20 best martial arts software for 2026

A martial arts school can look healthy from the mat while admin quietly breaks behind the scenes. Attendance lives in a notebook. Tuition runs on memory and manual follow-ups. Belt promotions depend on whichever instructor was there that week. Trial students vanish because nobody got back to them before Thursday.

The global martial arts software market reached $320 million in 2025 and is projected to hit $680 million by 2035, according to StatifFacts (2025). That growth reflects what school owners already know: Managing a dojo on spreadsheets and goodwill stops working the moment you add a second location, a second instructor, or a second program.

The right martial arts management software tells you who attended, who is eligible to test, whose payment failed, which trial student needs a call, and whether revenue is trending before the month ends. If the owner has to manually check all of that, the system is already too fragile to scale.

This guide cuts through 20 options across purpose-built martial arts platforms, broader gym management software, enterprise studio tools, and payment infrastructure. For each one, pricing is verified against the vendor's current page.

What's inside

This guide compares 20 martial arts software options for school owners, academy operators, franchise managers, and gym founders evaluating platforms in 2026.

• Who it's for: Single-location schools, growing academies, multi-discipline gyms, multi-location operators, and founders choosing a payment layer
• How tools were chosen: SERP research, category relevance, operator-grade evaluation criteria
• Selection criteria:
• Student and membership management depth
• Attendance, scheduling, and rank-progression workflows
• Billing, payment automation, and overdue-account handling
• Reporting, CRM, retention, and multi-location fit

TL;DR

• Best overall for martial arts-specific management: Kicksite for its martial arts-first workflows and all-inclusive pricing; MatGoat for European academies needing the same depth in Euros
• Best for BJJ academies: BJJLink, purpose-built for Jiu-Jitsu with belt progression and academy management baked in
• Best for growing fitness and combat sports gyms: PushPress (free tier available) or Wodify for multi-discipline operations with deeper workout tracking
• Best for enterprise studio operations: Mindbody or WellnessLiving for businesses managing multiple service lines and locations
• Best free or low-cost starting point: Gym Admin, with a free tier for up to 50 students including belt tracking and billing
• Best payment infrastructure layer: Stripe for developer-friendly recurring billing; Square for in-person POS; PayPal for quick online collection

What is martial arts software?

Martial arts software is a school management platform that helps dojos, academies, and combat sports gyms manage students, memberships, billing, attendance, rank progression, scheduling, communications, and reporting from one operating system.

The category sits between generic membership management software and niche vertical tools. Payment processors collect money but do not replace attendance, rank, or curriculum workflows. Generic gym tools can work but often miss belt progression, family accounts, testing calendars, and discipline-specific reporting.

Core capabilities to look for:

• Student and member profiles: Complete records with contact details, enrollment date, attendance history, and progression notes
• Lead capture and trial follow-up: CRM workflows for prospects who visited but have not yet enrolled
• Class scheduling and timetable management: Recurring classes, private lessons, camps, and capacity controls
• Attendance tracking and check-ins: Kiosk mode, QR codes, or app-based check-ins with session history
• Belt, stripe, rank, and grading workflows: Curriculum completion, eligibility criteria, testing events, and promotion records
• Recurring tuition and payment automation: Direct debit, failed-payment retries, overdue alerts, and family billing
• Parent and family account management: Linked profiles, single invoice for multiple students, parent portal access
• Reporting dashboards: Active members, trials booked, conversion rate, revenue by location, attendance trends, overdue tuition
• Mobile access: Staff and student apps for check-ins, schedules, and communication
• Multi-location controls: Location-level revenue, permissions, staff roles, and consolidated owner reporting

Where this category ends: A payment processor collects tuition but cannot track who attended Tuesday's class, flag a student who has missed four weeks, or alert you that a black belt test is overdue. Those are school management jobs, not payment infrastructure jobs.

When to use martial arts software

Replace spreadsheets before they break growth

Most schools hit a spreadsheet ceiling between 50 and 100 students. The first sign is usually staff asking the owner for information the system should already surface: Who owes money, who has not attended in two weeks, which students are eligible to grade. Manual membership management makes the owner the bottleneck. A purpose-built platform removes that dependency by making operational data visible to staff without a phone call.

