# Page 2 | Gymdesk Reviews 2026. Verified Reviews, Pros & Cons | Capterra > Page 2 - Is Gymdesk the right Martial Arts solution for you? Explore 148 verified user reviews from people in industries like yours to make a confident choice. Source: https://www.capterra.com/p/148663/Martial-Arts-on-Rails/reviews --- Gymdesk 4.8 (148) 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 June 3rd, 2026 # Page 2 - Reviews of Gymdesk ## Showing most helpful reviews Showing 26-50 of 148 Reviews Sort by: Most Helpful Rating Company Size Reviewer's Role Length of Use Frequency of Use AB Avigayil B. Director Sports Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "Basic Software with Industry Trailing Features and Customer Service" October 16, 2025 2.0 We first started using Gym Desk at the end of 2024. In January 2025, we fully switched from a previous CRM (Zen Planner) to using Gym Desk full-time for managing our martial arts school of ~350 members. By every account, we switched to Gym Desk at precisely the worst time. The company has changed in all the wrong ways (acquired by private equity), causing both gym \[sensitive content hidden\] and members to suffer from this transition. If you are looking for a basic CRM that can process automated monthly payments, Gym Desk is a suitable option. If you require any additional functionality, such as using a schedule, booking, attendance, private lessons, financial reporting, etc. I'd avoid this platform. It just cannot keep up with tasks beyond member sign-up and automated billing. The quality of customer service has declined so fast, even in the short time we've been clients. You will wait a week for a reply that doesn't even solve a problem or answer a question. Pros I was drawn to Gym Desk because they employ what I perceived to be trustworthy business practices, including integration with third-party payment processing, transparent pricing, and no contracts for using their software. Cons \- Weak reporting and bulk action capacity. You can only view/select a maximum of 100 members at once, and the bulk actions are extremely limited, forcing many changes to be made in each individual membership. For example, there is no option to bulk upgrade student belt rankings or even filter by age or unsigned documents. - Customer service is only available via email, and it can be quite slow. - Poor design flow navigating within the platform - the system flashes to different windows with stark appearance changes when you click around settings and navigate different tabs. - Limited customization for email notifications and automations. - No ability to book "appointments" aka private lessons without adding memberships and pre-scheduled timeslots. - Duplicate workflows with varying "features" instead of a single optimized approach. For example, the key features for calendar management: booking students, cancelling bookings, and checking in are not available in the same spot/workflow. - No staff app = no effective approach for tracking accurate attendance. Switched from [Zen Planner](https://www.capterra.com/p/134351/Zen-Planner/) Zen Planner offered proprietary payment processing with no access to data or reporting. Review Source Response from Gymdesk October 24, 2025 Avigayil, Thanks for taking the time to share your feedback as always. I reached out earlier this week to reconnect to review a few of these items on your list that Gymdesk can handle (selecting more than 100+ members, bulk promotions), as well as showcase a few upcoming enhancements on our schedule & booking functionality that I think you'll be excited about based on our conversations! As we continue to grow in this next phase, we'll be increasing the velocity of our efforts, both on the support side & rolling out updates for our customers. With respect to support, we do currently offer live chat and in the coming weeks we'll be offering phone callbacks for customers that need to speak with someone. As always, don't hesitate to reach out to me or the team if you need anything. -Jay Wilson VP of Customer Success, Gymdesk KS Kimberly S. Operations Director Recreational Facilities and Services Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "Excellent for managing a karate school" September 3, 2025 5.0 When we first started implementing Gymdesk, we took advantage of the ability to ask questions via a Zoom consultation, which answered many of our initial questions regarding set-up and integration. After two months up and running our school, it has proven to be well worth the investment! We have had an excellent experience thus far and anticipate continuing to enjoy this interface for years to come! Pros Gymdesk was easy to learn and implement. We enjoy having an all-in-one solution for managing our member lists, program registrations, payment processing automations, check ins and attendance tracker. Managing our school calendar in the Gym Schedule section has worked well and integrated well into our external website. Cons The only frustrations we have consistently encountered are from parents desiring to sign up more than one student member at a time. Having to do the entire registration process separately for each of their kids is time consuming and has an high time cost. They have also expressed a desire to have a parental non-member account to manage their karate students’ memberships from, as opposed to designating an arbitrary child to