Heja is a team app from Sweden: a schedule, attendance, a team chat, photos and payments, used by hundreds of thousands of teams. Its mission, parent accounts and child-safety rules show who it was built around first: youth teams and their families. A weekly adult pickup game asks for different things: a capped list that fills itself, room for guests, new and fair sides every week, and a simple record of who paid back the person who booked the court. That is the job Rostara is built for.
The short answer
- Choose Heja if you run a youth team with parents, a fixed team with a season of training and games, or you want chat, photos and payments in one app.
- Choose Rostara if you run a drop-in game where the players change from week to week, the game is capped, and the hardest part of the evening is making even teams.
What Heja does well
Heja's website says more than 500,000 teams trust it. Highlights from its site and help center:
- Chat and media for the whole team. A team chat and a coaches chat are set up automatically, with direct messages, announcements with reactions, photos and videos, a photo album for every game, and shared documents.
- Built for families. Parents and guardians join with their players, parents can see their child's conversations, and children under 13 can't sign up on their own.
- Reminders that run themselves. Heja reminds the team 3 hours before an activity and on the morning of it, and nudges people who haven't answered three times a week.
- A free plan with no player limit. The schedule, RSVPs and team messaging are free, paid for by ads.
- Fees in the app on Team Pro. Members pay team fees in the app, and Stripe pays the team out every week.
For a youth team, those are real strengths, and Rostara doesn't try to match all of them.
Where a pickup game is different
Fair sides every week
A youth team has a coach and a fixed roster. A pickup game splits everyone who turned up into two or more even sides, and the split changes every week. Heja's help center describes no team balancing or skill ratings, so sides are picked by hand. In Rostara, players are rated privately from 1 to 10 on a few skills for your sport, nobody sees who gave which score, and the balancer splits the players who are coming into even teams in one tap. A balance score tells you how close the game should be, and goalkeepers are spread across the teams. See the team balancer and player ratings.
A capped game, a waitlist and guests
In Heja, a limit on how many can attend is part of Team Pro, and players answer Going or Not going. Its help center doesn't describe a waiting list or guests from outside the team. In Rostara, a player limit and an RSVP deadline are free, players answer Going, Maybe or Not Going, and when the game is full the next people join a waitlist. When someone drops out, the first person waiting is moved in straight away and gets a "You're in!" notification. Members can also add guests, who count toward the limit and join the waitlist in turn when the game is full. See waitlists and guests.
Money without transaction fees
Heja's in-app payments need Team Pro, and Heja's help center puts the service fee in the US at around 4 to 5%, always paid by the person paying. On an $8 game fee, that is about 30 to 40 cents a payment, on top of Team Pro itself.
Rostara never takes or moves money. Its ledger records who fronted the cost of the court, splits it among the players and shows each player what they owe. Players pay the way your group already does, by cash, Venmo, PayPal or bank transfer. Because no money passes through Rostara, it charges no transaction fees. The ledger is part of Rostara Pro; see splitting field and court fees.
No ads, and the same app on every device
Heja's free plan is paid for by ads. On Team Pro, coaches and admins stop seeing them, but parents and players still do unless the team pays for Team Pro Max. Heja's web version is also part of the paid plans. Rostara shows no ads on any plan, and everyone, free or Pro, can use it in a browser on a phone or laptop, or in the iPhone and Android apps.
Heja and Rostara side by side
From Heja's website, help center and App Store listing, checked on October 24, 2026, and from Rostara's own guides.
| What you need | Heja | Rostara |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free with ads; Team Pro is $13.49 a month or $99.99 a year per team on the US App Store, and Team Pro Max $18.99 a month or $139.99 a year | Free plan with no ads; Pro is $12.99 a month or $99.99 a year for one group |
| Built for | Sports teams of all ages, with parent accounts and safety rules for children | Weekly pickup and recreational groups |
| Scheduling | Single events, and events that repeat weekly | Single games; duplicate last week's game to repeat it |
| Sign-ups | Going or Not going; an attendance limit on Team Pro | Going, Maybe and Not Going, with a player limit and an RSVP deadline, free |
| A dropout from a full game | No waiting list described in Heja's help center | The first person on the waitlist is moved in and notified |
| Guests | Not described in Heja's help center | Members add guests, who count toward the limit |
| Picking sides | By hand | Private 1 to 10 skill ratings and one-tap balanced teams with a balance score; keepers spread across teams |
| Money | Team fees paid in the app on Team Pro; in the US, a service fee of around 4 to 5%, paid by the payer | A ledger of who paid and who owes (Pro); money moves outside the app, so there are no transaction fees |
| Messages | Team chat, coaches chat, direct messages, photos and videos | Notices with reactions; the chat stays in your group chat |
| Where it runs | iPhone and Android apps; the web version on Team Pro and Pro Max | Any browser, and iPhone and Android apps on the App Store and Google Play, on every plan |
When Heja is the better choice
- You run a youth team, and parents need to follow along and see their child's messages.
- You want the team chat, photos and videos in the same app. Rostara leaves the conversation to your group chat.
- You want reminders that go out on their own. Rostara doesn't send automatic reminders yet: you post a notice when the group needs a nudge.
- You want events that repeat every week by themselves. In Rostara you duplicate last week's game.
- You want players to pay team fees inside the app, and the service fee is worth not chasing anyone.
How to move a pickup group to Rostara
- Try the balancer with no account. Paste your player list into the free team generator and rate the players you know. If you like the teams, tap Create this group in Rostara and the list comes with you.
- Create your group and pick your sport. Getting started walks you through it.
- Share the invite link in your group chat. Players who open it and sign in land in your group. See members and invites.
- Add the holdouts by name. Players who don't sign up can still be rated, put on teams and answered for on RSVPs.
- Post the first game with a player limit and an RSVP deadline. Everyone in the group is notified. See scheduling games and RSVPs.
Questions
Is Rostara free like Heja?
Running your games is free, team balancing included, and there are no ads on any plan. Rostara Pro, for the ledger, discipline, group tournaments, history, custom skills and member-wide ratings, is $12.99 a month or $99.99 a year for one group. Players never pay.
Can players pay through Rostara the way they do in Heja?
No. Rostara records who paid and who owes, and the money moves outside the app by cash, Venmo, PayPal or bank transfer. Because it handles no money, it charges no transaction fees.
Can I use Heja and Rostara together?
Yes. They don't connect to each other, but you can keep a youth team in Heja and your own weekly pickup game in Rostara.
Do my players need to download an app?
No. Rostara works in any browser on a phone or a laptop, and players can add it to their home screen. Players who would rather install an app can get Rostara from the App Store on an iPhone or from Google Play on Android.
More comparisons: Spond, TeamSnap, BenchApp and OpenSports, or all of them.
