MyRec.com is the better pick for a small town recreation department that wants no long-term contract, unlimited users and a system sized for a small staff.
CivicRec is the better pick for a municipality already on the CivicPlus website platform that wants its rec catalog, 311 and process automation from one vendor. Community centers, associations and YMCA branches that are not a government department usually need a third option.
Recreation management from CivicPlus for local government.
Recreation software for small town departments with every module included and no contracts.
Communal is listed as a third column because organizations comparing these two usually need the same things it was built for: memberships, programs and facilities in one database.
| Feature | CivicPlus Recreation Management | MyRec.com | Communal |
|---|---|---|---|
| Membership management | Included | Included | IncludedTiers, custom fields, segments |
| Automated renewals | Included | Included | IncludedReminders and auto-renew |
| Digital membership cards (Apple / Google Wallet) | Not listed | Not listed | IncludedIncluded in every plan |
| Event registration & ticketing | Included | Included | Add-onPrograms & events add-on |
| Program & class registration | Included | Included | Add-onWaitlists, capacity, attendance, rosters |
| Facility booking & rentals | Included | Included | Add-onApprovals, invoices, agreements, iCal |
| Volunteer shifts & hour tracking | Included | Not listed | IncludedShifts, hours, auto volunteer discounts |
| Donations & fundraising | Not listed | Included | IncludedIncluded; donor covers fees option |
| Automatic tax receipts | Not listed | Not listed | IncludedAutomatic |
| Member self-service portal | Included | Included | Included |
| Email campaigns | Included | Included | IncludedCampaigns and segments |
| Website builder | Not offered | Not listed | Not offeredWorks beside your site |
| Public API | Included | Not listed | IncludedREST API, Zapier webhooks, MCP server |
Pick MyRec.com if you are a small town recreation department that wants no long-term contract, unlimited staff users and a system a small team can run. Pick CivicRec if your municipality already runs its website on CivicPlus and you want the rec catalog, 311 and workflow automation to share that platform. Pick neither if you are a community center, association or YMCA branch outside local government.
| If you are... | Lean towards |
|---|---|
| A small town that wants no contract and a small-staff system | MyRec.com |
| A department that takes donations through the rec system | MyRec.com |
| A municipality already on the CivicPlus website platform | CivicRec |
| A department that needs a public API or volunteer management in the rec suite | CivicRec |
| A community center, association or YMCA branch outside local government | Neither; see the third option |
If you are a small town, community center, community association or YMCA branch rather than a city department, both of these are shaped for a buyer you are not. Communal covers memberships with household accounts and resident pricing by map boundary, program registration with waitlists and attendance, facility booking with approvals and invoices, donations with automatic tax receipts, volunteer shifts and a public REST API. There is no contract, migration is free and scoped, and the 30-day trial is self-serve. It has no website builder, no native mobile app and no 311 or municipal-site integration, and it is not built for a large municipal procurement. Communal is our product; the comparison above is drawn from the two vendors' published materials and reviews.
Short answers.
MyRec says it has no long-term contracts and no startup costs, with unlimited users and free training and support. CivicRec's contract terms are not published; annual or multi-year is typical for government SaaS. Neither vendor publishes a free trial.
Both include league scheduling, facility rentals, memberships, program registration and POS. CivicRec reviewers report League Manager bugs, slow POS transactions, reliability incidents and limited iOS functionality; they also praise ease of use and support. MyRec lists team and game scheduling, facility rentals, POS and memberships, and it includes donations, which CivicRec does not document.
It works, but its main advantage is deep integration with CivicPlus municipal websites, 311 and process automation. If your city site is on another platform, you are comparing the two on features alone.
Both are built for town and city recreation departments. A community center, community association or YMCA branch that sells memberships, runs programs, rents rooms, takes donations and schedules volunteers can use Communal, with no contract, free migration and a 30-day trial. It is not built for a large municipal RFP.