Pricing
You only pay us
when you get paid.
Nothing up front. No monthly bill, no annual contract. $5 per transaction up to $150, or 5% above that, and only on money we actually process for your course — nothing at all on the rounds you ring up at the counter.
Up front
$0
no setup, no onboarding fee
Per month
$0
no subscription, no annual
Per transaction
$5
up to $150
5%
above $150
only on money we process for you
One fee or the other, never both: $5 per transaction up to $150, or 5% above that. It applies to league dues, outing deposits and entry fees, gift cards, and prepaid tee times — money that actually moves through us. The rate is negotiable per course. Talk to us about yours.
Why we charge this way
Courses tolerate barter deals with the big tee-time platforms for one reason: they cost no cash. A monthly invoice has to compete with “free.” A success fee doesn’t.
So we took the same cash-flow shape and removed the part that hurts — you never trade away a tee time. No prime times pulled off your sheet, no discounted inventory resold under your rack rate, no golfer who thinks they are someone else’s customer. $0 up front, no monthly bill, and your inventory stays yours.
The trade is that we only make money when you do. If your course runs reserve-mode all season and collects every green fee at the register, we earn nothing on those rounds. We are betting that the leagues, outings, and events we help you fill are worth more to both of us than a subscription would have been.
Exactly where the fee applies
No fine print. If money moves through the platform on your behalf, there is a small fee on it. If it doesn’t, there isn’t.
We take a small fee on
League dues
Collecting league money is the one league job a course actually owns. When dues are paid online through your league signup, the fee applies to that payment — $5 on a $120 season, 5% if it is larger.
Outing deposits & entry fees
The largest transactions on the property. Deposit up front, per-player entry fees through the shareable registration link. Most per-player entries land in the $5 band; a four-figure deposit takes the 5%.
Prepaid tee times & gift cards — only if you opt in
Reserve mode (book now, pay at the course) is the default and stays free. If you turn on prepay or card-hold for some or all of your sheet, or sell gift cards through us, those payments take the same rate.
We charge nothing on
A reserve-mode tee time
Your default booking mode is reserve — the golfer books online and pays your register on arrival. No money moves through us, so there is no fee. A reserve-mode tee time costs your course nothing, ever.
The golfer, ever
No per-round booking fee, no "convenience fee", nothing added at checkout. Marketplaces commonly charge the golfer roughly $2.49–$3.49 per player to book. We charge them nothing — the fee is the course’s, and only when money moves.
Signing up, or any month you don’t transact
There is no setup fee, no onboarding fee, no minimum, and no monthly or annual invoice. A quiet January costs you nothing.
Card processing itself (Stripe’s own rate) is separate and goes to Stripe, as it would with any vendor. Payouts land in your bank account — we never hold your funds.
Four ways golf software gets paid
This compares business models, not feature lists — see the comparison page for what each vendor actually does, including what we don’t do.
| How you pay | RootGolfer | Barter tee-time platform | Subscription tee sheet | Website-only vendor |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cash due before you sell anything | $0 | $0 | Monthly, from day one | Monthly, from day one |
| Fee on money processed for the course | $5 up to $150, or 5% above | n/a — paid in tee times | none (you pay monthly) | none (you pay monthly) |
| Monthly or annual subscription | ||||
| Takes tee times off your sheet as payment | ||||
| Resells your inventory to golfers | ||||
| Surcharges the golfer at checkout | varies | varies | ||
| You keep your rack rate | ||||
| You keep the customer record | ||||
| Fee only when money moves through the platform | ||||
| Rate negotiable per course | contract-bound | list price | list price |
Competitor columns describe the common shape of each model from public pricing and operator reports; individual contracts vary. Ask us to walk through yours line by line.
Bring your numbers, we’ll bring a rate.
$5 per transaction up to $150, or 5% above that, on money we process for you, and nothing else. Tell us what your leagues collect and what your outing calendar looks like, and we’ll model it against that — the rate is negotiable per course.