Not one we lead with. We can board this if you want it. It is not one we know inside out, so we would be setting it up rather than advising you on it — and we would tell you that before you signed anything. Talk it through with us.
Business software · Gymdesk
Gymdesk
Membership management with every feature in every plan and no contract.
- Fitness
- Salon & spa
An independent assessment. Vigilant can place Gymdesk, and is paid the same either way — which is why the drawbacks are on this page too.
What it is
Gymdesk runs the whole member lifecycle: lead capture, digital sign-up before they walk in, class booking with real-time availability, check-in by kiosk, barcode, name search or phone, belt and rank tracking, automated billing with scheduled rebilling on declines, marketing automation by email and SMS, a gym website and member app, and retail POS for the pro shop.
The pricing model is the differentiator and it is refreshingly blunt: Micro Gym $75/month to 50 members, Small $100 to 100, Medium $150 to 200, Large $200 to 400, then $75 per additional 400 members and $50 per extra location. Every feature is included in every tier — no per-staff charges, no add-on modules, no contract. You pay more only when you grow.
It supports Stripe, Square or Gymdesk Payments, which means the processing stays negotiable. 4,500+ gyms across 34 countries, and it runs martial arts, BJJ, CrossFit, yoga, Pilates, gymnastics and dance.
Who it fits
Best for
Martial arts schools, boutique gyms, CrossFit boxes, yoga and Pilates studios, gymnastics and dance — anywhere memberships and attendance are the business.
Probably not ideal for
Large multi-site health clubs with complex corporate billing, and any business that is not membership-based.
Key capabilities
- Billing
- Automated collection on any schedule, with scheduled rebilling that recovers declined payments by itself.
- Members
- Unlimited plan types, family accounts, belt and rank tracking and digital onboarding.
- Classes and check-in
- Online booking with real-time availability; check-in by kiosk, barcode, name or phone.
- Marketing
- Email and SMS, referral programmes and automated lead follow-up.
- Website and app
- Gym website builder and member-facing mobile app included.
- Retail POS
- Pro-shop inventory and sales alongside memberships.
- Processor choice
- Stripe, Square or Gymdesk Payments — the rate stays negotiable.
Strengths and tradeoffs
Strengths
- Membership billing that actually holds up — failed payments, retries, freezes, upgrades and cancellations handled without spreadsheet work.
- Attendance, check-in and class booking in the same system as the money, so a lapsed member is visible immediately.
- Belt and grading tracking for martial arts, which generic gym software rarely does properly.
- Straightforward to run without an administrator; owners genuinely operate it themselves.
- Member communications and automated follow-up on failed payments, which is where recurring revenue leaks.
Tradeoffs
- Purpose-built for membership businesses; no use to a general retail or hospitality operation.
- Retail sales at the counter are basic — a pro shop with real stock needs something else alongside.
- Reporting is good on membership and thin on everything else.
- Smaller vendor than the big fitness platforms, with a correspondingly smaller ecosystem.
- If you have very few members, the software cost is hard to justify against a simple recurring billing tool.
Pricing
$75/month to 50 members, $100 to 100, $150 to 200, $200 to 400, +$75 per additional 400 members, +$50 per location. All features in all plans, no contract, 30-day trial.
Pricing reflects what the vendor publishes or what we have seen quoted. Your actual terms depend on volume, card mix and what is negotiated — which is the part we do.
Vigilant's assessment
Recurring revenue is the whole business in a studio, and the money leaks through failed cards and quiet cancellations rather than through the front door. This is built around exactly that, and it is the one we put in front of studio owners first.
How it compares
The platforms a gym or studio owner actually shortlists. Three of these four are not ours to place; they are here because a comparison that omits the market leader is not a comparison.
| Criterion | Gymdesk Membership billing and management | Mindbody The incumbent at the top of the market Not placed by Vigilant | Zen Planner Boutique gyms and martial arts Not placed by Vigilant | PushPress CrossFit and functional gyms Not placed by Vigilant |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best at | Straightforward membership billing without a platform fee stack | Breadth, and a consumer marketplace that sends bookings | Reporting depth for boutique studios | Serving the CrossFit and functional-fitness community |
| Who it suits | Independent gyms that want billing to be boring and reliable | Larger clubs and multi-location wellness businesses | Boutique gyms, martial arts schools and yoga studios | Functional-fitness gyms, including on a free tier |
| Ownership | Independent | Independent, private-equity backed | Part of Daxko since 2017 | Independent |
| Pricing published | Yes | A starting price only, with no price on any tier | No | Yes, including a free tier |
| Placeable through Vigilant | Yes — a platform we work with | No | No | No |
Verdict. Mindbody is the default because it is the default, and for a large club with several locations that marketplace reach is a real argument. Below that it is a lot of platform to pay for. Zen Planner earns its place on reporting, PushPress on knowing exactly one community very well, and Gymdesk on doing the billing without the surrounding apparatus. We can place Gymdesk. If you are a CrossFit box, look at PushPress first and we will tell you so.
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