Disclosure: This comparison is published by Labbaik. We've tried to represent IlmFlow fairly using publicly available information, but we naturally know Labbaik in greater depth. If you spot something outdated, let us know.
At a glance
Feature parity where it genuinely exists, and a plain dash where it doesn't. We'd rather you catch us out on one of these than trust a table that flatters us.
| Feature | Labbaik | IlmFlow |
|---|---|---|
| Attendance | ✓ | ✓ |
| Hifz tracking (Sabaq, Sabaq Para, Dhor) | ✓ | ✓ |
| Exams & mark sheets | ✓ | ✓ |
| UK payroll (PAYE, NI, pensions) | ✓ | ✓ |
| Parent portal | ✓ | ✓ |
| Teacher portal | ✓ | ✓ |
| WhatsApp automation | ✓ | — (in-app messaging only) |
| Events & bookings | ✓ | — |
| Donations & Sadaqah | ✓ | — |
| Masjid & community management | ✓ | — |
| Certificates (Nikah, Shahada, ijazah) | ✓ | — |
| Alimiyyah / adult programme tracking | ✓ — custom PDF syllabus import, kitab → section → page | Not advertised |
| Payment retry automation | ✓ | Reminders only — no retry advertised |
| Recurring compliance & admin tasks | ✓ — WhatsApp alerts for renewals & overdue deadlines | Not advertised |
| Fixed monthly plan available | ✓ — Manzil | — (bills scale with active students) |
| Per-student pricing | — | ✓ — 25p/student/month, £15 minimum |
| Free ongoing plan | ✓ — Safar, no expiry | — (30-day trial, then billed) |
| Online classes (Zoom/Meet, OAuth cloud recordings) | ✓ — auto WhatsApp/email alerts, auto attendance | Not advertised |
"Not advertised" means IlmFlow's public site doesn't mention the feature — not that it definitely doesn't exist. Check directly with their team if it's a dealbreaker either way.
Pricing, payroll and setup in detail
| Feature | Labbaik | IlmFlow |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Free base; platform fee from 1.5% only on card payments collected | Flat 25p/student/month (£15/month minimum) whether or not fees are collected |
| How pay is calculated | Hourly (QR clock-in/out), daily (register completed), fixed salary, or per-student fee share — from Stripe, cash or both | Fixed salary, or hours via staff timesheets |
| HMRC submission | You or your accountant file, same as always — full auto-submission on our roadmap | You or your accountant file, same as always — auto-submission on their roadmap too |
| Fee collection | Stripe, GBP, WhatsApp payment requests and automatic reminders | Stripe Connect, GBP, paid directly into the school's own Stripe account |
| Parent portal languages | English, mobile-first PWA | English, Arabic and Urdu |
| UK GDPR + ICO registered | Yes — ICO ZC136003, EU data residency | GDPR-friendly, UK-built; no ICO registration number published |
| Setup | Self-serve, ~10 minutes — or we do it for you, free (see below) | Personal onboarding during the 30-day trial |
IlmFlow is a well-built, UK-only madrasah platform — a genuine step up from spreadsheets and paper registers, and one of the more polished purpose-built options on the market. Labbaik covers the same ground with a free plan that doesn't expire, WhatsApp built into daily operations, and a payroll module that matches IlmFlow's feature-for-feature. Both are solid UK choices; they differ on pricing model and how deep the automation goes.
Where IlmFlow shines
IlmFlow was built specifically for madrasahs and Islamic schools rather than adapted from mainstream school software. Its Hifz/Dhor tracker, trilingual parent portal (English, Arabic, Urdu) and flat per-student pricing are all designed around the sector. Its UK payroll module is a genuine differentiator against most of the market, and a prominent part of how it's positioned. For a school that wants a single flat monthly bill regardless of how fee collection performs, that pricing model is worth weighing up.
About that payroll feature
IlmFlow's UK payroll module is a prominent part of its product, and a genuinely useful one — automatic PAYE, National Insurance and pension calculations save real admin time. It isn't unique to IlmFlow, though: Labbaik runs the same HMRC-compatible payroll — pay, tax, National Insurance, pension and student loan deductions calculated automatically for every member of staff on every run, with payslips and P45/P60 generation included at no extra cost on any plan (see our features page and FAQ). As with IlmFlow, submitting the final figures to HMRC still sits with you or your accountant for now, with full automatic submission on our roadmap.
Where Labbaik goes a step further is how pay is worked out per member of staff, not just that it's compliant. Labbaik supports several bases side by side: hourly pay from QR clock-in/out at the start and end of a lesson, daily pay for completing a register, a fixed annual salary, or a per-student basis — where a teacher is paid a share of the fees collected from the specific students assigned to them. That figure can be drawn from Stripe collections, cash logged in the app, or both together, and feeds straight into the same automatic PAYE, NI, pension and payslip run.
So payroll on its own isn't the deciding factor — both platforms handle the compliance side well. Labbaik's edge is calculating pay dynamically per staff member, and pairing that with fee collection, WhatsApp automation, Hifz tracking and a free plan that never expires, all in one system.
