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Events · head to head

Activity Messenger vs Amilia SmartRec

Activity Messenger logo

Activity Messenger

Events

Registrations, payments and communications for sports and leisure

From
$99/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Amilia SmartRec logo

Amilia SmartRec

Scheduling

Registration and activity management for community recreation, with a 1% fee on top of the subscription

From
$99/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Activity Messenger entry pricing is 99 dollars a month, and online registration itself only appears on the 149 dollar Premium tier, so the cheapest plan is a communications tool rather than a registration one.; Amilia SmartRec the 1% fee on each new invoice item sits on top of both the subscription and card processing, so an organisation invoicing two million dollars pays around twenty thousand a year in a fee that never appears in a plan comparison.
  • They diverge on capability: Activity Messenger covers Online registration, Amilia SmartRec covers Activity registration.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 15 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Activity Messenger and Amilia SmartRec actually diverge.

Attributes where Activity Messenger and Amilia SmartRec differ
AttributeActivity MessengerAmilia SmartRec
Pricing modelsubscriptionPer month plus 1% of invoiced items
PlatformsWebWeb, iOS, Android
CategoryEventsScheduling
Founded2019Unknown

Identical on both: starting price ($99/month), free tier (No), 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 Activity Messenger

  • Online registration
  • Digital waivers
  • Email and SMS automation
  • Memberships and ticketing
  • Staff management
  • Attendance tracking
  • Bulk certificates

Only in Amilia SmartRec

  • Activity registration
  • Family accounts
  • Memberships
  • Facility booking
  • Point of sale
  • Online store
  • Financial reporting
  • Bilingual interface

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Activity Messenger

  • Running seasonal camp and class registrationsnot Amilia SmartRec
  • Collecting signed liability waivers digitallynot Amilia SmartRec
  • Managing memberships and recurring programmesnot Amilia SmartRec
  • Onboarding and timesheeting seasonal instructorsnot Amilia SmartRec
  • Email and SMS campaigns to a registrant listnot Amilia SmartRec

Amilia SmartRec

  • A municipal recreation department replacing paper and phone registration for seasonal programmesnot Activity Messenger
  • A community centre that needs one family account covering several children across different activitiesnot Activity Messenger
  • A bilingual Canadian organisation required to serve residents in English and Frenchnot Activity Messenger
  • A sports club running leagues, camps and memberships that currently sit in three separate systemsnot Activity Messenger

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Activity Messenger

  • Entry pricing is 99 dollars a month, and online registration itself only appears on the 149 dollar Premium tier, so the cheapest plan is a communications tool rather than a registration one.
  • Payment processing costs 2.9 percent plus 30 cents on cards with a 1 percent service fee on all methods, which is charged on top of the subscription.
  • Tiers are gated on email subscriber counts, so an organisation with a large mailing list and few registrations pays for the list.
  • Staff scheduling is listed as coming soon on the Pro tier rather than available.
  • The customer base and case studies are concentrated in North America, so a European organisation should check tax and payment handling before committing.

Amilia SmartRec

  • The 1% fee on each new invoice item sits on top of both the subscription and card processing, so an organisation invoicing two million dollars pays around twenty thousand a year in a fee that never appears in a plan comparison.
  • Implementation is charged separately, from $899 on Standard and $2,999 on Advanced, which for a small community organisation is several months of subscription before the system goes live.
  • Parks and facilities management is shallower than a dedicated municipal recreation platform, so departments managing complex field allocation and maintenance schedules will still need another system.
  • Reporting is oriented towards revenue rather than programme utilisation, so recreation managers analysing attendance patterns and capacity end up exporting to spreadsheets.
  • Its strength is in Canada, and US municipalities find fewer local references, fewer integrations with American finance systems and less familiarity with state-specific requirements.

