What's the best gym management software in 2026?
The sticker price is half the story. The other half is what you pay on every membership charge.
Most "best gym software" lists are written by a vendor that ranks itself first, or by a directory that lists everyone. You need answers to two plain questions: will my memberships bill on autopilot, and how much of each payment do I keep? We compared five platforms on exactly that, then on door access, the member app, pricing traps and contracts.
The short answer: PushPress if you run a small gym or box in the US and want to start for $0 a month, then move to Pro once processing fees add up. Gymdesk if you want a flat price per active member and a 30-day trial with no card. Mindbody if you want new clients from its marketplace and accept a commission on the first booking. bsport for a boutique studio that lives on its branded app. Virtuagym if coaching is part of what you sell.
Every price on this page comes from the vendor's own pricing page. When a vendor only quotes on request, we say so, and we tell you what to ask on the demo call.
The ranking is editorial: a sponsored spot is always labeled on its card, and no affiliate link changes a score.
The best gym software for your kind of gym
Free plan, Pro at $159 a month
Best per-member pricingFrom $75 a month up to 50 active members
Best for new clientsMarketplace, commission capped at $30
Best for boutique studiosBranded app, no setup fee
Best for coachingWorkout plans and QR or RFID check-in
No contract, unlimited locations$189 a month for 101 to 200 active clients
The 5 gym management platforms compared
The order follows the most common case in the US: an independent gym, box or studio that bills monthly memberships and needs members to book and check in. A multi-location chain or a marketplace-driven studio may land on a different pick: the award grid above gives you yours.
| Best for | What it does best | Free plan | Team size | Visit | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | PushPress | Best overall for small gyms | Free to start, cheap ACH on paid plans | 4.1/5 | Free; Pro $159/mo | ✓ | Small gyms and boxes | Visit → |
| 2 | Gymdesk | Best per-member pricing | Flat price per active member, 30-day trial | 3.9/5 | From $75/mo (≤50 members) | — | Gyms and martial arts schools | Visit → |
| 3 | Mindbody | Best for finding new clients | A marketplace that sends you clients | 3.9/5 | Starter from $79/mo per location | — | Studios that want visibility | Visit → |
| 4 | bsport | Best for boutique studios | A branded app for your studio | 3.8/5 | Quote only | — | Yoga, Pilates, reformer studios | Visit → |
| 5 | Virtuagym | Best for gyms that sell coaching | Coaching plus QR, barcode or RFID check-in | 3.7/5 | From $19/mo | — | Gyms with coaching | Visit → |
Entry prices read on the vendors' official pricing pages in 2026, in US dollars. "Quote only": the vendor publishes no price list.
Is your tool missing from this page? Email us: hello@hackceleration.com
How we compared and ranked
Gym software has two jobs that pay the bills: collect every membership on time, and let the right people through the door or into the class. Scheduling, reports and the app matter, but a gym that misses payments or lets lapsed members in loses money every month. Hence our weights: 30% for payments, 20% for access and booking.
We read official pricing pages, payment processing rates, contract terms and the Trustpilot reviews of five vendors, separating owners from members, mostly the negative ones: auto-renewals, support you can't reach, apps that frustrate members. We don't have full reviews of these platforms yet, so the scores start on this page and stay the same everywhere we use them.
What we left out, and why. TeamUp and Eversports Manager are listed further down with their prices. Magicline has a free tier, but it's built for Europe. We also skipped platforms whose official prices we couldn't read: we never publish a price taken from a third-party site.
- Payments & recurring billingAutopay, failed payment handling, card and ACH processing costs.30%
- Access & bookingCheck-in, door access tied to membership status, class booking.20%
- Value for moneyPublic pricing or not, what makes the bill climb, setup fees, contract length.20%
- Member appBooking and paying from the phone, branded app options.15%
- Ease & supportOnboarding, support response, owner feedback.15%
The ranking is editorial: a sponsored spot is always labeled on its card, and no affiliate link changes a score.
