Studio Helper is studio management software - a real-time calendar staff and families can book into, billing, payroll, and messaging. It gives you the calendar; you still fill it in. Set the Tune is a scheduling engine: it builds and optimizes the calendar itself. Here is the honest split.
| Capability | Set the Tune | Studio Helper |
|---|---|---|
| One-click schedule optimization (whole roster) | ♩ Yes | - |
| Automatic conflict detection - double-booking, availability, overlaps | ♩ Yes | Manual |
| Drive-time-aware scheduling for traveling teachers (real traffic data) | ♩ Yes | - |
| Teacher workday rules - 8-hour cap, meal-break compliance | ♩ Yes | - |
| A/B (alternating) week balancing | ♩ Yes | - |
| Messy-file roster import (CSV/DOCX) with AI cleanup | ♩ Yes | CSV import |
| Waitlist with one-click placement | ♩ Yes | - |
| Season clone & roll-forward | ♩ Yes | - |
| Teacher self-serve availability links + calendar (ICS) feeds | ♩ Yes | Calendar sync |
| Tuition invoicing & family billing | - | ♩ Yes |
| Parent / student portal | - | ♩ Yes |
| Attendance tracking | - | ♩ Yes |
Based on each product's published feature list and pricing page, June 2026. Spot something out of date? Tell us.
Yes - and many schools should. Keep Studio Helper for billing, payroll, and family messaging, and let Set the Tune do the one thing it does: turn a pile of availability forms into an optimized, conflict-free season schedule. Build the schedule here, run the booking calendar and admin there.