Best Martial Arts Software in 2026: 7 Platforms Compared

If you're shopping for software for your martial arts school, you're either picking your first system or you're ready to leave the one you have. You've probably found a few lists of the best martial arts software already, and each one puts its own product first. You want a straight comparison, checked against what each company publishes.

We know how hard that search is. MyStudio was built by martial arts school owners who scaled to 6 locations, 5 of which do over $1M+ ARR today. So we've been where you are. Picking a platform is a big decision, because once your families, saved cards and belt history are set up in it, switching later means doing all of that work again.

The best martial arts software is usually built by people who have run a school themselves and used the tools to grow it. It covers belt tracking, family billing and a member app, and it still fits the school you expect to have in three years.

We put this list together to save you research time and make the decision easier. Below are seven platforms in A to Z order, each with the same five checks: features, pricing, onboarding and support, martial arts software reviews from Capterra, and who it's best for.

The Best Martial Arts Software at a Glance

The right platform depends on where your school is today and where you want it to go. Most of these tools cover the same basics, like belt tracking, billing and waivers, but their prices move very differently as you add students and locations. A school with 40 students and an owner planning a second location can end up with different answers.

The chart below is the quick view, grouped into pricing, the basics and growth tools, and judged at each company's starting plan. Use it to narrow your list, then read on for the full details on each platform.

Best Martial Arts Software Compared: 7 Platforms Side by Side

After doing your initial research for the best martial arts software for your school, every tool can really sound the same at the end of the day. What you really want to know is what makes a tool different, and why should I pick it for my school’s needs?

Below we help you identify just that. We detail five key areas: features, pricing, onboarding and support, reviews, and who it's best for.

Gymdesk

Gymdesk stands out for putting every feature, including a website, on every plan, and for letting you keep your own payment processor. It started in 2016 and now includes Smoothcomp Connect for tournament registration.

Gymdesk features

Gymdesk's feature pages list these tools on every plan:

• Belt tracking: promotion criteria by classes attended, days at rank, training hours, minimum age or skills, with ready-to-test alerts and bulk promotions.
• Member app: a free Gymdesk Members app for booking classes, checking in and seeing progress toward the next rank.
• Billing: recurring memberships, an automatic retry schedule for failed payments, and family accounts that share one payment method.
• Waivers: digital documents with a setting that requires a guardian signature for minors.
• Scheduling and check-in: online booking with capacity rules and waitlists, plus check-in by code, name, barcode or QR code.
• Website and CRM: a website builder, a lead pipeline, email campaigns and automations.

Gymdesk pricing

Gymdesk prices by active members, and every plan includes every feature. Plans start at $75 a month with Gymdesk Payments:

• Micro Gym: up to 50 active members, $75 a month, or $100 with your own processor.
• Small Gym: 51 to 100 members, $100 a month, or $125 with your own processor.
• Medium Gym: 101 to 150 members, $150 a month, or $175 with your own processor.
• Large Gym: 151 to 250 members, $200 a month, or $240 with your own processor.
• Enterprise: 251 members or more, price not published.

Paid add-ons include a branded member app at $100 a month, extra locations at $50 a month ($100 with your own processor) and door access at $100 a month for up to 3 doors. Texting is usage-based, with a monthly fee for your number plus a per-message rate.

Gymdesk Payments charges 2.9% + $0.30 per card, 1% for ACH and 3.5% for American Express. Gymdesk has no setup fee and no contract, and it offers a free 30-day trial with no credit card.

Gymdesk onboarding and support

Here's what moving to Gymdesk looks like:

• Setup: guided onboarding with a specialist on every paid plan, with up to three calls. Most gyms are live within a few days.
• What moves over: members, memberships, attendance and notes.
• Saved cards: move over in most cases. Switching to Gymdesk Payments takes two to four weeks for most processors.
• Support: email and booked video or voice calls, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. EST, with weekday monitoring around the clock and some weekend help.
• Account manager: not published.

Gymdesk reviews

Gymdesk holds 4.8 out of 5 from 148 reviews on Capterra, as of October 2026. Reviewers most often praise how easy it is to use and the customer service. The most common complaint, in 15 reviews, is limited customization. Gymdesk says more than 4,500 gyms use it.

