The SportsEngine alternative that's actually free
Staty does the core job — online registration with payments, scheduling, brackets, standings, and stats — without a monthly subscription. It's free to use, charges 1% + 30¢ only per registration you collect, and you can set it up yourself today without a sales call.
No monthly software bill · No credit card required · No contract, no sales call
Player or parent looking for your schedule? Find your league's site →
September 2026 update
SportsEngine changed hands — your renewal quote is the moment to compare
In May 2026, PlayMetrics completed its acquisition of SportsEngine's assets from Versant Media Group. Since the acquisition, SportsEngine HQ no longer publishes fixed pricing tiers — new and renewing organizations get a custom quote instead of the previously listed $799–$2,199/yr plans.
We won't speculate about SportsEngine's plans. But a change of ownership plus quote-based renewals means the price your league pays next season is an open question — which makes renewal time the cheapest moment to check the math. Run your own numbers in our fee calculator, and if the difference is worth it, the free migration offer below gets your teams and rosters moved for you — usually within a couple of days.
What a season actually costs
A league collecting $10,000 in registrations pays Staty $100 — total. On a subscription platform, the software bill arrives every month whether you're in season or not, and per-registration fees stack on top.
| Staty | SportsEngine HQ | |
|---|---|---|
| Software cost | Free — every feature included | Quote-only since May 2026 (PlayMetrics acquisition); last published tiers ran $799–$2,199/yr |
| Registration transaction fee | 1% + 30¢ of the registration payment | 3.25% + $2.00 per registration (help-center rate, as of Sep 2026) |
| Payment processing | Stripe's standard 2.9% + $0.30, paid to Stripe | Processing handled within SportsEngine's payments stack |
| Off-season cost | Nothing — you pay only when you collect a registration | Subscription continues year-round |
| Getting started | Self-serve — sign up and open a registration the same day | Demo-request / sales-assisted flow |
SportsEngine HQ figures as of September 10, 2026, per public listings (Capterra, Software Advice, GetApp) and SportsEngine help-center rates; SportsEngine moved to quote-only pricing after the May 2026 PlayMetrics acquisition, so verify your quote with the vendor. Staty pricing is published at staty.io: free to use, 1% + $0.30 per registration collected, Stripe processing (2.9% + $0.30) separate.
Where Staty stands apart
Both platforms cover the fundamentals — registration, payments, scheduling, and league websites. These are the differences organizers ask about most.
| Staty | SportsEngine | |
|---|---|---|
| Price to use | Free — unlimited leagues, divisions & admins | Paid subscription, tiered by plan |
| You pay when | Only when you collect a registration (1% + 30¢) | Every month or year, in season or not |
| AI scoresheet scanning & banner generation | Included | Not advertised |
| Full REST API access | Included free, self-serve API keys | Not self-serve |
| Visible to AI assistants (ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity) | Yes — open to AI search crawlers | robots.txt blocks AI crawlers (as of Aug 2026) |
When SportsEngine may fit better
An honest comparison cuts both ways. SportsEngine can be the better choice if:
- Your governing body requires background screening or SafeSport-style compliance workflows run inside your management platform — SportsEngine offers screening; Staty does not.
- You're a large multi-program organization that wants managed onboarding and a dedicated sales/support relationship rather than self-serve setup.
- Your organization is already deep in the SportsEngine ecosystem and the migration cost outweighs the subscription savings.
We'll move your league for you — free
Already running on SportsEngine? Don't rebuild anything by hand. Export your teams and rosters, send them our way, and we'll set up your leagues, divisions, and registration on Staty for you — usually within a couple of days, at no charge.
Request a free migrationStaty's whole pricing page, in one card
No tiers to compare, no feature gates to decode. Everything is included; you pay 1% + 30¢ when a registration is collected.
| Staty | Typical league software | |
|---|---|---|
| Price to use | $0/month — every feature included | Monthly subscription or per-player fees |
| You pay when | Only when you collect a registration (1% + 30¢) | Every month, whether or not you're in season |
| Leagues, divisions & admins | Unlimited | Capped by plan tier |
| Branded, customizable website | Included — three layouts, your logo & colors | One template, or a separate website product |
Want the exact numbers? See the full cost breakdown for your season →
Your software bill
1% + 30¢ per registration you collect — that’s it.
A $500 team registration costs you $5.30.
No contract · Unlimited leagues · Unlimited admins
Get started freeStripe’s standard processing fee (2.9% + $0.30 per transaction) applies separately.
Everything is included
- Unlimited leagues & tournaments
- Unlimited divisions
- Unlimited admins & custom roles
- Team & roster management
- Online registration with unlimited custom questions
- Waitlists with automatic promotion
- Game scores & auto-calculated standings
- Sport-specific stats (points, assists, goals & more)
- Drag-and-drop game scheduler
- Venue & location management
- Custom digital waivers
- Per-player, early-bird & multi-team pricing
- Online payments, refunds & donations
- Branded website with customizable layouts, colors & fonts
- Custom domain for your league site
- AI-generated logos & banners
- AI schedule import (photo, PDF, Word, or spreadsheet)
- Registration data export
- Full REST API access & webhooks
- Multi-organization management
SportsEngine alternative FAQ
In May 2026, PlayMetrics completed its acquisition of SportsEngine's assets from Versant Media Group, and SportsEngine HQ has since moved from published pricing tiers to custom quotes. Nobody outside those companies knows what renewals will look like long-term — which is exactly why renewal time is a good moment to price alternatives. Staty's pricing is published and fixed: free to use, 1% + 30¢ per registration collected, and we'll migrate your teams and rosters for free.
The biggest difference is the pricing model. SportsEngine HQ is a paid, quote-based subscription (its last published tiers, before the May 2026 PlayMetrics acquisition, ran $799–$2,199 per year) plus per-registration transaction fees — its help center lists 3.25% + $2.00 per registration as of September 2026. Staty is free to use with every feature included and charges 1% + 30¢ only per registration payment you collect — there is no subscription at all.
There's no catch — the 1% + 30¢ fee on collected registrations is the entire business model. Unlimited leagues, tournaments, divisions, and admins are included, and Stripe's standard processing fee (2.9% + $0.30) applies separately, as it does with any payments provider. If you collect nothing, you pay nothing.
No. Staty is fully self-serve: sign up, create your organization, and you can have a live registration link the same day. There's also no contract — you can stop using it at any time.
No — Staty does not offer background screening or SafeSport-style compliance workflows. If your organization is required to run those through its management platform, that's a genuine reason to consider SportsEngine. Many leagues run screening through a separate dedicated provider and use Staty for operations.
Two options. Self-serve: create your organization, add your leagues and divisions (or describe them in plain English and let the AI builder create them), set your fees, and open registration. Or free migration: export your teams and rosters from SportsEngine, send them through the contact form at staty.io/#contact, and we'll set everything up for you, usually within a couple of days. Either way, your registration data on Staty is always exportable, so you're never locked in.
Yes — Elite Sports Club (elite-sports-club.staty.io) is a complete basketball organization with standings, stats, schedules, and a bracket, and Valley Pickleball Association (valley-pickleball-association.staty.io) shows rating-banded divisions and waitlists. Both are live and clickable.
More questions? Read the full FAQ or contact us.
Try the free alternative this season
Create your organization, set your fees, and open a registration — self-serve, in one sitting. If it's not for you, there's no contract to cancel.