Track student progression without relying on memory

Belt testing, stripe eligibility, curriculum completion, and attendance milestones need to be consistent across every instructor and every location. When progression lives in an instructor's memory, students get promoted inconsistently and the school loses credibility. A rank and grading module creates a single record every staff member can see and update.

Turn trial students into enrolled members

A trial class is worth nothing without a follow-up. Most schools lose prospective students in the gap between the first visit and the enrollment conversation, not because the class was poor but because nobody contacted them. CRM workflows with automated reminders and lead pipelines close that gap. Predictable enrollment comes from a repeatable follow-up system, not from hoping the student comes back on their own.

Martial arts software comparison

The table below reflects pricing and ratings verified against each vendor's live pricing page and G2 listing. Martial arts software vendors regularly adjust plan packaging and processing fees, so treat this table as a starting point and confirm current figures before signing a contract. Where no G2 rating exists, N/A is used.

#	Product	Best for	Key differentiator	Pricing	G2 rating
1	MatGoat	European martial arts academies	Attendance, payments, scheduling, and rank tracking with TicketBAI compliance	From 40€/mo	N/A
2	Kicksite	Martial arts schools needing all-in-one admin	Student count-based pricing with every feature included at every tier	From $49/mo	4.9/5
3	Gymdesk	Gyms and martial arts schools needing modern operations	Member management, finances, PT packs, and equipment in one platform	Free for early gyms; paid pricing on request	4.8/5
4	Martialytics	Martial arts schools focused on attendance and student progress	Per-student pricing with unlimited locations and a free student app	From $69/mo	N/A
5	BJJLink	Brazilian jiu-jitsu academies	Purpose-built BJJ management with belt progression and academy reporting	From $49/mo plus 1% fee	5.0/5
6	Kombat Evolve	Combat sports gyms and multi-discipline academies	AI-powered retention alerts, belt tracking, and branded member app	From 59€/mo	N/A
7	MAAT	Traditional martial arts schools	Student, class, and grading administration	Contact vendor	N/A
8	PushPress	Growing fitness and martial arts gyms	Free tier available; Pro and Max plans with scheduling, billing, and apps	Free; Pro $159/mo; Max $229/mo	4.8/5
9	Wodify	Performance gyms with martial arts programs	Workout tracking, lead management, and member engagement alongside billing	From $99/mo per location	4.7/5
10	Zen Planner	Established studios and fitness businesses	Member management, scheduling, billing, and martial arts tracking	From $99/mo	4.2/5
11	Mindbody	Larger wellness and studio businesses	Marketplace listing and enterprise studio operations	From $79/mo per location	3.7/5
12	Spark Membership	Schools focused on growth and retention	All-features-included flat pricing with 8-week free trial	$199/mo	N/A
13	WellnessLiving	Multi-service studios and wellness businesses	AI churn prediction, rewards, and marketing automation	From $69/mo	4.5/5
14	Outcoach	Coaching and class-based organizations	Per-student pricing with goals, skill tracking, and progress reports	From $0.83/student/mo (AUD)	0.0/5 (0 reviews)
15	Gym Admin	Small martial arts academies needing free-tier ops	Free for up to 50 students; belt tracking, billing, and kiosk included	Free; Pro $59/mo	N/A
16	AXIS	Schools looking for free or low-cost software	Student management, rank tracking, and timetables	Contact vendor	N/A
17	ClubOS	Multi-location martial arts and fitness businesses	CRM, member management, and analytics with no public pricing	Quote-based	3.9/5
18	Stripe	Schools needing payment infrastructure	Flexible recurring billing and developer APIs	2.9% + 30¢ per transaction	4.4/5
19	Square	Small schools needing POS and simple payments	POS, invoices, appointments, and card processing	Free; Plus $49/mo per location	4.5/5
20	PayPal	Schools needing familiar online payment collection	Broad checkout options with no monthly fee	From 2.89% + $0.29 per transaction	4.4/5

Best martial arts software for 2026

1. MatGoat

MatGoat is a management platform built specifically for BJJ, martial arts, and combat sports academies, with strong traction in Spanish-speaking and European markets. It covers student records, attendance, class scheduling, billing, rank progression, and communications from a single dashboard. iOS and Android apps give students and staff mobile access, and the platform includes TicketBAI and VeriFactu compliance for schools operating under Spanish fiscal regulations.