Who Gymdesk is best for

Gymdesk fits a gym or school with up to 250 active members that wants a website included in the price and the freedom to pick its own payment processor.

Kicksite

Kicksite stands out for the lowest published starting price here, $49 a month, and unlimited one-way texts on every tier. It has been martial-arts-only since 2007, when it grew out of a taekwondo school.

Kicksite features

Kicksite's pages list these tools at every tier:

• Belt tracking: custom rank structures with stripes, an Eligible to Promote list, one-click promotion, and belt test events with testing fees paid online.
• Member portal: a mobile web app where students and guardians see schedules, register for classes, check in with a barcode and track belt progress. It runs in the phone's browser.
• Texting and email: unlimited one-way texts and emails, plus automated lead nurturing messages.
• Billing: recurring billing, failed payment alerts and a Family Profile that shows a family's memberships, agreements and finances.
• Waivers: agreement templates that students and guardians sign by text or email.
• Check-in: kiosk check-in by PIN, name or barcode, with restrictions for unpaid balances or missing waivers.

Kicksite pricing

Kicksite prices by active students, and plans start at $49 a month:

• 0 to 25 students: $49 a month.
• 26 to 50 students: $99 a month.
• 51 to 100 students: $149 a month.
• 101 students or more: $199 a month, which Kicksite says is the most you'll ever pay for the software.

Kicksite's US processing partner, Basys, charges 2.9% + $0.25 per card plus a $29 monthly fee. The card and ACH option adds $0.30 per ACH payment, with a $49 monthly fee and a $35 setup fee.

Website design is a separate service with no published price. A free trial is available, and so is discounted annual pricing, though the discount isn't published.

Kicksite onboarding and support

Here's what moving to Kicksite looks like:

• Setup: a free import by an in-house data specialist, typically in 2 business days or less, plus a dedicated onboarding specialist for 60 days with unlimited video training.
• What moves over: contacts, guardians, programs, current rank and memberships. Payment, attendance and rank history and signed waivers don’t.
• Saved cards: don’t transfer. Families re-enter them through a secure bulk invite link.
• Support: phone, email and ticket, Monday to Thursday 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. CT and Friday until noon CT.
• Account manager: not published beyond the 60-day onboarding specialist.

Kicksite reviews

Kicksite holds 4.8 out of 5 from 128 reviews on Capterra, as of October 2026. Reviewers most often praise ease of use and the support team, and no complaint shows up in 3 or more reviews. Kicksite says more than 2,100 schools in 23 countries use it.

Who Kicksite is best for

Kicksite fits a small, martial-arts-only school on a tight budget that's comfortable with a browser-based member portal instead of an app. Its own pages name karate, jiu-jitsu, taekwondo and kickboxing schools.

Martialytics

Martialytics stands out for its grading tools, with a traffic light view of who's ready to test, and for unlimited locations on every plan. It's a smaller, founder-run company built only for martial arts schools.

Martialytics features

Every Martialytics plan includes every feature, unlimited locations and unlimited users. Its pages list these tools:

• Belt tracking: grading and belt tracking with a traffic light view of who's eligible to grade, plus curriculum videos sorted by rank.
• Student app: the shared Martialytics Students app, set up with your school's colors and logo, for bookings, curriculum, attendance and messaging.
• Billing: recurring payments through Stripe, direct debit through GoCardless, and automatic retries for failed cards.
• Waivers: remote signatures for waivers and contracts, including inside sign-up forms.
• Check-in and point of sale: a kiosk mode, GPS check-in in the app, and a shop with stock management.
• Email and texting: unlimited emails, with bulk texts paid by purchased credits and sent one way.

Martialytics pricing

Martialytics prices by active students, and leads and inactive students are free. Plans start at $69 a month:

• 0 to 50 students: $69 a month.
• 51 to 100 students: $99 a month.
• 101 to 200 students: $129 a month.
• More than 200 students: $199 a month.

Martialytics charges standard Stripe rates with no markup, and it doesn't publish the card rate as a number. Text credits are an extra cost, with the price not published.

Martialytics offers a 30-day free trial with no credit card and no lock-in contract. A discounted annual plan is available, and the discount isn't published.

