A free alternative to Spond
Spond and Rally are both free for a team. Spond is better for collecting money and chatting with parents. Rally is better if you play in a league: fixtures and standings, a calendar link anyone can subscribe to, and an AI assistant, none of which Spond has.
What Spond is
A free app for a team's or club's events, messages and payments, popular with grassroots clubs, especially in Europe.
Price: Free. Spond earns from payments: in Canada and the US, $1.00 + 3.29% per item in a payment request.
Rally vs Spond
| Feature | Spond | Rally |
|---|---|---|
| Team schedule and practices | YesRepeating events, season planner | YesGames, practices and other events; a practice on many dates at once |
| Availability (who's coming) | YesWith reminders | YesPlayers mark what they can't make; the manager sees every game at a glance |
| Team chat | Yes | NoUse your group chat; Rally keeps the schedule |
| Native phone app | Yes | NoA web app that works on any phone; add it to your home screen |
| Calendar subscription for every team | PartlySyncs on the phone; no subscribe link | YesEvery team gets a live feed for Apple, Google or Outlook Calendar |
| League fixtures across many teams | NoImports some federations' matches | YesGroups, stages and draft fixtures; the assistant builds a round robin or reads your PDF |
| Standings tables | No | YesYour own points rules, overtime and which stages count |
| Registration and online payments | Yes$1.00 + 3.29% per item | Coming soonTeam registration with card or Interac e-Transfer |
| League website builder | YesSpond Club | NoA public page per competition, and a calendar picker to embed on your own site |
Where Rally is different
- Leagues, cups and tournaments: fixtures, results and standings with your own points rules. Spond has none of these.
- A calendar subscription link for every team. Spond syncs events into each phone's calendar from the app, but there's no link to share.
- Players can be on the roster before they have an account; they claim their name when they join.
- An AI assistant, built in or from Claude, ChatGPT or Grok.
Where Spond is better
- A native app with chat, reminders to people who haven't replied, and guardian accounts for youth teams.
- Collect fees, trip money and kit orders in the app.
- Imports matches from some national federations (Norway, Denmark, cricket in the UK).
Who should stay with Spond
You're a youth or grassroots club that collects money in the app and wants chat and guardian oversight more than league tables.
Questions
- Is Spond really free?
- Using it is free. Spond earns when you collect money through it: in Canada and the US, $1.00 plus 3.29% for each item in a payment request.
- Spond or Rally for an adult rec team?
- If you mostly need to know who's coming and get the games into everyone's calendar, both work and both are free. If you play in a league, Rally can also show the fixtures and table, and if your league is on Rally your schedule keeps itself current.
- Does Rally collect payments like Spond?
- Not yet. Team registration with card and Interac e-Transfer payments is coming soon, for leagues collecting fees from teams.
Other comparisons
Facts about Spond are from its own website as of October 2026: help.spond.com/app/en/articles/118091-payments-costs-in-the-spond-app, help.spond.com/en/articles/25998-spond-is-free-to-download-and-use, help.spond.com/en/articles/67688-overview-events-in-spond, help.spond.com/app/en/articles/115529-calendar-synchronisation. Prices and features change; check there before deciding. Something wrong? Tell us and we'll fix it.
Spond is a trademark of its owner. Rally isn't affiliated with or endorsed by Spond.