Rethink Yearbooks vs. Balfour
Balfour is a long-established yearbook company that works with schools through local representatives, with its own design software and a deadline plan set for each school’s book. Rethink is an online yearbook company for elementary schools: prices are published, there is no order minimum, no deposit and no multi-year term, books are designed in Canva, and each child’s class and grade pages can be built automatically.
Balfour is the previous vendor elementary schools name most often when they ask us for a quote. Here is how the two compare, and where Balfour is the better choice.
What is the main difference between Balfour and Rethink?
How the book is sold and built.
Balfour’s yearbook program is organized around a representative and a schedule. Balfour’s help center describes deadlines shown on the school’s StudioBalfour dashboard, and says that if a school needs an extension it should talk to its rep. The book is designed in Balfour’s own software.
Rethink has no rep and no negotiated price. Softcover books start from $20, priced by page count, with published upgrades. The book is designed in Canva, and First Draft builds a free first draft from your page plan and template choice for your team to edit. The approval date is the one hard date: books arrive about three weeks after you approve.
The second difference is what each child gets. Balfour’s family-level personalization, as listed in its store, is a name stamp or nameplate on the cover. Rethink’s +$10 personalization upgrade builds pages around each child’s own class and grade, from 35 to 60 candids (the number depends on what the school uploads), and includes their name and photo on the cover. Every child is in the shared school pages either way.
How do Rethink and Balfour compare, side by side?
| Rethink | Balfour | |
|---|---|---|
| How you buy | Online quote, published prices | Through a local Balfour yearbook representative |
| School program pricing | Softcover from $20, priced by page count | Not published |
| Order minimum | None | Not published for the standard program |
| Agreement or deposit | One-school-year agreement; no deposit, no multi-year term | Not published |
| Per-child pages | Built automatically from class and grade photos, 35–60 candids, for families who choose personalization (+$10) | Not offered in the standard program, per the pages we could read |
| Name on the cover | Name and photo, included in the +$10 personalization upgrade | Name stamp or plate in the “Personalization Package” (price set per school) |
| Design software | Canva | Balfour’s own: Encore (“HTML5 software”), StudioWorks+, balfourTools, myYear |
| Who designs the book | Your team, or a free First Draft your team edits | Your team or yearbook staff, with rep support |
| Deadlines | One firm date: approval; other dates are recommended | Set per project and shown in StudioBalfour; extensions through your rep |
| Parent ads | Ads and dedications via a form in our toolkit | Parents build ads online (AdBuilder); Ad Manager tracks them and sends reminders |
| Print and delivery | About 3 weeks; on time guaranteed when approved at least 3 weeks before you need it; printed in the USA | Not published; delivery depends on your deadline plan |
| Fundraising | School sets family price; most add $2–5 a book | Not published |
Balfour facts are as of 15 September 2026, from help.balfour.com (Encore), help.balfour.com (deadlines), blog.balfour.com (Ad Manager, January 2024), Balfour’s Personalization Package listing and Balfour’s site navigation. “Not published” means we could not find it on Balfour’s public pages. It is not a criticism: rep-sold vendors quote per school, so ask your rep for the per-book price, the minimum and the term in writing. Vendors change their plans; please check before you decide.
Does Balfour offer a small-run, personalized book?
Yes, a different product. Balfour’s YourBOOK on Demand page, as of September 2026, describes a 20-page hardbound book that “combines your school’s memories, current event spreads and four custom-designed pages for each buyer”, for “$34.99 with free shipping direct to buyers”. It lists “No minimums. No up-front costs. No risk.” Parents “purchase and customize 4 pages with their own photos”, and Balfour offers “a concierge service, so we’ll take care of the design and marketing”. (form.balfour.com/yourbook-on-demand)
That is closer to Rethink’s model than Balfour’s standard program is. The differences: a fixed 20-page hardbound book at one price, shipped to each home, with pages the family designs. A Rethink book has the page count your school chooses, is shipped in bulk to the school, and, for families who choose personalization, has pages built around their child’s class and grade without the family designing them. What “personalized” means at different vendors.
Is Balfour more expensive than Rethink?
We can’t say, because Balfour doesn’t publish school yearbook pricing, and prices are set per school. What you can do is compare like with like:
- Ask your Balfour rep for the per-book price at your page count, the minimum order, any deposit, and how long the agreement runs.
- Add what a family pays for the upgrades they actually want, such as a name on the cover.
- Put that next to Rethink’s published numbers: softcover from $20, personalization +$10 (includes the child’s name and photo on the cover), hardcover +$9, $0 setup, no deposit, no minimum. What a yearbook costs, line by line.
Where is Balfour the better fit?
- You want a person who knows your school. A local rep who meets your committee, walks you through the process and keeps you on schedule is valuable, especially for a first-time volunteer. Rethink supports coordinators by email, with calls when something is urgent.
- Yearbook is a class, or a student staff builds the book. Balfour’s software includes a tool that works inside professional design software, and its blog is written for advisers and student staff.
- You want traditional finishes and one company for the rest. Balfour also makes class rings, graduation announcements and apparel, and some schools prefer one relationship for all of it.
- Your district or school already has a Balfour agreement. That decision may not be the PTA’s to make.
- You want a flat-price hardbound keepsake shipped to each home with pages families design themselves. That is what YourBOOK on Demand describes.
Rethink is built for a different case: an elementary school run by volunteers that wants published prices, no deposit or multi-year term, Canva, and pages built around each child’s class and grade for the families who choose personalization. The full elementary vendor comparison.
Switching from Balfour.
Can we switch from Balfour to Rethink?
Usually, once you know what you’ve signed. Read your Balfour agreement for its term and whether it renews automatically, then check your dates. Rethink works on a one-school-year agreement with no deposit and no multi-year term, and a new book starts from the photos you’ve already collected, not from a design file.
Can we keep our portraits from picture day?
Yes. Rethink reads the portrait files school photographers provide for yearbooks, in the standard format, whoever took them.
Can we switch mid-year?
Often, if you aren’t inside a signed term. What decides it is time: enough weeks to collect photos, review the book and approve it about three weeks before books need to arrive.
See a Rethink sample next
to your Balfour book.
A per-book quote and a sample — no deposit, no multi-year term, free first draft.