Martialytics onboarding and support

Here's what moving to Martialytics looks like:

• Setup: no published migration service. Martialytics says you can set up in minutes, and students can fill in their own profiles.
• What moves over: not published.
• Saved cards: existing Stripe subscriptions must be cancelled and set up again, with cards collected again. GoCardless direct debit mandates can be synced.
• Support: email and ticket, handled by the founders where they can. Hours aren’t published.
• Account manager: not published.

Martialytics reviews

Martialytics holds 4.7 out of 5 from 21 reviews on Capterra, as of October 2026. Reviewers most often praise ease of use and customer support. All 21 reviews were written between 2018 and 2022. Martialytics says more than 1,295 schools use it.

Who Martialytics is best for

Martialytics fits a school where grading is the center of the week, or a small group running several locations on one budget. It names MMA gyms, karate dojos, BJJ gyms, taekwondo dojangs, kung fu schools and franchises as its customers.

Mindbody

Mindbody stands out for its consumer booking app, where people looking for classes can find and book your school. It's built for the wider fitness, wellness and beauty world, with martial arts as one of many business types.

Mindbody features

Mindbody's features vary by plan, and its pages list these tools:

• Progress tracking: client profiles that hold promotions and notes, with promotions or messages triggered by visit count. Mindbody's own blog says belt progression "may require some customization" for schools with multi-tiered belt systems.
• Member app: a listing in the shared Mindbody consumer app on every plan, where clients book and buy. A branded app is an add-on on the Accelerate and Ultimate plans.
• Billing: automatic recurring memberships, a card updater for expiring cards, and family accounts that let one login manage several family members.
• Website and booking: a business website with booking built in, a single class calendar and waitlists.
• Waivers and check-in: stored waivers and a class check-in app where clients sign themselves in.
• Point of sale: in-person and online payments on every plan.
• AI and marketing: AI Concierge, a 24/7 AI front desk, as an add-on on the Accelerate plan and included on the Ultimate plan, with automated email and text campaigns on the Ultimate plan.

Mindbody pricing

Mindbody publishes one price, starting at $79 per location per month. Its four plans are quoted by sales:

• Starter: business tools, payments, a website, booking widgets and an app listing.
• Accelerate: advanced analytics, text booking reminders and access to premium add-ons.
• Ultimate: automated email and text campaigns, AI Concierge, a lead pipeline and a monthly text bundle.
• Enterprise: a custom plan for multi-location and franchise businesses.

The price rises with each new location, but not with staff. Mindbody doesn't publish its card rate. It charges a processing rate plus a fixed $0.10 to $0.30 per transaction, and the ACH rate isn't published.

New clients who make their first purchase through the Mindbody app carry a 20% marketplace fee, capped at $30, on that first purchase only. There's no onboarding fee, and no free trial is published.

Mindbody onboarding and support

Here's what moving to Mindbody looks like:

• Setup: data migration with one-on-one onboarding sessions. A single location typically takes 30 days.
• What moves over: client data through its standard migration. Custom data conversion and premium implementation cost extra, and those prices aren’t published.
• Saved cards: come over only if your current provider hands over unencrypted card files.
• Support: phone, chat and email, 24/7.
• Account manager: Technical Account Management is a paid add-on, price not published.

Mindbody reviews

Mindbody holds 4.0 out of 5 from 2,997 reviews on Capterra, as of October 2026. Recent reviewers praise ease of use and the client booking app. The most common complaints in recent reviews are price, slow support, and glitches or slowness. Mindbody says more than 40,000 businesses use it.

Who Mindbody is best for

Mindbody fits a studio that runs martial arts alongside fitness or wellness classes and wants new clients to find it in a consumer booking app.

MyStudio

MyStudio stands out for one price at any student count and for tools built around families, kids programs and camps. It was built by owners of five $1M+ martial arts schools.

