Events · head to head
ACTIVE Network vs Sawyer
ACTIVE Network
Events
Registration and payment software for parks departments, races and camps, owned by Global Payments
- From
- On request
- Rated
- -
Sawyer
Scheduling
Class and camp booking software for children activity businesses, with a marketplace that takes up to 30 percent
- From
- $189/month
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Each has a real cost: ACTIVE Network revenue comes from registration processing rather than licence fees, so the vendor is aligned with transaction volume and not with the quality of the administrative experience.; Sawyer the Launch plan looks free but forces a marketplace listing at 30 percent commission, so a single high-value camp booking through the marketplace can cost more than a year of the Grow subscription would have.
- They diverge on capability: ACTIVE Network covers ACTIVENet, Sawyer covers Class and camp registration.
- Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which ACTIVE Network and Sawyer actually diverge.
| Attribute | ACTIVE Network | Sawyer |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | On request | $189/month |
| Pricing model | quote | Per business per month, plus marketplace commission |
| Category | Events | Scheduling |
Identical on both: free tier (No), platforms (Web, iOS, Android), user rating (Not yet rated).
What each one covers
Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.
Only in ACTIVE Network
- ACTIVENet
- ACTIVEWorks Endurance
- Camp and Class Manager
- Participant-paid fees
- Facility and league scheduling
- ACTIVE.com listing
Only in Sawyer
- Class and camp registration
- Memberships and class packs
- Consumer marketplace
- Auto-billing
- Waivers and e-signature
- Multi-location
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
ACTIVE Network
- A city parks department taking swim lesson, camp and league registrations online with fees passed to residentsnot Sawyer
- A race director who wants registration, bib assignment and a consumer listing from one vendornot Sawyer
- A YMCA needing membership, childcare billing and facility booking in one systemnot Sawyer
- An agency with no software budget that can fund registration through participant-paid processing feesnot Sawyer
Sawyer
- A new kids activity studio with no mailing list that wants the marketplace to fill its first termsnot ACTIVE Network
- An established music school moving off spreadsheets that will run Sawyer as software only and never list on the marketplacenot ACTIVE Network
- A gym selling memberships, class packs and birthday parties that needs all three billed from one systemnot ACTIVE Network
- A provider running summer camps alongside term-time classes who wants a single parent account for bothnot ACTIVE Network
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
ACTIVE Network
- Revenue comes from registration processing rather than licence fees, so the vendor is aligned with transaction volume and not with the quality of the administrative experience.
- Passing the processing fee to participants is normal practice, which makes the cost invisible on the agency budget and visible to residents as a service charge at checkout.
- The ACTIVENet codebase is long-lived and parts of the administrative interface remain dated, with upgrade cycles driven by the parent rather than by agency requests.
- Support responsiveness is a persistent complaint among municipal customers, and escalation paths are slower than in a standalone software vendor.
- Because Global Payments owns the merchant relationship, moving off ACTIVE means changing processor as well as software, which usually requires a procurement process rather than a simple switch.
Sawyer
- The Launch plan looks free but forces a marketplace listing at 30 percent commission, so a single high-value camp booking through the marketplace can cost more than a year of the Grow subscription would have.
- Marketplace commission applies to the order value, not the margin, so low-margin providers can lose money on a marketplace booking.
- Payment processing fees are charged separately by Stripe on top of the subscription and any commission, which the plan comparison does not surface clearly.
- The step from Grow to Scale doubles the monthly cost for account management and integrations rather than for capability most providers need, making the middle tier the only sensible choice for many.
- It is built for consumer activity businesses, so providers who invoice schools, councils or corporate clients will find the billing model a poor fit.
Pricing, plan by plan
ACTIVE Network
On request- ACTIVENet$undefined/year
- Registration, facility and membership modules
- Revenue derived primarily from registration processing fees
- Fee can be absorbed by the agency or passed to the participant
- Camp and Class Manager$undefined/year
- Flat rate or per registration fee model
- Rates quoted per account, not published
- ACTIVEWorks Endurance$undefined/year
- Race registration priced on a per registration fee
- ACTIVE.com listing included
Sawyer
$189/month- Launch$undefined/month
- No monthly subscription fee
- 3 percent per transaction
- Marketplace listing required, 30 percent commission on marketplace orders
- Grow$189/month
- 189 USD per month billed annually, 219 monthly
- Marketplace listing optional, 20 percent commission if used
- Advanced scheduling, waitlists, free trials
- Scale$379/month
- 379 USD per month billed annually, 399 monthly
- Marketplace listing optional, 15 percent commission if used
- Dedicated account manager and registration launch support
- Enterprise$undefined/month
- Custom pricing for large multi-site operators
Which should you pick?
Choose ACTIVE Network if
- You need activenet.
- You work on Web, iOS, Android.
- You also want activeworks endurance.
Choose Sawyer if
- You need class and camp registration.
- You work on Web, iOS, Android.
- You also want memberships and class packs.
Questions people ask
- Is ACTIVE Network or Sawyer better?
- Neither clearly leads. ACTIVE Network starts at On request and Sawyer at $189/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, ACTIVE Network or Sawyer?
- ACTIVE Network starts at On request and Sawyer at $189/month.
- Does ACTIVE Network or Sawyer run on more platforms?
- Both run on Web, iOS, Android, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
- What is ACTIVE Network best used for?
- ACTIVE Network is most often used for a city parks department taking swim lesson, camp and league registrations online with fees passed to residents, a race director who wants registration, bib assignment and a consumer listing from one vendor, a ymca needing membership, childcare billing and facility booking in one system, an agency with no software budget that can fund registration through participant-paid processing fees. Of those, a city parks department taking swim lesson, camp and league registrations online with fees passed to residents and a race director who wants registration, bib assignment and a consumer listing from one vendor are not what Sawyer is typically brought in for.
- What can ACTIVE Network do that Sawyer cannot?
- ACTIVE Network covers ACTIVENet, ACTIVEWorks Endurance, Camp and Class Manager, Participant-paid fees. Sawyer covers Class and camp registration, Memberships and class packs, Consumer marketplace, Auto-billing.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
ACTIVE Network: Who owns ACTIVE Network?
Global Payments, which acquired it in 2017 for around 1.2 billion US dollars. It sits in the merchant solutions business.
Sawyer: Is the Launch plan really free?
No. It has no monthly fee but charges 3 percent per transaction and requires a marketplace listing that takes 30 percent of marketplace orders.
ACTIVE Network: How does ACTIVE make money?
Primarily from registration processing fees, charged as a percentage plus a fixed amount per registration.
Sawyer: Can I use Sawyer without the marketplace?
Yes, on Grow and Scale the listing is optional. On Launch it is required.
ACTIVE Network: Can we absorb the fee instead of charging residents?
Yes, the agency chooses. Most pass it to the participant, which is why registrants see a service fee.
Sawyer: What does the marketplace commission apply to?
The full order value of bookings originating on hisawyer.com, not to bookings from your own website.
ACTIVE Network: Is pricing published?
No. Both licence and processing rates are quoted per account.
Sawyer: Is there a contract?
Monthly plans are month to month with 30 days notice; annual billing saves roughly 5 to 14 percent depending on tier.
Related pages
More on ACTIVE Network
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