Martial arts software compared

Every comparison of martial arts software is written by someone selling martial arts software. This one included. We make Black Belt CRM and we would like you to choose it, so rather than pretend to be neutral, here is the thing that actually makes a vendor’s comparison worth reading.

Every price below comes from the vendor’s own published material, with the source recorded and the date it was last checked. Our pricing page carries the full table, and every figure carries the date it was checked. You do not have to trust us on a single number — you can go and check them.

Most of this list will not tell you what it costs at all until you have sat through a demo. That is the first thing worth noticing about it.

Start with the pricing model, not the price

The most consequential difference between these products is not what they charge. It is what they charge for, because that determines what happens to your bill as you grow.

Flat monthly. One price regardless of size. Spark works this way. Predictable, and it favours large businesses — the bill is identical at 80 members and 800, which is excellent value at the top end and poor at the bottom.

By member count. The bill rises in bands as you grow. Kicksite and ours both work this way. The thing to check is what the ladder looks like three years out rather than what it costs this month.

Per location. Multi-site pricing, which is straightforward until a second location is half the size of the first and costs the same.

A 40-member programme and a 400-member programme should not shortlist the same products, and pricing model is the main reason why.

The second thing to establish, and almost nobody asks it on a demo: what exactly counts toward the number? Active members only, or every record that has ever existed? On a member-count product, a system that counts cancelled members from four years ago will quietly become the most expensive option you evaluated. Ask for the definition in writing.

Where we win

Price, at every size. Against Kicksite — the closest product to ours on price — there is no member count at which they are cheaper. $49 against our $39 at 25 members. $99 against $59 at 40. $149 against $59 at 75. $199 against $85 at 150. $199 against $125 at 500. Against the flat-rate products the gap is widest exactly where most martial arts businesses live, at the small and mid-sized end.

We publish the price. Every tier, on a public page, with no demo required and no form in front of it. Zen Planner and Mindbody quote by sales. That is a choice each of them made, and you are allowed to read it as one.

Breadth on one system. Fifteen business types, one platform. If you already run — or might one day run — a martial arts programme plus an afterschool club plus a summer camp, that is one system rather than three, one bill rather than three, and one roster rather than three that disagree with each other.

Rank and belts are native, not a workaround. Ranks, stripes, gradings and eligibility are part of the data model rather than a custom field somebody added to a generic gym product.

Getting your data out. You can export everything, and you can check your export with our import checker in the browser before you talk to anybody here. Migration is the second-biggest reason people stay on software they dislike, and most vendors treat it as a sales conversation rather than as a tool you can just use.

The eight, in one line each

No adjectives, because you can supply your own. What each product is, and what it charges on.

Kicksite. Martial arts only. By student count: $49 up to 25 students, $99 to 50, $149 to 100, $199 above that.

Spark Membership. Organised around sales and follow-up. Flat monthly, with an upper tier that adds per-location pricing.

Zen Planner. Broad multi-discipline platform. By active member count, quoted by sales rather than published.

PushPress. Gym and functional-fitness first, with a free entry tier. The card-processing rate changes with the tier, and add-ons are priced separately.

Gymdesk. By active member count, every feature on every tier. Additional locations are $50 a month each.

Jackrabbit Class. Class-management heritage — scheduling, terms and attendance. By student count at the end of each month.

Mindbody. The largest and the least martial-arts-specific here. Four tiers, quoted by sales, priced per location.

Martialytics. Martial arts only. Per active student with volume discounts; leads and inactive students are not counted.

Prices checked 2026-09-01 against each vendor’s published material. Where a product is missing from that list it is because the vendor does not publish a figure.

How to actually decide

Ignore feature lists. Every product on this page does memberships, billing, attendance and rank, and the differences that matter are not visible in a checklist.

Four questions instead:

1. What is the pricing basis, and what does the bill look like at double my size? Get the definition of a countable member in writing.
2. Can I export everything, in a usable format, without asking permission? If the answer is vague, that is the answer.
3. Is there a term commitment, and what happens if I want to leave in month four?
4. What does support cost once onboarding ends? Some products price it separately and mention it late.

Ours, in the same order: bands by active member count, published in full on the pricing page with the ladder visible to the top rung before you speak to anyone; export whenever you like, and a migration checker you can run in the browser today; no contract, no setup fee and a 30-day trial; and the only things we charge for on top of the plan are extra locations, payment processing and text messages — every feature, unlimited staff logins and training are included on every tier, including the $39 one.

Ask the other seven the same four questions. A vendor who answers all four plainly is telling you something more useful than any feature comparison, including this one.

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Prices cited are from each vendor’s published material, with sources and the date each was checked. Competitors change prices without notice — check theirs before deciding, and if you find a figure here that is out of date, tell us.