Your campers may attend camp to get away from screens and back to nature—but as a director, you have no such luxury.
To provide the best summer camp experience to campers and their families, you need the best technology for not only registering campers, but also organizing your itinerary, accepting payments, and communicating with parents.
High-quality camp registration software gives you a central hub for preparing for a camp session and handling everyday operations from beginning to end.
In this article, we’ll suggest seven of the top camp registration software options in 2023 so you can start this summer on the right foot.
- What to Look For in Camp Registration Software
- Regpack
- CampSite
- CampMinder
- Sawyer
- SmartRec
- CampiumDB
- ACTIVEWorks
- Which Camp Registration Software Will You Choose?
What to Look For in Camp Registration Software
Your camp registration software should be robust enough to tackle all administrative tasks involved in running a summer camp.
It should automate as many tasks as possible, saving your staff time and letting you focus on the bigger picture.
The right software for you depends on your unique needs, but at a bare minimum, your camp registration software should have:
- Online registration forms that are both flexible and customizable (and bonus points if the forms can be directly embedded into your website)
- Payment processing options that make it easy to collect revenue on a one-time or recurring basis
- Marketing tools like automated emails and push notifications to keep your campers and staff up-to-date
- A customer portal where campers and their parents can access important information, make payments, and update their profiles
- Scheduling tools to help you visualize and organize your session based on registrant information
- Reporting features for quick access to camper stats, financial data, and shaping strategy for future sessions
Now that you have a good idea of what to look for, let’s explore seven of the top camp registration tools on the market today.
Regpack
Source: Regpack
Pricing: $125/month per admin
Regpack is an integrated camp registration and payment software that helps camp directors get 25% more on-time completed payments and 41% more completed registrations.
Unlike other popular camp tools, Regpack doesn’t hide its best features behind a massive paywall.
A subscription gives you unrestricted access to unlimited camp sessions, users, campers, and modules.
And with Regpack’s dynamic and endlessly customizable interface, you can build a platform that suits your unique needs.
Embed registration forms, medical questionnaires, and payment forms directly on your website for a professional and reassuring registration experience.
In short, Regpack’s all-in-one customer management solution lets camp directors control the full life cycle of your business, from registration and payments to communication and reporting.
Key features
- Auto-generated rosters and reports
- Automated email marketing features
- Customizable registration forms with conditional logic
- Recurring billing and flexible payment processing with multiple checkout types (Visa, MC, Amex, Debit, ACH, and more)
- Dynamic filtering for quick access to crucial camper information
- Group registration with the option to pay as a group or individually
- Automated camper information porting
- Ability to embed registration and payment forms on your own website
- Free purchase protection
- Multiple product types, including date-based, recurring, one-time, and merchandise products
Pros
- User-friendly interface for more on-time, completed registrations
- Extremely flexible forms with conditional logic to individualize the registration process
- Save time with automated emails, reporting, and recurring payments
- All forms and pages are optimized for mobile
- Data-driven insights to help grow your camp
Cons
- Pricing can be prohibitive for small camps with multiple admins
CampSite
Source: CampSite
Pricing: Contact CampSite’s sales team for a customized quote.
CampSite is a web-based, all-in-one camp management system that prioritizes the organizational element of running a summer camp. It comes with a Bunking Board, a drag-and-drop tool for organizing campers and staff into groups ahead of each session.
Other popular features of CampSite include its user-friendly parent portal and optional à-la-carte features that let you build a modular platform to suit your specific needs.
While CampSite is a powerful option for enterprise-level users, its high price point and feature-rich platform may be overkill for smaller or budget-conscious camps.
Key features
- Online registration
- Parent dashboard
- Advanced reporting
- Billing and financial suite
- User management
- Email communication tools
- Website integration
- Forms
Pros
- User-friendly parent portal
- Advanced à-la-carte features like a medical management suite
Cons
- Steep learning curve
- Limited customizability within form fields
- Best for larger organizations with big budgets
CampMinder
Source: CampMinder
Pricing: $16/camper for up to 375 enrolled; $36/camper for advanced features and up to 500 enrolled
CampMinder is camp management software that aims to simplify operational processes like registration, staffing, group organization, and medical requirements.
The platform is very mobile-first, making it easy to build a mobile registration process for campers and keep your staff organized on the go.
And CampMinder’s facial recognition-powered photo feed is a popular feature with parents.
