Comparison
BookMyBays vs Alba Play
Both run indoor golf bookings. We are built with customers at the centre — flat monthly fee, 0% on bookings.
Nothing locked off · Cancel any time
Cheaper from two simulators up
Alba charge £29 per bay per month. We charge £15 — a little over half their rate at every size. £30/month for two simulators, £90/month for six.
No account, no app, no password
Your customer picks a slot, adds players and pays — then manages or cancels from an emailed magic link. Nothing to sign up for and nothing to install.
Fee-free bookings
We take 0% on bookings — you pay only Stripe’s standard processing (around 1.5% + 20p), straight into your own Stripe account. Alba’s payments run through Adyen and their rate is not published.
Pricing, side by side
Worked examples based on publicly advertised pricing. Estimates only — pick the venue size closest to yours and see the notes below.
BookMyBays
Simulator: £30/mo for 2 sims, each extra down to £7/mo. Driving range: £30/mo for up to 10 bays, +£3/mo per extra. 0% on bookings, 1% on memberships and event tickets.
Alba Play
£29 per bay per month on their UK region. Payments run through Adyen; the rate is not published. No free trial advertised.
Small · 2 simulators
Software subscription only — card processing applies on both sides
BookMyBays
- Subscription
- £30/mo
- Booking fees
- £0
- Estimated total
- ~£30/mo
Alba Play
- Subscription
- £58/mo
- Booking fees
- Not published
- Estimated total
- £58/mo + payment fees
Alba do not publish a payment processing rate — ask them for it before you compare totals.
Growing · 4 simulators
Software subscription only — card processing applies on both sides
BookMyBays
- Subscription
- £57/mo
- Booking fees
- £0
- Estimated total
- ~£57/mo
Alba Play
- Subscription
- £116/mo
- Booking fees
- Not published
- Estimated total
- £116/mo + payment fees
Alba do not publish a payment processing rate — ask them for it before you compare totals.
Established · 6 simulators
Software subscription only — card processing applies on both sides
BookMyBays
- Subscription
- £80/mo
- Booking fees
- £0
- Estimated total
- ~£80/mo
Alba Play
- Subscription
- £174/mo
- Booking fees
- Not published
- Estimated total
- £174/mo + payment fees
Alba do not publish a payment processing rate — ask them for it before you compare totals.
- Alba Play advertise £29 per bay per month on their UK region, checked on albaplay.com/en/pricing on 2026-08-06. Their region selector defaults to Europe (€29); their FAQ states "€29 / £29 / $29 / 399 kr per bay per month depending on where you are". Verify the current rate directly on their site.
- Alba do not publish a payment processing rate. Their site states payments are handled through Adyen with "competitive rates without setting up your own merchant account". We have not estimated it, so their column shows subscription only — get the rate from Alba before comparing totals.
- BookMyBays takes 0% on bookings and 1% on membership payments and event ticket sales. Simulator pricing: £30/mo for 2 sims, scaling down to £7/mo per additional bay. Driving range: £30/mo covers up to 10 bays, +£3/mo per extra bay.
- Card processing costs apply on both platforms and are excluded from both columns. On BookMyBays that is Stripe’s standard rate (typically around 1.5% + 20p) charged by Stripe, not by us, and paid into your own Stripe account.
Feature comparison
Where each product stands today, based on publicly advertised features.
Branded checkout
Bookings on your own domain
Point a subdomain of your own domain at BookMyBays and that becomes your booking page. Alba advertises venue branding on its own pages; hosting on your own domain is not stated on albaplay.com.
How custom domains work →Group & party bookings across bays
Sell a party as a package, take a headcount, and seat it across consecutive bays as one booking charged once.
Customer account credit
Add a balance to a customer account and it applies itself at checkout, with a full ledger of what went where.
Outstanding balances & mark paid
Deposit-paid bookings carry the amount still owed, and one button records it when you take payment in person.
Automated simulator access control
BookMyBays Agent locks/unlocks at booking time. Alba uses SimLock™.
Payments into your own account
BookMyBays connects your own Stripe account — the money is yours from the moment it lands, and the rate is Stripe’s published one.
Membership plans & subscriptions
Direct Debit for membership renewals
BookMyBays collects renewals from members’ bank accounts by Bacs Direct Debit, where Stripe charges 1% (minimum 20p, capped at £4) against 1.5% + 20p for a standard UK card. The first payment is by card and a failed Direct Debit falls back to the member’s saved card. Alba advertise cards, Apple Pay and Google Pay through Adyen; bank Direct Debit for memberships is not advertised on albaplay.com, including its pricing, FAQ and docs pages, as at 26 September 2026. Verify directly.
How Direct Debit works →Custom slot types & pricing
Time-of-day & dynamic pricing
Multi-player & group pricing
Both do it. Alba advertise per-player pricing where the customer picks group size at checkout and the price updates.
Promo codes & discounts
BookMyBays codes are per-venue, so your code names are your own. Group them into campaigns, restrict them to named customers, and archive a name to free it up again.
Automatic “extend your session” offers
A code goes up on the bay screen while they are still playing, offering the slot after them at your discount. They scan it, pay on their phone and carry on in the same bay, and it lands on your calendar as its own booking. Not advertised on albaplay.com as at the last check on 6 August 2026 — verify directly.
How Extend Session works →Abandoned basket emails
When someone reaches the payment step and leaves, they get an email after a delay you choose, as a plain reminder or with a discount. Anyone who books on their own is left alone, and only customers who opted in to marketing are emailed. Alba advertise tracking “checkout starts” for ad campaigns, but an automatic email to the customer who left is not described on albaplay.com as at our check on 2 October 2026. Verify directly.
