Having a mobile app for your gym is an opportunity to engage with your customers and bring in new ones.

If you have a gym, or even if you’re just a personal trainer, scheduling software for your mobile app can help your clients with a variety of tasks, like booking training sessions, browsing services, and overall, improving how they interact with your gym.

In 2019, there were over 68 million smartphone users who used one fitness app at least once a month.

And that number is only growing.

In this article, we’ll review what gym management software is and why you need it for your mobile app.

Table of Contents

1. What is Gym Management Software?
2. Gym Management Software Features
3. Should You Use Gym Management Software?
4. Top Software Solutions and Prices
5. WellnessLiving
6. Vagaro
7. My PT Hub
8. Zen Planner
9. What to Look for In Gym Management Software
10. Ease of Use
11. Data Security
12. Streamlined Booking
13. Mobile Integration
14. Automation
15. Customizable Scheduler

Chapter #1: What is Gym Management Software?

Managing a gym is no easy task.

It can take a considerable amount of time to manage things like client records and memberships, classes, employee schedules and more.

This is where gym management software comes in, also sometimes referred to as scheduling, fitness, or membership software.

Mobile Health & Fitness App Sessions Grow 9% Each Year

There’s an abundance of companies offering Software as a Service (SaaS) solutions to streamline the process for business owners, many of which can easily integrate with your mobile app.

This software will often come with both employee and client portals, along with a number of other useful features.

1.1 Gym Management Software Features

You’ll find that there are plenty of companies specializing in offering gym management and scheduling software, and they typically offer a similar set of features.

Let’s take a look.

Multiple portals

This feature allows you, the gym owner, the ability to log into the software to access specific features, like scheduling employees for shifts or accessing customer records.

Most software will also have a separate login portal for customers and employees, who will have access to their own set of features.

Employees may be able to view their schedule (without editing abilities), and customers may be able to book training sessions or pay for their membership.

Scheduling and Membership Management

The main highlight of gym management software is that it allows you to manage your clients and employees’ schedules.

Customers can easily reserve classes online and the gym owner can easily manage the schedules.

Product Management

Some gyms offer multi-tier memberships or even gym merchandise.

A great feature for gym management software is having product management tools that let gym owners create an online store where they can create and track inventory.

Gym Management Software Market

Customers can make purchases online, whether it’s merchandise or buying/upgrading their membership.

Integrated Billing

Gym management software can also be used to manage the billing process for a gym or fitness center.

You can use it to track membership fees, class fees, and personal training fees, and generate invoices for these charges.

The software can be used to process payments from members, either through a manual process or by integrating with a payment gateway, which can allow the gym to automatically charge members’ credit or debit cards on a recurring basis, such as monthly membership fees.

You can even use the software to track any credits or discounts applied to a member’s account, and to generate reports on the gym’s financial performance.

By automating the billing process, gym management software can help gym owners and operators save time and reduce the risk of errors.

 

Digital Contracts

Another great feature you can find in gym management software solutions is the ability to create contracts digitally, which help streamline the customer signup process.

You can also create other legal documents digitally, like liability waivers.

Text and Email Communication

Gym management software can be used to send text and email messages to members for a variety of purposes. For example, it can be used to send appointment reminders or notifications of schedule changes to members.

It can also be used to send marketing messages or promotions to members, or to send newsletters or other updates.

The software can be configured to send messages to specific groups of members, or to all members, and can include personalized information like the member’s name or the details of their membership.

Some gym management software can also include features for managing communication with members, like the ability to track responses or to send automated messages based on certain trigger events.

By using the software to manage communication with members, gym owners and operators can save time and ensure that important information is delivered in a timely and professional manner.

Marketing and Retention Tools

Some software solutions will allow you to automatically engage with customer leads as well as track and optimize the performance of your email campaigns.

Additionally, you can increase your member retention by sending automatic targeted and personalized communications via text, email, or push notifications.

Analytics Tools

Similar to the marketing and retention tools feature, some software will offer analytics tools to help you keep track of additional metrics like business revenue, member demographics, and user engagement.

 

Software that allows you to gather these kinds of metrics will help your gym improve efficiency and operate better.

Mobile App Integration

As mentioned earlier, many companies offering gym management SaaS offer some form of mobile app integration so you and your users can benefit from various features right from your mobile device.

Chapter #2: Should You Use Gym Management Software?

Gym management software isn’t only for gym owners.

This kind of scheduling software can be used for all kinds of businesses that would benefit from the services listed in the previous section.

Martial arts and training centers, yoga studios, spas, salons, dance studios, and others can all use fitness software as a solution for managing memberships and classes.

Just keep in mind that every scheduling and gym management software has something different to offer.

While most will offer a core set of features, like automated billing and scheduling capabilities, some will offer more specialized features for specific businesses.

PRO TIP:
Software that works for one business may not necessarily work for yours. Think carefully about what features are most important to you and find a SaaS that can help you meet those needs.

Chapter #3: Top Software Solutions and Prices

There’s simply a wealth of gym management software options available on the market, so how do you find the right one?

Let’s take a look at a few popular options and what they offer.

