For Indian academies
Chess academy software for India
An Indian chess academy needs software that runs batches and attendance, collects tuition through Razorpay on Grow and above, and reaches parents on WhatsApp where it is connected. ChessCore bills its own subscription in US dollars, and the tuition families pay you stays a separate rupee flow.
The jobs are the same everywhere: enrol students, run batches, collect fees, review games and report to parents. What changes in India is how families pay and how you message them, so this page includes a short test you can run on any vendor, including us. The full category guide is chess academy management software.
Check your academy's requirements
RazorpayTwo money flows
Fees and payment requirements
What your academy pays ChessCore. The subscription is in US dollars and is a flat tier set by how many students you have. For example, an academy that collects fees online needs the Grow tier, which covers up to 500 students at $109 a month, billed annually ($1308 a year). There is also a Free plan (no credit card required). Current tiers and terms are on the flat capacity tiers and billing terms on the pricing page.
What families pay your academy. Chess class fee management in India is the tuition you collect in rupees, and it is separate from your software subscription. On Grow and above, ChessCore takes payments through Razorpay, including UPI AutoPay mandates and payment links for unpaid invoices. On Core, you record payments in the family ledger. A UPI AutoPay mandate is permission to collect, not a guaranteed debit: a debit can fail, and the invoice then stays unpaid until a payment arrives. See billing and fee collection for the invoice and reminder workflow, and use the Razorpay page to test UPI AutoPay and reconciliation. Payment setup depends on how your academy is configured, so confirm it before you plan around it.
UPI AutoPay, step by step
One invoice, a part payment and the balance that stays visible
The scene below is a synthetic illustration at Knight's Gate, a made-up academy, not a customer. Invoice KG-1027 for the student Sara A. is INR 3,000. Her parent pays INR 1,500 by UPI on 9 October, and the other INR 1,500 stays visible as due.
A parent approves a UPI AutoPay mandate in a supported UPI app. It is permission to collect, not a guaranteed debit.
Invoice KG-1027 for Sara A. is INR 3,000. Her parent pays INR 1,500 by UPI on 9 October.
The confirmed payment is matched to the invoice, and the other INR 1,500 stays visible as due.
A payment link can cover the rest. Payments that do not match an invoice stay on a review screen for staff.
WhatsApp first
Academy operating workflows
Batches, attendance, make-ups and substitutions run in one record per student. Class reminders go out 24 hours and 2 hours before a class, and fee reminders can go out on a schedule the academy turns on. Both are fixed templates with no AI text. Messages the AI drafts for a person wait for a coach or admin to send them. WhatsApp messages go through the official WhatsApp Business Cloud API where it is connected for your academy, and email is also supported. Families can lodge data access and erasure requests, and the academy completes them. That is a workflow feature, not a certification.
Several centres, one account
One academy account can run several centres or branches, each set up as physical, online or hybrid, with batches linked to their centre. How centres and branches work is in the chess academy management software guide.
Illustrative screen from a made-up demo academy.
Getting started
Onboarding and support
The Free plan is listed as no credit card required, so you can try ChessCore before choosing a paid tier. This page does not state support hours, response times or language coverage, because we have not confirmed them for this page. Ask about them through the demo form so the answer comes from a person.
Five checks for any vendor
What should an Indian academy test before choosing software?
Ask every vendor to run these five checks on screen with test data before you move a batch. The second and third columns are a suggested test for any vendor. The last column says what ChessCore does today, as far as the product code shows, and none of it is a legal or compliance certification.
| Task | Ask the vendor to demonstrate | Record to inspect | ChessCore today |
|---|---|---|---|
| A parent approves a mandate in a supported UPI app | Approve a test mandate from a real UPI app and show the amount and frequency the parent sees. | The mandate status and the invoice it is meant to pay. | Razorpay UPI AutoPay mandates on Grow and above. Your own Razorpay account must have UPI AutoPay switched on. Approval does not guarantee a debit. |
| A part payment leaves a visible balance | Pay half of one invoice and show what the family and the front desk see next. | The invoice: amount paid, amount still due, and any payment link for the rest. | The invoice keeps the remaining balance visible, and a payment link can cover it. |
| A successful payment matches its invoice | Pay a test invoice by UPI and show which invoice and which student it landed on. | The family ledger entry and the payment reference. Ask what happens to a payment that does not match. | Confirmed Razorpay payments are matched to the invoice. Unmatched ones stay on a review screen for staff. |
| Message purpose consent is checked | Try to send a reminder to a family with no recorded opt-in, then to one that replied STOP. | The message log: sent or blocked, and the dated consent record behind it. | WhatsApp needs a connected Business Cloud API number and a dated opt-in for each purpose. STOP blocks later messages. Class reminders also skip quiet hours. |
| A family can ask for access or erasure | Log a data access request and walk it to completion. | The request status, who completed it, and whether a legal hold applies. | Families can lodge access, correction, erasure, withdrawal and grievance requests. A person at the academy completes them. |
Run the same five checks on a spreadsheet and on any other tool on your shortlist. A vendor that can only describe a step in a slide has not shown it. To check WhatsApp setup and consent, read what ChessCore sends, to whom and with what consent. The shortlist itself is on the best chess academy software page.
Check these first
What are the current limits for India?
- ChessCore's own subscription is billed in US dollars, not rupees.
- No legal, tax or compliance certification is claimed or implied.
- Speech-to-text for class recordings runs on Google Gemini by default. ChessCore can switch speech-to-text to Sarvam, an Indian provider. Your academy does not choose the vendor, and we do not say which one your academy would use.
- A family who books a trial class can download it as a calendar file, and confirmed bookings can be mirrored into the academy's Google Calendar.
- Zoom and Google Meet are links a coach pastes. The built-in classroom has video and audio.
Before you plan around it
If one of these limits matters to you, check it first.
Check your academy's requirementsQuestions
Frequently asked questions
- Does ChessCore collect fees over UPI?
- Yes, on Grow and above: Razorpay UPI AutoPay mandates and payment links for unpaid invoices. Core records payments in the family ledger.
- Is ChessCore priced in rupees?
- No. ChessCore’s own plans are priced in US dollars as flat tiers by student count. Your families pay you tuition in rupees, which is a separate flow. See the pricing page for current plans.
- Does ChessCore certify tax or legal compliance?
- No. ChessCore does not make legal, tax or compliance certification claims on this page. Check invoicing and tax requirements for your academy with your adviser.
Written by Abhishek Tiwari. See our editorial standards.
