TachTab vs AircraftClubs
AircraftClubs is built specifically for flying clubs, it's inexpensive, and plenty of clubs have run on it happily for years. Its reputation, fairly summarised from club forums, is: cheap, does most of what you need, thin on support.
TachTab is narrower and deeper — the money side only, done to bookkeeping standard.
Choose AircraftClubs if…
- Budget is the binding constraint. It's one of the cheapest options in the category and that matters to a volunteer-run club.
- You need scheduling and billing in one place and you're content with basic on both.
- Your club is stable, your billing is well-understood, and nobody's arguing.
- You're comfortable solving your own problems — support is not their strength.
Choose TachTab if…
- The engine reserve is a live question and nobody can answer it quickly.
- Members buy fuel out of pocket and crediting it back is a monthly chore.
- Dues should track ownership share rather than splitting equally.
- You want statements a departing member's accountant could read without argument.
- You want a human to answer when something's wrong. We're small, but we answer.
What TachTab adds
- A real reserve ledger. Accruals per hour flown, withdrawals when the overhaul happens, adjustments recorded — with the cash balance beside the hours-to-TBO. Not a line item on an invoice: an actual fund with a history.
- Corrections with an audit trail. Void, credit memo, replacement. Nothing is edited in place.
- Automatic fuel-receipt credits against the wet rate.
- Share-weighted dues, calculated to the cent.
- PDF statements per member, emailed automatically each month.
- Stripe Connect — your club's own Stripe account receives the money directly. We never hold club funds, which for a treasurer with a fiduciary duty is not a small thing.
Where AircraftClubs beats us
- Price, clearly.
- Scheduling maturity. Both of us have it; theirs has been running in clubs for years and ours shipped this week.
- Longevity — they've been serving clubs for a long time.
Money
| TachTab | AircraftClubs | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $29/mo per aircraft | Low, club-oriented |
| Scheduling | Yes — the booking becomes the invoice | Yes |
| Reserve ledger | Yes | No |
| Credit-memo corrections | Yes | No |
| Fuel credits | Automatic | Manual |
| Support | Direct, from the person who built it | Limited |
| Import | Upload your export — aircraft, rates and partners fill themselves in | Self-serve |
Honest summary
If your club's books work and money is tight, stay where you are. Genuinely — switching costs you time and gains you little.
Switch when the billing stops being a data-entry job and starts being an argument. That's the point TachTab is built for.
hello@tachtab.com — describe your club and we'll tell you whether it's worth moving.