Best for: European or Spanish-speaking martial arts academies that need category-specific workflows with local fiscal compliance built in.

Key features

• Attendance tracking with kiosk mode
• Automated and manual payment management
• Class scheduling and reservations
• Student progress and graduation tracking
• Private video library for curriculum content

Why choose MatGoat: MatGoat speaks martial arts natively. Belt tracking, graduation workflows, and a private video library are built in rather than bolted on. Schools outside Spain can use it too, but the fiscal compliance features make it especially well-suited for academies operating under Spanish or Basque tax rules.

MatGoat pricing: Básico starts at 40€/month and supports up to 50 students. Profesional is 60€/month for unlimited students. Both prices exclude VAT. A 30-day free trial is available without a credit card.

2. Kicksite

Kicksite is an all-in-one martial arts school management platform covering student management, billing automation, attendance, belt rank promotion, lead capture, and email and SMS communications. With over 19 years of operation and more than 8,000 schools served across 23 countries, it is one of the more established purpose-built options in this category.

Best for: Martial arts schools that want a single platform for every administrative workflow, from front-desk check-ins to automated billing recovery.

Key features

• Student management and member portal
• Automated billing with payment processing
• Attendance tracking and class scheduling
• Belt rank and promotion tracking
• Lead capture and email or SMS follow-up

Why choose Kicksite: Every pricing tier includes every feature, so you are not negotiating which capabilities to unlock as the school grows. For a founder handing operations to a school manager, having one consistent platform from day one reduces ramp time.

Kicksite pricing: Plans scale by student count. Up to 25 students costs $49/month, 26 to 50 students costs $99/month, 51 to 100 students costs $149/month, and 101-plus students costs $199/month. Kicksite also offers a limited-time free-use period through end of 2026 on current marketing. A free trial is available.

G2 rating: 4.9/5.

3. Gymdesk

Gymdesk is gym operations software built for independent gyms and their partners, handling memberships, finances, staff operations, personal training packs, and equipment management. It supports martial arts schools alongside CrossFit boxes, weight rooms, and boutique fitness studios. The platform integrates with GymKit for equipment catalog management, which is a differentiator if you run a facility with significant hardware.

Best for: Independent gym or martial arts school operators who want clean financial and member operations without a heavy legacy system.

Key features

• Membership plans, freezes, renewals, and expiry tracking
• Revenue, expenses, payroll, and month-close management
• PT packs, trainer reports, and split rules
• Staff roles and attendance tracking
• Equipment catalog integrated with GymKit

Why choose Gymdesk: Gymdesk handles the financial plumbing that most martial arts tools treat as secondary: Payroll, expense tracking, and month-close reporting. For a gym owner thinking about operating leverage, that matters more than a branded member app.

Gymdesk pricing: Early gyms start for free. Contact the team for a quote based on your location count and member volume.

G2 rating: 4.8/5.

4. Martialytics

Martialytics is martial arts school management software built around attendance, payment automation, student onboarding, and progression. It covers digital waivers, online booking, equipment sales through a POS module, and a student app with rank-sectioned video content. All plans include unlimited locations, unlimited emails, and unlimited users, which matters for multi-site operators who do not want to pay per location.

Best for: Martial arts franchises and multi-site academies that want per-student pricing with no location cap.

Key features

• Attendance and engagement tracking
• Automated recurring payments with failed-payment retries
• Digital student onboarding with waivers and payment setup
• Class bookings, events, and capacity management
• Equipment sales, POS, and inventory management

Why choose Martialytics: The unlimited-locations model is the clearest differentiator. If you are running three academies or planning to, Martialytics will not penalize you with per-location fees. Failed-payment retries are built into the billing engine rather than requiring a manual follow-up process.

