Activity Messenger

Activity Messenger is an all-in-one registration and class management platform with email and SMS built in. Its footer describes it as "an all-in-one platform for online registration management" that lets you "create forms, process online payments, send communications, organize activities, and streamline staff hiring." It is aimed at sports and leisure organizations, classes and camps, schools and federations, and the footer says it is "Proudly made in Montreal". The site is available in English and French.

For a reader choosing an email platform, the point is that newsletters and automated messages here are part of a wider system. The contacts you email are the families and members who registered, paid and signed waivers through the same platform, and the data they enter on forms feeds the messages you send them. The homepage tagline is "Simplify registrations. Personalize communications. Automate the rest."

Email, SMS and automation

The homepage lists newsletters and "Scalable & personalized Email/SMS" among the core functions, and emails, SMS and surveys each have their own feature page. Messages use the data collected on registration forms: the homepage says you can bring email and SMS outreach to life "by dynamically adding text placeholders collected from the forms", so a reminder can carry a participant's name, activity or session.

Automation is presented as a way to take repetitive work off staff. The homepage says you can automate start-of-session reminders, welcome emails, membership renewals and end-of-session surveys "in just one click". The company's blog on newsletter tools in Canada lists automation for reminders and surveys, easy-to-use workflows for customization, and an integration with Canva for designing newsletters. Its comparison table credits Activity Messenger with an advanced drag and drop editor, 100+ email templates, advanced marketing automation, A/B testing, detailed analytics and reporting, integrated SMS marketing and a built-in CRM. That blog carries a disclaimer that Activity Messenger is the company's own software.

SMS is not an add-on from a partner in that table; it is marked as integrated, and the homepage lists texting and SMS among its use cases. Surveys can be automated too, and the blog describes the platform as combining email marketing with SMS campaigns, surveys and event registration.

Registration, payments and the rest of the platform

The feature menu covers online registrations, online payments, emails, SMS, surveys, Zoom meetings, online contracts, waivers, automations and staff onboarding, plus memberships, a website builder, sports facility management and access control, birthday party booking, gift cards, online certificates, attendance lists, online ticketing and invoices.

The homepage contrasts this with older systems: instead of paper and desktop software, rigid forms and days of setup, it promises mobile-friendly, customizable forms, an intuitive registration process and automated workflows. Clients do not have to create an account first; the homepage says one is created on the fly as they fill out a form, and you can build unique forms for each payment type. Waivers are meant to be signed before people arrive, to cut front-desk congestion and speed up attendance tracking. Employee timesheets can be collected and connected to payroll. The website builder is the newest piece: a banner at the top of the site invites visitors to a webinar giving a first look at it.

Use cases on the homepage run from email marketing, SMS and texting to registrations, forms, memberships, digital waivers, lessons and private lessons, reports, a microsite, donations, events, payments, facility management, contracts and Stripe. The integrations named in the company's comparison table are Canva, Stripe, ChatGPT, Zoom and Sage.

Who it is built for

The industries menu names camps, tennis, swim, dance, soccer, gymnastics, parks and recreation, and federations, and the footer adds soccer academies, tennis clubs, swim schools, dance studios and gymnastics clubs. The case studies listed on the site include How Swim to Safety Cut Admin Time by 50%, Summit Academy Camp Experiences 300% Growth, and How Nex Level Ninja Added +15K a Month in Birthday Revenue, alongside stories from Sport Manitoba, Tennis Manitoba, GymBC, Flip City Gymnastics, Sportball Laval and Sports en français.

The Canada newsletter blog names Activity Messenger its pick for small businesses with bilingual needs and for nonprofits, describing it as fully bilingual and CASL-compliant (CASL being Canada's anti-spam law), with Canadian data hosting. Its comparison table lists the data storage location as Canada and CASL compliance as built in. In its FAQ, the same article says Activity Messenger has built-in tools to manage consent and automate unsubscribe requests, which is how it frames CASL compliance for senders. Those are the company's own statements about its product. The French version of the blog describes it as designed in Quebec and suited to Quebec businesses that communicate in French and English.

Two customer quotes on the English blog describe the experience. A member services manager at a nonprofit calls it "such a robust and easy platform to use." A recreation facilities manager writes: "This product allows me to send email and/or SMS messages, saves me money and is significantly easier to use than the competitors."

Pricing and support

The comparison table on the company's blog gives Activity Messenger's starting paid price as $99/month, and the blog explains the value as inclusive pricing for email, SMS, surveys and registrations in one tool, so fewer tools have to be bought separately. The site's pricing page is linked from the menu. The same table lists customer support as unlimited, by live chat, phone and email, and gives a Capterra rating of 4.8/5. A help center, documentation and a podcast (AMplify) are linked from the footer, and prospective customers can book a demo; the homepage suggests switching the whole business over or starting with a single form.

Who it suits

Activity Messenger suits a camp, swim school, dance studio, gymnastics or tennis club, sports federation or parks and recreation department that wants registrations, payments, waivers and member communication in one place, and that emails and texts the people who sign up. Canadian and Quebec organizations that work in both French and English are its home audience, and the company says data is stored in Canada.

It suits a business whose only need is sending newsletters less well. The entry price covers registration and payment tools such an organization would not use, and the product's language, from sessions to waivers, is built around activities and members, not marketing lists.