Key features
- Mobile registration
- Web enrollment
- Integrated financial reporting
- Bunk assignments and itinerary scheduling
- Photo feed for parents, powered by facial recognition
- Staff recruiting and onboarding tools
Pros
- Robust customer support
- Powerful reporting features
Cons
- The user interface is not as intuitive as some alternatives
- Lack of native integration options
- Some users report sluggish or buggy performance
- The per-camper pricing structure can be prohibitive for mid-sized camps
Sawyer
Source: Sawyer
Pricing: Plans start at $109/month for small teams, or $169/month for businesses of all sizes.
Sawyer is a broad platform for children’s activity businesses, offering features for after-school programs, schools, private lessons, and camps.
The tool is popular for its robust scheduling options, helpful customer support, and easy-to-use interface.
Key features
- Scheduling
- Payment processing
- Real-time reports
- Class management and forms
- Software integrations
- Family profiles
- Contactless check-in and other health and safety features
Pros
- Intuitive user interface
- Helpful customer support
Cons
- Subscribers on the lowest plan are required to join the Sawyer Marketplace, which charges a 30% fee for each enrollment
- Limited customizability
SmartRec
Source: Amilia
Pricing:
- $99/month for small businesses
- $499/month for enterprise businesses
- $799/month for agencies
SmartRec is an eCommerce platform from Amilia that lets activities and recreation companies book and sell activity-based opportunities.
The software is built for camps, after-school programs, YMCAs, and sports/community centers.
Amilia’s Marketplace provides a digital space for local residents to find recreational activities. And the ability to sell both experiences and merchandise gives recreation companies flexibility.
However, SmartRec has a steep learning curve and limited customer support, so it’s best for experienced and tech-savvy users.
Key features
- Flexible drop-in options
- Priority registration
- Wait lists and drop-ins
- Online store for merch or add-on services
- Attendance tracking
- Authorized guardian validation
- Capacity limits
- Medical information tracker
- Facility and staff management
- Automated billing and payment
- Financial reporting
Pros
- Easy parent communication
- Sell both services and merchandise
- Some users report the camp registration process is too complicated
Cons
- Steep learning curve
- Limited technical support
CampiumDB
Source: Campium
Pricing: Starting at $2400/year
Campium is an enterprise camp management software for day camps, summer camps, Bible camps, and more.
The user-friendly Parent Portal, photo hosting tool, and robust announcement features make it a popular choice for large recreation companies that need to stay in constant communication with customers.
However, with pricing starting at $2400 annually, this tool is best for large summer camps with a comfortable budget.
Key features
- Filterable and searchable profile information
- Credit card and ACH processing
- Parent Portal
- Announcements and SMS messaging
- HIPAA compliance
- Photo hosting
- Forms
- Medication tracking
- Staff management
- Online registration
- Online attendance tracking
- Customizable reporting
Pros
- Responsive customer service
- Customizable to various program types
Cons
- Pricing can be prohibitive for some
- Some users report limited reporting capabilities
ACTIVEWorks
Source: ACTIVEWorks
Pricing: Contact ACTIVEWorks for a custom quote.
ACTIVE is a popular online sport and activity registration marketplace.
The tool is mostly used by race directors organizing endurance sports, but ACTIVE also offers a Camp Manager tool that serves as an all-in-one camp registration, management, and marketing solution.
The platform isn’t as feature-rich as others on this list, but it does grant users free visibility to the large network of ACTIVE customers.
Key features:
- Mobile and desktop access
- Attendance portal
- Simple reporting
- Payment processing
Pros
- Easy to use
- Instant marketing to ACTIVE’s large network of customers
Cons
- Limited SMS communication options
- Designed to register individuals—does not work seamlessly for group or family registrations
Which Camp Registration Software Will You Choose?
The right registration tool for you depends on your camp’s goals, budget, and size.
But at a bare minimum, your chosen software should make it as frictionless and simple as possible for campers to register and make payments.
It should be a robust platform that tackles all of your most important administrative tasks, automating as much as possible so that you can spend your time on higher-level work.
Look for software that offers flexible and customizable online registration forms—ideally, ones that can be embedded directly into your website.
And the best tools offer powerful marketing, organizational, and reporting features that turn the platform into a single-stop hub for every aspect of running a summer camp.
Of course, choosing registration software is only the first step to creating an engaging and successful summer camp experience.
We recommend checking out these resources from our blog for further reading:
- 10 Tips for Running a Successful and Engaging Virtual Camp
- Camp Marketing: The Ultimate Guide for Your Summer Camp
- Summer Camp Registration: Tips and Tricks from the Experts
- Camp Management Software Guide