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Events · head to head

ACTIVE Network vs SportsEngine

ACTIVE Network logo

ACTIVE Network

Events

Registration and payment software for parks departments, races and camps, owned by Global Payments

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
SportsEngine logo

SportsEngine

Sports

Registration and governance platform mandated by several United States national governing bodies

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only SportsEngine has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • 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.; SportsEngine a large part of the cost is the payment processing percentage on registrations rather than the platform quotation, so the true seasonal cost scales with the money you collect and is usually passed on to families.
  • They diverge on capability: ACTIVE Network covers ACTIVENet, SportsEngine covers Online registration.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which ACTIVE Network and SportsEngine actually diverge.

Attributes where ACTIVE Network and SportsEngine differ
AttributeACTIVE NetworkSportsEngine
Starting priceOn requestFree
Free tierNoYes
CategoryEventsSports

Identical on both: pricing model (quote), 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 SportsEngine

  • Online registration
  • Compliance and screening
  • Governing body integration
  • Scheduling and tournaments
  • Organisation websites
  • Free team tier

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 SportsEngine
  • A race director who wants registration, bib assignment and a consumer listing from one vendornot SportsEngine
  • A YMCA needing membership, childcare billing and facility booking in one systemnot SportsEngine
  • An agency with no software budget that can fund registration through participant-paid processing feesnot SportsEngine

SportsEngine

  • A club affiliated to a national governing body that runs its member registration and safeguarding on SportsEnginenot ACTIVE Network
  • A league that needs background screening status tracked against every volunteer before the season startsnot ACTIVE Network
  • An organisation collecting several hundred registrations with instalment payment plans across multiple programmesnot ACTIVE Network
  • A tournament organiser needing brackets, schedules and public results pages in one placenot 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.

SportsEngine

  • A large part of the cost is the payment processing percentage on registrations rather than the platform quotation, so the true seasonal cost scales with the money you collect and is usually passed on to families.
  • The free team tier is a funnel rather than a complete product, and organisations that adopt it discover the features they need are on the quoted club product.
  • The product line has grown through acquisition and corporate reorganisation under NBC Sports Next, so overlapping products and periodic retirements happen on a schedule set by the parent rather than by you.
  • Website building and communication tools are dated compared with general purpose alternatives, and clubs that care about their public presence often end up running a separate site anyway.
  • Outside the United States and outside the sports whose governing bodies mandate it, the case for choosing SportsEngine over a simpler and cheaper registration tool is weak.

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

SportsEngine

Free
  • SportsEngine HQFree
    • Free for individual teams
    • Rosters, schedules and messaging
    • Parent application access
  • SportsEngine for Clubs and Leagues$undefined/year
    • Quoted per organisation
    • Registration, payments and compliance tracking
    • Websites and multi-team scheduling

Which should you pick?

Choose ACTIVE Network if

  • You need activenet.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want activeworks endurance.
ACTIVE Network review

Choose SportsEngine if

  • You need online registration.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want compliance and screening.
SportsEngine review

Questions people ask

Is ACTIVE Network or SportsEngine better?
Neither clearly leads. ACTIVE Network starts at On request and SportsEngine at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, ACTIVE Network or SportsEngine?
SportsEngine has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for ACTIVE Network and Free for SportsEngine.
Does ACTIVE Network or SportsEngine run on more platforms?
Both run on Web, iOS, Android, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
Can I use SportsEngine for free?
Yes. SportsEngine has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. ACTIVE Network starts at On request.
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 SportsEngine is typically brought in for.
What can ACTIVE Network do that SportsEngine cannot?
ACTIVE Network covers ACTIVENet, ACTIVEWorks Endurance, Camp and Class Manager, Participant-paid fees. SportsEngine covers Online registration, Compliance and screening, Governing body integration, Scheduling and tournaments.

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.

SportsEngine: Do we have to use it?

If your national governing body runs member registration and safeguarding compliance on SportsEngine, effectively yes, unless you are prepared to duplicate registration in two systems.

ACTIVE Network: How does ACTIVE make money?

Primarily from registration processing fees, charged as a percentage plus a fixed amount per registration.

SportsEngine: What does it cost?

The organisation product is quoted, and on top of that there is a processing percentage on every registration payment. Model the processing against your registration volume.

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.

SportsEngine: Is SportsEngine HQ really free?

Yes, for individual teams. It is deliberately limited compared with the club and league product it is designed to lead you towards.

ACTIVE Network: Is pricing published?

No. Both licence and processing rates are quoted per account.

SportsEngine: How does it compare with TeamSnap?

TeamSnap is stronger at team-level communication and cheaper for a single team. SportsEngine wins where registration, payments and governing body compliance are the requirement.

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