Get our next software comparisons by email
PushPress
PushPress has the clearest pricing on this list. Free costs $0 a month, Pro $159 and Max $229. The catch sits in processing: on Free, every card payment costs 4.99% + $0.30. On Pro it drops to 2.89% + $0.30, and to 2.75% on Max. Pro and Max also take ACH bank payments at 0.79% + $0.30.
Run the numbers on a $150 membership. On Free, a card charge costs you $7.79. On Pro with ACH, it costs $1.49. With 60 members paying that way, the difference is about $378 a month, more than Pro itself. So Free is a great way to start, and a bad way to stay.
Outside the US, prices aren't public: you go through sales.
- A real $0 plan to start
- ACH at 0.79% + $0.30 on Pro and Max
- Three plans, all listed publicly
- ✓Public pricing, no demo needed to know the cost
- ✓Processing drops sharply on paid plans
- ✓Easy to start before committing
- ✗Free plan pays for itself in card fees
- ✗Public prices are US only
- ✗Max at $229 is a jump for a small gym
The best starting point for a small US gym: start free, then switch to Pro as soon as card fees pass $159 a month.
Gymdesk
Gymdesk prices by active members. Micro covers up to 50 for $75 a month, Small up to 100 for $100, Medium up to 150 for $150, Large up to 250 for $200. Those prices assume you use Gymdesk Payments, which only works in the US and Canada. With another processor, add $25 to $40 a month.
The add-ons are listed too: an extra location for $50 a month ($100 without a partner processor), a branded app for $100, and a connected door (still in beta) for $100 covering up to three doors. A gym on Medium with the app and the door pays $350 a month: still clear, but more than double Medium's base price ($150). Staff accounts are unlimited on every plan.
The trial lasts 30 days, no card and no contract, and exporting your data is free. That last point matters the day you want to leave.
- Priced by active member, four public tiers
- 30-day trial without a card
- Free data export
- ✓You know the bill before the demo
- ✓No contract
- ✓Add-ons priced publicly
- ✗Built-in payments limited to the US and Canada
- ✗Door access still in beta
- ✗Add-ons can double the bill
The pick if you want predictable costs and an easy exit. Price the add-ons before you compare it with PushPress.
Mindbody
Mindbody is the big name for studios and gyms. Starter begins at $79 a month per location; higher plans are quote only. There's no onboarding fee, but data migration can be billed, and contract length depends on the plan.
Its real edge is the marketplace: people find you in the Mindbody app. That traffic has a price. On the first booking from a new client who came through the app, Mindbody takes 20%, capped at $30. On a $150 class pack, that's the full $30, once.
On support, some owners say a human gets hard to reach once onboarding is over. Keep your onboarding contact's details.
- Marketplace that brings in clients
- Booking and payment in a well-known app
- No onboarding fee
- ✓Visibility with people already looking for a class
- ✓Commission capped at $30 per new client
- ✓Full platform, from schedule to payments
- ✗Higher plans are quote only
- ✗Data migration can cost extra
- ✗Some owners struggle to reach a human after onboarding
Choose it for new clients, not just for software. Count the commission as an acquisition cost.
bsport
bsport, a European platform, is built for class studios: yoga, Pilates, reformer, barre. It sells five plans (Start, Build, Engage, Elevate, which it says is the most popular, and Scale). None has a public price, there's no free plan, and setup is free. On new contracts, an initial free period is sometimes offered: ask for it.
Owner feedback is split. The praise goes to account managers and onboarding, often with same-day answers. The complaints go to chat support and to double-charged payments.
Our advice: for the first month, check the software's payouts against your bank statement, line by line. A duplicate caught the same day is a one-click refund. Caught three weeks later, it's an angry member.
- Branded app for the studio
- Drop-ins, packs and memberships
- No setup fee
- ✓Designed for boutique studios, not adapted from big-box software
- ✓Onboarding praised by owners
- ✓Initial free period possible on new contracts
- ✗No public pricing
- ✗Chat support called slow by some owners
- ✗Double charges reported: audit your first payouts
The best fit for a studio that lives on its app. Get the quote in writing and watch the first payment runs.
