# Open Black Belt Reviews 2026. Verified Reviews, Pros & Cons | Capterra > Is Open Black Belt the right Martial Arts solution for you? Explore 39 verified user reviews from people in industries like yours to make a confident choice. Source: https://www.capterra.com/p/130863/Open-Black-Belt/reviews --- Open Black Belt 4.3 (39) [View alternatives](https://www.capterra.com/p/130863/Open-Black-Belt/alternatives/) Provider data verified by our Software Research team, and reviews moderated by our Reviews Verification team. [Learn more](https://www.capterra.com/our-story/) * * * Last updated March 13th, 2026 # Reviews of Open Black Belt Ease of use 4.2 Customer Service 4.4 ## Pros and Cons in Reviews JK John K Owner & Head InstructorHealth, Wellness and Fitness, Self-employedUsed the software for: More than 2 years. “It is easy to use and has heaps of features that help keep me organised.“ April 10, 2021 ## Showing most helpful reviews Showing 1-25 of 39 Reviews Sort by: Most Helpful Rating Company Size Reviewer's Role Length of Use Frequency of Use JB Jerry B. Owner/Instructor Used the software for: ### "Great management software to stay on top of student info, attendance, and communication!" April 23, 2015 5.0 We have been using Open Black Belt for well over a year and a half now and it is nice to see the growth and constant updates to it. Without it, it would be difficult to run a school and be as efficient as it allows us to be. Three of the most useful features for us is access to emergency contact info (should we ever need it), Student Check In (this helps us stay on top of attendance and promotion requirements), and being able to send out mass emails (so that we can keep everyone on the same page). We know there is other software out there, we have been reached out to and have gone through demonstrations with them. We just don't see a need to change what we currently have working for us. Review Source Response from Open Black Belt April 23, 2015 Thanks Jerry DW David W. Used the software for: ### "More than capable of running a Dojo" March 28, 2017 4.0 I cam across this applicatiobn by chance and although it is not exactly easy to use since the user interface is a bit too techy it is more than capable of running a dojoo. Overall I think in its current version it is worth its score and with a bit more effort it could easily move to 4/5. Thank you for taking your time to build this app. Pros Straight forward rationale behind it with good features and performance. Cons Poor user interface or rather it should be less techy. Review Source Response from Open Black Belt March 29, 2017 Thanks for the review David. My team would like to hear more about your experience with the OBB interface. Please free to email us at support@openblackbelt.com MW Melinda W. Used the software for: ### "Customer support is lacking" March 28, 2017 1.0 I have tried this software before but features were limited. I attempted to give it another shot. I contacted support twice trying to gain access but no response. Review Source Response from Open Black Belt March 28, 2017 Hi Melinda We are sorry we did not meet your expectations. Please feel free to contact us at support@openblackbelt.com JB Jackie B. Owner Health, Wellness and Fitness Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Solid and Simple" March 28, 2017 4.0 If you want a simple, solid martial arts management software, Open Black Belt fits the bill. Not overloaded with too many features you won't use. Pros Simple and not over-filled with too many bells and whistles. Cons At the time there was no integration with MailChimp. Review Source Response from Open Black Belt March 28, 2017 Thanks for the review Jackie. We would love to hear more about the MailChimp integration feature. Please contact us about this. KL Karra L. Owner Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "Super fast response and great product" June 27, 2017 5.0 Pros The ability to list rank. It was great to be able to log attendance so you can see their attendance as a promotion factor. Cons Inability to maintain belt progression. I - received blue belt 6/1, 1st stripe was received on 7/1 etc Review Source Response from Open Black Belt June 28, 2017 Thanks for the review KL Karra L. Owner Recreational Facilities and Services Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "Great Software and service " March 28, 2017 5.0 I was using mind body but it just didn't really fit for our gym. Got a call about this at the perfect time. Not only is it 1/4 of the price but it has better features and the credit processing is way cheaper Pros Attendance log Cons No mobile app yet. Review Source Response from Open Black Belt March 28, 2017 Thanks for the review. BF Bryce F. Owner Used the software for: ### "Open Black Belt is great" May 12, 2015 5.0 I am a big fan of Open Black Belt(OBB) Their software is set up for the perfect workflow when involving the details of running a gym. Overall the best product of it's kind. Whether it be the bulk emailing, keeping track of your students, or tracking inventory, OBB makes everything much more efficient. I have also had the privilege to work directly with OBB involving advertisement, and they are great to work with. Very professional, and they genuinely want to help out. Review Source CV Carel-Piet V. Cancer coach Health, Wellness and Fitness Used the software for: ### "Loved it until the changes" March 28, 2017 5.0 Absolutely adored the software, especially the mindset behind it. Stopped using it when my "free" version suddenly had to be paid for. Pros Excellent functionality Cons Misleading regarding pricing/membership Review Source Response from Open Black Belt March 28, 2017 Hi Carl We had recently changed our pricing but notified our members on our site many months in advance of the changes. We are considering different tiers of membership for the future. Please feel free to contact us. VE Valda E. Business Manager Used