Comparison · Activity Messenger alternative
enrops vs Activity Messenger
Choose Activity Messenger if you want texting, email marketing, forms, surveys and waivers in one subscription, with plans from $99 a month and online registration from $149. Choose enrops if you want to pay $0 for the software, open registration in under 5 minutes without a demo, and have the enrops service fee go back to the family whenever a registration is refunded.
Free for businesses. Live in under 5 minutes.
How is enrops different from Activity Messenger on price and fees?
Both publish their prices, and both pay out to your own Stripe account. The difference is who pays for the software, and how much.
| Compare | Activity Messenger | enrops |
|---|---|---|
| Built for | Activity Messenger"Sports & Leisure, Classes & Camp, Schools & Federations": sports clubs, dance studios, swim schools, gymnastics, camps, and parks and recreation. | enropsKids programs: camps, classes and after-school programs. |
| Pricing published | Activity MessengerYes. Plan prices and payment fees are public. The pricing page shows a dollar sign and names no currency. | enropsYes. Full pricing with worked examples to the cent on the pricing page. |
| Monthly price | Activity MessengerLight $99 a month. Premium $149. Pro $229. A custom-priced plan above that. Online registration starts at Premium. No free plan is listed. A $10-a-month Storage Plan covers off-season months, for up to 6 months. | enropsFree: $0. Pro: $99 a month or $990 a year. Custom by quote. No per-location pricing. |
| Per-payment fee, and who pays it | Activity MessengerA 1% Activity Messenger fee on card payments, $0.25 minimum, on top of Stripe's 2.9% + $0.30. On bank and Interac transfers, 1% with a $0.50 minimum and a $5 maximum. Businesses can add a credit card convenience fee for families, set as a percentage. | enropsFamilies pay the enrops service fee: 3% by card, 2% by bank, $1.99 minimum, $14.99 maximum by card and $9.99 by bank. It's included in the price they see first. The business pays enrops $0 per transaction, unless it chooses to cover the fee. |
| Is the fee refunded on a refund? | Activity MessengerNot stated on the pages we read. For the subscription, the pricing page says: "Activity Messenger gives no refunds on a paid month." | enropsYes. Refunded to the family whenever the registration is refunded. |
Source: Activity Messenger, "Pricing", https://www.activitymessenger.com/pricing, checked September 18, 2026.
Source: Activity Messenger, "Registration Forms with online payment", https://activitymessenger.com/features/payments/, checked September 18, 2026.
Source: Activity Messenger Help, "Payment methods", https://activitymessenger.com/help/payment_methods, checked September 18, 2026.
Source: Activity Messenger, home page, https://activitymessenger.com/, checked September 18, 2026.
How do payments and setup compare?
How families can pay, where the money lands, and how you get started.
| Compare | Activity Messenger | enrops |
|---|---|---|
| Payment plans | Activity MessengerYes, from Premium. "Auto-billing (Installments, subscriptions)", and scheduled payments that divide an amount into monthly payments. | enropsInstallments you set, on every plan, Free included. No interest, plan fee or late fee. |
| Pay by bank | Activity MessengerYes. Interac e-Transfer, bank transfer and pre-authorized debit, which the pricing page marks "Canada only". | enropsYes. Families pay by bank and save: 2% instead of 3%. |
| Where the money lands | Activity MessengerYour own Stripe account. "If you already have a Stripe account, simply connect it." | enropsYour own Stripe account, paid out to your bank. The same. |
| Waivers | Activity MessengerYes, on every plan, Light included. Waivers also work as a standalone tool, without registration. | enropsDigital waivers you can edit, signed at registration, on every plan, Free included. |
| Time to first registration | Activity MessengerNot published on their site as of September 18, 2026. | enropsUnder 5 minutes. In our July 25, 2026 production test, signup to a live registration link took about 3 to 4.5 minutes. |
| How you start | Activity MessengerThe pricing and product pages lead to "Book a demo". | enropsSelf-serve signup. No demo needed. |
Source: Activity Messenger, "Pricing", https://www.activitymessenger.com/pricing, checked September 18, 2026.
Source: Activity Messenger Help, "Payment methods", https://activitymessenger.com/help/payment_methods, checked September 18, 2026.
Source: Activity Messenger, "The Best Online Registration Software for All Your Activities", https://activitymessenger.com/features/online-registration/, checked September 18, 2026.
Free for businesses. Live in under 5 minutes.
How much does Activity Messenger cost on a $240 registration?
Online registration on Activity Messenger starts on the Premium plan at $149 a month. Each card payment then carries Stripe's 2.9% + $0.30 and a 1% Activity Messenger fee, so a $240 registration keeps you at $230.34. enrops is free for businesses: families pay the enrops service fee, and your only cost is Stripe's standard processing.
Activity Messenger, Premium
A $240.00 registration paid by card, no convenience fee added. Prices as shown on their page.
