TidyHQ vs GotSport
Last reviewed January 2026
GotSport is the platform behind US Club Soccer, US Youth Soccer, CONCACAF, and several state soccer associations — competition flow, registration, refereeing, and federation reporting all run through it. If your federation has standardised on GotSport, that's typically non-negotiable. TidyHQ runs the layer your committee owns — memberships, finances, governance, comms — alongside whatever federation platform is upstream. The question worth asking before signup is what your federation can see when both platforms are in play.
Where TidyHQ wins
What your committee runs separately from the federation. Members, finances, communications, events, meetings, and documents stay inside your tenant. Federations see only what your committee elects to send through TidyConnect: who holds what role, your answers to Project Tasks, scoped comments.
Plus the full club admin layer GotSport doesn't focus on — financial reporting with Xero sync (plus QuickBooks CSV export), meeting minutes with action items, role-based task assignment, committee handover, 25 GB document storage, and Apple / Google Wallet digital membership cards.
Where GotSport wins
GotSport is purpose-built for federated soccer. Registration, schedule and tournament management, referee assigning, and federation-level reporting are real strengths. They serve some of the biggest soccer governing bodies — US Club Soccer, US Youth Soccer, CONCACAF, USL, the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF), CONMEBOL — and the licence is typically funded at the federation level. For the soccer competition flow specifically, they're the standard your federation has picked.
Best for
Soccer clubs that need the federation handoff GotSport provides but want their members, money, minutes, and documents under the committee's control. Many clubs we work with run both — GotSport for the affiliation and competition flow, TidyHQ for the year-round club admin that surrounds it.
Feature comparison
Built for
TidyHQ
The committee that runs the clubGotSport
The federation that runs the competitionWho funds it
TidyHQ
Your club, directlyGotSport
Typically the federation via affiliation agreementFederation sees member contact details by default
TidyHQ
✗ Stays inside your tenantGotSport
Structural visibilityFederation sees club financials by default
TidyHQ
✗ Stays inside your tenantGotSport
Structural visibilityFederation sees custom fields & admin notes by default
TidyHQ
✗ Admin-only fields are privateGotSport
Structural visibilityFederation integration model
TidyHQ
TidyConnect — consent-scoped per ProjectGotSport
Native parent-tenant — visibility default-onYear-round membership lifecycle
TidyHQ
Renewals, tiers, family membershipsGotSport
Season-bound competition registrationsNative accounting integration
TidyHQ
Xero (two-way sync) + QuickBooks CSV exportGotSport
Digital membership cards (Apple / Google Wallet)
TidyHQ
Auto-updating, custom backfieldsGotSport
Federation-issued player/referee ID cardsCommittee governance (minutes, agendas, tasks)
TidyHQ
Action items assigned to rolesGotSport
Member event ticketing (non-competition)
TidyHQ
With member-only pricingGotSport
✗ Competition flow onlyEmail + SMS to full membership
TidyHQ
With status segmentationGotSport
Limited to competition workflowsDocument storage
TidyHQ
25 GB, private by defaultGotSport
Referee assigning / officiating
TidyHQ
GotSport
NativeFree tier for clubs
TidyHQ
Full features, no expiryGotSport
Free at point of use; federation pays licenceKey differences
Your federation is an affiliation partner, not a parent
When the federation owns the software, they own the relationship. GotSport's default is structural visibility — your federation sees member records, registrations, finances, custom fields, comms, and audit logs without asking.
TidyHQ defaults the other way. Federations see what your committee chooses to share through a TidyConnect Project. The platform takes a hand in the politics either way. We picked the side where the committee draws the line.
The promise your committee made to members holds
Every parent who hands over a child's contact details, a medical flag, a payment, did it on the committee's word. The promise has a perimeter the committee drew. Software either respects that perimeter or quietly redraws it.
Most clubs only notice the redraw when something goes wrong — a federation uses contact details for a campaign the club didn't endorse, or pulls financial data into a benchmark report shared at a regional meeting nobody from the club attended. By then the trust is already spent.
