IZI vs SmartShell: Computer Club Software Comparison

This comparison is built on public information published by the vendors themselves: izi.is and smartshell.gg. Statements about the SmartShell product were captured from smartshell.gg on 2026-08-20 and are cited to their source. Pricing and features change at both companies — verify current terms on each vendor’s website before deciding.

IZI vs SmartShell: computer club software compared

SmartShell and IZI are two specialised systems for running a computer club. Both cover hall management, POS, the client database, goods, loyalty, and analytics; they differ mainly in the billing base — SmartShell charges per gaming seat, IZI in Russia charges per club — and in how the plans are composed. Below is a parameter-by-parameter comparison, each item verifiable on the vendors’ own sites.

Who Chooses SmartShell and Why

SmartShell has a broad installed base: on its own site the company states “1700+ clubs in 22 countries” and that it works “with networks, franchises and independent clubs”. The site interface is available in Russian, Uzbek and Kazakh.

What SmartShell puts on its product shopfront:

• A trial with no sales call and no card. The vendor describes the start as: register an account, fill in the club card, install the shell — then 30 days of free access to the full feature set, with no need to remove your current system or reinstall Windows.
• Deep shell and security configuration. Client-shell customisation, hiding drives, blocking external storage, disabling downloads in Chrome, detailed event logging, and PC configuration checks with a Telegram alert on change.
• Management of non-standard devices. “Virtual gaming stations” — consoles, driving simulators, air hockey — plus a dedicated console controller, SmartKiosk and SmartLock TV.
• Russian fiscal and payment plumbing. Fiscal receipt printing with two tax regimes, and integrations with SBP, the KKM server, CloudPayments and Kaspi.
• The SmartPremium plan with outsourced operations. Round-the-clock sysadmin support, network hardware setup, hybrid architecture rollout, network PC cloning, driver updates.
• Material for owners. A blog and the SmartShell Academy, from launching a club to selecting hardware.

Who Chooses IZI and Why

IZI focuses on three things: per-club billing on the Russian market, running a network of venues from a single account, and the mobile app as the player’s primary interface.

For an owner with several venues, IZI provides one perimeter: one organization, multiple venues, shared rules, and consolidated reporting on revenue, ARPU, and hall load — in the dashboard, without exporting to Excel. This lets pricing and scheduling decisions be made from data rather than intuition.

For venues with an active loyalty program — automated rules without code: award bonus credits per session, move a client to a VIP group at a threshold, send a notification on group change. Rules are configured in the CRM interface, without a developer.

For players — the IZI mobile app: balance top-up and card storage, session auto-extension, online booking, bar orders. That reduces the load on front-desk staff.

Pricing: IZI vs SmartShell

The main difference is the billing base.

In Russia IZI charges per club: 2,000 ₽/mo. The trial period is 15 days. The subscription is modular: the base package covers core operations, and additional modules connect for an extra fee. (Outside Russia the model is per device — $1 per device per month.)

SmartShell charges per gaming seat: Starter — 280 ₽, Business — 580 ₽ per seat per month. There is a SmartPremium plan at 1,200 ₽ per seat, which the vendor labels a promotion for new clients. The site states that the manager and administrator panel is not billed, and that paying for 3, 6 or 12 months up front earns a discount of 2%, 5% and 10% respectively. The free trial is 30 days with no card required.

Subscription cost for a 40-seat club at the published rates:

	IZI (RU)	SmartShell Starter	SmartShell Business
Billing base	per club	280 ₽ × seat	580 ₽ × seat
40-seat club	2,000 ₽	11,200 ₽	23,200 ₽
Per-seat equivalent	50 ₽	280 ₽	580 ₽

A comparability note — read it before using these figures. The plans differ not only in billing base but in composition. Per the vendor’s description, SmartShell’s Starter plan includes booking, club accounts, bonus credits to the deposit account, an overview report and a shift report, and an open API; detailed analytics, the loyalty system with an achievement builder, purchase history and stock intake by an operator are placed in the Business plan. IZI’s base tariff is a base package, with additional modules connected for an extra fee, as stated on izi.is. The table above also excludes SmartShell’s 3–12 month prepayment discount. It therefore compares cost of entry and how cost grows, not total cost of ownership: SmartShell’s cost grows linearly with the number of gaming seats, while IZI’s per-club subscription does not depend on PC count. Your actual figure depends on the modules you connect and the plan you pick — request a quote from both vendors.

Feature Comparison

Values are taken from vendor public materials captured on 2026-08-20. Where a vendor does not disclose a parameter publicly, the row is omitted.

