The best Spond alternatives in 2026
Spond is a free app for sports teams, clubs and groups to organise events, track attendance, chat and collect payments. Spond Club adds a web tool for larger clubs with a member register, renewals and club websites. If it’s stopped fitting how you run, here are 5 alternatives worth a look — what each is best at, what it costs, and when staying on Spond is the right call.
Checked October 2026 · By the Hiive team
The short answer
- Hiive — best for organizers, venues and communities in India, from gigs to run clubs, who want tickets in ₹, curated entry and venue schedules in one place.
- Heylo — run clubs and social groups that want events, chat and payments in one app.
- WhatsApp Communities — free, familiar coordination for groups whose members already use WhatsApp.
- Meetup — interest groups that meet regularly and want to be found by strangers.
- Playo — players booking courts and turfs, and venues filling slots through a sports marketplace.
Why people look for a Spond alternative
- Indian clubs want to collect fees and sell tickets in rupees.
- Growing communities want new people to find their events, not just existing members.
- Venues and organizers need schedules, bookable services and campaigns.
- Adult social and fitness communities want curated entry and booking analytics rather than team admin.
The alternatives, one by one
01 · OUR PICK
Hiive
Hiive is an app for finding local events and the communities behind them — gigs, comedy nights, workshops, supper clubs, run clubs, games and meetups — with a business workspace for the venues, event IPs and organizers who run them. Ticketing, venue schedules, memberships, campaigns, analytics, a shop and payouts live in one place, and the same events surface to people nearby in the Hiive app.
Hiive vs Spond, in detailPick it over Spond if
- You're in India and want to sell tickets and collect fees in rupees.
- You want new people nearby to discover your events and community.
- You manage a venue, or coordinate events across one.
- You want to curate who joins, run campaigns and see where bookings drop off.
Worth knowing
- Hiive is newer than most tools it's compared with. Its event and community coverage is deepest in Mumbai, where it launched, and is growing city by city.
- Business pricing isn't a public rate card: the software is free for the first couple of months, then a fee is agreed with each partner based on the value delivered.
02
Heylo
Best for: Run clubs and social groups that want events, chat and payments in one app
Heylo is a US-based community app for clubs such as run clubs and social groups, combining events, group chat, a member directory and payments. It positions itself as an alternative to Meetup, with a free Base plan and paid tiers that lower payment fees.
Good at
- Unlimited members and events on every plan, including the free Base tier.
- Group chats, a member directory, questionnaires and icebreakers help members get to know each other.
- Clear published pricing, with payment fees that fall as you move up tiers.
Watch out for
- INR isn't a supported payment currency, so Indian groups can't collect fees in ₹.
- The free plan carries the highest payment fee (5% + $0.59), before Stripe processing.
- Email sends are capped by plan tier.
Pricing: Base: free, with a payment fee of 5% + $0.59.
03
WhatsApp Communities
Best for: Free, familiar coordination for groups whose members already use WhatsApp
WhatsApp Communities bring related WhatsApp groups together under one announcement channel. Admins post updates to everyone, members chat in the groups, and Events let people RSVP and get reminders.
Good at
- Almost everyone in India already has WhatsApp, so joining takes seconds.
- An announcement group where admins post and members can reply or react.
- Events with RSVPs (including +1 guests) and reminders, launched in 2024.
Watch out for
- No ticketing or payments, so collecting fees means a separate tool or manual transfers.
- No public discovery: new members only arrive by invite link or word of mouth.
- No venue booking, attendance analytics or booking funnel.
Pricing: Free for admins and members.
04
Meetup
Best for: Interest groups that meet regularly and want to be found by strangers
Meetup is a long-running platform for interest-based groups and the events they hold. Members join and RSVP free; organizers run their groups on a paid plan, with a limited free Starter tier.
Good at
- A large, established discovery network — people search Meetup specifically to find groups.
- Group-first structure: members, RSVPs, waitlists and attendance live under one group page.
- Works for almost any interest, from tech talks to hiking to language exchange.
Watch out for
- Organizers pay a subscription before they can charge for events; the free Starter tier caps events and attendees.
- Member email export and the API are limited to Meetup Pro.
- No venue or court scheduling, and no activity tracking.
Pricing: Starter: free — one group, up to 2 in-person events a month and 10 attendees, no online events, and no event fees.
05
Playo
Best for: Players booking courts and turfs, and venues filling slots through a sports marketplace
Playo is a sports community app for booking venues and courts, joining or hosting pickup games, and finding trainers. Venues manage bookings and memberships through Playo's Venue Partner Interface app.
Good at
- A strong Indian sports-booking marketplace — players open Playo specifically to find and book courts and turfs.
- Pickup games: players can host or join games and chat with their group.
- Venue tools cover a facility scheduler, a membership manager for advances and renewals, pricing rules and discounts, and reports.
Watch out for
- Built around court and turf bookings and pickup games; general event ticketing (workshops, races, socials) isn't part of the product.
- Venue commission rates aren't published, so organizers need to ask Playo directly.
- No activity tracking for runs, rides or walks.
Pricing: Players book courts and turfs, host or join games, and use Karma discounts and gift cards in the app.
Compared side by side
Yes Partly No? Not confirmed from official sources
Leaving Spond? Take your people with you
Group admins can export the member list to Excel from the Spond app or the web, and the export includes subgroups. Full member details require admin rights.
How to export members from SpondQuestions
It depends on why you're leaving. For event organizers, venues and communities in India that want ticketing with payouts in rupees, curated membership, venue schedules and booking analytics in one place, Hiive is the strongest fit. Heylo is best for run clubs and social groups that want events, chat and payments in one app. WhatsApp Communities is best for free, familiar coordination for groups whose members already use WhatsApp. Meetup is best for interest groups that meet regularly and want to be found by strangers.
Indian clubs want to collect fees and sell tickets in rupees. Growing communities want new people to find their events, not just existing members. Venues and organizers need schedules, bookable services and campaigns. Adult social and fitness communities want curated entry and booking analytics rather than team admin.
Stay on Spond if: you run a team or club with a fixed roster and want free attendance and chat; you run youth or junior sport and need parent and guardian controls; you collect fees in a currency spond supports, such as usd, eur, gbp or aud; you want a season planner and repeating events for regular training.
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See the whole platform →Sources and disclosure
Written by the Hiive team. We make a competing product, so every claim about another product here comes from its own website or help centre, checked in October 2026. Prices and features change — check the provider before you decide. Spotted something out of date? Email jai@hiive.club and we’ll fix it.