Comparison
Stop rebuilding the same spreadsheet every month
Most clubs start with a spreadsheet, and for good reason: it costs nothing, everyone knows how to use it and you can model anything. The cost shows up later — in the hours spent exporting, cleaning and re-pasting data, and in the formulas nobody dares to touch.
Below is an honest look at where a spreadsheet is still the right tool and where an automatic sync saves more than it costs.
At a glance
| Capability | CourtPulse | Spreadsheets (Excel / Google Sheets) |
|---|---|---|
| Getting data in | Hourly automatic sync from Playtomic's API. | Manual export and paste, every time you want fresh numbers. |
| Occupancy heatmaps | Built in, per court and per sport, in the venue's time zone. | Possible with pivot tables and conditional formatting — and careful handling of time zones and canceled bookings. |
| Player retention and churn | Cohorts and lapsed-player lists computed from full booking history. | Requires de-duplicating players across exports and lookup formulas over every booking. |
| Alerts | Email when a rule triggers, after every sync. | None — you only see a problem when you open the file. |
| Sharing with partners | Scheduled weekly/monthly PDF reports. | Email the file and hope nobody edits the formulas. |
| Custom one-off analysis | Export any dataset to CSV and take it wherever you like. | This is where spreadsheets shine. |
| Cost | $19/month or $190/year after a 14-day free trial. | Free software; the cost is your time. |
Spreadsheets (Excel / Google Sheets) is enough when…
- You review numbers once a quarter and enjoy building the model.
- You need a very specific custom analysis that no product offers.
- Your club is small enough that one export takes a few minutes.
CourtPulse fits when…
- Your monthly report takes more than an hour to assemble.
- You want to know about a problem the day it happens, not at month end.
- More than one person needs to see the same, trustworthy numbers.
Verdict
Keep the spreadsheet for one-off modelling — CourtPulse exports CSV for exactly that. Let the recurring reporting run itself.
Frequently asked questions
See it with your own Playtomic data
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Features mentioned on this page
- Your data, always up to dateAutomatic daily synchronisation pulls bookings, players, and payouts from Playtomic. Build a historical archive that goes beyond Playtomic's 3-month limit.
- A report that tells you what to doWeekly and monthly PDF reports that open with your headline numbers, the change on the previous period, and a short list of things to act on — then the detail behind them.
- Understand who plays and why they come backDemographics, engagement patterns, retention rates, and player lifetime analysis. Build a stronger community by understanding your players.