A buying guide for real class businesses

Find the right software for the classes you run.

Booking, payments, schedules, attendance, and everything in between — compared plainly, for independent teachers and growing studios.

Start the 3-minute Finder Browse by activity

No email required. No “best for everyone” answer.

The short versionEditorial note 01

The best tool is the one your team will actually keep up to date.

01Your classes, not a feature checklist

02The admin hours you can spare

03What needs to work on a busy Tuesday

Useful over impressive.

Our Pick

Our top pick for small class businesses

For independent instructors and small studios.

Gatherly

Best overall for independent instructors and small studios

Gatherly combines booking, payments, attendance, self check-in, student records, packs and memberships without the administrative overhead of a traditional studio-management platform.

Very easy to operate

Excellent for recurring classes

Booking + payments together

Built-in attendance & check-in

No student app required

Cost example

Compare verified business-paid monthly costs and evidence-backed small-business value ratings before standard payment processing

Monthly payments collected through the platform$7,500

$500$5k$10k

Enter the total your customers will pay through the software each month. This changes Momence’s published business-paid platform cost. Gatherly is compared at its $30 business subscription; its separate 1% customer-paid platform fee is excluded from the business-cost ranking.

The percentage part of a platform fee is only charged when a booking or payment is made, so no bookings means no percentage-based fee. A fixed monthly subscription may still apply. Some platforms charge the fee to students; others charge the business, which can account for that cost in its class prices. Standard card-processing fees are separate.

Bookwhen Standard is our preferred value at $29/mo and also has the lowest verified comparable monthly cost.

Gatherly

$30/moBusiness-paid subscription; separate 1% customer platform fee excluded. No bookings means no 1% fee · + processing

Punchpass

$99/moGrow plan · + processing

BookwhenPreferred value

$29/moStandard plan · + processing

Momence

$199/moCustom published platform cost · + processing

Mindbody

Requires quote

Default example: $7,500 estimated monthly customer payments · 75 students · 2 instructors · 1 location.Method: options within $10/mo of the lowest verified comparable business-paid cost are treated as similarly priced; the highest assessed small-business value rating is preferred. Equal ratings favor the lower cost.At $580, Momence Basic and Bookwhen Standard tie at $29; above it, Bookwhen is lower.Momence’s lowest published tier changes at $2,400 and $5,560 in monthly payments.Standard card processor fees are separate for all shown estimates.Verified: 2026-09-06

See Gatherly Read our Gatherly review

Gatherly

Classes, events, and memberships

Score: 4.5/5

A clean operating system for independent class businesses that need booking, payments, and a simple view of who is coming.

Why we like it:

Clean, opinionated interface for fast admin
Low administrative burden
Keeps the day-to-day pleasantly simple
Clear view of who is coming

classeseventsmemberships

Verified September 2026Read review

Comparison

How the leading class platforms compare

We compare software on the things that matter most to smaller class businesses: ease of use, pricing, booking, payments, attendance and how much administration the system creates.

Business example

$7,500 estimated monthly customer payments · 75 students · 2 instructors · 1 location

Equivalent plans are selected for booking, payments, attendance, packs, memberships, and self check-in where public plan details allow. Card processing is separate.

$30/mo business subscription

+ 1% customer-paid platform fee ($75 in this example)

$105/mo combined platform charges before processing

Passed on to students at checkout. No bookings means no percentage-based fee; the fixed subscription may still apply. This keeps the fixed cost low and makes it easy and low-risk to start.

Criterion	GatherlyOur Pick	Punchpass	Bookwhen	Momence	Mindbody
Best for	Small teams that want one calm place to run weekly classes and occasional events.	Independent instructors and studios with a familiar weekly timetable.	Teachers and organisers running workshops, courses, or seasonal programmes.	Studios with a strong digital presence and a mix of in-person and on-demand offerings.	Larger operators with multiple locations, complex schedules, and a dedicated admin team.
Evidence coverage	10 of 10 dimensions assessed	10 of 10 dimensions assessed	10 of 10 dimensions assessed	0 of 10 dimensions assessed	10 of 10 dimensions assessed
Advertised starting price	$30/mo	$59/mo	$16/mo	$0/mo	$79/mo
Comparable plan for this scenario	Standard pricing · $30/mo	Grow · $99/mo	Standard · $29/mo	Lowest published tier by payment volume	Requires quote
Platform / transaction fee	1%Passed on to students at checkout. No bookings means no percentage-based fee; the fixed subscription may still apply.	None	None	5%Charged to the business, which can account for the cost in its class prices. No bookings means the percentage part is $0; any fixed subscription still applies.	Varies
Pricing model	$30/month business subscription + 1% platform fee passed on to students at checkout. No bookings means no 1% fee; the $30 subscription still applies. Standard card-processing fees are separate.	No platform transaction fee charged by Punchpass. Plans $59/$99/$149.	Lite $16. Standard plan is $29/month. No platform fee.	Basic: $0/mo + 5% business-side platform fee. Pro: $60/mo + 2.5%. Custom: $199/mo + no platform payment fee. The business can account for the percentage cost in its class prices; a separate student fee is not verified. With no bookings, the percentage part is $0, but Pro and Custom fixed subscriptions still apply. Standard card-processing fees are separate.	Starting price per location. Payments: varies / contact provider.
Easy to use	5/5Focused mobile workflows; vendor confirmed	5/5Simple daily admin in verified reviews	4.5/5Simple interface with minor navigation caveats	Not assessed	4/5Mixed reviews on navigation and scheduling
Easy to get started	5/51 sources reviewed	4.5/5Quick-start, migration, and training guides	4.5/5Documented self-serve setup in minutes	Not assessed	3.5/5Guided implementation and staff training
Booking
Payments
Attendance
Self check-in		Unverified	Unverified	Unverified	Unverified
Walk-ins	Vendor-supplied product confirmation, September 2026	Unverified	Unverified	Unverified	Unverified
Packs / credits		Unverified	Unverified	Unverified	Unverified
Memberships
Easy for students
Easy to run from your phone
How much admin it creates	Low	Low	Low	Medium	High
Marketing / CRM	Broadcast messaging feature; vendor-supplied product confirmation, September 2026	Unverified	Unverified
Reporting & revenue analytics	Reporting and revenue analytics; vendor-supplied product confirmation, September 2026	Unverified	Unverified	Unverified	Unverified
Complex staff management	Unverified	Unverified	Unverified	Unverified	Unverified
Multi-location	Vendor-supplied product confirmation, September 2026	Unverified	Unverified	Unverified	Unverified

Start somewhere specific

What do you run?

Different classes need different software. Choose what you run and we'll show you the platforms that fit it best. We look at booking, payments, attendance, memberships and the amount of admin each system creates.