Martialytics pricing: Plans scale by student count. Up to 50 students costs $69/month, 51 to 100 students costs $99/month, 101 to 200 students costs $129/month, and 200-plus students costs $199/month. All plans include every feature and all locations. A 30-day free trial is available with no credit card.

5. BJJLink

BJJLink is an all-in-one gym management platform built specifically for Jiu-Jitsu academies. It handles student management, class scheduling, attendance, billing, and marketing tools, with the entire product designed around BJJ rank structures and academy culture. Both plans include unlimited students, which removes the per-student cost pressure as the academy grows.

Best for: Jiu-Jitsu academies that want a platform where the product vocabulary, rank logic, and reporting are built for BJJ rather than adapted from a generic gym tool.

Key features

• Student management and data tracking
• Class scheduling and attendance tracking
• Payment and billing management
• BJJ-specific rank and progression records
• Marketing tools and academy reporting

Why choose BJJLink: If the academy runs on BJJ, choose a platform that runs on BJJ. Generic gym tools often require workarounds for belt colors, stripe progression, and class-type distinctions that BJJLink handles natively.

BJJLink pricing: The BLACK plan is $49/month billed monthly plus a 1% service fee. The CORAL plan is $149/month billed monthly with no service fee. Both plans include unlimited students. A 30-day free trial is available with no contract or credit card required.

G2 rating: 5.0/5.

6. Kombat Evolve

Kombat Evolve is an AI-powered gym management platform for BJJ and martial arts academies. Its differentiating feature is an AI-driven at-risk member alert system, which surfaces students showing churn signals before they cancel. The platform includes Stripe-integrated billing, QR and kiosk check-ins, belt progression tracking, a technique library, lead CRM, an online store, and a branded member app as an add-on.

Best for: Combat sports gyms and multi-discipline academies that want retention-focused automation alongside standard membership and scheduling tools.

Key features

• Billing via Stripe with payment automation
• QR and kiosk attendance check-in
• Belt progression and promotion tracking
• AI at-risk member alerts
• Lead capture and CRM

Why choose Kombat Evolve: The AI retention alerts are the standout feature. For an operator focused on churn prevention, having the system flag a student who has missed consecutive sessions, without requiring a manual audit, is worth the subscription cost alone.

Kombat Evolve pricing: Starter is 59€/month or 566€/year. Growth is 79€/month or 758€/year. Pro is 119€/month or 1,142€/year. Elite is 169€/month or 1,622€/year. All plans include every feature; pricing scales by active member count. A branded app add-on costs an additional 99€/month. VAT is not included.

7. MAAT

MAAT is listed as a martial arts administration tool covering student records, class management, grading, and membership administration. The official site was not text-readable during research, so verified feature details and current pricing are not available from first-party sources.

Best for: Traditional martial arts schools that need structured student and grading administration and are willing to contact the vendor to confirm current capabilities and pricing.

Key features

• Student records and member administration
• Class management and scheduling
• Grading and rank support
• Membership administration
• Reporting tools

Why choose MAAT: Research the product directly on maat.app before committing. Contact the vendor to confirm which disciplines are supported and what the current pricing structure looks like.

8. PushPress

PushPress is gym management software for independent CrossFit boxes, martial arts gyms, strength facilities, and boutique fitness studios. It runs member management, billing, class scheduling, digital waivers, workout programming, and reporting. The free tier is genuine: It includes core scheduling, billing, and member management with no time limit.

Best for: Growing martial arts and fitness gyms that want operational software with a free starting point and a clear upgrade path.

Key features

• Member management and recurring billing
• Class scheduling with reservations and waitlists
• Digital waivers and document storage
• Workout programming and tracking
• Reporting and analytics with staff and member apps

Why choose PushPress: The free tier is a real production option for schools under a certain volume, not a trial. Pro and Max plans add marketing tools, branded app access, and deeper reporting. For a founder who wants to test the platform before committing cash, PushPress removes the barrier.

PushPress pricing: Free is $0/month. Pro is $159/month. Max is $229/month. All plans are billed month-to-month. Payment processing rates and add-on products including Train, Grow, and Branded App vary by plan.

