Guides  ·  2026-07-07  ·  10 min read

How to Manage Your Community Court Without Paying Commissions

The common mistake: paying so your residents can book

Plenty of communities end up paying a commercial platform to book the building's padel, tennis or multi-sport court. The logic sounds reasonable — "it's a professional tool, it must cost something" — but once you add up the year:

• An 80-home community pays a meaningful four-figure annual sum for booking software (the professional plans of the well-known padel platforms; exact rates are not public, so confirm them with each provider).
• That works out to tens of euros per household per year, purely for the ability to book.
• And the software covers none of the court's actual maintenance — the extra levies are still needed.

The painful part is that that annual fee buys exactly what a free solution buys: four residents being able to play on Saturday at 18:00 without arguing over who asked first.

What a community court actually needs

Before picking a tool, define the problem you want solved. Most community courts need precisely this:

1. A visible calendar showing the available slots for the day and week.
2. Slot-based booking with a sensible cap (e.g. 2 hours per week per resident).
3. An automatic waiting list: when someone cancels, the next in line is notified.
4. A guest policy: how many outsiders each resident may bring.
5. Maintenance closures, or cleaning after rain.
6. Reminders so residents don't no-show and leave the court empty.
7. Clear identification of who the resident is — not "first to see the calendar takes it".

That's it. If your tool covers those seven points without charging commissions, you don't need anything more.

Why BookrGo doesn't charge communities

BookrGo is commercially viable without charging communities because the business model rests elsewhere:

• Commercial clubs: they get the genuinely professional service on a flat €30/month per venue.
• Optional Premium: residents who want to book faster can pay €9.99/year (entirely optional, with no effect on anyone else).
• Respectful advertising: residents without Premium see relevant ads at some points. Paying communities see no advertising.
• External bookings on private courts: when a community opens slots to outsiders through the marketplace, BookrGo keeps 20 cents net per booking (not a percentage).

This model is what lets the base case — residents booking — be completely free and sustainable long term.

Setting up your community court on BookrGo in 15 minutes

Step 1: register as an administrator

Download BookrGo from the app store or use the web version at bookrgo.app. Sign up with your email (you'll get a magic link — no passwords). The first time you log in, choose "Create community / venue".

Step 2: register the venue and the court

Enter your development's details: name, address, number of courts. For each court, define:

• Primary sport (padel, tennis, multi-sport, etc.).
• Opening and closing times (e.g. 8:00–22:00).
• Slot length (60 min, 90 min, or a full match).
• Whether it requires a deposit for use (optional).

Step 3: usage rules

These are the things you'd normally argue about at a residents' meeting. BookrGo lets you configure:

• Maximum bookings per resident per week.
• How far ahead booking opens (horizon: 7, 14 or 30 days).
• How many minutes before the slot a booking can be cancelled without penalty.
• Guests allowed per booking (0, 1, 2 or unlimited).
• Whether guests are charged or not.

Step 4: invite the residents

Generate an invitation code or a magic link from the app and share it in the community WhatsApp group, on the building noticeboard, or at the next meeting. Residents enter it when they register and are automatically attached to your venue.

Step 5: let it run itself

Once residents are in, the whole flow is automatic. A resident books, a resident cancels, the waiting list notifies the next one. As admin you only step in to:

• Approve new residents, if you enabled moderation.
• Close the court for maintenance.
• Create internal tournaments when you want to liven the court up.

Features that save you residents' meetings

These are the things that usually spark debate at community meetings, and that BookrGo settles without argument:

• "It's always the same people booking": BookrGo caps residents at 2 bookings per week by default. Raise it if you want to be more relaxed, lower it if you want to be stricter.
• "Saturday at 18:00 is impossible to get": the automatic waiting list means that if somebody cancels 30 minutes beforehand, another resident is alerted instantly.
• "My son-in-law is visiting and we want to play": with the guest policy configured, the son-in-law counts as that resident's guest.
• "My neighbour booked and never showed up": automatic no-show stats per resident. You decide whether to penalise or merely flag.
• "I pay the levy but the same people always use the court": open usage stats per resident (as percentages, not names, so nobody is singled out). It delivers transparency without creating conflict.

What if I want to open the court to outsiders?

Some communities want the court to pay for itself by renting it out outside resident hours. BookrGo supports this:

1. You enable "marketplace mode" for specific hours (e.g. Sunday morning).
2. Outsiders discover the court through the app or the public directory.
3. Payment goes straight to the community's bank account via Stripe Connect.
4. BookrGo keeps 20 cents net per booking (not a percentage).

That turns the court from a cost into a small revenue stream for maintenance, without residents losing priority during their usual hours.

Mistakes to avoid

• Not communicating the change: if you're moving from WhatsApp to an app, give residents two weeks. Keep the WhatsApp group as a support channel in the meantime.
• Too many rules up front: start permissive (no moderation, max 3 bookings/week) and tighten up once you see real problems.
• Forgetting the older resident: the app is accessible, but an 80-year-old neighbour may prefer to phone. Keep a "ask the admin to book by phone" channel during the transition.
• Confusing the player app with the admin one: the admin has a dedicated panel with stats and configuration. You don't have to hand that to every resident.

Conclusion: €0 in fees, 100% of the features

Managing your community's court does NOT require paying a commercial platform every month. The professional plans of the big padel platforms are designed for commercial clubs, not for an 80-home development with one court.

BookrGo covers the whole community case at no cost. Download it free, set your court up in 15 minutes, and stop arguing about slots at residents' meetings.