Best gym management software for independent gyms: top 7 platforms

This guide compares seven gym management platforms on two things: what each one includes, and what it costs to run your gym on it.

One thing most comparisons skip is card processing. For a 200-member gym it’s usually a bigger monthly bill than the subscription, and only two of these seven platforms publish their rate. So the pricing here includes it wherever the vendor makes that possible.

What is gym management software, and what does it actually do?

Gym management software is a single platform that handles a gym’s memberships and recurring billing, class and staff scheduling, member check-in and door access, member communication, and revenue reporting.

In practice it replaces the stack most independent gyms cobble together in year one: a spreadsheet tracking who’s paid, a separate booking tool, a card reader that doesn’t talk to either, and a group text for when a coach calls in sick.

These softwares have a few core jobs:

• Memberships and billing. Recurring dues, class packs, drop-ins, failed-payment retries, freezes, and cancellations.
• Scheduling. Class templates, capacity limits, waitlists, appointments, coach assignments, and sub coverage.
• Check-in and access. Kiosk or app check-in, attendance history, and in some cases keyfob or app-based door entry for 24/7 gyms.
• Member communication. Email, SMS, automated follow-up for people who’ve stopped showing up, and lead nurture.
• Reporting. Revenue, retention, attendance by class, and payroll by coach.

Every platform in this guide does the first four. Where they differ, and where the money is, is in what’s included versus bolted on, and what the payments cost.

Which gym management platforms publish their pricing?

Five of the seven platforms below publish per-tier prices on their own site with no form to fill out; only OfferingTree and PushPress publish a card processing rate.

All prices checked August 2026.

Note that both Mindbody and ABC Glofox require demos to see true pricing.

Which gym management software is best for your type of gym?

Here’s each platform on the same four points: who it’s built for, what it costs, what’s included in that price, and where it falls short.

1. OfferingTree

Best for: Small- to mid-sized gyms and studios that run on classes, memberships, unlimited on-demand, and a professional website builder.

Pricing: Solo plans start at $26 a month and studio plans at $100 a month, billed annually, and Pro and above carry a 0% OfferingTree transaction fee on top of processing. Every plan has month-to-month options, and every plan starts with a 14-day free trial.

What’s included: A website with hosting, class and appointment scheduling, payments, memberships, unlimited on-demand video, email marketing, and lead management with marketing automation.

The pattern with most platforms here is a low base price with the website, the CRM, and the member app sold separately, which isn’t the case with OfferingTree. One studio owner who switched off Vagaro described how that gap opens up: “when you go look at their site, it’s like, ‘It’s only $50 for an account.’ But by the time you add in all the features you need with enough teachers and then you have to pay for everything, there’s all these, it was just so annoying.”

The other thing that comes with the price is people. Onboarding and data migration are free and handled by a real person, and support tickets get answered by the team that built the platform. OfferingTree was started by studio owners, and it still runs like a small business talking to other small businesses.

The limit: OfferingTree has no keyfob or smart-lock door access, so if your members let themselves in at 5am, GymMaster or Gymdesk is the better fit.

2. PushPress

Best for: Independent in-person gyms running class-based or appointment-based businesses, from CrossFit and BJJ to boxing and functional fitness.

Pricing: Free at $0 with 4.99% + $0.30 processing. Core Pro at $159 a month with 2.89% + $0.30. Grow CRM ($329), Train workout tracking ($79), and the branded app are separate products.

What’s included: Unlimited members, staff, admins, and leads on every tier, including Free, which is unusual.

The limit: Stated plainly on their homepage: PushPress isn’t built for fully remote coaching businesses or big-box gym chains. Contract length isn’t addressed on the pricing page.

3. GymDesk

Best for: Gyms that already have a good processing rate and want to keep it, and owners who want to know they can leave cleanly.

Pricing: By active member count, from $75 a month up to 50 members to $150 for a 200-member gym. Connect Stripe, Square, Authorize.net, GoCardless, or Ezypay at your own negotiated rate with no Gymdesk markup.

What’s included: Every feature on every plan, unlimited staff accounts, and a gym website. The pricing page is explicit that you can export members, attendance, payment records, waivers, and documents yourself, at no cost, including on the way out.

The limit: Gymdesk Payments is US-only. Door access is $100 a month for up to three doors plus $29 per extra door, with hardware and installation quoted separately, and the branded member app is another $100. We’ve also put Gymdesk head-to-head with Mindbody and WellnessLiving if your shortlist is down to those matchups.

4. Zen Planner

Best for: Martial arts schools and functional fitness boxes. Zen Planner has been in that world since 2006 and shows it.

Pricing: Modular. The Studio base runs $99 to $289 a month by active member count. A website is $99 on top, Engage (marketing automation, AI campaigns, and lead management) is $249 and folds in the website, the branded app is $39, and EMV card devices are another $39 a month. Zen Planner does publish bundle rates.

What’s included: Belt and skill tracking, SugarWOD integration for boxes, and payroll by session and commission, all in the base Studio plan.

The limit: The add-on stack. Payments run through Daxko with rates available from their team, and their FAQ notes that annual contracts are available on request with a 12-month commitment.

5. GymMaster

Best for: Gyms that are open when you aren’t.