Pricing, plan by plan

Activity Messenger

$99/month
  • Light$99/month
    • Email marketing with Canva integration
    • Digital waivers and signatures
    • Surveys and forms
  • Premium$149/month
    • Online registration and camps and activities management
    • Staff management
    • Memberships and automations
  • Pro$229/month
    • Private lessons and bookings
    • Unlimited users
    • Fully white label
  • Enterprise$undefined/month
    • Custom pricing
    • Unlimited data storage
    • Fundraising for athletes

Amilia SmartRec

$99/month
  • Standard$99/month
    • Activity registration and online store
    • Family accounts
    • 1% fee on each new invoice item
  • Advanced$499/month
    • Memberships, facility booking and point of sale
    • Advanced reporting
    • 1% fee on each new invoice item
  • Custom$undefined/year
    • For YMCAs, JCCs and parks and recreation departments
    • Scoped and quoted individually
    • Fee structure negotiated

Which should you pick?

Choose Activity Messenger if

  • You need online registration.
  • You also want digital waivers.
Activity Messenger review

Choose Amilia SmartRec if

  • You need activity registration.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want family accounts.
Amilia SmartRec review

Questions people ask

Is Activity Messenger or Amilia SmartRec better?
Neither clearly leads. Activity Messenger starts at $99/month and Amilia SmartRec at $99/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Activity Messenger or Amilia SmartRec?
Activity Messenger starts at $99/month and Amilia SmartRec at $99/month.
Does Activity Messenger or Amilia SmartRec run on more platforms?
Activity Messenger runs on Web. Amilia SmartRec runs on Web, iOS, Android.
What is Activity Messenger best used for?
Activity Messenger is most often used for running seasonal camp and class registrations, collecting signed liability waivers digitally, managing memberships and recurring programmes, onboarding and timesheeting seasonal instructors. Of those, running seasonal camp and class registrations and collecting signed liability waivers digitally are not what Amilia SmartRec is typically brought in for.
What can Activity Messenger do that Amilia SmartRec cannot?
Activity Messenger covers Online registration, Digital waivers, Email and SMS automation, Memberships and ticketing. Amilia SmartRec covers Activity registration, Family accounts, Memberships, Facility booking.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Activity Messenger: What does Activity Messenger cost?

Light is $99 a month, Premium $149, Pro $229, and Enterprise is custom priced. A $10 pause plan is available for seasonal businesses for up to six months.

Source
Amilia SmartRec: What is the real total cost?

Subscription from $99 or $499 a month, plus roughly 1% on each new invoice item, plus card processing around 2.85% plus $0.30, plus a one-off implementation fee. The percentage fees dominate at any real volume.

Activity Messenger: Are there transaction fees on top?

Yes. Credit card payments are 2.9 percent plus $0.30 per transaction, Interac and bank transfers are 1 percent plus $0.40, and a 1 percent service fee applies across all payment methods.

Source
Amilia SmartRec: Is the 1% negotiable?

On the Custom tier for larger organisations, the fee structure is part of the negotiation. On the published plans it is not.

Activity Messenger: Which tier includes online registration?

Premium at $149 a month. The $99 Light tier covers email marketing, digital waivers, surveys and forms, but registration, camps and activities management, memberships and ticketing start at Premium.

Source
Amilia SmartRec: Does it work in French?

Yes, throughout. That is a practical requirement for Quebec and many bilingual Canadian public bodies and a genuine reason to choose it there.

Activity Messenger: Who is it built for?

Sports and leisure organisations: classes and camps, schools, federations, dance studios, gymnastics clubs, swim schools, soccer academies, tennis clubs, parks and recreation departments and sports associations.

Source
Amilia SmartRec: Can it replace a municipal recreation system?

For registration and memberships, often yes. For parks asset and facility maintenance management, no.

Activity Messenger: Who built it?

Founded in Montreal in 2019 by Martin Drapeau, Olivier Rousseau and Michael Shpigelman. Drapeau was previously CTO of Amilia, where he spent six years growing the company from 15 to 110 people.

Source
Activity Messenger: What does it integrate with?

Stripe for payments, Zoom for online sessions on the Premium tier and above, and Canva for email design.

Source
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