MyStudio features

The Essentials plan covers the martial arts basics, and the Growth and Scale plans add testing tools and automations. MyStudio's pages list these tools:

• Belt tracking: rank and belt tracking on every plan, with stripes, custom rank names like kyu and dan, per-style progressions, and promotion requirements such as attendance and time in rank. The Growth plan adds test readiness, testing events, bulk promotions and belt inventory.
• Member app: a MyStudio-branded app on every plan, where members book classes, see their rank and stripes, watch curriculum videos, message the school and buy gear. Parents get their own linked access.
• Billing: recurring billing, automatic retries for declined cards, family plans and sibling discounts, trial memberships that convert on their own, and camp add-ons.
• Waivers: waivers signed inside enrollment, with parent and guardian e-signatures for minors.
• Scheduling: a class schedule parents can filter by program or age and book from your website or the app.
• Check-in: attendance check-in by QR code, PIN or name lookup, with the check-in portal on the Growth plan.
• Sales: online sales for trials, memberships, events and retail, plus a sales pipeline from first inquiry to membership.
• AI follow-up: Amplify, an add-on AI agent that replies to new leads by text right away, books trials and first classes, and sells memberships and events.
• Camps and events: belt tests, tournaments, camps and birthday parties, with capacity, payment, waivers and reminders handled in one place.
• Reporting: reports on monthly recurring revenue, churn and retention, attendance trends, and the lead-to-trial-to-member funnel.

MyStudio pricing

MyStudio has three published plans, and every plan includes unlimited students, so the price doesn't rise as your school grows:

• The Essentials plan: Starting at $79 a month per location, with the member app, rank and belt tracking, online sales, a class schedule with rosters and attendance check-in.
• The Growth plan: $159 a month per location, adding test readiness, testing events, bulk promotions, a check-in portal and 10 automations.
• The Scale plan: $239 a month per location, adding your logo and colors in the member app, unlimited automations, a customizable checkout, and Google Tag Manager and Meta Pixel.

Paid add-ons are SMS texting, Amplify, the WebsitePro website builder and a custom branded app under your school's own name in both app stores. MyStudio doesn't publish the add-on prices.

Card processing runs through Stripe inside MyStudio, starting at 2.9% + $0.30 per card and 1% for ACH. Groups with several locations add HQ plans starting at $499 a month.

MyStudio onboarding and support

Here's what moving to MyStudio looks like:

• Setup: white-glove onboarding on every plan. MyStudio says 90% of new clients are live within 30 days.
• What moves over: member records, billing profiles, attendance history and rank progress, from Mindbody, Zen Planner, Spark or your current system.
• Saved cards: the onboarding team moves existing payment tokens to Stripe, so members don’t re-enter their cards.
• Support: chat, phone and email. Chat runs Monday and Wednesday to Friday 8 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. EST, Tuesday 1 to 7:30 p.m. and Saturday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
• Account manager: a dedicated account manager trained by the founders, on every plan.

MyStudio reviews

MyStudio holds 4.5 out of 5 from 171 reviews on Capterra, as of October 2026. Reviewers most often praise the member app, billing and payments, and customer support. The most common complaints, mostly in reviews from 2021 to 2024, are bugs and glitches and a learning curve. MyStudio says 2,300 studios and organizations use it, with more than 500,000 active members.

Who MyStudio is best for

MyStudio fits a school with a big kids and family program, camps and events, that plans to grow from one location to multi-location groups without its software bill growing with it. Its rank tracking handles kyu, dan, tab and degree names with per-style progressions, and it partners with the ATA, Century Martial Arts and USA Muaythai.

Kids programs need tools for parents as much as for students: guardian e-signatures on waivers, parent access in the app, family plans with sibling discounts, and camps and events with early-bird pricing. If you're comparing the best martial arts management software for kids programs, those are the features to check, and MyStudio includes each one.

Spark Membership

Spark stands out for marketing, with landing pages, funnels and lead follow-up built into one $199 plan. It was founded by two martial arts school owners who are both 7th degree black belts.

Spark features

Spark has one plan with every feature, and its pages list these tools:

• Belt tracking: rank tracking tied to attendance, with your own requirements for each rank and alerts to the instructor and student when a testing milestone is reached.
• Member app: a free Spark Member app with your logo and colors for booking, paying, check-in, messaging and curriculum videos, plus a Spark Kiosk app for the front desk.
• Billing: recurring billing with family discounts, automatic retries on declined cards, and family accounts billed together.
• Marketing: landing pages and funnels, email and text automations, and a lead-to-trial-to-member pipeline.
• AI: SparkAI appointment setters for text and your website, which book appointments 24/7.
• Waivers and point of sale: signed waivers on each student profile and point of sale with inventory tracking.

Spark pricing

Spark's pricing page lists one plan at $199 a month, with every feature and the same price whether you have 200 students or 1,000. The page offers an 8-week free trial and free student data migration, and there's no setup fee.

