e-Captain alternative: how 4planning differs

Who a e-Captain alternative looks, usually doesn't look for something cheaper: both start at €365 per year. He is looking for something that his members open themselves. 4planning has existed since 2016 and is used by more than 200 organisations.

e-Captain is a member administration and relationship system with bookkeeping; 4planning is a platform that members use themselves via a club app. Both start at €365 per year excluding VAT. The difference lies not in the price, but in who uses the system on a daily basis.

Tailored to the type of association you are

A brass band holds rehearsals, a civic guard unit exercises, a football club plays matches. 4planning is tailored to what kind of organisation you are: for a musical society, “rehearsal” appears in the menu and in the reminder on your members' phones.

The difference with e-Captain lies not in what the committee can do, but in what the members do themselves. With e-Captain, the member app is a separate product: Cappie, with its own subscription and its own set-up costs. With 4planning, that app is the starting point, and there is no separate price attached to it.

Within the same app, members sign up for activities, pay their subscriptions, claim a bar shift and show their digital membership card. Surrounding that is everything else you might need: training sessions with attendance tracking, ticket sales with scanning at the door, news, polls and surveys, sponsors with packages, Club TV for the screen in the clubhouse, a club shop, family accounts, and voice notes that return your general meeting transcribed with the decisions listed below.

Compare ten association software packages side by side.

An honest comparison, including the cases where e-Captain actually is the better choice.

Why are clubs looking for an e-Captain alternative?

First the honest truth: these are not copies of each other. e-Captain calls itself a member administration and relationship system, and that word explains almost everything. It is built around administration: members, donors, advertisers, sponsors and creditors are listed side by side, with bookkeeping in the same system and separate modules for matters such as payment files and floor plans.

4planning is built around what members see. Member administration, calendar, communication, membership fees and ticket sales come together in a single environment, and members use it via an app under their own club's name and logo.

The overlap is in the membership administration and the membership fees. That is why they will be placed alongside each other, and hence this page.

The pricing model

e-Captain charges a fixed amount per year, tiered according to the number active relationships. From €365 per year for up to 300 contacts, then €465 for up to 400, €565 for up to 500, €665 for up to 600 and €765 for up to 700. All amounts are exclusive of VAT.

4planning charges a fixed amount per day, in three packages: Start £1.00, Plus £1.75 and Pro £2.50 per day. That comes down to £365, £638.75 and £912.50 per year, also excluding VAT. Start is intended for associations with up to 250 members.

The app is not included

This belongs in the overall cost, as it is included with 4planning. The e-Captain licence covers eight basic modules; their app Cappie is a separate product with its own tariff:

Prijzen gecontroleerd op 21 augustus 2026, exclusief btw.
Cappie	Per month	One-off set-up costs
Standard	€ 15	€ 180
Interactive	€ 45	€ 360
Branded, with its own logo in the app stores	€ 75	€ 720 plus € 360 inrichting

An association that wants an app under its own name therefore pays €900 per year plus a one-off €1,080, on top of the licence. With 4planning, the app is included in every package; a custom app icon is an add-on of €10 per month.

Mind what is being counted

This is the detail that tips the balance in the comparison, and it’s set out in e-Captain’s own calculation example. They don’t count your members, but your active relationships, and that includes donors, advertisers, prospective members and even the creditors from your bookkeeping.

Their own example: an organisation with 282 members, 36 donors, 17 advertisers, 8 prospective members and 31 creditors amounts to 374 active relationships. So that club is not in the bracket up to 300, but in the one up to 400.

So do not base your calculation on your number of members, but on your total database of relations, otherwise your quote will end up in a higher tier than you expected.

