---
title: "ActiveNet Alternatives: What to Check Before You Switch"
description: Before you shop recreation software, establish your data, scope migration, and lock exit terms. A switching checklist for parks and rec directors.
image: https://www.recreationhq.net/hubfs/blog-images/photo-activenet-alternatives-switching-guide.jpg
---

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# ActiveNet Alternatives: What to Check Before You Switch

BM Brian M. 

· Jul 23, 2026

![Coworkers gather around a whiteboard with In progress and Done columns and sticky notes for a project plan](https://www.recreationhq.net/hs-fs/hubfs/blog-images/photo-activenet-alternatives-switching-guide.jpg?width=1520&name=photo-activenet-alternatives-switching-guide.jpg)

It starts on an ordinary Tuesday. A front desk staffer has a spreadsheet open beside the registration screen, because the report she needs will not come out of the system. Somebody keeps the real waitlist on paper. You stopped asking why months ago. Now you are asking what else is out there.

Fair question. But the first work is not shopping. It is establishing what you own, because the vendor you are leaving does not decide how hard leaving is. Your own records do. If you are still weighing whether to move at all, start with [5 signs you have outgrown your software](https://www.recreationhq.net/playbook/5-signs-outgrown-recreation-software).

## Pull a full export before you take a single demo

Not a report. A complete export of participants, households, registrations, financial history, facility reservations, memberships, and waivers. Do it this week. Then answer four questions on one page:

- How many participant households actually exist, after duplicates?
- How many years of financial history do you need to keep queryable, and how many can move to a read-only archive?
- Which fields are free text a human typed, rather than structured data a machine can map?
- What lives outside the software entirely, in binders, shared drives, and one long-tenured employee's memory?

That page is your migration scope. Without it, every vendor prices the same job differently and you cannot tell why.

## Migration is a project with its own plan

Real agencies scope it explicitly. The [Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board](https://www.minneapolisparks.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/2020-MPRB-Recreation-Management-Software-RFP-1.pdf) asked each vendor to detail its migration capabilities and said it projected to migrate existing facility reservations for all facility types up to two years before the go-live date, along with the financial information behind each. Our guide to [data migration and go-live](https://www.recreationhq.net/playbook/recreation-software-data-migration-golive) covers the mechanics.

Ask any finalist to price migration against your actual export, not a generic assumption. Ask who cleans the duplicates, you or them. Ask what happens to data that fails validation on import. A structured [demo scorecard](https://www.recreationhq.net/playbook/recreation-software-demo-scorecard) keeps those answers comparable across vendors.

## Know the market by fit, not by rumor

Fit varies by agency size, module mix, and how much configuration your staff can absorb. Nobody can tell you which product is right from the outside, and any list that ranks vendors without seeing your programs is selling something. Build a requirements list first; the [RFP requirements matrix](https://www.recreationhq.net/playbook/recreation-software-rfp-requirements-matrix) is a starting point.

## Write the exit terms into the next contract

You are switching because leaving was hard. Do not repeat that. Before signature, get in writing: that participant data belongs to the agency, the export format and the number of days to deliver it after termination, whether extraction carries a fee, a cap on annual renewal increases, and what remedy applies when uptime is missed. See [contract exit rights](https://www.recreationhq.net/playbook/recreation-software-contract-exit-rights) for terms to ask for, and have your attorney review the final language.

## Then pick the procurement path

[MRSC says examples of solicitations appropriate for an RFP include software](https://mrsc.org/stay-informed/mrsc-insight/april-2018/using-rfps-as-a-competitive-procurement-tool), rather than a lowest-bid process. But check cooperative contracts too. [Sourcewell contract 060624-VTO](https://www.sourcewell-mn.gov/cooperative-purchasing/060624-VTO) with Vertosoft lists parks and recreation software among its categories and runs through 10/25/2028. Sourcewell states that purchasing agencies are responsible for performing their own due diligence, so confirm eligibility with your purchasing office. More in our [cooperative purchasing guide](https://www.recreationhq.net/playbook/cooperative-purchasing-recreation-software).

Budget the calendar honestly. As general advice, allow more time than you expect: the timeline depends on your procurement rules and migration scope, so work backward from the registration date you want.

If you want the cost side quantified first, start by totaling what your current fee structure takes off each registration. Our [cost recovery audit](https://www.recreationhq.net/audit) is one place to begin.

## Frequently asked questions

### How do I switch recreation management software without losing data?

Pull a complete export of participants, households, registrations, financial history, reservations, memberships, and waivers before any demo. Use it to scope migration and ask every finalist to price the move against that real export.

### What should be in a recreation software contract to make leaving easier?

Get these in writing before signing: that participant data belongs to the agency, the export format, the number of days to deliver it after termination, whether extraction carries a fee, a cap on annual renewal increases, and a remedy for missed uptime.

### Should a parks department use an RFP to buy recreation software?

Often, yes. [MRSC lists software](https://mrsc.org/stay-informed/mrsc-insight/april-2018/using-rfps-as-a-competitive-procurement-tool) among the solicitations appropriate for an RFP rather than a lowest-bid process. Confirm the requirements with your own purchasing office.

### Can we buy recreation software through a cooperative contract?

Possibly. [Sourcewell contract 060624-VTO](https://www.sourcewell-mn.gov/cooperative-purchasing/060624-VTO) with Vertosoft lists parks and recreation software and runs through 10/25/2028. Sourcewell says purchasing agencies are responsible for their own due diligence, so check eligibility with your purchasing office.

[See what your fee structure is costing you with a free cost recovery audit →](https://www.recreationhq.net/audit)

Find your leaks

## See what your organization could recover.

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