the software for: ### "Great customer service" August 7, 2015 4.0 The customer service representatives at Open Black Belt have been great. We've had several different issues come up, and they are very responsive. OBB also have been really good about implementing suggestions for new reports or functionality. This is a great product that add a lot of value to our business. Review Source Response from Open Black Belt August 7, 2015 Thanks Valda, we love hearing suggestions for our members and have more features coming soon. RA Ron A. Used the software for: ### "Top Notch Customer Support" February 27, 2017 4.0 After test driving several different MA student databases, this one has been one of the easiest and straightforward systems I've seen. Most importantly, they have given the BEST customer support by far compared the others I've tried. Response is almost always immediate. Review Source Response from Open Black Belt February 27, 2017 Glad to hear our support is the best :) TT Terri T. Used the software for: ### "Great product for your school" March 28, 2017 4.0 Very easy to use. Great product for your school. Great customer support. Recommend this to all my friends. Review Source Response from Open Black Belt March 28, 2017 Thanks for the review. RR Robert R. Used the software for: ### "Awesome software" April 11, 2016 5.0 Fast Customer service and fast integration of new ideas. Review Source Response from Open Black Belt April 11, 2016 Thanks for the feedback LH Laura H. Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "student and record keeper" August 4, 2016 4.0 My sensei was looking for free software to keep track of attendance and record keeping. I was please with the ease of use. Pros In all honesty, it was free and easy to navigate Review Source JK John K. Owner & Head Instructor Health, Wellness and Fitness Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Great Martial Arts software" April 10, 2021 4.0 Perfect for any martial arts or self defence school that needs to track things like ranking, attendance, scheduling, reporting, payments and billing... the list just goes on. Pros I chose OBB when I first started my self defence school. It is easy to use and has heaps of features that help keep me organised. The attendance tracking is great, by the click of a button I can see how many classes a student has attended at any given time. Cons Even though there are direct debit options integrated with the software it would be great if GoCardless was one of the options. Plus I am located in Australia so when I reach out to customer support I am usually waiting a day or two before I hear anything. Alternatives considered [Martialytics](https://www.capterra.com/p/136339/Martialytics/)[Gymdesk](https://www.capterra.com/p/148663/Martial-Arts-on-Rails/) Reason for choosing Open Black Belt Had everything I needed to get my school off the ground and organised. Review Source Response from Open Black Belt April 13, 2021 Thanks for the review. We hope to add direct debit options soon Christa C. Business Analyst Information Technology and Services Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "Open Black Belt" March 31, 2017 3.0 We owned a small dojo for about 2 years. I initially signed up for free trials to review many different software platforms. We had about 40-50 students. We've since sold the business to a friend but I found that a lot of the platforms seemed to cater to larger dojos. They were usually out of our price range. I logged into Open Black Belt again to review the options and it looks different when compare dot what I saw 2 years ago. The price seems reasonable and you've added a lot of new features. At the time I was looking for a system that would help me keep track of attendance without manually entering it. I also wanted something that could help me take and track payments. The software as it sits now looks amazing. I ended up keeping track of everything manually but given what you have available at this time I think I would have signed up for the monthly payments. I like that you added a marketing piece as well. I'll pass your info along to the new owners. Review Source MG Michael G. Owner Consumer Services Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Average student software" March 31, 2017 3.0 I found the software useful and easy to use. However tech support did not address my concerns very well. Many attributes in the software seemed to be lacking, rank updates for example. Cons I thought many of the software attributes and reports were not useful as constructed. Review Source Response from Open Black Belt March 31, 2017 Thanks for the review. We would love to hear your ideas on making our solution better suited to your needs. Please feel free to contact us support@openblackbelt.com KM Kyle M. Used the software for: ### "Was a great entry level member management option" April 4, 2017 4.0 I enjoyed the simplicity and minimalist design with open black belt. It was incredibly helpful to have a free option to go in and try it out before I purchased anything. I found it easy to add members and programs and communicate with my members. Ultimately, it lacked some functionality in the payment and point of sale areas. To put this in context, the payment options for recurring billing and such were just getting started with openblackbelt while I was a full member so that may have changed now. I had signed up with openblackbelt as I was tired of mindbody online (too many unused options for me) but the payment integration was still in progress and I was not able to wait to get everything worked out. The merchant processor (Signa pay I think) also lacked POS support so ultimately I had to have two separate programs. This simply became too much hassle to deal with on a consistent basis and I found another place that could do both pretty week.. Overall, I was pleased with openblackbelt. I needed something with a integrated POS option and