Prijzen exclusief btw, gecontroleerd op 23 augustus 2026.
Association	e-Captain (per year)	4. Planning (annual)
150 members, few other relationships	€ 365	€ 365 per jaar (Start)
250 members, estimated 330 contacts	€ 465	€ 365 per jaar (Start)
282 members, 374 relationships (their own example)	€ 465	€ 638,75 per jaar (Plus)
450 members, an estimated 580 contacts	€ 665	€ 638,75 per jaar (Plus)

Amounts excluding VAT, from the pricing pages of both providers, checked on 21 August 2026. The number of relations in the middle two rows is an estimate based on e-Captain's own calculation example; your ratio may differ. Always check current prices with e-Captain itself.

In short: the prices are similar and vary depending on the size. Anyone who manages an association with many donors, sponsors or advertisers alongside its members pays e-Captain for those extra relations. Anyone who mainly has members will find 4planning cheaper up to 250 members and after that there is little to choose between them. Price is therefore not the deciding factor here. What you get for it is.

What the first year really costs

Kosten van het eerste jaar bij een vereniging van 250 leden, prijzen per 23 augustus 2026, exclusief btw.
What you pay	Amount
e-Captain licence	€ 365,00 per jaar
Cappie Basis, the member app	€ 180,00 per jaar
Cappie set-up costs, one-off	€ 180,00
e-Captain with member app, first year	€ 725,00
4planning Start, 9 months paid (3 months trial)	€ 273,78
4planning set-up costs	€ 0,00
4planning with member app, first year	€ 273,78

On the licence alone they are equally expensive: both start at €365 per year. The difference arises with the member app. With e-Captain, that is Cappie, a separate product with its own subscription and a €180 one-off set-up fee. With 4planning, the app is the starting point and is included in the amount. Add the three-month trial to that and the first year differs by a good €450.

What you get with 4planning that’s a bit different

For that amount, you don’t get an administration package with a members’ portal included, but an environment that members can access themselves:

January 4planning app with your club's logo and colours, and on Pro, the club logo as an app icon on your members' home screen
Agenda and attendance, where members register and deregister themselves
Messages, news and polls sent to the whole club or to a single committee
Membership fees via direct debit and iDEAL
Ticket sales for club evenings, where members automatically see their member price
A link to Sportlink, which tracks members, teams and matches

You don’t notice that difference in the first week, but in the first season. An administration package is used by the committee; a members’ app is used by the whole club.

What it can earn back

e-Captain charges per relation. That means that your sponsors, advertisers, donors and creditors count towards your pricing tier: the more people your club reaches, the higher your bill.

At 4planning, sponsors are not an expense item, but a placement in the app and on the screen in the clubhouse. You lock in the amount, duration and package, decide for yourself where their logo appears, and send them free tickets to an event. A club that wants to grow its sponsorship income pays nothing extra for that with us.

The same goes for ticket sales. A club night with three hundred tickets can quickly earn a club more than an annual subscription costs, and you sell those tickets within the same environment where your members already are.

What moves with you when switching?

Your membership base moves with you. 4planning reads an export from e-Captain via Excel or CSV, including your own fields. Request a demo to do that import with your actual export from e-Captain rather than a sample file, and you will immediately see which columns are included and which ones you need to set up again.

Your groups will move with you, and are immediately usable: document permissions, messages to a single committee or team, and private tickets that are visible only to that group.

Your contribution moves along too, but your members will sign a new SEPA direct debit mandate. That is a single evening's work and it is unavoidable: a mandate is in the name of the collection agency.

What remains stated below under “when e-Captain is the better choice”. Take that into account before you decide, not after.

When is e-Captain the better choice?

There are some organisations for which we are not the best fit. We’d rather make that clear here than for you to find out after three months.

You want to manage your accounts in the same system, including creditors and payment files. e-Captain has that built-in; with 4planning you link your own accounting package: Moneybird, Exact Online, e-Boekhouden, SnelStart, Jortt, Rompslomp or WeFact. This way, the treasurer chooses for themselves what they work with.
You manage a lot more than members. Managing donors, advertisers, sponsors and former members as full-fledged relationships alongside each other is precisely what e-Captain was made for.
Your committee operates from the computer and your members do not need to do anything themselves. If there is no need for a member app, then with 4planning you pay for something you don't use.
You need a specific module which they do have and we do not, such as floor plans for a room or accommodation.

