A Spark Membership alternative that works with your own processor
Spark Membership offers one plan for every school and processes your members' payments itself. ClubTide is priced by the size of your club, starting at $49 a month, and members pay into your own Stripe, PayPal or Authorize.net account at that processor's standard rates, with belts, attendance, family billing and a parent portal included.
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One plan for everyone, or a price that fits your club
Spark Membership is aimed mainly at martial arts schools and also serves dance, gymnastics, yoga and CrossFit. Its plan includes household billing, belt history with attendance-based test eligibility, a video curriculum, booking for classes and paid appointments, a CRM with trial pipelines and two-way texting, landing pages, a point of sale and native, brandable apps for members and owners. Payments go through Spark's own processor.
ClubTide focuses on running the club day to day: ranks and promotion readiness, attendance from a coach's phone, family billing with several guardians, private lessons, and the consents, licences and medical certificates that come with youth sport. It runs in English, Romanian, German, Spanish and French, for martial arts, sports, dance and music clubs.
If you want marketing services, native apps and a point of sale from the same company, Spark may remain the better fit. If you would rather pay for the size of your club and keep your own processor, read on.
ClubTide vs Spark Membership at a glance*
Prices are monthly. ClubTide prices are shown in your page's currency, Spark Membership prices in US dollars as listed on its pricing page.
| What you get | ClubTide | Spark Membership |
|---|---|---|
| Up to 50 active members | $49 | $199, one plan |
| Up to 100 active members | $79 | $199, one plan |
| Up to 200 active members | $129 | $199, one plan |
| Payment processing | Your own Stripe, PayPal or Authorize.net | Spark's own processor, required |
| Processing rates | Your processor's standard rates, no ClubTide fee | Not published |
| Free trial | 14 days, no card | 8 weeks |
| Contract | Monthly or annual, cancel anytime | No long contracts |
| Moving your data | CSV import with column matching and preview | Free data migration |
| Belt history and test eligibility | Yes | Yes |
| Curriculum | Sections and skills per rank | Video curriculum in the app |
| Household billing | Yes | Yes |
| Private lessons | One-to-one lessons with conflict warnings | Paid appointments |
| Member and parent access | Parent portal on any phone, no install | Native iOS and Android apps, brandable |
| Check-in | QR code at the entrance | Spark Kiosk app and member app |
| CRM, trial pipelines and two-way texting | On the roadmap | Yes |
| Point of sale with inventory | On the roadmap | Yes |
| Website and SEO | On the roadmap | Ignite add-on from $199 a month |
Spark Membership information from sparkmembership.com (pricing page, Spark Payments FAQ, feature and privacy pages), checked in October 2026. Its help center also mentions a different monthly price, so please confirm current prices and terms on sparkmembership.com. Spotted something out of date? Write to [email protected]. Spark Membership pricing page ↗
A price that follows the size of your club
Spark Membership lists one plan at $199 a month after its free trial, whatever the size of your school. ClubTide has tiers by active athletes: $49 a month for up to 50, $79 for up to 100 and $129 for up to 200, with every feature, location, coach and parent login in every tier.
Archived members, parents and staff never count toward your plan, and you can pay monthly or annually and cancel anytime.
- Every feature in every plan
- Unlimited locations, staff and parents
- No setup fee and no contract
Keep your own payment processor
Spark processes members' payments itself, and its rates are not published. With ClubTide you connect your club's own Stripe, PayPal or Authorize.net account, pay that processor's standard rates under your own agreement, and ClubTide adds no fee to member payments.
- Payments go straight to your club's account
- Autopay on a saved card for recurring fees
- Receipts, reminders and a past-due flag that never locks athletes out
Families and parents without an app to install
In ClubTide the family is the account holder: several guardians, each with their own login, any number of children, one invoice with a sibling discount and one saved card. Parents open the portal in their phone's browser to follow schedule, attendance, rank and progress, pay invoices, sign consents and upload documents.
- Several guardians per family, each with their own login
- Sibling discounts and one invoice per family
- Staff and parents each choose their language
Youth-sport paperwork and GDPR tools
Track federation licences, medical certificates and insurance with expiry reminders, collect versioned consent forms with PDF copies, and keep medical notes visible only to staff with permission. Member data can be exported or anonymized in one step, data is hosted in the EU (Germany), and a DPA is available.
- Licence and certificate expiry reminders
- Consents, data exports and anonymization
- Two-factor sign-in, roles and an audit log
When Spark Membership may suit you better
Spark Membership includes things ClubTide does not offer: a CRM with trial pipelines, two-way texting and automated follow-ups, landing pages, the Ignite website and SEO service, a point of sale with inventory, a separate kiosk app, a video curriculum and native, brandable iOS and Android apps. It also offers a longer free trial of 8 weeks and free data migration. If you want marketing and payments handled by one provider, Spark is a strong choice.
ClubTide is a better fit when you want a price that follows the size of your club, your own payment processor, and family billing with documents and consents built in.
Bring your members with you
Export your member list from Spark Membership as a CSV file and upload it to ClubTide. The importer matches the columns to ClubTide fields, shows a preview of every row, skips duplicates and only saves when you confirm.
- Columns matched to ClubTide fields
- Preview before anything is saved
- Duplicates skipped automatically
Switch processors without losing a month
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1
Export your members
Download your member and household list from Spark Membership as a CSV file.
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2
Import and check
Upload it to ClubTide, match the columns, review the preview and confirm.
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3
Connect payments
Connect your own Stripe, PayPal or Authorize.net account and invite families to save their card.
More comparisons
See how ClubTide compares with other martial arts software, or explore the features in depth.
Questions about switching from Spark Membership
Still have questions? Email us and we will get back to you.
Can I keep my own payment processor with ClubTide?
Yes. You connect your club's own Stripe, PayPal or Authorize.net account and pay that processor's standard rates. ClubTide adds no fee to member payments.
Will my members' saved cards move over?
Saved cards cannot be moved between payment providers. Families save their card again in the ClubTide parent portal, either when they pay their first invoice or from the payments page.
Can I import my members from Spark Membership?
Yes. Export your member list as a CSV file and upload it to ClubTide. The importer matches the columns, shows a preview and skips duplicates before anything is saved.
Does ClubTide have a mobile app?
ClubTide's parent portal and staff app work in the browser of any phone, with no app to install. There is no native iOS or Android app.
Does ClubTide include marketing tools or a website?
No. ClubTide focuses on running the club once families join: members, ranks, attendance, billing and parents. Online registration forms let new families sign up, but there is no CRM, texting, website or point of sale.
Spend less time on spreadsheets and more time on the mat
Set up your club in two minutes and try every feature free for 14 days.
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