3.1 WellnessLiving

This business management solution has over 10.3 million users.

WellnessLiving is cloud-based and geared towards wellness studios of all shapes and sizes.

Their main features include easy-to-use online scheduling software with automated reminders, an all-in-one marketing platform, easy data migration if you’re coming from another platform, and a customer support team.

They also offer powerful mobile applications so you can manage your business with their mobile client and staff apps.

Pricing

Like many software solutions, WellnessLiving offers several pricing packages, depending on your business’s needs.

 

Their prices start at $59 a month for their Basic package, which includes basic booking services, and goes up to $129 a month for their Professional package, which includes enhanced marketing and client referral features.

3.2 Vagaro

Vagaro offers an all-in-one gym management software and app solution that handles online booking and scheduling, payment processing, staff management, and marketing tools.

Other features include an online store, one app for your business and one app for your customers, live stream, data reports, customer tracking, and plenty more.

Due to COVID-19, they’ve recently implemented contactless features, like the ability to check-in with the app.

Pricing

Vagaro pricing depends on how many employees you have.

If it’s just you, the price is $25 a month. If you have 7+ employees, the price is $85 a month.

Regardless of how many employees you have, every plan includes the same features.

3.3 My PT Hub

My PT Hub is another popular software for personal trainers, coaches, and clubs, and has over 1.5 million users.

Their online web and mobile app allows you to manage your clients by creating customizable programmes and training sessions while tracking their progress.

Some features include admin management, messaging, live streaming, remote training, workout library, nutrition database, and more.

You can even customize the app’s icon to reflect your brand.

Another great perk to using My PT Hub is their integration with Fitbit, Apple Health, and Google Fit.

Pricing

My PT Hub currently offers two packages: Standard ($20/month) and Premium ($49/month).

The Standard plan allows up to 5 clients, a custom subdomain, calendar features, and more.

 

The Premium plan is a good option for unlimited clients, more document storage, and classes features.

3.4 Zen Planner

This fitness business software specializes in delivering member management tools along with automated billing and robust reporting features that can help you grow your business.

It’s a solid solution for boutique gyms and studios, yoga studios, boxes and affiliate gyms, and martial arts schools.

Zen Planner offers simplified billing, a staff app, a member app, marketing tools, online scheduling, automation, retail, reporting tools, workout tracking, website templates, and more.

Pricing

Zen Planner pricing is based on how many active members you have, and ranges from $117 a month for 0-50 members to $227 a month for 251+ members.

PRO TIP:
You’ll find that prices will vary significantly for every gym management software available, which is why it’s important to consider what you’re looking for.

Some fitness software can get pretty pricey, but it might be worth it depending on your business’s specific goals.

Chapter #4: What to Look for In a Gym Management Software

The list of options in the previous section is just a small sample of what’s available, and there are plenty more solutions that range in price and features.

Here are a few tips on what to look for when choosing the best gym management software for your mobile app.

4.1 Ease of Use

You’re a business owner, not a software developer.

You probably want to spend your time focusing on what’s most important: your customers and growing your business, and not learning how to use a technical piece of software.

This is why it’s important to choose a software that isn’t overly complex.

Gym management software should be easy to use and quick to get started with.

PRO TIP:
When doing research, look for companies that offer free trials and demos to see how the software works and how easy (or hard) it is to implement.

4.2 Data Security

When implementing fitness software into your website or mobile app, you have to remember that your users—and you yourself—are storing sensitive information.

Data security should be taken seriously and be a high priority for the fitness software you choose to work with.

 

The software should be fully encrypted and offer cloud-based data storage to ensure the data is secure.

Cloud-based storage is useful because it prevents data loss through automatic backups.

4.3 Streamlined Booking

Booking training sessions and classes should be easy for your customers, as should the checkout process.

 

The number of steps to make a purchase or book a session should be minimal, otherwise, you risk losing potential customers.

4.4 Mobile Integration

Having a mobile app is crucial for any business to thrive in today’s digital world, so be sure to use scheduling software that offers some form of mobile app integration for you and your customers.

Some software come with their own app for you and your customers to use while others offer easy integrations.

People will expect the ability to book sessions and make purchases through their smartphone devices, so give them what they want.

4.5 Automation

The ability to automate time-consuming tasks is key when it comes to gym management software.

Global Gyms and Health Clubs Market By Service Segment

Remember, the idea is to streamline the process to ensure everything is running as efficiently as possible.

When looking at features, check to see if there is email or text confirmations and reminders as well as other automated services.

4.6 Customizable Scheduler

While every gym management software you encounter will offer some form of scheduling feature, look for one that is customizable and flexible enough to fit your needs.

It should also be able to sync with external calendars, like Google Calendar, to add more convenience.

 

Final Thoughts

Gym management software is an extremely powerful tool that can streamline the way you do business, saving you time and money.

Some are very affordable and offer basic features while others are more robust, but pricier.

Consider what your goals and needs are as a business and how gym management software can help get you there.

If you’re not sure what integrations are best for your mobile app project, check out our Simple Starter package where we break down your app idea and create a clear plan that sets the stage for future app development.

Which of our top software picks are most aligned with your apps needs?