The marketplace model
It brings you players, and it earns a percentage of what you take. When your club fills, the invoice grows with it — which is the deal, and it is a fair one as long as you know you are buying acquisition.
Comparison
Playtomic alternative: what are you really paying?
This page does not tell you that another company is bad. It gives you the sum almost no club has actually done — and the questions to put to every vendor on your list, including us.
Two models
Marketplace or club software — they earn differently
Neither model is dishonest. They simply make money in different places, and that difference decides what your bill looks like when the club fills up.
The licensed software model
You pay a subscription and keep your takings. The invoice does not move when the club fills — but nobody brings you the players, and filling the quiet hours stays entirely your problem.
SportFinder sits in both: a complete back office and a player app with a directory. We take a commission on online sales too — tapered, bank fees included, and its grid is published. What stays at 0% is the player side.
The sum nobody does
The advertised rate is not the rate you pay
Take one real month at your club and work through four lines. We are not going to fill them in for you — we do not know your contract, and a number we invented would be worth nothing.
- 1. What the platform invoiced you — the subscription, the commission, everything on the invoice.
- 2. What was billed separately — payment processing charged “in addition” is still money leaving your account. Compare those percentages with your processor’s own public rates: if they are higher, the difference is not a pass-through.
- 3. What your players paid on top — service fees are not on your invoice, but they came out of the same pocket your prices come out of, and you are the one who hears about them at the desk.
- 4. What you would have taken anyway — the bookings from members who would have come regardless. That part was not acquisition; you paid a percentage on it all the same.
Lines 1 and 2 give your real rate. Line 3 gives your ecosystem’s total cost. Line 4 tells you what you actually bought.
What your players pay
The price you display is the price they pay
With SportFinder there is no service fee and no cancellation fee on the player side. That is the only 0% we claim, and it is a whole one.
On a marketplace it depends on the country, and the difference is larger than most people expect: some countries carry a service fee on every booking, others carry none at all on a simple court booking. The scales are published by the platforms themselves — look up the one for your own country rather than trusting a figure someone quoted you, including this page.
Due diligence
Six questions to ask any vendor — including us
1. What is the all-in rate?
Commission plus anything billed separately. Ask for the number that appears on the invoice, not the one on the website.
2. What do my players pay?
On top of the court price, and whether they get it back when they cancel.
3. Whose customers are they?
Can you export your own member list, with contact details, whenever you want?
4. What is the term?
How long are you committed, what happens at renewal, and what does leaving cost.
5. What leaves with me?
Bookings, balances, memberships, rankings — in what format, and who does the work.
6. Who answers when it breaks?
On a Saturday morning, with courts booked and a door that will not open.
Put all six to us as well. Our pricing is on the site, our commission grid is published, and your data exports whenever you decide — those three answers are the reason we are comfortable handing you the questions.
Being fair
Where a marketplace is hard to beat
If your club is new, in a city where nobody knows you yet, a large player network brings people through the door faster than any software feature will. Playtomic is very good at that, and pretending otherwise would not help you decide. The question is not whether acquisition is worth paying for — it is whether you are still paying for it three years later, on members who now come every Tuesday and would come anyway.
Frequently asked
Choosing between a marketplace and club software
What is the best alternative to Playtomic for a padel club?
That depends on what you want the software to do. A marketplace brings you players and earns on your takings; a licensed system leaves you free and leaves acquisition to you. SportFinder does both — a complete back office plus a player app and directory — with a tapered commission whose grid is published. Which is right for you is a question of how much of your filling you want to buy.
How do I work out what I really pay today?
Take one month. Add what the platform invoiced you, then add what your players paid in service fees on top of your court prices, since that money left your ecosystem too. Compare that total with the same month costed on another model. Most clubs have never done this sum, and it is the only one that settles the argument.
Do my players pay fees on top of the court price?
With SportFinder, no: the price you display is the price they pay, with no service fee and no cancellation fee. On a marketplace it depends on the country — in some, a service fee is added to each booking; in others, simple bookings carry none at all. Check the published scale for your own country rather than assuming.
Can I move my data from Playtomic?
Yes. Contacts, bookings, credits, memberships and rankings come over, and our team runs the migration with you rather than handing you a template. Ask any vendor the same question, including us: what leaves, in what format, and who does the work.
Do the sum on your own club
Bring one month of real invoices. We work through the four lines with you — and if the answer is that you should stay where you are, we will say so.