Texts are paid by credit, and credit prices aren't published. A fully white-labeled app costs extra, a second location's price isn't published, and SparkAI's pages don't say what it costs or which plan includes it. Spark Ignite, a done-for-you marketing service with a full website, is $199 a month, or $399 a month in the Ignite Plus bundle.

In the US and Canada, payments run through Spark's in-house merchant service, and you can't use your own processor there. Spark shows an average processing rate of 2.86%, and it doesn't publish a rate card.

Spark onboarding and support

Here's what moving to Spark looks like:

• Setup: a dedicated rep and unlimited onboarding sessions, booked around trainer availability.
• What moves over: free migration with no file limit: contacts, attendance, ranks, memberships, past transactions and payment methods. Signed agreements, family connections and profile photos don’t.
• Saved cards: can come over in some cases. A free Stripe card transfer takes 3 to 8 weeks.
• Support: chat on weekdays, plus a private community for owners.
• Account manager: a dedicated rep for setup.

Spark reviews

Spark holds 4.6 out of 5 from 11 reviews on Capterra, as of October 2026. Seven of the 11 reviewers praise how easy it is to use, and no complaint shows up in 3 or more reviews. Spark says more than 2,000 martial arts schools use it.

Who Spark is best for

Spark fits an owner whose biggest job is filling classes and who wants funnels and lead follow-up built in, at one flat price whatever the student count. Its home page also names dance studios, gymnastics schools, yoga studios, CrossFit gyms and kickboxing gyms as customers.

Zen Planner

Zen Planner stands out for belt testing tools that pull eligible students into testing events automatically, with family billing in the base plan. A martial arts school owner started it in 2006, and it also serves gyms and CrossFit boxes.

Zen Planner features

Every Zen Planner plan includes all of its Studio features, and its pages list these tools:

• Belt tracking: custom rank structures for karate, taekwondo, BJJ and judo with belts, stripes, kyu and dan, plus testing events that pull eligible students automatically. Students and parents see rank and next-level requirements in the app.
• Member app: a shared Zen Planner member app, plus a staff app.
• Billing: recurring dues, automatic retries for failed payments, and family billing with linked accounts and shared memberships.
• Scheduling and check-in: recurring classes, appointments, waitlists and capacity limits, with check-in from the app, a tablet kiosk or staff.
• Waivers and point of sale: signed waivers and contracts in the staff app, and point of sale with real-time inventory.
• Marketing and AI: Zen Planner Engage, a CRM and marketing tool with AI that answers calls, texts and chats 24/7 and books trials, on the Ultimate plan or as an add-on.

Zen Planner pricing

Zen Planner prices by active members, and prospects and staff never count. The Studio plan starts at $99 a month for up to 45 active members:

• Studio: $99 for 0 to 45 active members, $133 for 46 to 60, $155 for 61 to 75, $189 for 76 to 100, $229 for 101 to 150, $239 for 151 to 200, $269 for 201 to 250 and $289 for 251 or more.
• Essentials (Studio plus a website): $198 to $388 a month, by the same member tiers.
• Ultimate (Studio, website and Engage): $348 to $538 a month, by the same member tiers.

Add-ons are Engage at $249 a month, a website at $99, a branded app at $39 and a card reader at $39. Multi-location pricing is quoted by sales.

Zen Planner doesn't publish its card rate and lists payments as custom pricing. It runs month to month, with an annual contract on request, and it offers a demo with no published free trial.

Zen Planner onboarding and support

Here's what moving to Zen Planner looks like:

• Setup: about one week for migration and core setup, then a single 2-hour training session.
• What moves over: member profiles, attendance and billing information from your CSV files, handled by implementation specialists.
• Saved cards: come over along with ACH details, so members don’t re-enter them.
• Support: phone, email and in-app chat, with live agents 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. CT on weekdays and an AI assistant around the clock.
• Account manager: a dedicated onboarding specialist and a Customer Success Manager for your first 90 days.

Zen Planner reviews

Zen Planner holds 4.3 out of 5 from 270 reviews on Capterra, as of October 2026. Reviewers most often praise customer support. The most common complaints are complexity and a learning curve, and crashes or lag. Zen Planner says more than 5,000 fitness businesses use it.