More than a maktab or madrasah tool
IlmFlow's public features page is scoped to attendance, exams, fees and payroll — genuinely strong on the education and admin side, but with no donation campaigns, event bookings or certificate features that we could find. Labbaik covers the same maktab and madrasah ground, then extends further: donation campaigns, community events and bookings, and verifiable Nikah, Shahada and ijazah certificates — useful whether you're a mosque-run maktab or a standalone madrasah with its own community programmes.
| Masjid & madrasah tools | Labbaik | IlmFlow |
|---|---|---|
| Sadaqah & Zakat donations | One-tap giving, campaigns, recurring donations, full reporting | Not part of the platform |
| Community events | Publish, sell tickets, take RSVPs, manage capacity | Not part of the platform |
| Bookings & class capacity | Included for events and non-educational classes | Not part of the platform |
| Nikah & Shahada certificates | Verifiable, institution-branded | Not part of the platform |
| Non-educational community classes | Same registration & payment tools as the maktab | Not part of the platform |
| One login, one bill | Yes — same platform | Maktab/madrasah admin only |
Committee admin: compliance tasks that can't be missed
Running a masjid or madrasah isn't just the maktab register. Committees also carry a stream of dates that are easy to lose track of in a spreadsheet or someone's inbox: utility and insurance renewals, scheduled maintenance and annual servicing, Charity Commission report deadlines, safeguarding and DBS renewals, fire safety checks, and more.
Labbaik lets committees set these up as recurring administrative tasks with an owner and a due date, then sends WhatsApp alerts as renewals approach and if the most important deadlines go overdue — so nothing safety- or compliance-critical slips through because an email got buried. We found no equivalent task or compliance-reminder tooling in IlmFlow.
Kitab-level Alimiyyah tracking
IlmFlow's site mentions Alimiyyah / adult programme tracking without detail — we found no publicly documented support for a custom syllabus or kitab-by-kitab, page-level tracking.
Labbaik lets institutions running Alimiyyah or other Islamic studies programmes upload their own PDF syllabus — Bahishti Zewar, Zad ut-Talibeen, Mishkat, Hidayah, whatever the curriculum requires — and automatically breaks it into trackable sections. Teachers log progress kitab by kitab, section by section, page by page, and that progress is reflected live in the student and parent portal.
| Alimiyyah & Islamic studies | Labbaik | IlmFlow |
|---|---|---|
| Alimiyyah / year-group tracking | Included, standard | Mentioned, no detail published |
| Custom syllabus import | Upload your own PDF — auto-split into sections | Not offered |
| Kitab tracking granularity | Kitab → section → page | Not publicly documented |
| Pre-loaded kitab library | Bahishti Zewar, Zad ut-Talibeen, Mishkat, Hidayah & more, or add your own | Not offered |
| Non-Hifz Islamic classes (Tajweed, Tafsir, Fiqh, Arabic, etc.) | Any class type, same tracking tools | Maktab-focused |
| Parent/student visibility of kitab progress | Live in the portal as teachers log it | Not offered |
| Alimah/Aalim completion certificates | Verifiable, institution-branded, print-ready | Not offered |
Where Labbaik wins
- Free to start, with no student cap — Safar has no monthly fee, no setup cost and no card required, whether you have 20 students or 2,000. IlmFlow's trial runs out after 30 days.
- You only pay when you collect — Labbaik's platform fee applies only to card payments processed through Stripe, from 1.5% and falling as collections grow. IlmFlow bills 25p/student every month regardless of whether fees were collected that month.
- WhatsApp is core, not an afterthought — fee reminders, attendance alerts and admin commands run through WhatsApp, the channel parents actually open, alongside in-app messaging.
- Payroll calculated dynamically per staff member — hourly via QR clock-in/out, daily by register, fixed salary, or per-student pay share, sourced from Stripe, cash or both — with PAYE, NI, pensions and P45/P60 generation automatic on every plan.
- UK GDPR & ICO registered — registered ICO number ZC136003, with EU data residency.
- One system beyond the maktab — donations, community events and bookings, and verifiable certificates run alongside Hifz and fee tracking, for madrasahs that sit inside a wider masjid or organisation.
- Kitab-level Alimiyyah tracking — upload your own PDF syllabus and Labbaik breaks it into sections; teachers track progress page by page, visible live in the parent/student portal.
- Compliance task reminders — recurring admin tasks (insurance/utility renewals, servicing, DBS, fire safety, Charity Commission deadlines) with WhatsApp alerts before they're overdue.
- Online classes with OAuth-connected Zoom, Drive & Dropbox — start a live class on Zoom and Labbaik automatically alerts enrolled students by WhatsApp and email the moment it begins, with attendance marked present automatically when they join from the portal. Recordings publish from your own Google Drive or Dropbox for catch-up, and Labbaik only ever sees the specific files you publish, never your whole Drive or Dropbox. Not advertised on IlmFlow's public site.