G2 rating: 4.8/5.

9. Wodify

Wodify is all-in-one gym management software for fitness businesses, boutique studios, and martial arts academies. Beyond billing and scheduling, it includes lead management, marketing automation, performance tracking, and a mobile client and staff app. The Ultimate plan adds a custom website and unlimited automations, which is relevant for operators building a school brand.

Best for: Performance-focused gyms and martial arts academies that combine combat sports programming with community engagement and member performance tracking.

Key features

• Class and appointment scheduling
• Billing, memberships, and client management
• Lead management and marketing automation
• Performance and workout tracking
• Digital waivers, POS, and mobile retail

Why choose Wodify: Wodify earns its place when the gym experience goes beyond basic attendance and tuition. If your academy runs structured training programs, tracks student performance over time, and needs marketing automation alongside operations, Wodify covers more of that in one place than most martial arts-specific platforms.

Wodify pricing: Essentials is $99/month per location (promotional price; regular $199/month). Accelerate is $199/month per location (promotional; regular $299/month). Ultimate is $399/month per location (promotional; regular $499/month). No free tier. Onboarding fees may apply, and payment processing rates vary by plan and country.

G2 rating: 4.7/5.

10. Zen Planner

Zen Planner is an all-in-one management platform for gyms, studios, and martial arts schools. It supports CrossFit affiliates, BJJ schools, and MMA gyms as named use cases. The platform includes belt and skill tracking alongside standard scheduling, billing, and member self-service. Add-ons for website, engage tools, and a branded app are available separately.

Best for: Established studios and fitness businesses that want a mature platform with martial arts tracking and optional website and marketing tools.

Key features

• Membership management and billing
• Scheduling, attendance, and member self-service
• Workout, belt, and skill tracking
• Marketing automation and CRM
• Mobile apps for staff and members

Why choose Zen Planner: Zen Planner is a mature platform with a long customer base in the martial arts space. If your school has outgrown simple tools but wants a recognized name with an established support model, it is a reasonable fit. The modular add-on structure means you pay only for the capabilities you need.

Zen Planner pricing: Studio is $99/month. Essentials (Studio plus Website) is $198/month. Ultimate (Studio, Website, and Engage) is $348/month. Pricing scales by active member count. Add-ons include Engage at $249/month, Website at $99/month, Branded App at $39/month, and Card Reader at $39/month.

G2 rating: 4.2/5.

11. Mindbody

Mindbody is a business management platform for fitness, wellness, and beauty businesses. It includes scheduling, integrated payments, online booking, staff management, marketing automation, lead management, and an AI Concierge feature. Its most distinctive asset is the Mindbody app marketplace, which lists your business to its consumer user base and can drive organic booking volume.

Best for: Larger wellness and studio businesses that need enterprise-grade operations and want discovery traffic from the Mindbody consumer marketplace.

Key features

• Online booking with branded website widgets
• Integrated payments and point of sale
• Email and SMS marketing automation
• Staff management and advanced reporting
• Mindbody app marketplace listing

Why choose Mindbody: The marketplace listing is the differentiator. Mindbody's consumer app has a large installed base, and visibility there can drive new student discovery in a way a standalone platform cannot match. The tradeoff is a more complex platform at a higher price point, with a 3.7/5 G2 rating suggesting mixed experiences among smaller operators.

Mindbody pricing: Starter begins at $79/month per location. Accelerate, Ultimate, and Enterprise plans require contacting sales for pricing. No free tier is available.

G2 rating: 3.7/5.

12. Spark Membership

Spark Membership is membership management software built specifically for martial arts schools. It includes CRM with student profiles, belt history, family accounts, and attendance trends. Billing, two-way SMS messaging, lead follow-up, and communication tools are part of a single flat-fee subscription with no feature tiers or locked screens.

Best for: Martial arts schools that want membership management, communication, and growth tools in one flat-fee package without negotiating which features to access.

