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Scheduling · head to head

Amilia SmartRec vs Zcal

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
Zcal logo

Zcal

Scheduling

Scheduling with an unusually large free tier and heavy branding control

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Zcal has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: 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.; Zcal zcal branding stays on the free booking page, so the tier that is otherwise generous is not usable as a customer facing page for a business that cares how it looks.
  • They diverge on capability: Amilia SmartRec covers Activity registration, Zcal covers Unlimited booking links.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Amilia SmartRec and Zcal actually diverge.

Attributes where Amilia SmartRec and Zcal differ
AttributeAmilia SmartRecZcal
Starting price$99/monthFree
Pricing modelPer month plus 1% of invoiced itemsPer user per month
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWeb, iOS, AndroidWeb

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (Scheduling).

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 Amilia SmartRec

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

Only in Zcal

  • Unlimited booking links
  • Branded booking pages
  • Meeting polls
  • Group events
  • Round robin and collective
  • SMS reminders
  • Paid bookings

What people use each for

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

Amilia SmartRec

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

Zcal

  • A consultant who runs several different meeting types and refuses to pay a subscription for the privilege of having more than one booking linknot Amilia SmartRec
  • A coach or recruiter who wants a branded page with a welcome video and intake questions before the call happensnot Amilia SmartRec
  • A small team that needs round robin distribution of inbound calls without buying a full sales engagement platformnot Amilia SmartRec
  • Anyone taking payment at the point of booking, where the Stripe connection removes an invoicing step afterwardsnot Amilia SmartRec

Where each one falls short

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

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.

Zcal

  • Zcal branding stays on the free booking page, so the tier that is otherwise generous is not usable as a customer facing page for a business that cares how it looks.
  • Paid tier prices are not stated plainly in the product documentation and third party sources disagree on the figure, so the paid step up has to be confirmed on the vendor pricing page before budgeting for a team.
  • SMS reminders are credit metered on paid tiers, so a high volume booker can exhaust the allowance and be pushed up a tier by message count rather than by needing any feature.
  • The integration list is short next to established competitors, and there is no deep native CRM object writing, so a sales team that wants bookings to create and update CRM records will need automation glue.
  • It is a small vendor in a category dominated by much larger companies, which is fine for a personal booking link and a real consideration if booking is a core business process you cannot afford to migrate off in a hurry.

Pricing, plan by plan

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

Zcal

Free
  • Free ForeverFree
    • Unlimited booking links
    • Unlimited connected calendar accounts
    • Meeting polls and group events
  • Pro$undefined/month
    • Per user per month, priced on the vendor pricing page
    • Team creation and team pages
    • Round robin and collective events
  • Business$undefined/month
    • Per user per month, priced on the vendor pricing page
    • Everything in Pro
    • Custom domain and custom sending email domain

Which should you pick?

Choose Amilia SmartRec if

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

Choose Zcal if

  • You need unlimited booking links.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You also want branded booking pages.
Zcal review

Questions people ask

Is Amilia SmartRec or Zcal better?
Neither clearly leads. Amilia SmartRec starts at $99/month and Zcal at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Amilia SmartRec or Zcal?
Zcal has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $99/month for Amilia SmartRec and Free for Zcal.
Does Amilia SmartRec or Zcal run on more platforms?
Amilia SmartRec runs on Web, iOS, Android. Zcal runs on Web.
Can I use Zcal for free?
Yes. Zcal has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Amilia SmartRec starts at $99/month.
What is Amilia SmartRec best used for?
Amilia SmartRec is most often used for a municipal recreation department replacing paper and phone registration for seasonal programmes, a community centre that needs one family account covering several children across different activities, a bilingual canadian organisation required to serve residents in english and french, a sports club running leagues, camps and memberships that currently sit in three separate systems. Of those, a municipal recreation department replacing paper and phone registration for seasonal programmes and a community centre that needs one family account covering several children across different activities are not what Zcal is typically brought in for.
What can Amilia SmartRec do that Zcal cannot?
Amilia SmartRec covers Activity registration, Family accounts, Memberships, Facility booking. Zcal covers Unlimited booking links, Branded booking pages, Meeting polls, Group events.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

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.

Zcal: Is the free plan actually usable?

Yes. Unlimited booking links and unlimited calendar connections, which is more than most competitors allow, but Zcal branding stays on the page.

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.

Zcal: What do you pay for?

Team features, round robin and collective events, branding removal, custom fonts, SMS reminders and custom domains.

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.

Zcal: Can I take payment for bookings?

Yes, through the Stripe connection at the point of booking.

Amilia SmartRec: Can it replace a municipal recreation system?

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

Zcal: Does it do round robin?

Yes, on the paid tiers. Round robin and collective events are not on the free plan.

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