Comparison

Spond vs Downwind Crew

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Spond

This app streamlines sports team and club organization. It simplifies scheduling, payment collection, and communication for coaches, admins, parents, and players. Save time on administrative tasks and focus more on the sport.

Highlights
  • Schedule training, matches, and events
  • Automatic RSVP tracking
  • Secure payment collection
  • Group communication tools
  • Manage multiple teams and roles
  • Sync with personal calendar
  • Player of the match voting
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

Organize your team, sports club or group. Save time. Focus on what matters. The free app trusted by millions of coaches, club admins, parents and players worldwide. Spond is the app that makes sports happen. Whether you're running a sports club or organizing activities with your friends, Spond keeps everyone in sync. Stop chasing RSVPs, outdated contact info or late payments. What you can do: • Schedule training, matches and events • Set up recurring events for the whole season at once • Sync everything with your personal calendar • See who's coming with automatic RSVP tracking • Collect membership fees and event payments securely • Send reminders and keep track of who has paid • Manage multiple teams with sub-groups and set member roles • Import members from Excel or add via link, email or SMS • Export attendance lists and data to Excel • Set up your starting line-ups for matches • Keep track of match goals and vote player of the match • Communicate via group chats, posts and polls • Store photos and documents in custom folders and file structures • Manage children's accounts safely as a guardian with full visibility of communication with coaches Built for coaches, club admins, parents and players. Spond saves a coach an average of 2 hours per week on admin tasks. That's more time on the field, less time in spreadsheets and group message chats. Works for all sports and activities. Any group that needs to get organized will find their home in Spond. Download Spond and make sports happen.

About

Downwind Crew

This app connects paddlers for organized downwind runs. It simplifies shuttle logistics, allowing users to find fellow paddlers by craft, pace, and route. Coordinate vehicles, seats, and transport to ensure a smooth paddling experience.

Highlights
  • Organize downwind runs
  • Find paddlers by craft and pace
  • Coordinate shuttle logistics
  • Direct messaging and crew chat
  • Browse official routes with safety notes
  • Track runs and build paddler profiles
Features
Read full description

Downwind Crew helps paddlers find each other, organize downwind runs, and solve shuttle logistics before getting on the water. Built for the paddling community, Downwind Crew makes it easier to coordinate the details that can turn a great paddle into a logistical headache. Use Downwind Crew to: • Create and join downwind runs • See who is available to paddle • Find paddlers by craft, pace, route, and availability • Coordinate vehicles, passenger seats, and canoe transport • See whether your shuttle is ready before launch • Message paddlers directly or chat with your run crew • Browse official routes with maps, difficulty ratings, and safety notes • Track upcoming and completed runs • Build a paddler profile with craft, pace, experience, and favorite routes Shuttle planning is built directly into each run. As paddlers join and add their transportation information, Downwind Crew automatically shows whether the crew has enough vehicles, seats, and canoe capacity to make the shuttle work. Whether you paddle OC1, OC2, surfski, SUP, or other supported craft, Downwind Crew keeps the plan, crew, and logistics in one place. Find your crew. Chase the pace.

Screenshots

Spond4 screens
Downwind Crew4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is monetization model: Downwind Crew at free against Spond's free with in-app purchases. Downwind Crew also leads on device support (3 vs 1). Spond's advantage is ratings volume (3.7K vs 3) and update cadence (weekly vs monthly). On price, rating, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.9 for Spond against 5.0 for Downwind Crew. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Spond has 3.7K ratings behind it against 3, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Spond ships an update weekly, Downwind Crew monthly. The most recent releases landed on October 17, 2026 and October 3, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 6 level
Spond versus Downwind Crew: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSpondDownwind Crew
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.9 (3.7K ratings)5.0 (3 ratings) — better
Positive reviews61.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings3.7K — better3
Update frequencyWeekly — betterMonthly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
Best chart rank#156 — better—
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS16.015.1 — better
Further details — not scored
Size118 MB188 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperSPOND ASStyron Enterprises, Inc

Customer experience

Spond

All ratings3,741 ratings
Positive97.0%
Neutral1.5%
Negative1.6%
Written reviews254 reviews
Positive61.0%
Neutral8.3%
Negative30.7%

Downwind Crew

All ratings3 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

Spond

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • Events randomly disappearing
  • Inability to create new events in some groups
  • Calendar sync issues when crossing time zones
  • Verification code not being received
  • Crashes when opening messages

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add goal scorer and stats tracking features
  • Improve recurring event creation and management
  • Implement a more granular notification control system
  • Develop an iPad-specific app
  • Add a car pool feature to connect players in the same area

Downwind Crew

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Spond

No in-app purchases

None

Downwind Crew

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Spond free?
Spond is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Downwind Crew free?
Downwind Crew is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Spond or Downwind Crew?
Downwind Crew is rated higher. Spond averages 4.9 out of 5 from 3.7K ratings, while Downwind Crew averages 5.0 from 3 ratings.
Do Spond or Downwind Crew have ads?
Neither Spond nor Downwind Crew shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Spond or Downwind Crew?
Spond ships an update weekly, and Downwind Crew monthly. Most recently, Spond was updated on October 17, 2026 and Downwind Crew on October 3, 2026.

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