Most HOA management platforms will sell your board one app for everything: dues, documents, announcements, violations, and somewhere down the menu, reservations. TownSq, HOA Start, HOA Messenger, and Alosant are all built this way. The board buys the platform for the accounting and the announcements, and the reservation module comes along with it.
That module is sized for a clubhouse that gets rented a few times a month. Put it in front of a busy court and it shows its limits: one capacity number per amenity, one-hour blocks, and no way to say that tennis takes the whole court while pickleball takes half. The rules a board actually fights about, household caps, advance windows, an approval step before the clubhouse is rented, are thin or missing from the documentation.
Reciti does one thing and does it properly. Every amenity is split into the zones residents actually reserve, every activity declares what it claims, and the calendar can't double-book. The board sets the rules once and the system enforces them, with or without staff. And residents open a link in their browser, so whatever app your association already uses stays right where it is. Reciti is amenity reservation software for HOA boards, condo associations, and property managers, and it sits next to a platform as easily as it replaces a sign-up sheet.
Side by side
The left column describes the reservation module in all-in-one platforms as a category. Products vary, so treat it as what to check in a demo rather than a spec sheet.
- All-in-one HOA apps
- Running the whole association
- Reciti
- Reserving every amenity the community shares
- All-in-one HOA apps
- Varies
- Reciti
- Every plan
- All-in-one HOA apps
- Typically one capacity number per amenity
- Reciti
- Two halves, tennis claims both
- All-in-one HOA apps
- Varies
- Reciti
- In bookings and in minutes
- All-in-one HOA apps
- Varies
- Reciti
- Yes
- All-in-one HOA apps
- Often
- Reciti
- Per activity, and the request holds the slot
- All-in-one HOA apps
- Sometimes
- Reciti
- A whole season in one step
- All-in-one HOA apps
- Often
- Reciti
- No, a link in the browser
| Feature | All-in-one HOA apps | Reciti |
|---|---|---|
| Built for | Running the whole association | Reserving every amenity the community shares |
| Reservations included in the entry tier | Varies | Every plan |
| A striped court as one tennis match or two pickleball games | Typically one capacity number per amenity | Two halves, tennis claims both |
| Caps per household, per day and per week | Varies | In bookings and in minutes |
| Advance window with a daily release time | Varies | Yes |
| Requests the board approves before a slot is confirmed | Often | Per activity, and the request holds the slot |
| Recurring series for leagues and practices | Sometimes | A whole season in one step |
| Residents need an app | Often | No, a link in the browser |
What Reciti does differently
- Zones instead of a headcount. Each amenity is split into the pieces residents actually reserve, and each activity declares which pieces it claims. A striped court holds one tennis match or two pickleball games, and a clubhouse is its rooms.
- Rules that run themselves. Hours, 15-minute increments, durations, guest limits, per-household caps by day and by week, an advance window with a daily release time, blackout dates, and open-play windows are set once and applied to everyone.
- Requests when the board wants a say. An activity can require approval. The request holds the slot until the board decides, and the resident gets the answer by email.
- A season in one step. League nights or swim practice go on the calendar as one recurring series, so residents book around them instead of over them.
- Beside the platform you already have. Keep it for everything else and link to the Reciti calendar from the portal. Residents open the link in their browser, and there is nothing to install and nothing to sync.
Running both
A board that adds Reciti keeps its platform. The portal links to the calendar, residents open it in the browser, and the board configures one set of rules for every amenity. For a 100-unit association that is $79 a month, flat, with every feature included, and setup takes hours rather than a migration.