CRM for gyms and fitness studios

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Why the processing rate matters more here than anywhere else

In most businesses a payment fee is charged when a customer buys. In a gym it is charged on the same member, every month, for as long as they stay.

A studio with 300 members paying $60 a month bills $216,000 a year across 3,600 transactions. At a 2-point difference in rate, that is $4,300 a year — and it recurs whether or not you sell a single new membership.

So the processing rate is not a detail attached to the software decision. On a recurring-revenue business it frequently is the software decision.

The free plan that costs more than the paid one

PushPress publishes its rates, which makes it the clearest example in the category. The plan price and the processing rate move in opposite directions:

Published rates, 2026. All three tiers include unlimited members, admins and staff accounts.

The free plan charges 2.1 percentage points more on both cards and bank draft. On a recurring revenue base that compounds fast.

The threshold is about 126 members, or roughly $91,000 of annual billings. Above it, staying on the free plan costs you money — $2,628 a year at 300 members, and it grows with every member you add.

This is the single most actionable number on the page. If you are a growing studio sitting on a free plan because it is free, check your member count against that line today.

Bank draft is worth more than either plan

The other lever is how members pay, and in this industry it is unusually decisive.

Moving members from card to bank draft is worth almost twice the annual subscription. Gyms have always leaned on bank draft for exactly this reason, and the rate gap here — 2.89% against 0.79% — is wide enough that it should be the default on every new membership agreement, not an option buried on the sign-up form.

It also has a second effect worth naming: bank drafts do not expire. Card-on-file memberships fail silently when a card is reissued, and every failed payment is a cancellation conversation you did not want to have.

The category leader publishes almost nothing

Mindbody is the best-known platform in this market. Here is everything its pricing page discloses:

Its own FAQ confirms that the total cost includes the base plan, optional add-ons such as a branded app and SMS, and transaction fees for payments, text messages and certain integrations — without attaching a number to any of them.

What to do about it: before a demo, ask for four figures in writing — the monthly price of the tier you need in your currency, the card and ACH processing rates, the SMS rate per message, and the minimum contract term. Given the arithmetic above, the processing rate alone can be worth more than the subscription difference between every platform on this page.

Zen Planner sits in the same category and also routes pricing through sales; its published entry point is likewise not directly comparable without a quote.

What the problem costs: churn

Now the number that dwarfs all of it.

A gym does not lose money on software. It loses money on members who leave and have to be replaced.

The formula

Members × monthly churn rate × 12 = how many you must sell each year just to stand still.

At 300 members and 5% monthly churn, that is 15 members a month — 180 a year replaced before you grow at all.

300 members at $60 a month. Annualised dues of the members lost; the in-year figure is lower because departures are spread across the year.

One percentage point of churn is worth about 36 members — roughly $25,900 of annual dues. That is eleven times the entire PushPress Pro subscription, and it is the number the software can actually influence: automated check-in follow-up when someone stops attending, failed-payment recovery, and a reason to be in touch that is not an invoice.

Measure your own churn rate first. Most studios quote a number they have not calculated in a year.

What to buy

For most independent studios the answer is PushPress, on the tier your member count dictates. The plan choice is arithmetic, not preference: below 126 members the free plan wins, above it the Pro plan does, and the gap widens every month you grow.

The two things member software does badly

1. Filling the top of the funnel

Member management runs the members you have. It does not generate the ones you need to replace 180 departures a year. Gyms buy leads — challenges, trial offers, paid social — and the thing that converts them is speed: a lead who fills in a form at 9pm and hears nothing until Monday has already joined somewhere else.

Built for exactly this: speed-to-lead on paid traffic, with unlimited staff logins. It is not a member management system and should not replace one. See GoHighLevel pricing.

2. Talking to members who are drifting

The member who stops coming does not cancel immediately. They go quiet for six weeks and then cancel. That window is where churn is won, and it is a communication job rather than a billing one — a check-in, a challenge invitation, a text that is not a receipt.

Members read texts and ignore email, so a tool that does both from one place fits how gyms actually communicate. See our Brevo pricing breakdown.

The verdict

Check two numbers before you look at a single feature list.

Your member count against 126. Below it the PushPress free plan is genuinely cheaper; above it the free plan costs $2,628 a year at 300 members and more as you grow.

Your card-to-bank-draft ratio. At 300 members that split is worth $4,536 a year — more than twice the subscription, and it also removes the failed-payment cancellations that come with cards expiring.

Then work on churn, because one point of it is worth eleven subscriptions and it is the only number here that compounds in your favour.

We earn no commission from PushPress, Mindbody or Zen Planner. We do earn from GoHighLevel and Brevo, and those links are marked.

Common questions

What is the best CRM for a gym?

For most independent studios, PushPress — on the free plan below about 120 members and the $159 Pro plan above 126, because the processing rates flip which one is cheaper. Mindbody is the multi-location option but prices by quote.

Why does the free plan cost more?

Because PushPress charges 4.99% on cards and 2.89% on bank draft for free accounts, against 2.89% and 0.79% on paid plans. On a recurring-revenue business that 2.1-point gap overtakes the $1,908 subscription at roughly $91,000 of annual billings.

How much does PushPress cost?

Free, $159 a month for Pro, or $229 for Max. All tiers include unlimited members, admins and staff. The real cost difference is the processing rate rather than the subscription.

How much does Mindbody cost?

It publishes only “starting at €99 per month per location”. Accelerate and Ultimate prices, setup fees, contract terms and processing rates are all quote-only. Ask for the tier price in your currency, the card and ACH rates, the SMS rate and the minimum term before the demo.

Should members pay by card or bank draft?

Bank draft, decisively. At 300 members the difference between 2.89% and 0.79% is $4,536 a year, and bank details do not expire the way cards do — which removes a category of failed payments that turn into cancellations.

What is a normal gym churn rate?

Studios commonly run between 3% and 7% a month. At 300 members, 5% means replacing 180 memberships a year before any growth. A single percentage point is worth about 36 members, or roughly $25,900 in annual dues.

Do I need separate marketing software?

If you buy leads, yes — member management systems run the members you have, not the pipeline that replaces them, and speed of first response decides most gym leads. If you fill by referral, you probably do not.

What is the biggest hidden cost?

Processing on recurring dues. It is charged on every member every month, so a 2-point difference on a 300-member studio is $4,300 a year that has nothing to do with how many new members you sell.