Who Zen Planner is best for

Zen Planner fits an established school or gym running several programs that wants deep belt testing and family billing, and is fine adding a website and marketing tools on top. Its belt tracking page names karate, taekwondo, BJJ and judo, and its martial arts page adds MMA.

How to Choose the Best Martial Arts Gym Management Software in 2026: 5 Checks

By now you've probably narrowed the list to two or three platforms that could fit your school.

Before you sign with one, these five checks will help you choose the best martial arts gym management software for where your school is headed. Each one is a single question you can ask in a demo or send to sales by email.

1. Price every tier you'll grow into

Take your active student count today and double it. Find the price at both numbers on each company's pricing page, and write them side by side.

The difference between those two numbers can be large. At 60 active students, Kicksite is $149 a month and Zen Planner's Studio plan is $133. At 150, they're $199 and $229. MyStudio starts at $79 on the Essentials plan for unlimited students.

To check it, ask each rep what happens the month you pass a tier's cap, and whether the new price starts on its own.

Unlimited students

Grow your school without your software bill growing with it

Every MyStudio plan includes unlimited students, so the price you see at 60 students is the price you pay at 150.

Get a demo

2. List the add-ons you need on day one

Write down every tool you'd turn on in your first month, then ask each company for its monthly price. Four add-ons come up most often:

• Texting: Kicksite includes one-way texts. Gymdesk and Martialytics charge by use or by credit, and MyStudio and Spark sell texting as an add-on.
• A website: Gymdesk and Mindbody include one. Zen Planner charges $99 a month, and MyStudio and Spark sell it as an add-on.
• A branded app: Gymdesk charges $100 a month and Zen Planner charges $39. MyStudio, Mindbody and Spark don't publish the price.
• AI lead follow-up: MyStudio and Zen Planner sell it as an add-on, and Mindbody puts it on higher plans.

Several of these prices aren't published, including MyStudio's, so ask for each one in writing. Add them to the tier price from the first check, and that's your monthly number.

3. Get the card rate in writing

Your processing rate applies to every payment your families make, so a small difference adds up over a year. Ask each company for the card rate, the ACH rate and any monthly payment fee, in writing, before you sign.

Three companies here publish a rate. Gymdesk and MyStudio start at 2.9% + $0.30 per card, and Kicksite charges 2.9% + $0.25 plus a $29 monthly fee. The others give you a quote.

To check it, ask for the American Express rate too, since Gymdesk publishes a higher 3.5% for it. Then ask whether you can pass the fee on to families at checkout.

4. Check belt testing against your own curriculum

Bring your belt chart to the demo and ask the rep to build one rank from it while you watch. Include your stripes, your rank names and one promotion requirement, like classes attended or time in rank.

Then ask to see who's ready to test. Every platform here except Mindbody names belt tracking on its own site, and some add testing events, bulk promotions and testing fees paid online. If the rep can't build your rank during the demo, plan for a longer setup after you sign.

5. Ask how your members and saved cards move over

When saved cards don't move over, every family has to enter a card again before their next payment. Ask each company who does the move and which records come over, including rank history and attendance. Then ask whether saved cards transfer, and how long that takes.

The companies' own pages answer this differently:

• MyStudio: moves existing payment tokens to Stripe, so members don't re-enter their cards.
• Zen Planner: migrates saved cards and ACH details.
• Martialytics: says existing Stripe subscriptions must be set up again.

MyStudio's onboarding team will move your members and saved cards for you. Whichever company you pick, ask for the move plan in writing, with a go-live date.

Conclusion: Pick the Platform That Fits the School You're Building

Starting prices make these seven platforms look close. The differences show up as your student count grows and as you add the tools your school needs, so the best martial arts software for your school is the one that still fits at twice your size.

MyStudio keeps one price at any student count, with belt tracking, family plans, a member app, data migration and an account manager on every plan.

See how MyStudio works as martial arts software built for belts, trials, families and camps, or line it up against the platforms you're considering in a side-by-side comparison.

Book a demo to see MyStudio for yourself.

Switching software

Move your members and saved cards without asking families to start over

MyStudio's onboarding team moves member records, rank progress and payment tokens to Stripe, so families don't re-enter a card on switch day.

Get a demo