Calisto Pro vs RunSignUp & Active.com
RunSignUp handles registration. Active.com handles registration. Neither manages your race-day operations, volunteer coordination, or post-event marketing. Calisto does: timing, corrals, aid stations, volunteer management, and 56 native products from registration to results.
Registration tools vs. a complete race OS
Feature by feature
Feature-by-feature comparison with leading alternatives
| Feature | Calisto Pro | RunSignUp | Active.com |
|---|---|---|---|
| Online Registration & Ticketing | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Tiered Pricing (Early Bird, Day-Of) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Team & Group Registration | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Waiver & Consent Collection | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Results Posting & Search | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Race-Day Check-In & Bib Assignment | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ |
| Native Timing Dashboard | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Corral Management (Capacity, Wave Starts) | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Aid Station Operations (Supply, Staffing) | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Volunteer Coordination (Roster, Shifts, Check-In) | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Interactive Course Map with Markers | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Dynamic Pricing (7-Factor Algorithm) | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
| 75 Payment Gateways (Your Choice) | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Self-Service Runner Portal (Navigator) | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Omnichannel Messaging (WhatsApp, SMS, Email) | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Marketing Automation & Campaigns (Studio) | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Referral & Affiliate Program (Circle) | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
| TV Display System (Leaderboards, Course Status) | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Digital Contracts & E-Signatures (Sign) | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
| On-Site POS (Merch, Food, Expo) | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Staff Training LMS (University) | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Native VoIP Calling | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Compliance & Safety Inspections (Assure) | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Accounting Sync (QB, Xero, Alegra) | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
| CRM with Universal Contact Record | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ |
| No Monthly Fee (Pay Only on Sales) | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
| 0% Platform Fee on Donations | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ |
| Live Predictive Tracking for Spectators | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Walk-Up Registration Kiosk | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Certificate Template Builder with Merge Tags | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
| P2P Fundraising with Milestone Badges | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ |
| BQ Indicator & PR Badge on Results | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Finish Photo & Video on Result Page | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Social Sharing of Individual Results | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ |
| Race Expo Floor Plan Designer | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Hotel Room Blocks & PMS Integration | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Video Conferencing for Virtual Briefings | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
Choose your processor. Not theirs.
RunSignUp takes a percentage of every registration. Active.com charges per-registrant processing fees. Calisto connects to 75 payment gateways across 11 global regions. Your merchant account. Your rates. Keep more of every registration dollar.
Race-day operations. Included.
RunSignUp and Active.com stop at registration. Running a marathon requires timing, corrals, aid stations, volunteers, and course management that neither platform offers.
Race-Day Operations: Included
Registration platforms hand you a spreadsheet on race day. Calisto gives you a full operations dashboard with real-time timing and split tracking, corral capacity and wave start scheduling, and a course map carrying live runner progress markers. Aid stations report supply levels and staffing. Course marshals check in via mobile. Everything connects to the same runner record.
Volunteer Management: Included
A 5,000-runner marathon needs 500+ volunteers. RunSignUp has basic volunteer signup. Active.com has none. Calisto provides full volunteer rostering with shift and station assignment, mobile check-in for day-of attendance, and automated communications and reminders. Volunteers get their own portal with shift details, maps, and messaging.
Post-Race Marketing: Included
RunSignUp sends a results email. That is the end of their marketing. Calisto Studio gives you full marketing automation: post-race surveys, photo gallery notifications, early-bird registration campaigns for next year, referral programmes for runners to invite friends, and segmented campaigns by finish time, age group, or distance. Turn every finisher into a returning runner.
No setup cost. Pay when you use it.
RunSignUp charges processing fees per registration. Active.com takes a per-registrant technology fee plus processing. Calisto is free to set up. Core carries no additional cost. Every other suite is priced per app in the Marketplace. No per-registrant fees, no technology fees. You pay when you earn.
Switching questions
Yes. Calisto supports integration with major chip timing providers. The native timing dashboard displays real-time splits, handles DNF/DNS tracking, and publishes results automatically. You can use your existing timing hardware while gaining full race-day operations management.
Yes. The endurance vertical supports both solo events and multi-event series. Series standings aggregate automatically across events. Runners see their series progress in the Navigator portal. Series-wide marketing campaigns target participants across all events.
Calisto POS handles expo vendor sales, merchandise, and food concessions at race events. Revenue from expo booths, merch tents, and food vendors all flows into the same event financial summary. No separate POS system needed.
Each event in a series is priced individually. A 12-race series pays per event. Off-season months cost nothing. This aligns our pricing with your revenue calendar. And every event includes all 56 products: registration, timing, operations, POS, marketing, portals, and more.
Setting up costs nothing and no card is required. You get full access to all 56 products with no feature restrictions. Core carries no additional cost. Every other suite is priced per app in the Marketplace.
Because it makes us partners, not a vendor. A flat subscription means your software company collects the same fee in your best month and your worst. A revenue share means we only grow when you grow. Slow month or off-season? Your bill scales down with you.
Bring your RunSignUp data with you.
Upload your current contract and we will read the cancellation terms and credit your wallet for the exit fee. Bring your records across with a CSV import. Setup costs nothing.