Padel membership software: sell plans, take payments, manage renewals
SmashClub is membership software for padel clubs that want to sell paid memberships through their own branded app and web portal, next to the booking platform they already use. The club defines the plans, the player pays by card, Stripe handles the renewals, and the money goes to the club's own account.
Who it is for
Clubs with one to five venues that want membership money coming in before court revenue, not after it: a new club pre-selling founding memberships, an open club that wants a paid tier for its regulars, or a chain that wants one plan to work across several sites.
What a club can sell
- Paid individual plans, billed annually or monthly, with a joining fee if you want one.
- Family memberships: one person pays, invites the others by email, everyone gets the benefits.
- Founding memberships before opening: a fixed number of places at a fixed price, sold before the first court is booked.
- A free Basic plan that every registered player gets automatically, so non-paying players stay inside your app, points and offers.
- Invitation-only plans: a link where a player asks to join and staff approve or reject.
How a player buys
The player opens Membership Plans in your app or web portal, or follows a checkout link you put on your website or in a message. They pick annual or monthly, pay in Stripe Checkout and the membership is active the moment Stripe confirms the first payment. The membership card, with its QR code, appears in the app and can be added to Apple Wallet or Google Wallet. From then on the plan renews by itself; the player manages or cancels it in the Stripe customer portal.
From plan to renewal: how it works
- The club creates a plan. Name, description, card design, which benefits it includes, annual and/or monthly price, optional joining fee, how many family members it covers, and at which of your clubs it applies.
- The player buys. In the app, on the web portal, via the public checkout link, or through your booking platform for individual plans. Promo codes are entered at checkout.
- Benefits apply. The membership card shows the plan and its benefits; members get the plan's points multiplier, member prices and early access to events. Discounts on court bookings are set in your booking platform: SmashClub creates a task for staff each time a membership starts or ends, so nothing is forgotten.
- The club manages members and renewals. Members list with plan, latest booking and points; Stripe renews automatically; staff cancel immediately or at the end of the period; a member can hold one plan at a time, and plan changes go through the club.
What is in the product today
Plans and benefits
A shared benefit library (percentage, fixed amount, yes/no or countable quota), switched on per plan with its own value. Card design per plan. A tier order so a higher plan can carry more. Plans can apply at all your clubs or selected ones.
Payments
Stripe billing on the club's own Stripe account. Annual and monthly options, joining fee on the first payment, promo codes, tax included or added at checkout, and a public checkout link for every purchase option. No SmashClub commission on sales; standard Stripe fees apply.
Renewals
Automatic renewals with Stripe. Monthly plans can renew on the 1st of each month with a prorated first charge. Members cancel in the Stripe customer portal; staff cancel now or at period end; the membership updates when Stripe confirms.
Family memberships
Set how many people a plan covers. The owner pays and invites by email; each person accepts with that address; a pending invitation holds the place. If the owner's plan ends, so does everyone's.
Members and segments
Members list with plan, latest booking and reward points. Ready-made segments such as Paid membership or Churn risk, CSV export, and membership events pushed to Klaviyo if you use it. See Padel CRM.
Other ways to grant a plan
Staff can grant a plan directly, with a start and end date, even before the player signs up. Individual plans can also be sold through your booking platform and imported. Existing Stripe subscriptions can be adopted at launch, without charging anyone again.
What it looks like in practice
Two clubs, two markets, same mechanic. A club in central London pre-sold more than 200 founding memberships and collected over £150,000 in its own Stripe account in the first month, before the first court was booked, then closed sales. A six-court club in Paphos, a town of about 40,000 people, has 200 members after eight months: 120 on paid plans from €120 a year, some at €400, and 80 on the free plan.
Both clubs kept their booking platform. Names are withheld under NDA; the full numbers and the per-court math for seven markets are in the founding memberships case study.
Tiers, points and boosts
Memberships and loyalty points are separate systems that work together. Each plan has a reward points multiplier (for example x1 on Basic, x1.25 or x2 on a paid plan), so paying members earn faster in the loyalty programme. Plans sit in a tier order, and the built-in benefit "Priority Access to Club Events" gives higher plans early or exclusive access to events.
Membership Boost adds an earned tier: set the points a player must earn in a period (say 1,000 points in 30 days) and the boost duration, and on the 1st of each month SmashClub moves qualifying players to the higher plan temporarily. If they keep playing, the boost is extended; if not, they return to their regular plan. Paid plans, free Basic and boosts can be combined in one programme.
What you need to launch
- A Stripe account for the club (we connect it; the money goes to you, not to us).
- Plan names, prices, benefits and a card image per plan. We help with the structure.
- Your booking platform, unchanged. SmashClub works alongside Playtomic and other booking systems; court booking stays where it is.
- A club goes live in 1-2 working days. The web portal works in any browser from day one; the branded iOS and Android app needs the club's Apple and Google developer accounts, which we set up with you.
Good to know. A member holds one plan at a time and plan changes go through the club, not self-service. Sales do not pause automatically when a plan is full: archive the plan to stop new purchases while existing members keep it. Family plans are sold in SmashClub, not through the booking platform.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can players buy a membership inside our app?
Yes. Players buy in the club's branded app, on the web portal or via a public checkout link, pay in Stripe Checkout and the membership is active as soon as Stripe confirms the first payment.
Which payment provider does SmashClub use?
Stripe, connected to the club's own Stripe account. Membership revenue goes to the club; SmashClub takes no commission on sales, and standard Stripe fees apply.
Can we offer both monthly and annual memberships?
Yes. Each plan can have an annual option, a monthly option or both, each with its own price and checkout link. You can add a joining fee to the first payment and have monthly plans renew on the 1st of the month with a prorated first charge.
Are family memberships supported?
Yes. When creating a plan you set how many people it covers. The owner pays and invites family members by email; they accept with that address and get the plan's benefits.
How do member discounts on court bookings work?
Court prices live in your booking platform. SmashClub shows the benefit on the membership card and, whenever a membership starts or ends, creates a task telling staff which member category to set in the booking platform. Cafe and shop discounts can be synced to Square POS.
Can we sell memberships before the club opens?
Yes. That is how the London club in our case study collected over £150,000 before its first court booking. You need a launch date, a fixed number of founding places and a Stripe account.
How long does it take to launch?
A club goes live in 1-2 working days once Stripe is connected and the plans are defined. Players can buy on the web portal immediately; the branded app follows the app store review.
Start selling memberships in your own app
Book a 30-minute demo. We set up a plan with your prices live and walk through the purchase, the card and the renewal.
Book a demo