Pricing: $89 a month up to 100 members, through 209 for 1,300 members. Above that, there is an enterprise tier. Door access with unlimited doors is sold as its own plan variant at $40 a month over the software-only price, so Foundation with access runs $129 and Advanced (up to 400 members) runs $169 per site. Hardware is priced right on the page: $550 for the Gatekeeper, $300 for a Bluetooth door reader, $1.30 per keyfob. Processing goes through your choice of billing provider.

What’s included: The 24/7 access setup, and GymMaster adds a 60-day money-back guarantee.

The limit: Pricing is per site. The branded member app runs $150 a month with a $450 setup fee.

6. Mindbody

Best for: Multi-location businesses where being found by strangers drives growth. The consumer app, with its 3M+ active users, is a channel nothing else on this list has.

Pricing: “Starting at $79 USD/month per location” is the only published number. Accelerate and Ultimate require a conversation.

What’s included: Unlimited users per location, and the marketplace exposure.

The limit: Pricing is per location rather than per business, and you can’t total it without a call. Mindbody’s own FAQ says contract terms depend on your plan, your billing terms, and any promotion you signed up under. If Mindbody is the one you’re leaving, we’ve written up what that switch looks like.

7. ABC Glofox

Best for: Franchise networks and multi-location boutique brands that want a fully branded member app and centralized configuration across sites.

Pricing: “Plans starting at $99 per month.” Essential, Boost, and Elite each show a Request Pricing button.

What’s included: Branded app and multi-site management, now under ABC Fitness Solutions.

The limit: The starting figure is the whole of what a logged-out visitor can learn about cost.

How much does gym management software cost per month?

Your monthly cost has two parts: the subscription and card processing. For most independent gyms, processing can easily be the bigger comparison point. Once you’re running a few thousand dollars a month through cards, the fees on those charges will usually outrun what you pay for the software itself, on nearly every platform here.

Subscriptions are the easy part. Published entry prices run from free to a few hundred a month, and a gym with a couple hundred members lands somewhere in the low to mid hundreds depending on how the platform prices: by member count (Gymdesk, Zen Planner, GymMaster), by team size (OfferingTree), or by location (Mindbody). Add-ons move that number more than the base tier does, which is why the website, CRM, and app pricing matters.

Processing is where it gets murky. OfferingTree charges standard Stripe rates with no platform fee on Pro and above. PushPress publishes a range that drops as you move up its tiers, so the free plan carries the highest card rate and can end up costing more than a paid plan once your volume is decent. Gymdesk lets you keep your own processor at whatever rate you’ve already negotiated. Zen Planner, GymMaster, Mindbody, and ABC Glofox don’t publish a rate, so you’ll get it in a sales conversation.

The practical way to compare: take one month of your real card volume, apply each platform’s rate where you can get one, add the subscription for the tier you’d actually run, and put that next to your current bill. 

OfferingTree’s full price list, processing included, is on one page.

What should you check before you switch gym software?

It may sound silly, but ask about leaving before you ask about joining. A lot of companies have predatory cancellation clauses and can sometimes hold your data hostage when you try to switch. Ask these questions:

Contract length. Gymdesk and GymMaster both state no lock-in contracts on their pricing pages, and GymMaster adds a 60-day money-back guarantee. Zen Planner is month-to-month by default, with annual contracts available on request that carry a 12-month commitment. Mindbody’s own FAQ says it depends on your plan, your billing terms, and any promotion you signed up under. OfferingTree has both annual and month-to-month options.

Cancellation terms. Gymdesk states no exit fee and cancellation from inside your account. OfferingTree stops future billing when you cancel and doesn’t refund monthly plans, though an annual plan cancelled within 14 days of the charge gets a refund with no questions. Mindbody says cancellation may require advance notice depending on your agreement.

Data export. Almost nobody asks about export until they need it. Ask every other vendor the same question in writing, specifically whether saved payment tokens transfer to your next processor, because that’s the part that decides whether 200 members have to re-enter a card.

Migration support. Free, hands-on migration is close to standard now. PushPress, Gymdesk, Mindbody, Zen Planner, and OfferingTree all offer it in some form. The real question is how long your current platform takes to release your card tokens, which is usually two to four weeks and occasionally never, and the quality of the help.

How do you choose the right gym management software for a small gym?

Since so many software companies hide their information behind demos, you need to come to those meetings armed with the right questions. In addition to the above questions, you should ask the following and come to the meeting with your numbers:

1. How much card volume do you run each month? Multiply it by each platform’s processing rate before you compare subscriptions. At $8,000 a month, half a percentage point is $40.
2. Do members need to get in when nobody’s at the desk? If yes, your list is GymMaster or Gymdesk, and the hardware cost is part of the decision.
3. How many staff need a login? Some platforms cap it and charge to raise the cap. OfferingTree’s Studio Starter covers three, but has an unlimited plan at a reasonable price as well.
4. Do you need a website, or do you have one? A website you’d otherwise pay for is $99 a month at Zen Planner and included at Gymdesk and OfferingTree.
5. What does leaving cost? Contract term, cancellation fee, data export, token portability. Get it in writing during the sales call, not after.

If the answers point toward a class-and-membership business with a handful of coaches, and you’d rather see the whole price list on one page, OfferingTree fits. Every tier is published, there’s no OfferingTree transaction fee on Pro and above, a website and unlimited on-demand video are included on every plan, and every plan starts with a 14-day free trial.

Every plan and the processing rate are on OfferingTree’s pricing page. If the numbers work, the free trial starts there too.

Common questions about gym management software