Key features

• CRM with student profiles, belt history, and family accounts
• Integrated billing, checkout, and payment reporting
• Two-way SMS for leads, reminders, and rescheduling
• Lead follow-up and enrollment workflows
• Attendance trends and retention reporting

Why choose Spark Membership: The all-features-included model at a single price point removes the tier negotiation that frustrates operators trying to build a scalable admin workflow. The 8-week free trial is longer than most competitors offer, which gives enough time to run a real enrollment cycle through the platform.

Spark Membership pricing: $199/month with access to every feature. An 8-week free trial is available.

13. WellnessLiving

WellnessLiving is an AI-powered business management platform for fitness, wellness, and beauty businesses. It covers online booking, scheduling, payments, staff and client management, marketing campaigns, rewards programs, and reporting. The AI front desk and churn prediction features set it apart from most competitors in this price range.

Best for: Multi-service studios that combine martial arts with wellness, fitness, or family activity programs and want AI-assisted retention tools.

Key features

• Online booking and class scheduling
• Payments, POS, and client management
• Marketing campaigns and lead management
• Customer reviews and rewards programs
• AI front desk and churn prediction

Why choose WellnessLiving: AI churn prediction is a retention feature that most martial arts tools do not include at this price point. For a studio owner who wants to know which members are drifting before they cancel, that visibility is worth the subscription.

WellnessLiving pricing: Starter is $69/month. Business is $199/month. BusinessPro is $349/month. Enterprise pricing requires contacting sales. No free tier is available.

G2 rating: 4.5/5.

14. Outcoach

Outcoach is class management software for coaching businesses and class-based organizations, including swim schools, dance studios, tennis clubs, and martial arts schools. It supports scheduling, online enrolment, billing, messaging, skill tracking, goals and progress reports, and document storage. Pricing is per student, which keeps early costs low and scales proportionally.

Best for: Coaching businesses and class-based organizations where individual skill tracking, progress reports, and parent communication matter as much as attendance and billing.

Key features

• Class scheduling and attendance tracking
• Online enrolment, bookings, payments, and invoicing
• Goals, skill tracking, evaluations, and progress reports
• Messaging, reminders, and parent or student dashboards
• Document, photo, and video storage with permission controls

Why choose Outcoach: The per-student pricing model and the progress-report toolset are the differentiating factors. If your school needs to report individual student development to parents with supporting documentation, Outcoach has that workflow built in rather than patched together from manual tools.

Outcoach pricing: Standard starts at $0.83 per student per month, billed yearly (minimum $490/year). Premium is $2.99 per student per month, billed yearly. Larger organizations have Core, Plus, Pro, and Enterprise plans ranging from approximately $199/month to $650/month in annual monthly-equivalent pricing. Currency is AUD. A 30-day free trial is available.

15. Gym Admin

Gym Admin is gym management software for martial arts academies and boutique fitness studios. It is one of the few platforms in this list with a genuinely free tier: Up to 50 active students at no cost, including attendance, billing, digital waivers, belt tracking, timetable management, and a self-check-in kiosk. The Pro plan adds unlimited students, expanded email volume, and AI-powered gym insights.

Best for: Early-stage martial arts academies under 50 students that need structured operations including belt tracking and billing without an immediate monthly cost.

Key features

• Automated billing and recurring memberships
• Digital waivers and liability forms
• Attendance tracking and self-check-in kiosk
• Belt and rank progression tracking
• Timetable and class management with family and student records

Why choose Gym Admin: The free tier is the clearest entry point in this category for small schools. Belt tracking, kiosk check-ins, and digital waivers are included at no cost. When the school grows past 50 students, the Pro upgrade at $59/month is straightforward.

Gym Admin pricing: Starter is free for up to 50 active students. Pro Plan is $59/month billed monthly in USD with a 1% transaction fee plus Stripe processing fees. Pro includes unlimited students, up to 1,000 emails per month, kiosk mode with custom logo, and AI gym insights.

16. AXIS

AXIS is listed as a martial arts school management platform covering student management, rank and syllabus tracking, class timetables, kiosk check-ins, and data exports. The official site was inaccessible during research, so current features and pricing could not be verified from first-party sources.

Best for: Schools looking for a free or low-cost martial arts management starting point and willing to verify current capabilities directly with the vendor.

