Organizations leave Amilia SmartRec over the 1% service fee on every invoice on top of card processing, the yearly contract, and the caps on the Standard tier. Stay on Amilia if you want its self-serve storefront and the fee math works at your volume.
SmartRec is the product name Amilia uses for its recreation platform. "Amilia alternatives" and "SmartRec alternatives" describe the same search, and this page covers both.
Ordered by how well each one fits the organizations that usually outgrow Amilia SmartRec.
Memberships, programs, facilities, volunteers and POS with no percentage platform fee
Communal keeps memberships, program registration, facility rentals, donations, volunteer shifts and POS on one member record, with facility booking priced by bookable space count rather than by an account cap.
Check first: There is no native mobile app or website builder; members use a responsive portal beside your existing site.
Registration and leagues with a rec website, and no per-invoice fee
RecDesk covers registration, facility scheduling, memberships, leagues, POS and email for small towns, with no per-seat fees and free training.
Check first: No volunteer management, donation tools or public API, and the company was acquired by Clubessential in 2024.
League scheduling and registration for budget-conscious departments
Cogran includes a league scheduler at no extra cost alongside registration, facilities and POS, with unlimited admin accounts.
Check first: Reviewers describe a steep initial setup with video-only training, and Stripe processing rates are not published.
Enterprise scale for large city and county parks departments
ACTIVENet covers activities, facilities, memberships, POS, childcare and mobile apps on hosting built for the largest municipal departments.
Check first: Third-party estimates put implementation between $10,000 and $150,000, and reviewers call the admin interface dated.
Customizable enterprise platform for mid-size municipal parks and rec
Xplor Recreation (formerly PerfectMind, now branded nextRec) is known for highly customizable fields and workflows across facility booking, registration, memberships, POS, kiosks and court booking.
Check first: Quote-only pricing on multi-year terms, no league scheduling module, and reviewers say recurring facility rentals cannot be requested online.
Team and game scheduling and rentals, with no service fee per invoice
MyRec.com covers team and game scheduling, facility rentals, POS and memberships, with unlimited users, free training and support.
Check first: Card processing runs around 3% (Amex 3.25%) plus monthly gateway, PCI and minimum fees, higher than Amilia on a per-transaction basis.
Purpose-built for YMCAs and JCCs with dedicated operations staff
Daxko Operations handles family memberships, scholarships, holds and the full program lifecycle from registration through waitlists, rosters, attendance and check-in.
Check first: No published pricing, an interface reviewers describe as outdated, and API access that requires sales rep approval.
| Feature | Communal | Amilia SmartRec | RecDesk | Cogran | ACTIVENet |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Membership management | IncludedTiers, custom fields, segments | Included | Included | Included | Included |
| Family & household memberships | Included | Included | Included | Included | Included |
| Resident vs non-resident pricing | IncludedAutomatic by address | Included | Included | Not listed | Included |
| Program & class registration | Add-onWaitlists, capacity, attendance, rosters | Included | Included | Included | Included |
| Facility booking & rentals | Add-onFrom +$50/mo; approvals, invoices, agreements, iCal | Included | Included | Included | Included |
| Leagues, seasons & recurring bookings | Add-onSeasons and recurring blocks (Facilities) | Included | Included | Included | Included |
| Volunteer shifts & hour tracking | IncludedShifts, hours, auto volunteer discounts | Included | Not offered | Included | Included |
| Donations & fundraising | IncludedIncluded; donor covers fees option | Included | Not offered | Included | Not listed |
| Point of sale | IncludedSoftware included; Stripe Terminal readers, Interac | Included | Included | Included | Included |
| Digital membership cards (Apple / Google Wallet) | IncludedIncluded in every plan | Not listed | Not listed | Not listed | Not listed |
| Public API | IncludedREST API, Zapier webhooks, MCP server | Included | Not offered | Included | Included |
| Built-in accounting | Not offeredCSV/XLSX exports with GL codes; no QuickBooks sync | Not offered | Not offered | Not offered | Not offered |
| Detail | Communal | Amilia SmartRec | RecDesk | Cogran | ACTIVENet |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starting price | $75/mo | From $99/mo + 1% | From $3,835/yr | From $899/yr | Quote (per transaction) |
| Pricing model | Flat, by member band (to 250 members at the floor) | Monthly tiers + 1% service fee | Annual subscription by town size | Annual license, usage tiers | Transaction-based + implementation |
| Contract | No contracts, prorated billing, cancel any module any time | Reviewers report a yearly contract commitment | Annual subscription (term details not published) | Annual | Multi-year agreements typical for municipal deals (not published) |
| Payment fees | Card-processing application fee set in your agreement, often 2%; no monthly minimums | 1% service fee on every invoice;Detailscards 2.85% + $0.30 (Standard) or 2.75% + $0.30 (Advanced); eCheck 1% + $0.50; custom rates for high volume | Not published on pricing page | Payments processed through Stripe; rates not published | Processing fee is a percentage plus dollar amount per registration;Detailsagency can absorb or pass to participant; exact rates via account manager |
| Free trial | Free trial, no credit card | Free trial | Free trial | Free trial | No free trial |
The SmartRec REST API is available on demand on Standard and Advanced and included only on the Custom tier, so organizations that want to connect a website, an access-control system or a reporting tool may need to negotiate for it.
Standard covers 1 store, up to 10 facilities and 5,000 accounts. Past any of those limits the next published tier is Advanced at $499/mo, a five-fold jump that organizations with 11 bookable rooms or courts notice quickly.