Their pricing page adds applicable sales taxes to the 1% fee. Not included here.
enrops, Free plan
A $240.00 registration paid by card.
By bank the family pays $244.80 and saves $2.40. The service fee is refunded to the family whenever the registration is refunded.
Now a season. 100 registrations at $240, over four months. On Activity Messenger Premium, families pay $24,000. Payment costs come to $966 and the plan to $596, so you keep $22,438. On enrops Free, families pay $24,720, which includes $720 in enrops service fees, and you keep $23,253.
Read it both ways. Activity Messenger costs the family less. enrops costs the business less. What the subscription buys is the rest of Activity Messenger's toolkit, so weigh it against the tools you'd use. What registration software costs runs this math across more tools.
Source: Activity Messenger, "Pricing", https://www.activitymessenger.com/pricing, checked September 18, 2026.
Source: Stripe, "Pricing", https://stripe.com/pricing, checked September 18, 2026.
Who should choose Activity Messenger, and who should choose enrops?
Activity Messenger's first plan is messaging, forms and waivers, and it goes deep on all three. Registration comes in on the next plan up. Here is where each one fits.
Choose Activity Messenger if
- You want bulk texting and email marketing, with a Canva integration, inside your registration tool. Bulk SMS is listed on all three plans.
- You want forms, surveys and waivers as tools of their own, for things that aren't a registration.
- You run memberships with auto-billing, event ticketing, or private lesson bookings.
- You want team onboarding and timesheets that you switch on yourself. On enrops, instructor onboarding is set up with our team.
- You're in Canada and want Interac e-Transfer or pre-authorized debit. Activity Messenger says its data is hosted in Quebec.
Choose enrops if
- You want to pay $0 for the software. Free for businesses, and you pay enrops $0 per transaction.
- You want registration open today. Self-serve, first registration in under 5 minutes, no demo.
- You want the fee to follow the refund. The enrops service fee is refunded to the family whenever the registration is refunded.
- You run programs at schools. The schedule builder knows the district calendar and its no-school days, and rosters carry grade and homeroom teacher.
- You want payment plans you set on the Free plan, and pay by bank and save. No per-location pricing.
Source: Activity Messenger, "Pricing", https://www.activitymessenger.com/pricing, checked September 18, 2026.
Source: Activity Messenger, home page, https://activitymessenger.com/, checked September 18, 2026.
Source: Activity Messenger, "Registration Forms with online payment", https://activitymessenger.com/features/payments/, checked September 18, 2026.
Switching is small
How do I switch from Activity Messenger?
Build your next session on enrops and share the new link. There is nothing to migrate to start, and since both tools pay out through Stripe, you connect the Stripe account you already have. Activity Messenger's pricing page says you can cancel any time, so the season in flight can finish where it is.
Want a hand? Send us your current form and we'll draft your first registration.
Free for businesses. Live in under 5 minutes.
Questions operators ask about enrops and Activity Messenger
What is the best alternative to Activity Messenger?
It depends on what you use it for. If you rely on its texting, email marketing, surveys or memberships, staying put may be the right call. If you mainly need registration, payments, rosters and waivers, enrops does those free for businesses, and your first registration takes under 5 minutes.
How much does Activity Messenger cost?
Activity Messenger's pricing page lists Light at $99 a month, Premium at $149 and Pro at $229, plus a custom-priced plan. Online registration starts at Premium. Card payments carry Stripe's 2.9% + $0.30 and a 1% Activity Messenger fee with a $0.25 minimum. The page names no currency. Checked September 18, 2026.
Is enrops cheaper than Activity Messenger?
For the business, yes. On a $240 card registration, enrops keeps you at $232.53 with no monthly plan on Free. Activity Messenger's Premium plan keeps you at $230.34, plus $149 a month. For the family it runs the other way: $247.20 on enrops, which includes the $7.20 enrops service fee, and $240.00 on Activity Messenger unless the business adds a convenience fee.
What happens to fees when a registration is refunded?
On enrops, the enrops service fee is refunded to the family whenever the registration is refunded. We found no Activity Messenger page that says what happens to its 1% fee on a refund, so ask them before you decide. Checked September 18, 2026.
What does Activity Messenger do that enrops doesn't?
Activity Messenger offers bulk texting, email marketing with a Canva integration, standalone forms and surveys, memberships with auto-billing, event ticketing and private lesson bookings, plus Interac and pre-authorized debit for Canadian businesses. On enrops, instructor onboarding and class matching are set up with our team.
Do I need Stripe to use enrops?
Yes. enrops runs payments through Stripe, so the money lands in your own Stripe account and pays out to your bank. If you already use Stripe with Activity Messenger, you connect that same account. Have your bank account and your EIN ready, or your SSN if you're a sole proprietor.
Your next registration could open today.
Create it, connect Stripe, share the link. Families register and pay in one place, and the money lands in your own Stripe account.
Free for businesses. Live in under 5 minutes.