recurring billing support in one spot, and that was something I had to find elsewhere. Review Source Response from Open Black Belt April 4, 2017 Thanks for the review. We are working on making our integration with payment providers a more optimized and seamless experience. Feel free to contact us at support@openblackbelt.com KD Kevin D. Sensei Used the software for: ### "A key part of our dojo!" August 15, 2015 5.0 Open Black Belt Pro has streamlined our student tracking and sign-in practices. We were using the classic "binder" method of storing registration forms and having students check off the date as they attended class. Now, with Open Black Belt, we store our forms in a box and use the "Self Check-in" system with barcodes. We purchased a laptop and barcode scanner gun primarily for this purpose. We are also able to use an iPad during class to make notes on students or to do check-in manually. All of our Senseis can access student information from home to check attendance to help prepare for gradings and other events. The "Customer Support" is second to none! Open Black Belt is constantly asking its users for suggestions and to try new additions to the system. Any time we have needed assistance for something Open Black Belt has responded quickly with easy-to-follow instructions. Joining OBB Pro has proven to be a wise, and affordable, investment for our dojo. We couldn't be happier with Open Black Belt. Review Source Response from Open Black Belt August 15, 2015 Thanks for being such a wonderful customer, we are glad to hear Open Black Belt is an integral part of your school. LH Lisa H. Owner Health, Wellness and Fitness Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "Excellent do it all martial arts program " March 28, 2017 5.0 This program serves all my needs for my martial arts program! If I have had an issue, it has been resolved promptly, customer service is,quick and amazing! Pros The ease of use, that it's designed specifically for the purpose of managing my system. Cons Their app isn't ready... yet! Review Source Response from Open Black Belt March 28, 2017 Hi Lisa Thanks for the awesome review. We hope to have the Android version ready for alpha testing soon(within the next week) JT Jeremy T. Software QA Analyst Information Technology and Services Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "Software for the new school owner" March 28, 2017 4.0 We did the trial and it was nice, but not exactly what we needed in the long run. I would recommend this software for those just getting started for the first time in running a school. Easy to use and eases you into management software if you are not used to being in front of a computer. Pros Easy to use Cons Did not have some of the marketing tools that their leading competitors have Review Source Response from Open Black Belt March 28, 2017 Hi Jeremy Thanks for the review. We would love to hear your ideas on new marketing tools we can implement for the future. Please feel free to contact us. SB Samuel B. Used the software for: ### "You can run your own martial arts organization without the help of the open black belt service" April 6, 2017 2.0 I run a small Capoeira group. As the director it is very challenging to stay organized, promote my classes, and maintain a high level of quality teaching classes. This service appeared to be a very useful tool to help me in all of these areas. Unfortunately open black belt just allowed to do a bunch of fill in the blanks about my group and my student's. I can organize my group with in a similar fashion using any free spreadsheet program out there. Open black belt could be a lot more effective if it offered some features that could provide new insight into how to organize and improve the various aspects of running a martial arts business. Review Source Response from Open Black Belt April 6, 2017 Hi Samuel We would love to hear your input on how we can make our solution work for you, please feel free to email us at support@openblackbelt.com KK Kyle K. Admin Instructor Professional Training & Coaching Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "Excelent, Easy to use software. I love it." March 28, 2017 5.0 Layed out nicely. Does everthing I need it to do. Does everthing they claim it can do. I always had everything available at a quick glance and/or click. Pros Ease of use. Very easy to use, interact with and understand. Cons I can't think of any cons. It did exactly what I needed it to do. Review Source Response from Open Black Belt March 28, 2017 Thanks for the review. BW Brian W. Dojo Head Sports Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "Great tool for a busy dojo." March 28, 2017 5.0 Open Blackbelt has been the cornerstone of running my dojo. It's simple yet functional interface makes it easy to use on all my devices and there have been no problems since I started using it some time ago. Highly valued and recommended. Pros Easy interface Cons None Review Source Response from Open Black Belt March 28, 2017 Thanks for the review. SL Shawn L. Used the software for: ### "Big money saver!!" April 4, 2017 5.0 Huge saving on merchant part, unbelievable rate and pretty easy to use. Many features including mobile app on managing part and fast response when asked thru chat box. But It is still work in progress. Pros Huge Saving on merchant part Cons Managing part needs improvement Review Source Response from Open Black Belt April 4, 2017 Thanks for the review. BS Bonnie S. Used the software for: ### "Only if it had a calendar " March 28, 2017 4.0 I would be so onboard with this software if there was a calendar function. I'm currently with zen planner and love that function Review Source Response from Open Black Belt March 28, 2017 Hi Bonnie Thanks for the review. Our development team is working on calendar functionality and would love to hear your input on this. Please feel free to contact us. 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