Touchline builds you a managed WordPress site from £99/month, takes around four weeks to onboard, and leaves the shop and email to third parties. GrassrootsFC is free to start, includes a shop, member email and fee collection, and you're live in minutes — in full control.
No card needed. No contract. Live in minutes.
Where Touchline adds up
Touchline is a genuinely good, hands-off service — but it's built for clubs with a budget. Here's where it costs you, and where GrassrootsFC does more for less.
Touchline's published pricing is £99 or £129 per month — from roughly £1,188 a year. GrassrootsFC's Club plan is £8/month and the free tier is genuinely free, forever. That's a difference most volunteer-run clubs feel.
Touchline doesn't integrate a shop or email tool — it points you to third-party services you set up and pay for separately. GrassrootsFC includes an online shop with card payments through Stripe, and member email, on its plans.
A managed build means a typical onboarding of around four weeks. GrassrootsFC reads your badge, extracts your club colours, and has your site live in under five minutes — automatically.
Fully managed means updates run through Touchline rather than you. GrassrootsFC gives you an admin dashboard — log in and change anything yourself in seconds. If you can write a WhatsApp message, you can run your site.
Pricing comparison
Touchline pricing as published on their website. GrassrootsFC pricing is fixed — no surprise increases.
| Plan level | GrassrootsFC | Touchline |
|---|---|---|
| Entry / Free | Free Website, shop (5 products), teams, player profiles (30, with parental consent), events, gallery, documents, PWA — no ads, ever | None No free tier; first month + setup free, then billed monthly |
| Core club plan | £8/mo Everything free, plus news, member email, 25 albums, 100 docs, 100 player profiles, analytics | £99/mo Managed WordPress site, hosting, maintenance & support |
| Higher plan | £15/mo Custom domain, unlimited storage, priority support, email group segments, 0.75% shop fee | £129/mo Touchline's higher managed tier |
| Annual cost (entry paid) | £96/yr Club plan billed monthly, cancel any time | from £1,188/yr At the £99/month rate |
Touchline pricing based on published plans as of mid-2026. Always check current pricing directly with Touchline.
Feature comparison
A straight look at both platforms. Where Touchline does something we don't, we say so.
| Feature | GrassrootsFC | Touchline |
|---|---|---|
| Core platform | ||
| Club website | ✓ Free tier — no ads | ✓ Managed WordPress, from £99/mo |
| Free tier | ✓ Genuinely free, forever | ✗ First month free, then paid |
| Team & squad pages | ✓ Free tier | ✓ Built for you |
| Player profiles with parental consent | ✓ All plans — server-enforced before public | ✗ Not built in |
| News & match reports | ✓ Club plan — £8/mo | ✓ Managed |
| Custom domain | ✓ Pro plan — £15/mo | ✓ Set up for you |
| Shop, email & commercial | ||
| Online shop | ✓ Free (5 products, 5% fee), Club (unlimited, 1.5%), Pro (0.75%) | ✗ Third-party tools recommended |
| Email your members | ✓ Club & Pro — newsletters & segments | ✗ Third-party tools recommended |
| Sponsor & ad space Promote sponsors & sell space | ✓ Sponsors on every plan, free — promote sponsors & sell space, no third-party ads | ✓ Part of their managed service |
| Control & setup | ||
| Self-serve admin dashboard | ✓ Change anything yourself, instantly | Managed Changes via Touchline |
| Fully managed for you | Self-serve You control it (we help if needed) | ✓ Done-for-you service |
| Automated setup from badge | ✓ Upload badge → live in ~5 minutes | ✗ ~4-week managed onboarding |
| Mobile-installable PWA | ✓ Free tier — installs to phone home screen | Varies Mobile-first WordPress |
Why clubs choose GrassrootsFC
We built GrassrootsFC because we ran a club ourselves — grassroots, youth or non-league, the basics shouldn't cost £99 a month.
A genuinely free tier, and a Club plan at £8/month. No £99 entry point, no setup fee, no contract.
Sell kit through Stripe, email your members, and collect fees — all in one place, not stitched together from third-party tools.
Upload your badge, verify your email. We extract your colours and build your site. No four-week onboarding, no waiting.
Change anything yourself from the admin dashboard — no support ticket, no middleman. Hands-off if you want, hands-on when you need it.
Player profiles are private by default, parental consent is recorded and enforced, and every uploaded image is moderated. No ads beside your under-9s.
Cancel any time from your admin panel. It's free to try alongside whatever you run today — keep what works for you.
Being fair
We're not here to rubbish a good product. Touchline does real things well — here's when it's the right call.
If fully hands-off is what you're after, Touchline is a fair choice. But GrassrootsFC isn't just cheaper — you also get a shop, member email, fee collection and sponsor promotion built in, so sponsorship and commercial revenue are absolutely not a Touchline-only thing — all with the freedom to change your own site in seconds. It's free to try, so you can see for yourself before changing anything.
Upload your badge, get your site in minutes. Upgrade to Club for £8/month when you're ready — or stay free forever.
Start for free →No card needed · Cancel anytime · hello@grassrootsfc.co.uk if you have questions
© 2026 GrassrootsFC. Built in Cambridge for Saturday morning football. — Back to main site