✓ Independent review — no sponsored content

Martialytics vs RainMaker (2026)

Martialytics from£69/mo (50 students)
RainMaker priceQuote on enquiry
Martialytics strengthGrading readiness
RainMaker strengthLead and sales CRM
RainMaker rating~4.3 / 5
Last reviewed2026-07-22

This is a genuine fork rather than a like-for-like comparison. Martialytics is built around running a club properly — registers, gradings, fees. RainMaker is built around growing one, with lead tracking and marketing automation at its centre. Both do the other thing to some degree; neither is really trying to be the other.

Quick Verdict

Most UK clubs should start with Martialytics. It is cheaper, transparently priced in pounds, and stronger at the recurring job that actually eats your evenings — working out who is ready to grade.

RainMaker earns its place if sales is genuinely your bottleneck. If you run paid trials and intro offers and actively work a lead list, its CRM depth is well beyond anything Martialytics offers. Go in aware of two things reviewers raise consistently: the reporting is unreliable, and the price is neither published nor cheap.

Head to Head

MartialyticsRainMaker
Entry price£69/mo (50 students)Quote on enquiry
Price transparencyPublished, with calculatorNot published
CurrencyGBPUSD
Built aroundRunning the clubGrowing the club
GradingTraffic-light readiness viewAttendance and membership records
Lead and prospect CRMBasicStrong — core of the product
Marketing automationGroup emailYes, developed
ReportingMore canned reports requestedDocumented reliability complaints
Free trial30 days, no cardNot published — ask
Rating4.7–4.8 / 5~4.3 / 5, several hundred reviews

Prices are approximate and change — verify current plans on each vendor’s website. USD-priced tools cost a moving amount in pounds depending on the exchange rate. “Not confirmed” means we could not verify the feature from the vendor’s own published material, not that it is absent.

The Reporting Problem Worth Understanding

The most repeated complaint in RainMaker reviews is reporting. Multiple reviewers report that financial reports return conflicting figures, and that they resort to exporting data into Excel and reconciling it manually. For a product positioned partly on business intelligence, that is a significant catch rather than a minor one.

It matters more than it might sound. If you are choosing RainMaker specifically for its growth and sales tooling, the reports are how you would measure whether that tooling is working. Reviewers also note the product updates more slowly than competitors, and several observe it has become noticeably pricier over the past year.

What Each Does Better

Martialytics wins on

  • Published pricing you can compare before enquiring
  • GBP-native — no exchange rate exposure
  • Grading readiness, done properly
  • Every feature on every plan
  • 30-day trial without a card or a sales call
  • Lower total cost for most club sizes

RainMaker wins on

  • Lead and prospect tracking depth
  • Marketing automation for intro offers and trials
  • Support — consistently praised in reviews
  • Automation and billing integration
  • Maturity: several hundred reviews at ~4.3/5
  • Suits schools where sales is a defined function

Check this before anything else if you are a UK club: how the tool takes money. Most of these platforms are American and route payments through card processors. A great many UK clubs collect monthly fees by Direct Debit, commonly through GoCardless, because it is cheaper than card fees and fails less often on recurring payments. None of the tools in this comparison has confirmed GoCardless support, and Martialytics documentation lists it explicitly as not yet compatible. Confirm the migration path with the vendor before you commit, not after.

Who Should Choose Which

UK club, gradings every term, want a known price → Martialytics. Published GBP pricing, better grading tools, and you can trial it without talking to anyone. Sales is genuinely your bottleneck, not admin → RainMaker. The CRM depth is real. Budget for the reporting frustration or plan to reconcile in Excel. You want to compare costs before committing time → Martialytics. RainMaker quotes on enquiry, so a like-for-like comparison means a sales conversation. You run paid trials and intro offers at volume → RainMaker’s automation is built for exactly this. You need reliable financial reporting above all → Neither shines. Martialytics reviewers ask for more canned reports; RainMaker’s are documented as inconsistent. Plan to export either way.

Who This Is NOT For

Small clubs under about 25 students — RainMaker in particular is aimed at schools running a real sales operation. At that size look at Kicksite or the free options.

Clubs that want a fixed, knowable monthly cost — RainMaker does not publish pricing, so budgeting means enquiring first.

Anyone collecting by GoCardless Direct Debit — neither tool confirms support. Resolve this before choosing either.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does RainMaker cost?

RainMaker does not publish pricing — it quotes on enquiry. Reviewers describe it as toward the expensive end for the category, and several note it has become noticeably pricier over the past year. If budget certainty matters, that opacity is itself a factor in the comparison.

Is RainMaker’s reporting problem serious?

It is the most consistently repeated complaint in its reviews. Multiple reviewers report financial reports returning conflicting figures and describe exporting to Excel to reconcile manually. Whether that is disqualifying depends on how much you rely on in-product reporting — but go in expecting to verify numbers rather than trust them.

Which is better for grading and belt progression?

Martialytics, clearly. Its traffic-light readiness view is built to answer who is eligible to grade from attendance and time in rank. RainMaker records attendance and membership properly but is not built around progression in the same way — its centre of gravity is lead and member lifecycle, not the syllabus.

Can I use RainMaker just for the CRM and something else for gradings?

You can, but running two systems means double entry of your student roll and two sources of truth for attendance. For most clubs that costs more time than the CRM saves. If sales genuinely is your constraint, it is usually better to commit to one system and accept its weaker side.