Rowing Club Software Comparison: Row HQ, Hello Club and More for New Zealand Clubs

Neutral category overview

Rowing club software: a neutral NZ overview

What options exist for New Zealand rowing clubs, what each one does, and which fits which type of club. Written by the people behind Row HQ, but covering every relevant product fairly.

What software do NZ rowing clubs use?

The NZ rowing software market is dominated by a few options. Hello Club has the broadest established AU/NZ sporting club user base and is used by several NZ rowing clubs. Friendly Manager is a NZ-based general club platform with some rowing club adoption. Row HQ is a rowing-specific option that launched NZ localisation in 2026. Beyond that, global options like iCrew (UK-focused), Boathouse Connect (US-focused), FitClub, SportEasy, and ClubLogic are used by smaller segments of the market. This page covers what each one does, how they are priced, and which club contexts they suit best. It is written by the Row HQ team, but we have tried to represent the whole category honestly - including noting where competitors have features we do not.

Rowing club software comparison table

Data sourced from public pricing pages and product documentation. Last reviewed May 2026.

Vendor	Country focus	Pricing model	Federation links	Differentiator
Hello Club	AU / NZ	Per-member	Rowing Australia compatible	General sports club software. Strongest AU/NZ base including rowing clubs.
Friendly Manager	NZ	Per-member	None specific	General NZ club management. Community sports base including some rowing clubs.
Row HQ this page	UK, US, AU, CA, NZ, IE	Free to 20 members, then banded	Rowing NZ affiliation tracking; direct API roadmap	Rowing-specific from the start. Free forever up to 20 members. NZD pricing. Progressive web app.
ClubLogic	NZ	Subscription per club	Rowing NZ compatible	NZ community clubs. Some rowing club adoption.
iCrew	UK	Subscription per club	British Rowing ClubHub import	Rowing-specific from the ground up. Established UK club base.
Boathouse Connect	US	Subscription per club	RegattaCentral integration	US-focused. Crew scheduling and regatta entry tooling.
FitClub	Global	Per-member or flat	None specific	General fitness/sports club software adapted for rowing.
SportEasy	France / Europe	Freemium / per-club	None specific	Team management focus. Popular in France. Multi-sport.
ROWter	UK / Europe	Subscription per club	British Rowing compatible exports	Fleet and boat-booking focus. Popular with larger UK clubs.
Checklick	CA	Per-member	None specific	Canadian sports clubs. Used by some CA rowing clubs.

Pricing, trial availability and features change. Verify details on each vendor's own website before making a decision.

How to choose

The right software depends on the type of club, what your committee most needs to get off spreadsheets first, and how much rowing-specific functionality you actually use day to day.

NZ community rowing club (30-200 members)

Needs boat booking, session scheduling, Rowing NZ affiliation tracking, and subs collection in NZD. Committee is volunteer-run - often a single person doing most of the admin - and has limited technical capacity.

Likely best fit: Hello Club is the most established NZ-market option with general club management features. Row HQ is the rowing-specific alternative, free for clubs of up to 20 active members and then banded NZD pricing. Friendly Manager suits smaller clubs that want something simple and NZ-built.

NZ school rowing programme (NZSSRA affiliated)

Needs junior welfare tools, parental consent records, Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 compliance, NZSSRA affiliation, and Maadi Cup crew management.

Likely best fit: Row HQ has dedicated school programme features including parental consent, welfare roles, and HSWA-aligned audit trails. Hello Club handles school membership but without rowing-specific crew tools.

NZ university boat club

Needs annual committee handover, multi-squad management (seniors, novices, women's), NZ University Champs prep, and alumni tracking.

Likely best fit: Row HQ has the two-click committee handover and alumni tracking that uni clubs need each year. Otago, Canterbury, Victoria, Auckland, and Waikato clubs face this transition every AGM.

NZ masters or recreational club

Needs boat booking, session scheduling, low-friction member onboarding, and basic Rowing NZ affiliation tracking without the junior welfare layer.

Likely best fit: Hello Club or Row HQ both serve this use case well. Row HQ is free for clubs of up to 20 active members, so you can evaluate without commitment.

What to look for in rowing club software

Beyond features, there are five practical factors that determine whether software actually gets adopted by a volunteer-run NZ club.

Member adoption curve

If members have to install an app from the App Store, a significant percentage will not bother. Progressive web apps and browser-based systems get higher adoption from casual members - especially important in NZ clubs that run on volunteer goodwill and have members of very different technical ability.

Committee handover

NZ rowing clubs turn over their committee every AGM. Software that requires technical setup loses half its value if the outgoing secretary is the only one who knows how it works. Look for platforms that make role transfer a two-click operation.

Federation reporting compatibility

If your regional association (Auckland Rowing Association, Rowing Waikato, Canterbury Rowing Association, Otago Rowing Association, etc.) requires specific exports or return formats, confirm the software produces them before committing.

Trial length

A two-week trial is not long enough to know whether a rowing club platform works across a full NZ season - from autumn head races through to the Maadi Cup in April. Aim for at least three months.

Pricing transparency

Per-member pricing can become expensive for larger clubs. Flat-rate tiers are easier to budget. Check whether pricing is in NZD and whether the trial requires a credit card.

Rowing-specific features

General sports software handles sessions and payments. Rowing clubs also need crew lineups from live availability, water-safety qualification tracking, and boat booking with conflict prevention - tools that Hello Club and Friendly Manager do not include in depth.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best rowing club management software in New Zealand?

Hello Club has the broadest established NZ sporting club user base and is used by some NZ rowing clubs. Row HQ is a rowing-specific alternative with dedicated NZ localisation, Rowing NZ affiliation tracking, NZD pricing, and free use for clubs of up to 20 active members. The comparison table above summarises the key differences. Testing two options before committing is sensible.

What does rowing club software do?

Rowing club management software handles the operational jobs that volunteer committees spend disproportionate time on: membership records, boat booking and fleet management, training session scheduling, crew selection, NZ Champs and Maadi Cup prep, subs collection in NZD, and communications. The best platforms integrate those into a single system so coaches, members, and the committee all work from the same data.

How much does rowing club software cost in New Zealand?

Pricing varies. Per-member models typically run from around NZ$1-4 per member per month. Row HQ is free for clubs of up to 20 active members, then moves to flat monthly bands by member count (from NZ$33 per month). Most platforms do not publish pricing publicly. Row HQ publishes pricing in NZD on its pricing page.

Is there free rowing club software?

SportEasy has a freemium tier for small teams, but it is a general sports platform rather than rowing-specific. Row HQ is free forever for rowing clubs of up to 20 active members - the full product, no card required - and moves to fair monthly bands by member count above that. Beyond Row HQ, there is no fully-featured free option built specifically for rowing clubs.

Does any rowing club software integrate with Rowing NZ?

Row HQ tracks Rowing NZ membership numbers and renewal dates per member and flags lapses before regatta entries. Direct API integration with Rowing NZ's registration systems is on the roadmap. ClubLogic has some Rowing NZ compatibility. Hello Club supports Rowing Australia and has some NZ adoption but without specific Rowing NZ integration.

Why we built Row HQ

We built Row HQ because we could not find software that handled all of the things a rowing club actually needs in a single platform - boat booking with live conflict prevention, federation affiliation tracking, junior welfare workflows, crew selection from real availability data, and a member portal that did not require an App Store install. The existing options either handled one of those jobs well, or were general sports software that required too much adaptation. Row HQ is the product we wished existed. We are still growing in New Zealand, but we think we are the most purpose-built option for rowing specifically.

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