Rethink Yearbooks vs. Picaboo Yearbooks
Both are online yearbook companies with no order minimum, where families buy from an online store and the school sets the price. The difference for an elementary school is who makes each child’s pages: at Picaboo, families can design up to 12 extra pages themselves; at Rethink, each child’s class and grade pages are built automatically.
Picaboo also publishes lower retail prices for a basic book than we do. If price per book is the deciding factor, that matters, and it is covered below.
What is the main difference between Picaboo and Rethink?
Personalization that a family builds, versus personalization that is built for them.
Picaboo’s personalized pages, as of September 2026, let “parents and students design up to 12 custom pages” at the end of their child’s yearbook. The first four pages are “$6.95 and up”, and up to eight more cost $1.50 a page. The yearbook adviser decides whether to offer them. (picabooyearbooks.com, What are personalized pages?)
At Rethink, the personalization upgrade is +$10. Each personalized copy gets pages built from 35 to 60 candids from the child’s own class and grade (the number depends on what the school uploads), plus their name and photo on the cover. The family doesn’t have to design anything. If they want to, they can add up to two custom pages of their own.
So the question to ask is how many families at your school will log in and design pages before the deadline. If the answer is most of them, Picaboo’s model gives them more room. If it’s fewer, automatic pages mean every family who chooses personalization still gets pages built around their child’s class and grade, whether or not they log in.
How do Rethink and Picaboo compare, side by side?
| Rethink | Picaboo Yearbooks | |
|---|---|---|
| Per-child pages | Built automatically from the child’s class and grade, 35–60 candids (+$10) | Families design up to 12 pages: first 4 “$6.95 and up”, +$1.50/page after |
| Family custom pages | Up to 2, with the upgrade | Up to 12 (as above) |
| Name on cover | Name and photo, included in the +$10 personalization upgrade | “Foil Name Stamping” offered; price not published |
| Published price, softcover | From $20, priced by page count | Retail from $11 (20 pages, 8.5×11) on the elementary pricing page; $13.99 on the general pricing page |
| Published price, hardcover | Softcover +$9 | Retail from $20.99 (20 pages) on the elementary pricing page; $23.99 on the general pricing page |
| Stapled (saddle-stitched) book | Not offered | $8.95 for 20 pages, retail |
| Order minimum | None | “NO Minimum Orders” |
| Agreement | One school year; no deposit, no multi-year term | “Non-binding price agreements” |
| Who designs the book | Your team in Canva, or First Draft builds a first draft free | Your team in Creator Studio; “Picaboo’s design team” custom build offered (price not published); PDF upload accepted |
| Design tool | Canva | Creator Studio (own software); Canva templates for covers |
| Digital yearbook | No; print only | eYearbook; school keeps 50% of revenue |
| Parent ads | Ads and dedications via a form in our toolkit | Parents design ads online; school keeps 90% |
| Turnaround | About 3 weeks; on time guaranteed when approved at least 3 weeks before you need it | “3 weeks (15 business days)”; personalized books “4 weeks (20 business days) from order to delivery” |
| Shipping to school | $0 bulk | Free for 50+ books to one location (continental US) |
| Fundraising | School sets family price; most add $2–5 a book | “Schools determine their own selling price and keep the profits” |
| Printed in | USA | Not stated on the pages we read |
Picaboo facts are as of 15 September 2026, from picabooyearbooks.com/elementary-school-yearbook-pricing, /pricing-and-products, /yearbooks-for-elementary-schools, /brandfaq/what-are-personalized-pages, the home page and /yearbook-canva. Picaboo describes these as retail prices and offers discounted pricing through its sales team, so a school’s quote may be lower. Two of its pages list different retail prices, so we show both. Vendors change their plans; please check before you decide.
Is Picaboo cheaper than Rethink?
For a basic book, going by published retail prices, yes. Picaboo lists a 20-page stapled book at $8.95 and a 20-page softcover from $11 (elementary pricing page), plus 26 to 33 cents for each extra page. Rethink’s softcover starts from $20, priced by page count.
Two things are worth comparing on the same basis:
- Price the same page count. A 60-page softcover at Picaboo’s retail rates is not a 20-page price. Add the per-page charge before comparing.
- Price the book families actually buy. If most families want personalized pages, add Picaboo’s page price to its book price, and add +$10 to Rethink’s. Then compare what a family pays, not the headline number. What a yearbook actually costs.
How does each company handle design?
Picaboo gives your team Creator Studio, its own online editor, with pre-made templates, and also accepts print-ready PDFs made elsewhere. It offers Canva cover templates and a custom build with its design team.
Rethink’s books are designed in Canva, with free templates. Schools that don’t want to start from a blank book can use First Draft: we build a first draft from your ladder and template choice with standard layouts, free, and your team edits it in Canva. First Draft is not custom design and not revisions made by us.
Where is Picaboo the better fit?
- Your budget is under about $15 a book. Picaboo’s published retail prices for a short stapled or softcover book are well below ours.
- You want a digital yearbook too. Picaboo offers an eYearbook; Rethink books are print only.
- Your families want to design their own pages, and you want to offer more than two.
- You sell a lot of parent ads and want the ad design and payment handled in one place.
- You’re not a school, or not only one. Picaboo makes books for preschools, camps, teams and other groups.
- You want the book designed for you from start to finish, and you’re prepared to pay for it. Picaboo offers a custom build with its design team.
Rethink is built for a different case: an elementary school run by volunteers that wants every family who chooses personalization to get pages built around their child’s class and grade, without depending on families to make those pages. The full elementary vendor comparison.
Switching between Picaboo and Rethink.
Can we switch from Picaboo to Rethink mid-year?
Usually yes, if you haven’t committed to an agreement for the year. 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. Check your photo deadline and your last day of school first.
Does Picaboo have a minimum order?
As of September 2026, Picaboo’s elementary page says “NO Minimum Orders”. Rethink has no minimum either.
How long does Picaboo take to print and deliver?
Picaboo’s pages say about 3 weeks (15 business days), and 4 weeks (20 business days) from order to delivery for personalized books. Rethink books arrive about 3 weeks after you approve the book, and on-time delivery is guaranteed when you approve at least 3 weeks before you need them.
See a Rethink sample next
to your Picaboo quote.
A per-book quote and a sample — no deposit, no multi-year term, free first draft.