arise: join the Arc waitlist before launch and your first home is free for twelve months.

Does Clearcare charge extra for AI?

Yes. Clearcare states that AI is an optional extra with an additional cost, priced by bed count at £30, £55 and £80 per month excluding VAT. Arc includes AI in the £249.

Do I have to sign a contract with Clearcare?

Clearcare publishes prices on one, two and three-year terms, with the lowest price on the longest term. Arc is billed monthly with no minimum contract. Neither charges a setup fee.

Is Clearcare ISO 27001 certified?

Yes. Clearcare states ISO 27001, ISO 9001 and Cyber Essentials Plus certification, and that ISO 27001 requires them to store all data in the UK. Arc holds data in the UK but does not currently hold these certifications.

Switching

Moving from Clearcare 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.