be the Primary family member account. Alternatives considered [Clubworx](https://www.capterra.com/p/141410/ClubWorx/)[Spark](https://www.capterra.com/p/169855/Spark/)[EMC SourceOne](https://www.capterra.com/p/168519/EMC-SourceOne-Archiving/)[Kicksite](https://www.capterra.com/p/131168/Kicksite/) Reason for choosing Gymdesk This met all our needs beautifully and affordably! Review Source AF Andrew F. Owner Health, Wellness and Fitness Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "Fabulous Gym Software " July 18, 2025 5.0 Gymdesk is by far the best fitness gym software and have set the bar high. Their customer support is fantastic. Highly recommend! Pros Easy to use, clean & dynamic platform, tracks class attendance and students progress, belt ranking, etc. Cons None. They have been amazing every step of the way. From on onboarding, to training, videos, emails, etc. Switched from [Spark](https://www.capterra.com/p/169855/Spark/) Spark made 17 mistakes within 4 months. Did not except accountability, or responsibility for there reckless & careless actions. Review Source AR Alec R. Owner, Manager Health, Wellness and Fitness Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "I want to like it more than I do" December 17, 2024 4.0 GymDesk is overall a really simple software and offers a lot of potential to be one of the better ones out there. I've used a lot of different gym CRMs, and no software has ever offered everything I needed; GymDesk is in the top 5. I think the best feature of the system is the member management, specifically because we have multiple age groups, programs, and rankings. We can customize all sorts of rank and program requirements and associate those to belt testing and grading, etc. There are apparently updates on the way to improve their event management side, allowing for variant pricing options. Until then, the only option is to make every event free, and then charge appropriately in the POS, but then the rosters are not connected. The Growth charts are a nice touch but the details are not adjustable and running custom reports is not really a function, despite being told you can filter lists...not enough. Lead management gets the job done, and the automation section has a lot of potential but is limited in scope. I really want to like this software and I've been patient for updates to improve the little things but it tends to be almost great at a lot of things, yet not great enough at most. Pros member profile management is thorough, rank and program management is great, contract setup is really simple, and the interface is easy to navigate. Customer Service is friendly and has good response time. Cons Reporting is extremely limited and not entirely clear with the information it presents. Event management is poor. Alternatives considered [Spark](https://www.capterra.com/p/169855/Spark/)[Momence](https://www.capterra.com/p/229516/Ribbon/)[Kicksite](https://www.capterra.com/p/131168/Kicksite/)[PushPress](https://www.capterra.com/p/172781/PushPress/) Reason for choosing Gymdesk I used Spark previously and wanted to try GymDesk as an alternative but I should have gone back to Spark with the way things have been thus far. Switched from [MyStudio](https://www.capterra.com/p/177467/MyStudio-App/) more functionality and a richer feature list. Review Source Response from Gymdesk December 27, 2024 Alec - Jay here, Gymdesk's new Customer Success leader. First off, thanks for taking the time to share your feedback. We're at an exciting phase of our growth and feedback like yours helps us continue to invest in the right areas. As you mentioned, variable pricing options is in the works. I'd love to more deeply understand what would move the needle for you in reporting and automations. I'll shoot you a message to see if we can connect. Thanks again for your partnership and feedback! DP DENA P. owner Health, Wellness and Fitness Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "GYMDESK rocks!!" May 9, 2025 5.0 Excellent! I have used multiple platforms over the years, and NONE were as simple and straightforward as Gymdesk! Pros The simplest program to use. It's dummy-proof! The BEST thing about Gymdesk is the customer service. Everyone is sooo helpful!!! Cons There is really nothing I can complain about! Okay, I take that back. This review is dumb! There is nothing I have not liked, so I don't know why I have to write out this long answer. Switched from [Square Point of Sale](https://www.capterra.com/p/275802/Square-Point-of-Sale/)[Mindbody](https://www.capterra.com/p/40229/MINDBODY/) square charged for little things and did not have as many features mindbody was difficult to use and expensive Review Source Response from Gymdesk May 12, 2025 Thanks so much for taking the time to share your feedback Dena! We appreciate your partnership and please don't hesitate to reach out if there's ever anything we can do to help. -The Gymdesk Team MW Mary W. Manager Sports Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "Gymdesk is Best!" March 1, 2025 5.0 We just opened our academy, had a lot going on especially moving our lives interstate. Gymdesk was recommended by a few other gyms when I was tossing up different softwares. I researched it, and I loved the features. It's straight forward and super easy to use. Makes my admin life a whole lot simpler Pros It's super easy to use and most importantly if I have any questions, I