A BookMyParty
Alternative
On Your Own Website.
BookMyParty does soft play parties properly, with rooms, extras, deposits and balance reminders, and plenty of venues are happy on it. If you'd rather families booked on your own website, with sessions, parties, waivers and the cafe in one system, that's what we built. Starter is £42 a month ex VAT plus a 1% transaction fee on payments, and I'll move your upcoming bookings across by hand.
No credit card required. No contracts. Cancel anytime.
Try out what your booking page could look like.
Paste your current booking link. We’ll build a working BookingNinja demo with your venue’s details and branding.
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Your Website, Your Booking Page,
One System Behind It
BookMyParty has been booking soft play parties for over 21 years, and it does the job. These are the differences worth knowing about before you decide either way.
Booking Stays on Your Site
BookMyParty's own FAQ says bookings work by "external linking to your personalised booking wizard", so a family who taps Book Now lands on a bookmyparty.co.uk or bookmyactivity.co.uk page. Ours can sit inside your website as a widget, or on a booking page under your own domain.
The Cafe Runs in the Same System
Sessions, parties, waivers, the till and QR ordering at the cafe tables share one login and one customer record. BookMyParty sells its till and walk-in counters as a separate product, SMART FrontDesk, from £42 a month ex VAT.
Two Published Prices, Built Differently
BookMyParty's pricing starts from £84 a month per venue ex VAT, with unlimited bookings and no percentage per booking. Starter is £42 a month ex VAT plus a 1% transaction fee on payments, Gold is £75 plus 1%, and card processing is on top. Compare them against your own takings.
Group Codes and Memberships
The first parent to book gets a group code, and friends use it to add their own bookings and pay separately while the group stays together. Members pay on a recurring plan and get their discount when they book.
Moved Across by Hand
Send me your BookMyParty export and I'll move your upcoming bookings across myself, with setup free. You check the party dates against your day sheet before a single Book Now button changes.
You Get Me
BookMyParty has a UK phone desk and an emergency line until 10pm, which is a real strength. We are smaller. I build BookingNinja, I answer the emails, and setup is usually done within a day.
BookingNinja vs BookMyParty
Both systems book soft play sessions and parties properly. The differences are where families book, what else runs alongside, and how the bill is put together.
Monthly price published on the website
Percentage on each payment
Card processing
Bookings included
Setup
Contract
Where families book
Play sessions with capacity control
Party bookings with rooms, extras and deposits
Automatic balance reminders
Gift vouchers and discount codes
Digital waivers
Till for walk-ins and the cafe
QR ordering at cafe tables
Memberships with recurring billing
EPOS link to Smart Book and Sharp
Support
| Feature | BookingNinja | BookMyParty |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly price published on the website | £42 or £75 a month ex VAT | From £84 a month per venue ex VAT |
| Percentage on each payment | 1% on Starter and Gold, none on Enterprise | None on subscription plans |
| Card processing | Stripe or Square | Your own gateway: Worldpay, PaymentSense, Opayo, Stripe and others |
| Bookings included | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Setup | Free, usually within a day | £250 + VAT online, 1 to 4 weeks |
| Contract | Monthly, cancel any time | 30-day rolling |
| Where families book | Inside your website, or on your own domain | A linked BookMyParty booking wizard |
| Play sessions with capacity control | ||
| Party bookings with rooms, extras and deposits | ||
| Automatic balance reminders | ||
| Gift vouchers and discount codes | ||
| Digital waivers | Yes, full set in SMART FrontDesk | |
| Till for walk-ins and the cafe | SMART FrontDesk, from £42 a month ex VAT | |
| QR ordering at cafe tables | No evidence found | |
| Memberships with recurring billing | No evidence found | |
| EPOS link to Smart Book and Sharp | ||
| Support | Email, answered by the founder | Phone desk, plus an emergency line 8am to 10pm |
BookMyParty's figures come from SMART Entertainment's pricing page, FAQ and terms, read on 19 October 2026. The pricing page gives a starting price rather than each plan's price, and multi-venue pricing is quoted, so your own bill may differ. Its subscription plans take no percentage and ours carry a 1% transaction fee, so there is no honest single saving figure and we haven't printed one. BookingNinja prices are read from our live pricing; card processing is extra on both.
Book Now Opens
On Your Own Website.
A parent taps Book Now and stays on your site. They pick the 10am session, add two adults and two under-fives, choose a table near the toddler area and pay. The booking flow sits in your page as a widget, or on a booking page under your own domain, in your colours.
Sessions and Parties,
Set Up the Way You Run Them.
Toddler mornings, open play, after-school sessions and Saturday parties each get their own capacity, prices and rules. A baby can be free and not take a space, and every booking can be made to include at least one adult.
Waivers Signed
Before They Arrive.
Attach a waiver to the sessions that need one and each booking sends its own signing link. The adult signs for their children on one form, and the signed copy is filed against the booking, so the front desk isn't handing out clipboards on a busy Saturday.
Moving Across
Without Losing a Party.
Get an export of your upcoming bookings from BookMyParty and send it to me. I move them across by hand, you check the counts and party dates against your day sheet, and the Book Now buttons only change once it all matches.
When BookMyParty Is the Right Call
BookMyParty is a long-established UK system built around soft play parties, and a lot of the venues on it are content. Sometimes staying put is the better answer.
- You take cards through Worldpay, PaymentSense, Opayo or another gateway you want to keep. BookingNinja takes card payments through Stripe or Square only.
- Your till is Smart Book or Sharp and the link between the two matters to you. BookMyParty connects to them and we don't.
- You want no percentage on payments at all. BookMyParty's subscription plans take none, and our Starter and Gold plans carry a 1% transaction fee.
- You only sell seasonal tickets. BookMy Event has no monthly fee, and a monthly subscription from anyone may not suit you.
If BookMyParty is working for you, keep it. If you want families booking on your own site, with the cafe, waivers and parties in one system, that's the venue we built this for.
BookMyParty Alternative Questions, Answered
Is BookingNinja cheaper than BookMyParty?
Does BookingNinja do parties, deposits and balance reminders?
Can families book on our own website?
How do we move our bookings from BookMyParty?
We use Worldpay or PaymentSense. Will that work?
Does BookingNinja do digital waivers?
Is there a contract?
Is BookingNinja UK-based?
Switching From Something Else?
Weighing up a few booking systems? See how BookingNinja compares to the others.
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CompareBooked It Alternative
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CompareBookteq Alternative
Bookteq handles facility hire. Here is what changes when your bookings are people at tables.
CompareBookwhen Alternative
How BookingNinja compares to Bookwhen for venues that seat guests at tables.
CompareClassForKids Alternative
ClassForKids runs registers. If you run a venue, here is where the two differ.
Compare
Sessions, Parties
and the Cafe, Booked.
On your own website. £42 a month ex VAT plus a 1% transaction fee, free setup, upcoming bookings moved across by hand.
Free Forever plan: 50 no-payment bookings a month. Upgrade anytime.