Key features

• Student management
• Rank and syllabus tracking
• Class timetables
• Kiosk check-ins
• Data exports

Why choose AXIS: Confirm current pricing and feature availability directly at axis.software before making a decision. Third-party sources reference free and premium tiers, but those details could not be independently verified during this research run.

AXIS pricing: Contact the vendor to confirm current plans and what each tier includes.

17. ClubOS

ClubOS is gym management software combining CRM, member management, billing, scheduling, mobile access, and analytics for fitness businesses and martial arts studios. It offers three packages: A CRM-focused plan, a member management plan, and ClubOS ONE which bundles both. The platform targets multi-location fitness chains, health clubs, and martial arts businesses that need sales infrastructure alongside operations.

Best for: Multi-location martial arts and fitness businesses that want integrated lead conversion, member retention, and performance analytics with custom pricing.

Key features

• Gym CRM with lead capture and marketing automation
• Member management including scheduling, check-in, POS, and billing
• Member mobile app with check-in, class booking, and referrals
• Retention workflows and performance analytics
• Multi-location reporting

Why choose ClubOS: ClubOS is better suited to operators who think of sales and member acquisition as a system, not just a front-desk task. The CRM-first architecture means lead follow-up, conversion tracking, and pipeline visibility are primary features rather than add-ons.

ClubOS pricing: Plans for CRM, Member Management, and ClubOS ONE are listed on the vendor site, but no pricing figures are displayed. Contact ClubOS directly to get a quote based on your location count, member volume, and required modules.

G2 rating: 3.9/5.

18. Stripe

Stripe is payment infrastructure for accepting online and in-person payments, running subscriptions, managing invoices, and building financial workflows. It is not martial arts school software. It does not handle attendance, rank progression, class scheduling, or student records. What it does handle is payments: Recurring tuition billing, failed-payment retries, subscription management, and developer APIs for teams building custom workflows.

Best for: Schools or development teams that need flexible, programmable payment processing as the billing layer within a broader software stack.

Key features

• Online and in-person payments with 125-plus payment methods
• Recurring billing, subscriptions, invoicing, and tax tools
• Fraud prevention and dispute handling
• Developer APIs and financial integrations
• Reporting and payouts

Why choose Stripe: Choose Stripe when payments are the specific problem, not operations. If you are building a custom school management setup or running a platform that needs enterprise-grade payment infrastructure, Stripe is the right foundation. For end-to-end school management, pair it with a purpose-built martial arts platform.

Stripe pricing: Standard rate is 2.9% plus 30¢ per successful domestic card transaction. No monthly fee for the standard pay-as-you-go plan. Custom pricing is available for high-volume businesses. Additional products carry separate fees.

G2 rating: 4.4/5.

19. Square

Square is an integrated commerce platform covering point-of-sale, card payments, online selling, appointment scheduling, invoicing, and inventory management. Like Stripe, it is not a martial arts school management system. It does not track student rank, manage class rosters, or run a retention dashboard. Square is payment and front-desk tooling, not school operations.

Best for: Small martial arts schools that need reliable in-person card payments, event ticketing, merchandise sales, or appointment booking without a full school management system.

Key features

• Point-of-sale with tap, chip, and digital wallet acceptance
• Invoices and online checkout
• Appointment scheduling with automated reminders
• Inventory management with multi-location stock tracking
• Online store with website builder and product listings

Why choose Square: Square earns its place for simple, front-desk payment needs. If the school sells merchandise, runs events, or needs a card reader at tournaments, Square covers that job at low cost. The free tier handles the basics, and the Plus plan at $49/month per location adds appointment and scheduling depth.

Square pricing: Free is $0/month per location. Plus is $49/month per location. Premium is $149/month per location. Square Pro uses custom pricing. A 30-day free trial is available on Plus and Premium.

G2 rating: 4.5/5.

20. PayPal

PayPal is a digital payments platform for accepting online and in-person business payments. Schools use it for tuition payment links, online invoices, subscription billing, and checkout on websites. Its main advantage over Stripe is buyer familiarity: Most parents and students already have a PayPal account and trust the checkout experience, which reduces friction on first payment.