shoot the team an email and I get an extremely helpful response within 24 hours. Cons Only stripe can take bank transfer payments Alternatives considered [Clubworx](https://www.capterra.com/p/141410/ClubWorx/) Reason for choosing Gymdesk Ease of features, previous gym we trained at used clubworx and I wanted a different software. Review Source Response from Gymdesk March 3, 2025 Mary - Thanks so much for taking the time to provide your feedback. We're so thrilled to hear that we've made a positive impact, especially at a busy time in your life! We did want to let you know that we have multiple options for bank transfer payments. If you'd like to learn more, feel free to reach out to our team at support@gymdesk.com or check out the article below. https://docs.gymdesk.com/help/payment-processing Thanks again for your feedback and your partnership! -The Gymdesk Team AS Al S. Owner Sports Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "Great price " March 10, 2025 5.0 Great easy to navigate. Also to set up works great with my website Pros Easy friendly to use. Also for the price is great lots benefits and different ways to use Cons Nothing at the moment. If I find something will post it Alternatives considered [Zen Planner](https://www.capterra.com/p/134351/Zen-Planner/) Reason for choosing Gymdesk Price and easy to use. Both for me and new students Review Source CM Chris M. Instructor Sports Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "Best software" December 11, 2024 5.0 Changing from glofox to gym desk was the best decision ever for my gym i would recommend gymdesk to anyone Pros The program is simple and easy work with. Cons There is no cons about this software its amazing. Switched from [ABC Glofox](https://www.capterra.com/p/136861/Glofox/) They were way to expensive, system always crashed. Wasnt gym or client friendly Review Source JL Janelle L. General Manager Sports Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "May be the right software if you can afford it. " December 15, 2024 5.0 Pros Very simple to operate and easy to understand. Cons The pricing is a bit high for the Asian market. Alternatives considered [Mindbody](https://www.capterra.com/p/40229/MINDBODY/) Reason for choosing Gymdesk It fits our needs more since we have martial arts as well. Review Source AT Andrea T. Owner Health, Wellness and Fitness Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "A Taylored Body" October 3, 2024 5.0 Pros User friendly and only what I need, nothing too complicated Cons Would be great to have a texting platform that can be used from a phone app on the business side. And a general business management app. Also- programming that you're able to write for each individual member rather than linking a program to a specific membership. Switched from [Mindbody](https://www.capterra.com/p/40229/MINDBODY/) Too expensive and complicated. They kept increasing the price every year because they added features i didn't need Review Source CP Cameron P. Head Instructor - Owner Sports Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "Gymdesk is a must have for serious business owners!" October 11, 2024 5.0 Satisfying! The company has put a lot of effort into creating this and working with business owners. Pros Gymdesk fits all of our business needs for tracking memberships, hosting a website and communicating with clients - it is extremely user friendly and customer service is on point! Cons There are no significant cons. I understand it's a product that is undergoing constant adjustments in conjunction with user feedback. Review Source BA Bobby A. Owner Health, Wellness and Fitness Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "Warrior Axe CrossFit" August 17, 2024 5.0 Absolutely love the experience. Customer service has been very attentive and responsive Pros Very easy to use. I love the web design function. Cons A lot to learn. As I have played around I have gotten more effcient Switched from [GymMaster](https://www.capterra.com/p/57469/GymMaster/) price and what was included with the subscription Review Source DO Dana O. Gym Manager Health, Wellness and Fitness Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "Great Gym Management Software" September 10, 2024 5.0 Pros Super responsive customer service through the set up process! Cons So far there isn't anything I don't like! I haven't been using that long- but its been a breeze! Review Source MR Meghan R. Manager Health, Wellness and Fitness Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "Simplified our lives SO much! " July 19, 2024 5.0 Pros We were looking for a software to manage our small personal training gym that supported the features we needed without the bloat of larger softwares. We also wanted to more easily see our sales, scheduled payments, missed payments, and attendance at a glance. We also LOVE being able to integrate emails and texts within gymdesk so all communication is visible to all staff. The tasks and automations are also crucial for helping us stay organized. Cons So far nothing has been a dealbreaker at all! A few features we wish could be implemented (better recurring appointments, slightly more easy to view calendar, etc) but nothing that overshadows the simplicity and ease of use. Alternatives considered [Zen Planner](https://www.capterra.com/p/134351/Zen-Planner/) Reason for choosing Gymdesk We’d tried zen planner in the