Buying guide

What youth sports software actually costs.

Published . Updated .

Four numbers decide what your organization pays, and a quote will usually name one of them. Here is what to ask, who will answer, and what we charge — all of it, on this page.

Most of this category will not tell you.

Not a criticism of anyone — it is simply how the category sells. It does mean a board cannot shortlist on price without booking four calls first.

TeamSnap
No price for the club product. The pricing page offers a conversation instead.
LeagueApps
No price. A quote, plus a one-time setup fee that is mentioned but not sized.
PlayMetrics
No pricing page at all. PlayMetrics now also owns SportsEngine, Sports Connect and Crossbar. What that means for a board on SportsEngine
SportsEngine
An entry price you can buy online, with "custom pricing" above it. Their help center adds that your rates are "negotiated and accepted upon joining".

Read from each vendor's own pricing page on September 20, 2026. We re-check these; if one is out of date, tell us and we will fix it. Platform by platform, with where each one wins: every comparison we publish.

The four numbers that decide your bill.

Ask every vendor all four, in these words. A quote that answers only the first one is not a quote.

  1. The subscription

    A flat fee for the software, usually annual, sometimes monthly.

    The number everyone compares, and the one that matters least. On a season of any size the per-transaction fees are the larger half of the bill.

  2. The percentage per transaction

    A share of every registration fee you collect.

    Scales with your organization, which is fair. Ask whether it changes with volume, and whether the rate you were quoted is the rate you keep at renewal.

  3. The flat fee per transaction

    A fixed amount on top of the percentage, charged per payment.

    The one nobody compares, and it decides what a small registration costs. On a $75 sign-up a $2 flat is 2.7% on its own — it lands hardest on rec programs, which tend to be the cheapest registrations and the tightest budgets. Ask whether it is charged once per family checkout or once per child. Run your own season through the calculator.

  4. Whether card processing is included

    Stripe and the card networks take roughly 2.9% + $0.30 of every card payment. Somebody pays it.

    This is the one that makes two quotes impossible to compare. A "technology fee" with processing stacked on top is a very different number from the same rate with processing inside it — and it is often not stated either way. Ask the question in those words.

All four, answered

Here are ours. You did not have to ask.

Subscription

$750

per year · renews on the same date. No size tiers, no per-seat charge.

Per transaction — card

3.5% + $3.95

Card processing included, not stacked on top.

Per transaction — bank

1.8% + $2.49

About half of card. Every payment screen leads with it.

On a $500 registration that is $21.45 by card and $11.49 by bank — and the fee is charged once per family checkout, not once per child, so a family registering three players pays it once.

Why there is no comparison table here.

We have not put a comparison table on this page, and that is deliberate. Most of the category does not publish a price, the one that does says rates are negotiated per organization, and when we checked the figures that circulate in "pricing" blog posts against the vendors themselves, every one of them was out of date. A table here would be a guess wearing a suit.

So instead of a table of guesses, the calculator runs the four numbers on your actual season.

Questions a treasurer asks next.

Is the $750 really the whole subscription — no per-player or per-seat fees?
Yes. $750 per year, renews on the same date, unlimited registrations and admins. The only other charges are the two published processing rates, charged once per family checkout.
What does "once per family checkout" actually save?
On platforms that charge per player or per transaction per child, a family registering three players pays the flat fee three times per program. Here it is paid once per checkout. The calculator shows the difference on your own family counts — on multi-kid-heavy associations it is routinely the largest line in the comparison.
We pass processing fees through to families. Does that change the math?
The total cost of the season is identical; only whose budget shows it changes. The calculator has a toggle for exactly this — run it both ways and bring the version your board argues about least. Most associations pass it through, and then the bill to the association is the subscription.
Why is bank (ACH) so much cheaper than card?
Card networks charge for the privilege; bank transfers mostly don’t. 1.8% + $2.49 against 3.5% + $3.95 is about half on a typical registration, which is why every payment screen leads with the bank option.
A vendor quoted us a lower percentage than 3.5%. Are we overpaying if we switch?
Maybe not — ask the four questions on this page of that quote. A lower percentage with processing stacked on top, a per-player flat fee, or a setup fee frequently lands above a higher all-in rate. If the quote still wins after all four answers, it wins; bring it to a demo and we’ll check the arithmetic with you.

Run the numbers on your own season.

The calculator runs all four numbers on your families, your fees and how they pay. Or tell us how many players you register and what you charge, and we will do the arithmetic on your real numbers — the whole bill, not the headline.

Moving from another platform? See what switching actually involves.

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