Which should you pick?
Choose IlmFlow if: you want a straightforward, madrasah-only system with predictable per-student pricing and a flat monthly bill from day one, and you don't need anything beyond education, fees and payroll.
Choose Labbaik if: your madrasah is part of a wider masjid or Islamic organisation, and you want education, payments, WhatsApp, events, donations and community tools connected in one place — with no bill until you're ready to grow into one.
Both are credible choices. IlmFlow does one thing and does it well; Labbaik does that same thing, then keeps going.
Frequently asked questions
Is IlmFlow better than Labbaik?
It depends what you're weighing up. IlmFlow is a solid, UK-built platform with its own flat per-student pricing and no free tier. Labbaik matches its Hifz tracking and HMRC-compatible payroll, then adds a free plan with no student cap, WhatsApp-native communication, and payroll that can be calculated hourly, daily, on a fixed salary or as a per-student fee share. If you want to trial a platform at no cost before committing, Labbaik is generally the lower-risk starting point.
Does IlmFlow support Hifz tracking?
Yes — IlmFlow tracks Sabak, Sabak Para and Dhor, plus Juz-30 and daily duas. Labbaik covers the same ground with Sabaq, Sabqi and Manzil tracking built around UK maktab routines.
Does Labbaik include payroll?
Yes. Labbaik runs HMRC-compatible UK payroll on every plan — PAYE, National Insurance, pension and student loan deductions calculated automatically, with payslips and P45/P60 generation included at no extra cost.
Which is better for a small UK madrasah?
For a small maktab that wants to try a platform before committing to a subscription, Labbaik's free Safar plan (no student cap, no card required) is usually the lower-risk starting point. IlmFlow's £15/month minimum applies from day one, even for a handful of students.
Can I migrate from IlmFlow to Labbaik, and does it cost anything?
Yes, and it's free. Send us your IlmFlow export, or even just a spreadsheet or your current paper registers, and we'll migrate every student, family, class and fee balance across ourselves. If your committee isn't ready to take its first register the moment you switch, we'll finish the whole setup in advance so it's ready when you are — get in touch and tell us what you're moving from.
Does IlmFlow have masjid tools like donations or community events?
Not that it advertises publicly — IlmFlow's own features page is scoped to attendance, exams, fees and payroll. Labbaik covers that same maktab and madrasah ground, then adds donation campaigns, community events and bookings, and verifiable certificates in the same system.
Does IlmFlow support Alimiyyah or kitab-level tracking?
IlmFlow's site mentions Alimiyyah / adult programme tracking, but we found no published detail on custom syllabus import or kitab-by-kitab, page-level tracking. Labbaik lets institutions upload their own PDF syllabus, automatically breaks it into sections, and lets teachers track progress kitab by kitab and page by page, visible live in the parent/student portal.
Does IlmFlow remind committees about compliance deadlines like DBS or Charity Commission reports?
Not publicly documented. Committees can set up recurring administrative tasks in Labbaik — utility and insurance renewals, scheduled maintenance and annual servicing, Charity Commission report deadlines, safeguarding and DBS renewals, fire safety checks and more — with an owner and a due date, and Labbaik sends WhatsApp alerts as renewals approach and if the most important deadlines go overdue.
Does IlmFlow support online classes with Zoom and cloud recordings?
Not advertised on IlmFlow's public site, as far as we could find. Labbaik connects your own Zoom account by OAuth to run live online classes, automatically alerts enrolled students by WhatsApp and email when a session starts, marks attendance automatically the moment they join from the student/parent portal, and lets you publish recordings from your own Google Drive or Dropbox so students can catch up on missed sessions. Labbaik only ever sees the specific files you choose to publish — never your whole Drive or Dropbox account.
Does IlmFlow have a teacher portal?
Yes — IlmFlow gives teachers a dedicated view scoped to their own classes, for marking registers, entering exam results and viewing payslips. Labbaik's teacher experience covers the same ground and is built phone-first: attendance and Hifz logging happen on a teacher's phone from the classroom floor, not a desk.
We compared Labbaik and IlmFlow using publicly available product information as of September 2026. Where possible, we checked the pages below directly rather than relying on secondhand summaries. Feature availability and pricing can change — the source is the most up-to-date word on either platform.
Weighing up more than one option? See our full round-up of the best IlmFlow alternatives for UK madrasahs.
Labbaik isn't only maktab and madrasah software — the same platform also runs donations, community certificates, events and non-educational classes, so a masjid can run its whole community on one system.
Send us whatever you're using today — a spreadsheet, e-Maktab, IBEAMS, IlmFlow, or a folder of paper registers. We'll set Labbaik up for you and migrate every student, family, class and fee balance across ourselves, at no cost.
If your committee isn't ready to take its first register yet, that's fine too — we'll finish the whole setup so it's ready the moment you are. Get in touch and tell us what you're moving from.
Compare Labbaik with another platform
See how Labbaik stacks up against more of the alternatives UK maktabs and madrasas evaluate.