past but it wasn’t for us. Switched from [Mindbody](https://www.capterra.com/p/40229/MINDBODY/) MINDBODY’s costs continued to rise with less and less customer support. The few features we need were not user friendly or easily implemented - the software was weighed down with things we never used. Review Source WW Wendy W. Owner Health, Wellness and Fitness Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Awesome software " August 1, 2024 5.0 Product is great and customer service is great. Any time we have had a problem, which has been very few times, they have responded and resolved quickly Pros So easy to use I was able to set it up myself and learn quickly. Cons Nothing really it’s very functional for our needs Alternatives considered [ABC Glofox](https://www.capterra.com/p/136861/Glofox/) Reason for choosing Gymdesk Quicker to set up and price. We needed something ti use quickly and not break the bank Review Source JL Janet L. Owner and Head Instructor Health, Wellness and Fitness Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "Great product for my dojo" August 9, 2024 5.0 Very good product. Easy to use for members and staff. Pros Supports staff and clients well. Easy to set up. Cons Still having some trouble with tax reconciliation. Alternatives considered [ABC Glofox](https://www.capterra.com/p/136861/Glofox/)[Zen Planner](https://www.capterra.com/p/134351/Zen-Planner/)[Mindbody](https://www.capterra.com/p/40229/MINDBODY/) Reason for choosing Gymdesk Superior interface for martial arts, great pricing, great app for students Switched from [High Level Software](https://www.capterra.com/p/238251/High-Level-Software/) Too cumbersome and very difficult to use. Some data and contacts got lost. Review Source AC Angelo C. Owner Health, Wellness and Fitness Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "Nice GOS. " August 19, 2024 4.0 Overall, we use it, it works well.We wish it would hook up to our website and to our scheduling system.A lot better. Pros It's fairly easy to use, and it has a lot of good information. Cons It does not interact very well with websites and facebook and instagram interlinking. Review Source KK Konstantin K. Owner Sports Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "Very good and convenient software for business management " August 7, 2024 5.0 We are totally satisfied and would recommend this business solution Pros User friendly and manageable, able to get comprehensive reports Cons Easy to understand and work with A lot of different options, including marketing Switched from [Zen Planner](https://www.capterra.com/p/134351/Zen-Planner/) The old one was less user friendly and understandable, more complicated Review Source HL HANWEI L. HEAD COACH Health, Wellness and Fitness Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Great ongoing support" July 12, 2024 5.0 Great, highly recommended. I've used it for over a year and plan to continue on it as my gym grows and expands. Pros The support is great. I usually will receive email replies within the day if not within 1-2 hours if enquiry is sent in their timezone. This is extremely important sometimes as members may be waiting to make payment or book classes etc. Also it is web based so I can pretty much do everything with my smartphone browser. They provide a pretty decent website along with the monthly subscription which is vital to small business owners like me as I didn't want to sink in website design and start up cost. Cons There are some functions which cannot be personalised or changed but can find ways to work around it. For eg, credits are deducted upon booking and not attendance. Just have to adjust our policies around it. Review Source AH Alec H. Owner and head instructor Sports Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "Fairly priced and full of features that we need" September 15, 2023 5.0 Very satisfied with the amount of features and customer support when I do run into issues Pros Managing capacities per class is crucial. I want to places can do auto billing but to be able to reserve the amount of spots per class and be able to see how many are taken incentivize users to book their class is ahead of time. One thing I would like to see them implement is allowing me too cut off the window. 15 minutes out. They allow intervals of hours or days, I would like to see them add minutes so that I can close the window. 15 minutes before class starts so that people can’t register or cancel in that timeframe. Cons Would like to be able to cancel sign in/cancellation 15 minutes out Reason for choosing Gymdesk Pricing and just had all the features that I was looking for Review Source JM Joey M. Coach Sports Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "Gymdesk nailed it" February 8, 2024 5.0 Excellent. I would highly recommend any gym owner give gymdesk a shot. Even if it wasn't for you (and I'd be surprised if it wasn't), you lose nothing by trying. Pros Very easy to use Lots of built in features No upsell No sales team/sales pitches Excellent customer service. You email, they get back to you quickly. Simple as that. Tons of online content: youtube videos, articles, podcasts, etc. Cons It does not pair super well with Square. There are some limitations to how you can use the physical POS with it. I hear stripe is the better option in this case. Alternatives considered [Kicksite](https://www.capterra.com/p/131168/Kicksite/) Reason