Virtuagym
Virtuagym combines gym management and coaching: workout plans, member tracking, a mobile app. For access, it works with barcode, QR code and RFID readers. Pricing is public: Manage at $19, Coach at $24 and All-in-One at $39 a month per location, up to 100 clients. Card payments cost 2.75% + $0.20.
Read the contract closely. Customers report an automatic 12-month renewal and refused early termination. Put the notice deadline in your calendar the day you sign.
Praise goes to onboarding and a simple app; complaints, to a support team described as understaffed. If you want to connect Virtuagym to your CRM or accounting, it has a Make connector: our Virtuagym integration guide for Make shows what you can automate.
- Check-in by barcode, QR code or RFID
- Workout plans and coaching in the app
- Make connector for automation
- ✓Management and coaching in one tool
- ✓Onboarding praised by customers
- ✓Simple app for members
- ✗No public pricing
- ✗12-month auto-renewal reported by customers
- ✗Support described as understaffed
Worth it if coaching is part of your offer. Read the renewal clause before you sign.
No contract, European or free: three more options
These platforms come up often. We don't rank them here, for the reasons given on each card, but one of them may suit you.
TeamUp, no contract and unlimited locations
No contractTeamUp bills by active clients, meaning anyone enrolled or who bought something the month before: $189 a month for 101 to 200 active clients is the tier it shows. Locations are unlimited, with no setup fee and no contract. Add-ons are priced in pounds: £89 a month for the Marketing Suite, £79 for a branded app, £79 for Perform.
Member reviews of the app are mixed (bugs, a clunky cancel flow), while owners praise the onboarding. We left it out of the ranking because it publishes only one price tier, and its add-ons are priced in pounds, so you can't work out a full monthly cost for your size.
- 101 to 200 active clients
- $189 a month
- Contract
- None
Eversports Manager, priced by bookings
EuropeEversports Manager is a European platform that bills by bookings per month: Light €49 for up to 49 bookings, Starter €79 up to 199, Accelerate €119 up to 599, Professional €169 up to 1,499, Champion €229 above that, billed yearly, plus a one-time €99 setup fee. Clear for a small studio, but the bill rises the month your classes fill up.
- Light
- €49 a month, 49 bookings
- Setup
- €99 once
Magicline, free under 25 members
Free tierMagicline, a German platform, has a Free tier for fewer than 25 members, without connected devices or the Magicline app. Above that, plans follow club size, from Basic (up to 500 members) to Ultimate (unlimited). Watch the upgrade rule: pass the cap and you move up a plan automatically, with no way back down.
- Free
- Under 25 members
- Upgrade
- Automatic, no downgrade
Three questions the other lists skip
A "from $X a month" price tells you very little. Here's what actually moves your bill and what lands in your account.
What makes your bill go up?
Four models coexist. Flat plans: PushPress charges the same whatever your size, but processing rises with revenue. Per active member: Gymdesk and TeamUp count who was active last month. Per booking: Eversports Manager moves you up a tier as classes fill. Automatic upgrade: Magicline bumps you up once you pass a cap, with no way back.
Always price the software at your size two years from now, not today.
What does each payment cost you?
Processing is the line nobody puts in the headline. At PushPress, a card payment costs 4.99% + $0.30 on Free and 2.89% + $0.30 on Pro, while ACH on Pro costs 0.79% + $0.30. Gymdesk is $25 to $40 a month cheaper if you use its own processor, available only in the US and Canada.
Push members toward ACH for monthly dues. On a $150 membership, you keep about $6 more per charge than with a card on a free plan.
Contracts and data: what bites after you sign
Contracts. Virtuagym customers report 12-month auto-renewals; Mindbody's contract length depends on the plan. Gymdesk and TeamUp run without a contract. Read the renewal and notice lines before the price.
Data. Your software holds every member's contact details and payment method. Ask where the data lives, who can access it, and whether export is free (Gymdesk says yes; Mindbody warns migration can be billed). If you also sell drinks and supplements at the front desk, see our best POS systems.
- Check what the pricing page counts: members, active clients, bookings or locations.
- Price the software at your size two years from now.
- Ask for the exact card and ACH rate, not just the monthly fee.
- Make sure lapsed members are blocked at check-in automatically.
- Write down the renewal and notice dates the day you sign.
- Confirm data export is free before you commit.
Torn between two platforms? Get our head-to-head comparisons by email
Move your members without breaking billing
A botched switch means missed dues and members stuck at the door. Here's the order that works, whatever platform you pick.
Start with your current contract's notice period
ContractBefore the first demo, find your contract end date and notice period. A contract that auto-renews for 12 months because your email went out a week late means paying for two systems for a year.
- Find
- End date and notice period
Export everything, not just the member list
DataYou need member profiles, membership history, class pack balances, contract end dates and key fob or barcode numbers. Ask for a full spreadsheet export in writing. Some vendors include it (Gymdesk advertises free export), others bill for migration (Mindbody says it can).
- Format
- Spreadsheet, one row per member
Sort out stored payment methods first
BillingThis is where switches fail. Ask the new vendor how it moves stored cards and bank details, and on which date it will run its first billing. Asking 300 members to re-enter their card means weeks of reminders and lost dues.
- Key question
- Transfer, or members re-enter?
Run both systems for one billing cycle
SafetyKeep the old platform read-only through the new one's first billing cycle. Compare both payment lists: a forgotten member shows up right away, not three months later.
- How long
- One billing cycle
Switch door access last, on a quiet day
Check-inChange fobs, barcodes or QR codes last, on a slow day, with someone at the front desk. Email members a few days before, with steps for the new app.
- When
- A slow day, front desk staffed
Go further
These pages pick up where this one stops.
Gym management software · FAQ
How much does gym management software cost?
From $0 to about $240 a month for an independent gym, before processing. PushPress Pro costs $159, Gymdesk runs $75 to $200 with its own payments, and Mindbody Starter begins at $79 per location. Then add card or ACH fees: on PushPress Pro, ACH costs 0.79% + $0.30 per charge.Is there free gym management software?
Yes, with a catch. PushPress Free costs $0 a month but charges 4.99% + $0.30 per card payment, so you pay through fees. Magicline is free under 25 members, without connected devices or its app. With 60 members paying $150 by card, Free costs you about $378 a month more in fees than Pro with ACH, well above Pro's $159.Does Gymdesk Payments work outside the US?
Only in the US and Canada. Elsewhere, you use a partner processor and pay $25 to $40 more a month: Micro goes from $75 to $100, Large from $200 to $240. An extra location also doubles, from $50 to $100, with your own processor.Can gym software control door access?
Many can. Virtuagym reads barcodes, QR codes and RFID fobs, and Gymdesk offers a connected door add-on (in beta) at $100 a month for up to three doors. What matters most is that a member with a failed payment gets blocked automatically, without staff stepping in.Can I try gym software before committing?
Often. Gymdesk gives 30 days with no card, PushPress lets you start on its $0 plan, and TeamUp has no contract. bsport sometimes offers an initial free period on new contracts. Mindbody's higher plans go through a sales demo.Should members pay by card or bank transfer?
For monthly dues, bank payment (ACH) is much cheaper. At PushPress, ACH on Pro costs 0.79% + $0.30 against 2.89% + $0.30 for a card. On a $150 membership that's $1.49 instead of $4.64 per charge. Keep cards for drop-ins and retail.Is a spreadsheet enough for a small gym?
To list members, yes. To get paid, no: a spreadsheet doesn't bill memberships, chase failed payments or open the door. Once you pass a few dozen monthly members, a $75 plan like Gymdesk Micro costs less than the hours spent matching payments.Can my gym software contract auto-renew?
Yes, if the contract says so. Virtuagym customers report a 12-month automatic renewal with early termination refused. Gymdesk and TeamUp run without a contract. Ask for the term and notice period in writing before you sign.
