WellnessLiving vs GymDesk: which is right for your gym or studio in 2026?

WellnessLiving’s pricing page puts the subscription at $69, $199, or $349 a month. What it doesn’t include are add-ons and any needed merchant fees. All of it is published on WellnessLiving’s own site, just not on the pricing page.

GymDesk takes the opposite approach: one number based on member count, every feature included, and your choice of payment processor. How much of the total cost you can see up front is the clearest line between these two platforms, and it matters because they’re also built for different businesses entirely.

The short version: choose GymDesk if you run a gym or martial arts school, want one flat number that already includes a website, and don’t need marketing automation.

Choose WellnessLiving if you run a multi-service wellness studio and need its marketing depth, with room in the budget for the merchant-processing account on top of the subscription. The rest of this page breaks down what each price actually covers.

What are the key differences between WellnessLiving and GymDesk?

• WellnessLiving’s advertised $69 to $349 subscription excludes required merchant-processing fees: a $16/month gateway fee, a $199/year maintenance fee, and a $189/year PCI compliance fee, all stated on WellnessLiving’s own knowledge base.
• GymDesk charges by active member count, from $75/month for up to 50 members to $200/month for up to 400, with a free website and every feature included at every tier.
• GymDesk lets you choose your own payment processor from six options and adds no markup. WellnessLiving requires a specific third-party processor and offers no Stripe option.
• Neither platform is built for the other’s core customer. GymDesk has no on-demand video library, and WellnessLiving’s marketing depth goes further than most gyms need.

Wellness studio or gym software: what are you actually choosing between?

GymDesk is built for gyms and martial arts schools. Everything centers on membership billing, attendance, and the daily work of running a roster. WellnessLiving is built for multi-service wellness studios, spanning classes, memberships, and marketing across yoga, Pilates, spa, and salon-style businesses.

These are different products for different businesses, not two tiers of the same thing. If your business is measured in active members and attendance, GymDesk was designed around you. If it’s measured in classes, packages, and client retention, WellnessLiving was.

How much does GymDesk cost?

GymDesk prices by active member count rather than by feature tier.

An active member is anyone currently enrolled at your gym. Frozen accounts, cancelled clients, and CRM prospects don’t count toward the number. Every tier includes a free responsive gym website, unlimited staff accounts, and the full feature set, with no add-ons and no per-staff fees.

Does GymDesk’s per-member pricing get more expensive as you grow?

For most gyms, no. The tradeoff is predictability: you know exactly what triggers a price change, and it’s growth you can see coming.

The exception is a specific shape of business: a large or fast-growing membership base relative to what each member pays. That describes donation-based studios, high-volume drop-in models, and nonprofit-adjacent programs, which can climb into a more expensive tier just by growing their roster.

OfferingTree prices by staff seats rather than client count, so member growth alone doesn’t move the bill.

Does WellnessLiving have hidden fees?

Not undisclosed ones, but real ones beyond the subscription price. A merchant processor is the account that moves a client’s payment into your bank. It’s separate from the software subscription on the pricing page, and WellnessLiving requires a specific one.

WellnessLiving doesn’t run on Stripe. It requires Paragon or Argus depending on your account, and Paragon’s published fee schedule adds a $16/month gateway fee, a $199/year annual maintenance fee, and a $189/year PCI compliance fee. None of that appears beside the $69 to $349 subscription price.

Further fees apply conditionally.

Add it up before you compare sticker prices. The $69 subscription can grow once the required processing fees are in, and that’s before a single client pays you. We break the tiers down further in our WellnessLiving comparison.

What does each platform include at the price you see?

Here’s what the sticker price actually covers on all three platforms. We have included OfferingTree for non-enterprise, mid- to small-sized studios.

Where is WellnessLiving better than GymDesk?

WellnessLiving’s marketing automation, loyalty rewards, and multi-location tools go beyond anything GymDesk offers, particularly from the Business tier up. It also serves verticals GymDesk doesn’t touch: yoga, Pilates, spa, and salon-style businesses with class-based scheduling built around them. For a business running on more than membership billing and attendance, that depth is the reason to pay for it.

Where is GymDesk better than WellnessLiving?

GymDesk is simpler and more transparent. One flat number by member count, every feature included, no tiers to climb, and a free website standard on every plan. It’s also the only platform in this comparison that lets you keep your own payment processor. For a gym that doesn’t need marketing automation, there’s nothing missing here, and nothing extra to pay for either.

How do WellnessLiving and GymDesk compare side by side?

The pricing basis is the row that drives most of the others, so it comes first.

Who should choose WellnessLiving vs. GymDesk?

If you run a gym or martial arts school and want one predictable number with a website included, GymDesk is the right call. Paying for WellnessLiving’s marketing depth would mean paying for features you’d never open.

If you run a multi-service studio and need marketing automation, loyalty rewards, or multi-location tools, WellnessLiving fits. Just budget the merchant-processing fees alongside the subscription instead of finding them after you’ve signed.

Either way, ask both vendors for a total monthly figure at your real size and transaction volume. That’s the number the pricing pages won’t give you, and it’s the only one worth comparing.

Is OfferingTree a good fit if you’re choosing between GymDesk and WellnessLiving?

Not for every case. A gym owner who specifically needs belt tracking and attendance management won’t find it with us, and against WellnessLiving, its rewards program goes beyond what we offer today.

Where we fit is independent wellness studios that want a website, scheduling, on-demand video, and marketing automation in one subscription, priced by staff seats rather than client count. On the website question, GymDesk deserves the same credit we’d want: it includes one at every tier, just as we do.

If switching is the thing holding you back, that part is handled: our team migrates your data for you, there’s no contract to sign, and you can leave whenever you want. Studio plans come with the OT Cooperative too, where studio owners compare notes on coaching calls, on running their businesses, not just the software. We built it because we’re a small business as well, and this is the kind of help we wished existed.

See our own studio pricing, how we compare against WellnessLiving, or against GymDesk specifically. There’s a fuller list of WellnessLiving alternatives if you’re still comparing.

Curious how staff-seat pricing works out at your size? Start a free trial or book a walkthrough and run your own numbers.

Frequently asked questions about WellnessLiving vs GymDesk