A SportMember alternative with no per-member fee
SportMember has a free Basic tier and a PRO tier at £0.16 per member per month, with a £22 a month minimum, plus 35p + 1% on payments. ClubPal has no subscription and no per-member charge at any club size, and costs less on the small, frequent payments most session clubs take.
The difference is how you get charged
Both platforms let a club manage members, run sessions, and take payments. The meaningful difference is the pricing model. SportMember offers a free Basic tier and a paid PRO tier at £0.16 per member per month, billed at a minimum of £22 a month however small the club, and either tier charges 35p + 1% on payments taken. ClubPal has one tier, every feature included, and charges nothing at all unless money moves through the platform.
That matters most for the thing a club is usually trying to do, which is grow. On a per-member subscription, a successful beginners intake raises your software bill. On ClubPal it does not, because there is no per-member charge at any club size.
Below is the detail, with a worked cost comparison per member per year.
ClubPal and SportMember, point by point
| ClubPal | SportMember | |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly subscription | None, at any club size | Free tier, or £0.16 per member per month on PRO, minimum £22 a month |
| Feature tiers | One tier, everything included | Basic and PRO, with features split between them |
| Per-transaction fee | 20p + 3.5% | 35p + 1% |
| Card processing | Included in the one fee | Not published, payments run on Stripe |
| Fee when you refund a member | Returned, in proportion to the amount refunded | Not published |
| Cost of growing | Unchanged, no per-member charge | Rises with member count on PRO |
| Cost if you take no payments | Free | Free on Basic, subscription still applies on PRO |
| Session capacity and waiting lists | Per session, with automatic promotion | Available |
| Safeguarding and DBS tracking | DBS, PVG and coaching credentials with expiry dates, and coach eligibility rules enforced at the point a coach is added | Not in the published feature list |
| Club chat | On the session or event, plus channels sourced from your member groups, with a moderation queue | Chat, a named feature, organised by team and by role |
| Contract | None, and no notice period | No commitment on PRO |
| AI assistant (MCP) | Official MCP server: ask ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini about your club, read-only and limited to your own permissions | No official equivalent |
What SportMember costs, side by side with ClubPal
Figures are per member per year and include the PRO subscription at £0.16 per member per month. They assume a club big enough that the £22 a month minimum does not bite, which is roughly 138 members or more. Below that, SportMember PRO costs more per member than these rows show.
| Scenario, per member per year | ClubPal | SportMember PRO |
|---|---|---|
| Membership only, £30 a year | £1.25 (cheaper) | £2.57 |
| Membership only, £50 a year | £1.95 (cheaper) | £2.77 |
| Membership only, £100 a year | £3.70 | £3.27 (cheaper) |
| £40 sub plus 30 sessions at £5 | £12.85 (cheaper) | £14.67 |
| £20 sub plus 40 sessions at £3 | £13.10 (cheaper) | £17.67 |
The pattern behind those numbers: ClubPal has the lower fixed fee per transaction and the higher percentage, so it wins on small, frequent payments and loses on large, infrequent ones. Session-based clubs sit firmly in the first group. A club taking one annual payment above roughly £83 and nothing else all year is better off on SportMember PRO. One caution on the whole table: SportMember publishes 35p + 1% but does not say whether Stripe card processing sits inside that or on top, so read its column as a floor. Ours is all in.
SportMember pricing checked against their published rates on 29 August 2026. Rates change, so verify before making a decision on cost alone.
Try it with your own club. Free to set up, no card required, and nothing to cancel.
Get started freeIf these are what your club needs most, SportMember is a good choice.
The distinction is the charging model rather than the feature list. ClubPal has one tier and no per-member cost, so what you pay tracks activity instead of headcount.
What switching actually involves
More detail on the process is on the switching page, or talk to us about your club before you decide.
Moving from SportMember
How much does SportMember cost?
SportMember Basic is free. SportMember PRO is £0.16 per member per month, with a minimum of £22 a month, so a club below roughly 138 members pays the minimum. Both tiers charge 35p + 1% per transaction. Checked against SportMember's published pricing on 29 August 2026.
Does SportMember's fee include card processing?
SportMember does not say. It publishes 35p + 1% per transaction and runs payments on Stripe, but not whether Stripe's card processing is inside that rate or charged on top, so ask before comparing totals. ClubPal's fee includes card processing.
Is ClubPal cheaper than SportMember?
For session-based clubs, usually yes. ClubPal has the lower fixed fee per transaction and the higher percentage, so it costs less on small, frequent payments. A club taking one annual payment above roughly £83 and nothing else all year pays less on SportMember PRO.
Is there a SportMember alternative with no per-member fee?
ClubPal charges nothing per member at any club size, so growing the club does not raise the software bill. There is one tier with every feature, no subscription, and 20p + 3.5% per transaction, card processing included.
Ready to simplify your club management?
Try ClubPal free today. No card required, no time limit, no catch.
- All features included
- Unlimited members
- No card required
- One flat fee, nothing else
- Apple Pay & Google Pay
- No subscription, no hidden fees
No contract. Export your data any time. Cancel whenever you like. The full price list is on our free club management software page.
See what your club would actually pay
Set up a free ClubPal site and run the numbers against your own membership. No card required, and nothing to cancel.