Playo Commission vs Your Own Booking Link: The Maths

Playo commission is a fee Playo takes on each successful booking a player makes for your venue through the Playo app. Playo describes it as "a small Playo commission per successful booking" (Playo) but doesn't publish the rate. Your exact percentage is in your partner agreement. For your regular players, a booking link of your own usually costs less; for brand-new players, a marketplace can be worth what it charges.

This guide explains how sports booking marketplaces work for venue partners, what you get and what you pay, and how to compare that with your own link using simple maths.

How turf booking marketplaces work for venue partners

Apps like Playo, Hudle and KheloMore are marketplaces. Players open the app, search for a sport near them, see open slots at many venues and book. The venue is listed as a partner.

The basic flow is similar across them:

• You sign up as a partner and share your venue details, courts, hours and prices.
• Your slots show in the app, next to other venues in your area.
• A player books and pays through the app.
• The marketplace settles the money to you, after its fee, on the schedule in your agreement.

To list on Playo, its support page asks owners to send the owner's name, contact number, venue name, location and sports available, after which Playo gets in touch (Playo support). KheloMore has a similar page for owners to list a sports venue.

What marketplaces give you

It would be unfair to look only at the fee. Marketplaces give real value, especially to a new venue.

• Discovery. Players searching for "football near me" in the app can find you without knowing your name. Hudle, for example, says partners can reach its community of over 10 lakh users (Hudle).
• New players. Groups who move to a new area, or want to try a new venue, often start in an app.
• Software. Partner apps include tools for managing slots, staff access and earnings. Playo's partner app lists real-time bookings, calendar control, pricing changes, staff roles and GST invoices (Playo).
• Payments handled. The player pays in the app, so you don't chase advances for those bookings.

For a venue with empty slots and no regular crowd yet, this can fill evenings that would otherwise go unused.

What marketplaces cost: understanding Playo commission

The main cost is the commission per booking. Here is what the public pages say:

Because the rates aren't public, we won't guess them. Before you compare anything, open your partner agreement and note:

• The commission percentage, and whether it applies to the full booking value or only the part paid online.
• Whether GST is charged on the commission.
• Any payment gateway or convenience fee, and who pays it.
• How often money is settled to your bank.
• Whether offers or discounts run by the app reduce your share.

There is also an indirect cost. When a player books in the app, the relationship sits partly with the app. Next time, they may open the app again and see other venues first.

The maths: marketplace commission vs your own booking link

Here is how to compare the two with your own numbers.

Turf Access cost per booking

Turf Access charges a fixed credit per online booking, not a percentage. These are the packs (prices include GST):

Walk-in and phone bookings you add yourself are free, and players pay you directly on UPI.

Example with an assumed commission rate

Example only. We assume a marketplace commission of 10%. This is not Playo's rate or any other app's rate; it's a round number to show the method. Replace it with the rate in your own agreement.

Say your slot price is ₹1,200 an hour.

The gap grows with your price. A percentage fee on a ₹2,000 weekend slot is larger than on a ₹900 morning slot, while a fixed credit stays the same.

Redo it with your own figures

1. Find your commission rate (C%) in the partner agreement.
2. Take your average slot price (P).
3. Marketplace fee per booking = P × C%.
4. Own link fee per booking = your pack price ÷ bookings in the pack.
5. Multiply both by the number of bookings you expect each month.

If you're still setting your rates, our guide on how to price your turf per hour can help.

When a marketplace is worth it

A commission makes most sense when it pays for something you couldn't get on your own: a new player. Ask yourself:

• Would this group have found me without the app?
• Will they come back, and if so, will they book through the app again or contact me directly?
• Is the slot they booked one that would otherwise be empty?

A booking that fills an empty Tuesday afternoon slot with a new group is good value. A booking from your Sunday regulars, who would have messaged you anyway, is the one where a commission adds cost without adding players.

Using both: marketplace for discovery, own link for regulars

You don't have to choose one. Many owners use both sensibly:

• List on a marketplace to be found by new players, especially in your first months or for slow time bands.
• Share your own link with every group that plays with you. Put it in your WhatsApp status, on a board at the counter and in your Google Business Profile.
• Offer regulars a reason to book direct, like a fixed weekly slot or a membership.
• Keep one source of truth. Block a slot on the other channel the moment it's booked, so you never sell the same hour twice.

For more ideas on filling slots, see how to get more bookings for your box cricket turf.

How Turf Access helps

Turf Access gives your venue its own booking link (turfaccess.com/book/<venue>) and bookings through a shared WhatsApp number. Players pick a day, court, time and length, then pay the advance straight to your own UPI ID. You check the UTR against your bank and confirm. There is no commission, and Turf Access never holds player money.

You pay one prepaid credit per online booking, from ₹599 for 50. Walk-in and phone bookings are free, and new venues get 20 free credits. Your desk handles regular slots, memberships, coupons and WhatsApp reminders. Read more on our no-commission alternative to marketplaces for turf owners.