Built for the club side, not just federation reporting
GotSport's strength is federation-level competition and referee management. TidyHQ's strength is what happens inside a single club — dues, fees, committee meetings, AGM prep, governance documents, and Xero sync for the treasurer (plus QuickBooks CSV export). If your federation doesn't mandate GotSport, the club-level tools in TidyHQ are typically more relevant to the people actually doing the work.
Your treasurer reconciles without spreadsheets
GotSport collects registration fees through the federation fee structure. TidyHQ manages what happens after — invoicing, payment tracking, Xero sync, overdue reminders, and the financial reports your committee needs for the AGM. Your treasurer stops reconciling between the federation flow and the books.
What GotSport does well
GotSport is purpose-built for federated soccer. Registration, schedule and tournament management, referee assigning, and federation-level reporting are real strengths. They serve some of the biggest soccer governing bodies — US Club Soccer, US Youth Soccer, CONCACAF, USL, the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF), CONMEBOL — and the licence is typically funded at the federation level. For the soccer competition flow specifically, they're the standard your federation has picked.
We think honest comparisons build more trust than pretending competitors don’t exist. Try both and see which one your committee actually uses.
Is TidyHQ right for you?
TidyHQ is the better choice if…
- Your committee wants member data, finances, and comms inside the club — not inside the federation
- You need governance tools — meeting minutes, tasks, document storage, committee handovers
- Your treasurer needs Xero integration to stop double data entry
- You want a free tier with unlimited contacts to get started without commitment
- You run events beyond competition fixtures — clinics, fundraisers, club socials
- Your club has non-soccer programming (camps, training, community events) that GotSport doesn't cover
GotSport might be better if…
- •Your entire club operation is competition and refereeing — no membership lifecycle outside the season, no governance to manage, no separate finances to track
- •Your federation (US Club Soccer, US Youth Soccer, CONCACAF, a state soccer association) has standardised on GotSport and you need data to flow upstream
- •Referee assigning, scheduling, and tournament management are core to your weekly workflow
Frequently asked questions
Common questions about using GotSport vs TidyHQ for membership organisations.
Only what your committee accepts into a TidyConnect Project. That includes who holds what Role in connected orgs, whether you accepted or rejected an invitation, your answers to specific Project Tasks, and any task comments your committee scopes to "project organisers and my club". Plus a sanitised activity signal — enough for them to know the club is active without exposing who did what.
Member contact details, finances, comms, events, meetings, documents, shop transactions, and internal tasks stay inside your tenant by default.
No. Most soccer clubs we work with run both. Your federation decides what runs in GotSport — typically competition registrations, scheduling, refereeing, and the federation fee handoff. Your committee decides what runs in TidyHQ — year-round memberships, finances, communications, governance, events, and documents. They serve different layers of the same club.
Not yet. Until then, clubs typically move registration data between the two systems via CSV export from GotSport and import into TidyHQ. We're happy to point new customers at proven approaches.
GotSport is a sport management platform headquartered in the US and part of the Stack Sports portfolio. It serves several major soccer federations and governing bodies — US Club Soccer, US Youth Soccer, CONCACAF, USL, the Brazilian Football Confederation, CONMEBOL — for registration, scheduling, refereeing, and federation-level reporting. The licence is typically paid at the federation level, so GotSport is free at the club point of use within those federations.
Both are part of the Stack Sports portfolio. GotSport is the modern soccer federation platform; Affinity Sports is the legacy product that US Youth Soccer transitioned away from in 2018-2019. Some state associations and leagues still use Affinity. If you're evaluating both, see /compare/affinitysports for the Affinity-specific comparison.
Sources
Claims in this comparison are based on publicly available information. Verify current pricing and features directly with each provider.
- 1TidyConnect — how clubs federate with governing bodies— Consent-scoped Project-based federation model. The architecture underneath the autonomy claim.
- 2GotSport official website— Sport management platform serving soccer federations including US Club Soccer, US Youth Soccer, CONCACAF
Related comparisons
Other Sport Federation Platforms alternatives we’ve written about.