Amilia charges a 1% service fee on every invoice in addition to card processing of 2.85% + $0.30 on Standard or 2.75% + $0.30 on Advanced. A rec center that processes $400,000 a year in registrations pays $4,000 in service fees before the monthly subscription.
Reviewers cite payout timing of 7 to 8 days, against 1 to 2 days for some competitors. For a community center living season to season, a week of float on registration revenue matters.
Reviewers report that Amilia requires a yearly contract, so an organization that outgrows a tier or wants to leave mid-season is locked in until renewal.
Facility booking in Communal covers parent and child spaces (a facility with four courts), recurring seasonal bookings for leagues and booking-to-invoice for team renters, and it is priced by the number of bookable spaces. Amilia moves you from Standard to Advanced when you pass 10 facilities.
Apple and Google Wallet membership passes that update on renewal, volunteer price tiers applied automatically on programs, and resident vs non-resident pricing by map boundary are part of the base plan. Amilia does not list wallet cards.
Communal is month to month with prorated billing and cancel-any-module terms, and deposits settle weekly to your own Stripe Connect account. Amilia reviewers report a yearly contract and 7 to 8 day payout timing.
Communal charges a flat subscription from $75/mo plus the card-processing fee in your agreement, often around 2%, with no 1% service fee on every invoice. Amilia adds 1% on top of 2.85% + $0.30 card processing on the Standard tier.
Stay on Amilia SmartRec if your members already use its storefront happily, your facility count is under 10, and your annual registration volume is low enough that the 1% service fee costs less than a move would. Amilia publishes its pricing and has the features most rec organizations need; the reasons to leave are the fee structure and the caps, not missing modules.
Communal for centers with up to 20 bookable rooms and courts that want memberships, programs, rentals, volunteers and POS on one record. RecDesk if you are a small town department that wants registration, leagues and a website from one vendor.
RecDesk or MyRec.com for small town departments that want registration, scheduling and free training. ACTIVENet or Xplor Recreation for large municipal departments that need enterprise hosting and can budget for implementation.
Cogran if league scheduling is the core need and budget is tight. Communal if the club also sells memberships, rents courts on recurring seasonal blocks and wants wallet cards and volunteer shifts on the same system.
Daxko Operations for established YMCAs and JCCs with dedicated operations staff and scholarship and hold workflows. Communal for smaller community centers that want self-serve signup, family memberships and program waitlists.
Amilia exports accounts, memberships and registrations to CSV, and we map and import them for free.
Export your accounts (with family members), membership purchases, program registrations and facility bookings from SmartRec as CSV files; we map fields to Communal members, dependents, membership plans and program sessions and run a dry-run import to check the results.
Set up membership types, map boundaries for resident pricing, bookable spaces and the programs for your next season in Communal, then import members with their existing expiry dates so renewals land on the right day.
Point registration links on your website to the Communal portal, issue wallet cards, and go live before your next registration opening. Keep SmartRec read-only until the contract term ends.
The Hawkwood Community Association moved its pickleball courts and community garden bookings off spreadsheets onto Communal facility booking. Read the case study.
How the hall gets booked, how program pricing works, how you chase renewals. No canned tour. We walk Communal through your real process so you can see the fit before you decide.
No canned tour · No sales script
For community centers, sports clubs and smaller recreation departments, Communal: $75/mo flat for up to 250 members with no 1% service fee, facility booking from +$50/mo and programs at +$50/mo. For small town parks departments that want a published annual price and a website, RecDesk from $3,835/yr. For large municipal departments, ACTIVENet or Xplor Recreation.
Amilia publishes two tiers: Standard at $99/mo (1 store, up to 10 facilities, 5,000 accounts) and Advanced at $499/mo (up to 3 stores, 20 facilities, 10,000 accounts), plus a Custom tier by quote. Every invoice carries a 1% service fee, and card processing is 2.85% + $0.30 on Standard or 2.75% + $0.30 on Advanced. Third-party listings cite a Parks & Rec tier around $799/mo. Reviewers report a yearly contract.
Yes. Communal is $75/mo for up to 250 members with volunteer, donor and POS software included, +$50/mo for programs and from +$50/mo for facility booking, with no percentage platform fee and no contract. Cogran lists pricing from $899/yr for smaller organizations. Compare the 1% Amilia fee at your annual revenue against a flat figure; see Communal pricing.
Amilia publishes monthly tiers from $99/mo and suits community organizations and mid-size departments that want self-serve registration. ACTIVENet is quote-priced per transaction with implementation costs estimated between $10,000 and $150,000 and is built for large city and county departments. Read the full ACTIVENet vs Amilia comparison.
Yes, and migration is free. We import accounts, family members, membership purchases, program registrations and booking history from your SmartRec CSV exports, validate the mapping with you on a dry run, and keep existing expiry dates intact. Most moves are timed to land before a registration opening.
No. Communal charges a flat monthly subscription by member band and the card-processing fee set in your agreement, often around 2%, paid to your own Stripe Connect account with weekly deposits. There is no monthly minimum and no percentage platform fee on invoices. A donor-covers-fees option is available at checkout.
Yes. Communal facility booking covers parent and child spaces, instant or request-and-approve bookings, membership-gated and member-type pricing, recurring seasonal bookings for leagues, drop-in timeslots, block-offs, a public calendar and booking-to-invoice for team renters. It starts at +$50/mo for 2 spaces and is priced by space count, not by a facility cap.