Parameter	IZI	SmartShell
Billing base in Russia	per club, 2,000 ₽/mo	per gaming seat, from 280 ₽/mo; the administrator panel is not billed
Free trial	15 days	30 days, no card required
Prepayment discount	—	2% / 5% / 10% when paying for 3 / 6 / 12 months
PC session management	yes	yes; club map, post-payment sessions, Wake-on-LAN, remote PC control
Consoles and simulators	—	“virtual gaming stations” and a dedicated console controller
OS protection and imaging	IZI Boot — master image and fast restore	hiding drives, blocking external storage, system-disk freeze (on the SmartPremium plan)
Player mobile app	top-up, saved card, auto-extension, booking, bar orders	SmartGamer: booking, deposit top-up, club lookup, achievements, promotions
Dashboard analytics	revenue, hourly hall load, ARPU, client base dynamics	Shifts, Overview, Clients, Visitors, Equipment utilisation, Sales, Games and applications sections
Loyalty	event-to-action rules, client groups, bonus credits	loyalty-system builder pairing triggers with rewards, client groups, cashback, promo codes
Goods and stock	bar orders, warehouse, write-off inside the shift	goods and services, combo sets, stock intake, CSV export of the goods list
POS and fiscalisation	integrations with fiscal solutions; the list depends on your country	fiscal receipt printing, two tax regimes, KKM server integration
Payment integrations	yes; the list depends on your country	SBP, Kaspi, CloudPayments
API	yes	”open API according to the features of your plan”
Multi-venue management	one organization — multiple venues in a single account	an owner account for managing subscriptions and adding new clubs; works with networks and franchises
Installed base	—	“1700+ clubs in 22 countries” (smartshell.gg data as of 2026-08-20)

Installed-base figures are given in the units the vendor publishes them in and are not directly comparable to other metrics.

What IZI Focuses On

• Per-club billing on the Russian market. The Russian subscription is not computed from the number of gaming seats — cost does not grow linearly with hall size.
• A network of venues in one account. One organization, multiple venues, shared rules and consolidated reporting.
• Analytics for operational decisions. Hall load by hour and day of week, ARPU by tariff, client base dynamics — in one dashboard, with no XLS export.
• No-code loyalty automation. Event-to-action rules are configured in the CRM interface.
• The mobile app as the player’s primary interface. Saved card and one-tap payment, session auto-extension, booking, bar orders.
• A public methodology wiki. IZI publishes not only product instructions but guides on running a venue as a business.

What SmartShell Focuses On

• A broad installed base. The stated “1700+ clubs in 22 countries” means a large body of tested scenarios and plenty of references.
• Shell and workstation security configuration. Client-shell customisation, drive and external-storage restrictions, detailed logging, PC configuration checks with a Telegram alert.
• Outsourced operations on the SmartPremium plan. Round-the-clock sysadmin support, network setup, hybrid architecture, driver updates and network PC cloning.
• Non-standard gaming seats. Consoles, driving simulators and air hockey as billable stations, plus SmartKiosk and SmartLock TV.
• Russian fiscal plumbing. Fiscal receipts with two tax regimes, SBP, KKM server, CloudPayments.

When to Stay on SmartShell

• Your hall has many non-standard gaming seats: consoles, simulators, air hockey
• Fine-grained control over the client shell and on-PC restrictions matters to you
• You want technical operations outsourced (the SmartPremium plan)
• Your admin team already works in SmartShell and retraining costs more than the subscription difference
• You pay a year up front and use the prepayment discount

When to Look at IZI

• A large hall: per-seat pricing grows linearly with seat count, a per-club subscription does not
• You are opening a second location, or already run a network and want to manage it from one account
• You need analytics beyond “revenue for the day”: hourly hall load, ARPU by tariff, client base dynamics
• You want to automate a bonus program without a developer
• You want players to handle most tasks in the mobile app without going to the front desk

Both are worth testing on your own venue: the IZI trial period is 15 days, SmartShell’s is 30 days.

Migration: Step by Step

1. Inventory your current stack: what SmartShell handles, what the adjacent tools handle
2. Configure the tariff structure in IZI to match your zone layout
3. Import the client database (CSV import or direct integration)
4. Run a parallel test period — both systems live simultaneously for 2–5 days
5. Switch all traffic to IZI
6. Train administrators on the new interface (typically 1–2 days)

See the SmartShell to IZI migration guide for the full step-by-step.

Sources

• IZI — pricing and features: izi.is, captured 2026-08-20.
• SmartShell — pricing and plan composition, features, installed-base figures, product FAQ: smartshell.gg/price, smartshell.gg/features, smartshell.gg, captured 2026-08-20.

If you represent a vendor and believe any information on this page is out of date or inaccurate, write to support@izi.is — we will check and correct it.

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• Migration from SmartShell to IZI: step-by-step guide