If, on the other hand, you are looking for a single place where both the board and the members come together, that is precisely what 4planning was built for. Switching takes just one evening to set up. After that, members sign up themselves, reminders are sent out automatically, and no one has to juggle four different lists ever again. That repays the time invested in that single evening within one season.

Where your data is stored and who we help

Where the data is located. Data is stored on European servers in an ISO 27001-certified hosting environment, and is not shared with systems or AI models outside Europe. Sensitive data is stored encrypted and daily backups are made.

What happens to your member base. All club and member data remains the property of the organisation that enters it. It will not be sold, shared or used for commercial purposes.

If you get stuck. For ticketing, 4planning is available 24 hours a day, including on the evening of your event itself. For the app and other queries, on working days from 08:00 to 18:00. Outside of these hours, the assistant in the app explains the step and takes you to the right page. There is an assistant in the app who looks along in your own environment, and the knowledge base describes every step.

Compare further. If you are primarily looking for a stronger administration, also take a look at e-Captain, I write, AllUnited, Congress, Society, SportEasy and Sportlink. Or view compare association software packages side by side.

More about the features themselves: Membership administration, Contributions and payments, tickets en toegang, events, communication and branding and personalisation. Or view the prices and question one demo aan. Terug naar het overzicht van alle vergelijkingen.

Frequently asked questions

What is a good alternative to e-Captain?

For e-Captain, there are two types of alternatives. If you mainly want a stronger member administration with bookkeeping, you should look within the same category. If you are looking for an environment in which your members work themselves, 4planning is an alternative: member administration, membership fee collection, calendar, bar duties and ticket sales are all in the same app, starting from €365 per year excluding VAT. 4planning has been around since 2016 and is used by more than 200 organisations.

How much does e-Captain cost per year?

Starting from €365 per year excluding VAT for up to 300 active contacts, increasing per tier up to €765 for 700 contacts. Please note that donors, advertisers and creditors count as contacts.

Is 4planning cheaper than e-Captain?

On the basic licence, both start at €365 per year excluding VAT. The difference arises in what is added: e-Captain charges per relation and their app Cappie is a separate subscription of €15 to €75 per month with €180 to €1,080 in one-off set-up costs. With 4planning, the app is included in the package. Current amounts are listed on the pricing page.

Can members get their own club app?

Members download the 4planning app and see their own club's name, logo and colours inside it. On the Pro and Business packages, the club logo appears as the app icon on your members' home screens, making the club's app easily recognisable amongst their other apps. 4planning does not provide a separate listing per club in the App Store or Google Play. There, they manage their attendance, their membership fees and their tickets.

Is there an integration with Sportlink?

4planning has a link with Sportlink through which members, teams and matches are automatically synchronised. Check e-Captain to see what sports association links they offer; that varies per sport.

Can I take my member database with me when switching?

Yes, 4planning imports an existing membership list via Excel or CSV, including custom fields. Ask for that import to be done with your actual export from e-Captain during a demo rather than a sample file, and you will immediately see which columns come through.

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The prices and product information on this page come from e-Captain's own public pages, checked on 21 August 2026: the pricing page and the Cappie rates. If anything isn't quite right, let us know and we'll adjust it.

Would you like to see what it looks like when your members are in the system themselves? View the scheduling system for associations of compare ten association management software packages.

Is 4planning GDPR-compliant and where is the data stored?

Yes. 4planning data is stored on European servers, in an ISO 27001-certified hosting environment, and is not shared with systems or AI models outside Europe. It is stored encrypted and there is a daily backup. You determine yourself who sees which data per member and per group.

What kind of support do you get with 4planning?

For ticketing, 4planning is available 24 hours a day, including on the evening of your event itself. For the app and other queries, on working days from 08:00 to 18:00. Outside of these hours, the assistant in the app explains the step and takes you to the right page, and the knowledge base is available at help.4planning.nl.

Looking for an e-Captain alternative?