Best for: Schools that need quick online payment collection where buyer trust and familiarity matter more than advanced subscription management or developer APIs.

Key features

• Online checkout with PayPal, Venmo, and Pay Later options
• In-person payments via card readers, terminals, and QR codes
• Online invoicing and payment links
• Subscriptions and recurring billing
• Fraud protection and Seller Protection on eligible transactions

Why choose PayPal: PayPal is the lowest-friction online payment option for buyers who already have an account. For enrollment payments, event fees, or merchandise purchases where the buyer is a parent unfamiliar with other processors, PayPal's brand recognition converts better. Transaction fees are higher than Stripe for some use cases, so compare total cost before choosing.

PayPal pricing: Expanded Checkout is 2.89% plus $0.29 per transaction. Standard PayPal Checkout is 2.99% plus $0.49 per transaction. PayPal and Venmo combined is 3.49% plus $0.49 per transaction. Tap to Pay and POS is 2.29% plus $0.09 per transaction. No monthly fee to open a business account.

G2 rating: 4.4/5.

Considerations when choosing martial arts software

Match the software to your school model

A BJJ academy, a kids karate school, an MMA gym, and a multi-location franchise run on different operational logic. A kids karate school needs family accounts, parent communication, and a visual belt wall. A BJJ academy needs mat attendance by time slot, stripe tracking, and promotion eligibility rules. Confirm which disciplines and workflows the platform supports by name before signing up.

Price the full cost of ownership

Monthly subscription fees are the visible number. Payment processing rates, setup fees, data migration, add-on modules, hardware costs, and per-location charges are where the actual cost lands. For a school processing $15,000 in monthly tuition, a 1% difference in processing rates is $150 per month, or $1,800 per year. Run the numbers at your current member count and at your 12-month growth target.

Check rank and curriculum depth

Generic gym tools can manage attendance and billing without any martial arts context. The gap shows up in rank workflows: Belt colors, stripe counts, eligibility rules, grading events, and testing fees. If your school awards rank on a structured curriculum, the software needs to support that structure natively, not through a workaround in the notes field.

Evaluate billing and retention workflows together

Failed payments are not just a finance problem. A member whose card declines and receives no automated follow-up is a churn risk within two to four weeks. Look for platforms where failed-payment retries, freeze requests, and attendance drop-off alerts are connected to the same workflow. Billing automation that operates independently from retention data leaves a gap the owner has to fill manually.

Verify reporting before you migrate

The reports that matter at the owner level are: Active members this month versus last, trials booked and converted, attendance trend by class, overdue tuition, cancellations, and revenue by location. Request a demo that shows those dashboards before committing. If the platform cannot answer those questions without an export to a spreadsheet, it will recreate the same bottleneck you are trying to remove.

Conclusion

The right choice depends on where your school sits operationally.

For martial arts-specific management, Kicksite and MatGoat are the strongest purpose-built options, with Kicksite better suited to US-based schools and MatGoat serving European academies. BJJLink is the clearest pick for Jiu-Jitsu academies that want a platform built on BJJ logic from the ground up.

For growing gyms that combine martial arts with broader fitness programs, PushPress offers a free starting point with a clear upgrade path. Wodify adds performance tracking and marketing automation for operators running structured training programs alongside combat sports.

For multi-service studios or larger operations, Mindbody and WellnessLiving have the depth to handle enterprise-level scheduling, marketing, and multi-location reporting, though both come with higher price points and more complex onboarding.

Gym Admin stands out as the most accessible free-tier option for schools under 50 students. Stripe, Square, and PayPal solve payment collection only, not school management.

Before migrating, shortlist three platforms, price each at your current member count and your 12-month forecast, and run the same test workflow through all of them: Add a lead, enroll a student, check them into class, record an attendance session, mark rank progress, process a tuition payment, and pull a retention report. The platform that handles that sequence without friction is the one that will actually reduce owner dependency.

For operators evaluating their broader business scheduling software and membership management stack alongside martial arts tools, the same evaluation logic applies: Test the workflows that run your operation, not just the features on the pricing page.

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