How abandoned basket emails work →Win-back emails to lapsed customers
Up to five reminders, such as two weeks and a month after a customer’s last visit, each with an optional discount. Booking stops the rest, and only customers who opted in to marketing are emailed. Alba’s side reflects their insights page as at our check on 2 October 2026.
How win-back emails work →Reporting & analytics
Google Ads & Meta conversion tracking
Paste your tag ID into settings and confirmed bookings report back to Google Ads, GA4, Meta, TikTok or Microsoft Advertising as conversions, with the booking value attached, so you can see which ads fill bays rather than which ones get clicks. Not advertised on albaplay.com, including its insights product pages — verify directly.
How conversion tracking works →Customer profiles / CRM
Alba’s insights product covers customer behaviour and segmentation alongside bookings and revenue.
Magic-link customer booking view
Driving range bay management
Gift cards
Bought online via guest checkout, with a chosen design and personal message, delivered by email, redeemed at checkout.
Prepaid cards / stored value
Lessons & coaching
Both offer coached lessons. BookMyBays lessons carry per-coach working hours, time off and coach-aware availability. Coaches also get their own portal login to see their lessons, set their hours and book time off.
Tournaments & events
BookMyBays sells events as tickets on your booking page — leagues, tournaments, socials and classes, with capacity limits, member pricing and a live door list.
Door access integrations
BookMyBays integrates with Avigilon Alta, sending each customer a time-limited door code for their booking. Alba list a longer set: Zesec, Kisi, Glutz, Avigilon, Unloc, TTLock, Seam, Entro, UniFi, Kulku and Keyfree.
Free trial
Transaction fee — bookings
BookMyBays: 0% platform fee on bookings; Stripe’s own processing (~1.5% + 20p) applies. Alba do not publish a payment processing rate — ask them.
Transaction fee — memberships & events
Setup fee
Alba’s FAQ states no setup fees and no long-term contract.
Contract length
Alba’s pricing page states "Only pay for what you use. 1 month termination notice."
Where Alba Play is stronger
We are not the right fit for everyone. Here is where Alba Play has the edge today.
Broader feature set
Alba ships with prepaid value cards and a long list of door and access integrations — Kisi, Zesec, Glutz, Avigilon, TTLock and more. BookMyBays supports Avigilon Alta doors today; if you use another door system, Alba covers more out of the box.
Multi-region presence
Alba publish regional pricing for Europe, the UK, Canada, the US and Norway. BookMyBays venues can charge customers in ten currencies (GBP, EUR, USD, CAD, NOK and more), but we are a UK-based team with UK-hours support.
Established product
Alba are further along than us — a public venue directory, franchise rates for operators running more than ten locations, and a longer track record. We are the newer option, which is worth weighing up.
Looking for a Alba Play alternative? FAQs
The questions venues ask when weighing up a switch.
Is BookMyBays a good alternative to Alba Play?
If you mainly need online bookings, memberships, coached lessons, ticketed events, automated bay access and payments, yes — that is exactly what BookMyBays does, with 0% booking fees and flat monthly pricing. If you need prepaid cards, or a door system other than Avigilon Alta, Alba covers more ground today — see the feature table above.
Is BookMyBays cheaper than Alba Play?
On advertised subscriptions (checked August 2026), yes at every venue size we compared: £30/month vs £58/month for two simulators, and £90/month vs £174/month for six. Alba charge £29 per bay per month; we charge £15, a little over half their rate. Alba do not publish a payment processing rate, so we cannot compare all-in totals — ask them for theirs, and note that BookMyBays takes 0% on bookings on top of Stripe’s own rate.
How do I switch from Alba Play to BookMyBays?
Start the 14-day free trial, then contact us — we can import your data from your existing system and help you set up your bays, slot types and memberships. Point your website and social links at your new booking page and you’re done. Most venues make the move inside a weekend.
Can I bring my customers across when I switch?
Yes — send us an export from your current system and we’ll import your customers for you. They don’t need an account to book with BookMyBays, so there’s no password-reset pain for them either.
What fees does BookMyBays charge compared with Alba Play?
BookMyBays charges a flat subscription with a 0% platform fee on bookings and 1% on membership payments and event ticket sales; card processing goes through your own Stripe account (typically around 1.5% + 20p, charged by Stripe rather than by us). Alba advertise £29 per bay per month and handle payments through Adyen, but do not publish their processing rate — ask them for it. Verify both on the day you compare.
Comparing more than just Alba Play? Read our guide on how to choose golf simulator booking software — an 8-point checklist for judging any option, ours included.
Already on Alba? Switching is calmer than you think.
Most venues move over inside a weekend. We can import your data from your existing system — customers, memberships and upcoming bookings — and help you set up your slot types. Contact us and we’ll handle the move with you.
Comparison information correct as of 6 August 2026. All facts about Alba Play are sourced from their publicly available website (albaplay.com/en/faq, albaplay.com/en/docs, albaplay.com/en, albaplay.com/en/pricing, albaplay.com/en/product/how-booking-works-in-alba, albaplay.com/en/product/how-loyalty-works-in-alba, albaplay.com/en/product/how-insights-work-in-alba). Pricing, features, and terms may change at any time — please verify directly on their site before making a decision.
Spotted something inaccurate? Email [email protected] and we will fix it.
Alba Play is a trademark of its respective owner. This comparison is published by BookMyBays and is not endorsed by, affiliated with, or sponsored by Alba Play.