“So… who are your competitors?”
I get this question all the time. And it makes sense.
Tennis and pickleball club operators are doing way more homework than ever before. Between software demos, pricing spreadsheets, and board meetings, you’ve got a lot to process before making a platform decision.
Sure, you can Google, browse Reddit threads, or maybe even ask ChatGPT to help you decide.
But let me save you some time and give you our honest take on your club management and court reservation software options.
I believe these are the 4 real competitors we run into at CourtReserve:
- Spreadsheets, whiteboards & manual booking systems
- Other court reservation software
- “We’ll figure it out later”
- DIY Frankenstacks
Let’s begin.
1. Spreadsheets, whiteboards & manual booking systems
These are the OGs. And honestly? They got the job done.
Many clubs still run on patchworked Excel sheets, printed waivers, and a whiteboard at the front desk.
And there’s nothing wrong with that — if you’re running a smaller club or don’t mind the chaos.
But at scale, it gets exhausting:
- Overbooked courts
- No-shows you can’t track
- Staff spending hours reconciling payments
- Zero visibility into who your top players are or what programs are growing.
We literally built CourtReserve to replace this exact pain. It’s not just digitization for digitization’s sake. No. This is club operations 100% reimagined.
2. Other court reservation software
We’re not the only solution on the block. Some alternatives offer basic scheduling. Others focus purely on payments. A few come from gym or swim industries trying to stretch into racquet sports.
Here’s where we see the difference:
- We don’t just manage reservations. We help you grow revenue, retain players, and automate your business.
- We’re built for racquet sports. Tennis and pickleball aren’t afterthoughts — they’re our roots.
- Our team speaks club. Our onboarding, support, and product roadmaps are shaped by 1,900+ real clubs who use us every day.
We have written extensively about the court reservation software category and have also published definitive analyses on the best court reservation software.
3. “We’ll figure it out later”
This is the one we actually worry about the most. Not because we lose deals to it, but because clubs lose time, revenue, and momentum waiting to act.
Some club operators delay tech decisions thinking they’ll revisit it after the next event, season, or staff hire. But time and again, they come back months later saying:
“We definitely should’ve switched earlier.”
The top clubs know the software isn’t just about admin. They treat it as a strategic growth investment. It saves your team hours every week, improves the player experience 10x, and unlocks new revenue opportunities from day one.
4. DIY Frankenstacks
You know the type:
- Scheduling with Calendly
- Payments via Venmo or Square
- Group chats on WhatsApp
- Newsletters in Mailchimp
- Digital Waivers on DocuSign
Individually, these are fine tools. Together? They form a DIY “Frankenstack” — pieced together out of necessity, not efficiency.
And when you’re running a club, that patchwork approach quickly becomes a juggling act. No unified view of players. No automation. Lots of things falling through the cracks.
CourtReserve replaces this DIY stack with a single, ultra-flexible platform. We built it to simplify, scale, and serve both players and staff.
What it all comes down to
Running a racquet and paddle sports club today is insanely complex. There’s no escaping that. But your software shouldn’t be.
Whether you’re trying to replace the whiteboard, figure out better workflows, or scale across multiple locations, CourtReserve is here to help you do it smarter.
We’re not afraid to talk about the competition because we know what we’re building:
A platform that’s built for racquet and paddle sports, shaped by operators like you, and backed by a team that’s in it for the long haul. We are not going to price gouge you because our investors need to see more “growth” (spoiler alert: we are 100% founder-owned, so there is no investor pressure at CourtReserve).
So, when you’re ready to upgrade from duct-taped tools and disconnected systems, we’ll be here — waiting to spark your next chapter.
Let’s build something better together.