for choosing Gymdesk Excellent price Modern and easy to use Lots of features and extras with no upsell No awful sales team and sales pitches Switched from [Mindbody](https://www.capterra.com/p/40229/MINDBODY/) Mindbody was terrible and extremely expensive Zenplanner was OK but felt very dated and lacked modernity. Prices have gone up quite a bit too. Review Source PS Paul S. Owner & Instructor Health, Wellness and Fitness Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "Excellent! Highly Effective Gym Management Tool!!" July 21, 2023 5.0 Overall, I am VERY happy with the decision to begin using GymDesk for our membership management. It is easy for us and our members, the price is very reasonable, and the value is DEFINITELY there! Pros We struggled to find an effective tool for tracking our members, memberships, and leads within a single tool. The ability to input leads and walk through the onboarding process with them and follow them through to membership and renewals has been a game-changer for our administrative functions. Additionally, the ease with which we were able to integrate our existing payment processing systems has been nice (since we don't need to get multiple processors). The website templating is also a nice tool. We are not particularly skilled at making and managing websites, so having this template has been super nice. Well done! Cons There are only a couple of tools that don't have quite the robustness that I would like. Specifically, the skills tracking tool is a great idea, but I would like to be able to customize it a little bit more that I can now. Alternatives considered [Zen Planner](https://www.capterra.com/p/134351/Zen-Planner/) Reason for choosing Gymdesk The primary reason for trying Gymdesk first was the cost difference. We wanted to try the lower cost one first and reserve the option to upgrade if necessary. We have been pleasently surprised with our experience and have no intention of switching to another tool if we do not need do. Review Source aC alexis C. coach Health, Wellness and Fitness Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "a very grateful customer " June 14, 2024 5.0 10/10. We are grateful for an easy to use software management system. Pros its sleek design and easy to use format. Cons We would like for their to be more website integrations. Alternatives considered [Mariana Tek](https://www.capterra.com/p/175281/Mariana-Tek/) Reason for choosing Gymdesk cost effective, no contracts or additional fees, simple and easy to use format Switched from [ABC Glofox](https://www.capterra.com/p/136861/Glofox/) it was not a great product to use compared to gym desk. the software felt outdated, clunky , and did not provide many options for gym management. Review Source LJ Luke J. Instructor Sports Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Great Software For Martial Arts Schools" August 29, 2021 5.0 Nothing but a positive experience with Martial Arts on Rails, highly recommend it Pros There are so many great things about this software, the depth of features is fantastic and covers pretty much everything a martial arts school would need! The technical assistance is another massive plus point, you always get a prompt polite response to your queries and everything is resolved super quick. Another plus point of this software is that is is super easy to use and navigate through, a lot of thought has gone into the layout and ensuring the most important features are right there at your fingertips. Another positive about this software is the developers are always updating it with new features, which is fantasict, they really are determined to provide the best possible software out there. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this software to any other Martial Arts Clubs based on my experience using it! Cons One of the biggest cons with this software, if there are any, is the lack of an app. I feel this would be the icing on the cake. Alternatives considered [NEST Student Management System](https://www.capterra.com/p/131177/NEST-Student-Management-System/) Reason for choosing Gymdesk I liked the look of it and it offered everything i was looking for, plus the addition of a free trial meant it was easy to try out the software in full before fully making the switch from paper admin. Review Source JB Jason B. Owner Health, Wellness and Fitness Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "'Martial Arts on Rails' is worth your attention. Try it out!" September 30, 2021 5.0 Overall experience to date has been very good. I have received excellent customer service. Due to COVID-19 temporary shutdown of my gym/dojo, I had some time on my hands to do a detailed review and trial of this software. I have looked a several systems over the past couple of years in detail and used another system for 12 months prior to moving to Martial Arts on Rails. Although it doesn't do 100% of what I wanted, it is very close and improving all the time. Remember there is no such thing as a perfect system. This software does a good job of majoring on the majors and is growing and adding new features and feature improvements continually based on user feedback. Keep up the fantastic work Martial Arts on Rails! Pros \- Ease of use. - Ability to easily communicate via Text Message or Email in bulk to members/database without leaving the system or having to export to another system. - