Zen Planner is one of the better-known names in studio software, especially for martial arts academies in the US. We get asked how we compare often enough that we wrote it down — including the parts where Zen Planner is genuinely strong and we are not the right fit.
Where Zen Planner is strong
Zen Planner grew up serving BJJ, MMA and karate gyms, and it shows. The product carries a depth of martial-arts-specific features that most general booking systems never built. If you run a martial arts academy in the US, you have probably already considered them — for good reasons.
- Deep martial arts focus. Belt tracking, ranking systems, curriculum tracking, attendance for promotion — the things a karate or BJJ school actually needs are first-class, not bolted on.
- Family and kid-friendly accounts. Parent accounts, multiple children under one billing record, household management. Useful if half your members are under twelve.
- Strong reporting. Revenue, attendance and retention reports are well-developed. If you live in spreadsheets, you will find what you need.
- Owned by Daxko. A large fitness software conglomerate sits behind Zen Planner — more engineers, more infrastructure, and a stable company that is unlikely to disappear.
Where Zen Planner falls short
The same factors that make Zen Planner mature also make it heavy. And the ownership structure that gives it stability is the same one that tends to push prices up over time.
- US-centric. No EU data residency, no native EUR or GBP, and GDPR is retrofitted rather than built in. For a European studio, that is real friction.
- Pricing. Plans start around $99/month for the Studio tier and climb to roughly $229/month for higher tiers. Add the branded app, payments markup and integrations and the real number is usually higher than the sticker.
- Per-transaction markup. On top of Stripe or card fees there is typically a processing markup. Small per transaction, large per year.
- UI shows its age. The product was built in the late 2000s and the interface reflects that in places. It works, but it does not feel like 2026 software.
- Conglomerate ownership. Zen Planner sits inside Daxko, which sits in the broader ABC Fitness / private-equity landscape. The usual concerns apply: pricing creep, slower roadmaps, less appetite for niche needs.
Where Class Booking is different
We made different choices. Some are better, some are worse, depending on what you actually need.
- Modern stack, EU-native. Built in 2024–25, hosted in the EU, GDPR by default. Data residency is not a checkbox — it is where the platform lives.
- €15 / £12 / $19 to €110 / £89 / $119 per month. Flat plans in your local currency, no transaction skim. You keep the full Stripe rate.
- Strong defaults, less configuration. Out of the box you do not need to spend a week wiring fifty things. Deliberate defaults for cancellation windows, waitlists, payments and notifications.
- Independent. No VC, no investors pushing for growth at all costs. We grow at the pace of the studios using us.
- Martial arts is supported. Belt tracking, ranks and attendance for promotion are all there. Zen Planner has more martial-arts-specific depth, but we are not a missing piece — we are a different shape.
Side-by-side
| Zen Planner | Class Booking | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | From ~$99/month (Studio plan); higher tiers ~$229/month | From €15 / £12 / $19/month |
| Transaction fees | Per-transaction processing markup on top of card costs | No transaction skim — you keep the full Stripe rate |
| EU data residency | US-hosted; GDPR retrofitted | EU-hosted, GDPR-native (we are the data processor) |
| Native currencies | USD-first; EUR/GBP not native | EUR, GBP, SEK, DKK, NOK out of the box |
| Contract | Annual contracts common on higher tiers | Monthly. Cancel anytime. |
| Mobile apps | Branded member app available (extra cost on most plans) | Mobile-first web app; PWA install supported |
| Modern stack (year) | Founded 2006; UI shows its age | Built 2024–25 on a modern stack |
| Ownership | Daxko / ABC Fitness (private equity, large conglomerate) | Independent. No outside investors. |
| Support model | Tiered support; chat/phone often gated to higher plans | Email support, answered by the people who built it |
| Martial arts features | Belt tracking, ranks, attendance — a clear strength | Belt tracking, ranks, attendance — supported, not a missing piece |
Pricing reflects publicly available information at the time of writing. Both products change — check the current pricing page before deciding.
Who picks which
Pick Zen Planner if
You are a US-based martial arts academy already fully on Zen Planner. Switching has costs — staff retraining, member confusion, data migration — and if the product is working, the case for change is small. Zen Planner is a real product built for your shape.
Pick Class Booking if
You are a European martial arts gym, or any class-based studio that wants modern software at fair pricing without conglomerate ownership. EU data residency, native EUR/GBP, no transaction skim, and a team that answers its own emails.
We are not trying to convince you Zen Planner is bad. They built something real, and for the right studio it remains a sensible choice. We made different trade-offs — and for a European studio in 2026, those are probably the ones you want.