Fast Transcripts has one feature nobody else in the homeschool world matches: electronic transcript delivery to thousands of colleges through Parchment, the same network public high schools use. If your student's college specifically wants an e-filed transcript, that alone can decide this comparison — and I'd rather tell you that in the first paragraph than bury it.
For everything before application season, though, the two products live in different categories. Fast Transcripts is a document shop: transcript in, transcript out, with an optional human review. ArborSlate is the record-keeping system underneath — the gradebook, attendance, compliance log, and ESA file that four years of high school actually generate, with the transcript produced from them at the end.
Feature by feature
| Feature | ArborSlate | Fast Transcripts |
|---|---|---|
| High-school transcripts | ✓ | ✓ |
| Gradebook & grades | ✓ | ✗ |
| Attendance tracking | ✓ | ✗ |
| Report cards | ✓ | ✗ |
| Lesson planning / scheduling | ✓ | ✗ |
| ESA expense tracking | ✓ | ✗ |
| State-compliance records | ✓ | ✗ |
| AI course descriptions & tutor | ✓ | ✗ |
| Co-op management | ✓ | ✗ |
| Free tools (no account needed) | ✓ | ✗1 |
✗ means not offered — or not advertised on the product's public site as of July 2026. 1 Fast Transcripts — 30-day free trial rather than a free no-account tool.
Pricing
Fast Transcripts: Essentials $11.99, Guidance Counselor $18.99, Expert Review $84.99, with a 30-day free trial (no card); a standalone diploma runs $9.99. Their pricing page mixes package and monthly framing, so check which applies to you.
ArborSlate: Family plan $29/month or $249/year; Transcript Pro $60/year; one-time clean transcript or diploma PDF $19 each. 14-day free trial (card at signup). Free anonymous tools — transcript builder, diploma maker, Arizona ESA tracker, GPA calculator — need no account. For Arizona ESA families, the subscription is ESA-eligible — most families reimburse it through ClassWallet as a non-public online learning program expense.
Where Fast Transcripts shines
A comparison you can trust has to give the other side its due, so here it is honestly:
- Electronic transcript delivery to thousands of colleges through Parchment — genuinely useful for application season.
- An automated audit that checks the transcript for common errors before it goes out.
- A $9.99 diploma, cheaper than ours, and an optional human expert-review tier.
Pick Fast Transcripts if: Families mid-application-season who want e-filed delivery to colleges, or who want a human to review the transcript before it ships.
Where ArborSlate is different
ArborSlate treats the transcript as the last step of good records, not a standalone form. Grades roll up from the gradebook automatically; course descriptions draft themselves from what you taught; the same account produces report cards, diplomas, certificates, student IDs with a public verification page, and recommendation-letter drafts. And the ESA suite — category-checked expense tracking, itemized receipts, a submission packet — has no equivalent at Fast Transcripts or anywhere else we know of.
Common questions
Does ArborSlate e-file transcripts to colleges like Fast Transcripts?
No — electronic delivery through Parchment is Fast Transcripts’ standout feature and ArborSlate does not offer it today. ArborSlate produces polished PDF transcripts (Registrar and Common App formats) that you submit yourself, which is how the large majority of homeschool applications are handled.
Fast Transcripts sells a $9.99 diploma — ArborSlate’s is $19. Why?
Fair question. ArborSlate’s $19 diploma comes from the free anonymous builder in Classical or Modern designs, with typography matched to the rest of your credential set (transcripts, certificates, student IDs, verification letters). If you just need the least expensive diploma document, theirs costs less; if you want the credentials to look like they came from the same school, that’s what we built.
Which is better for an ESA family?
Fast Transcripts has no ESA features. ArborSlate tracks ESA expenses against your state’s categories, produces itemized receipts and a submission packet, and — for Arizona families — the subscription itself is ESA-eligible, so most families reimburse it through ClassWallet.
Do I need a subscription to make a transcript with ArborSlate?
No. The transcript builder is free and anonymous — no account needed. A clean, watermark-free PDF is a one-time $19, or included with a Family or Transcript Pro plan.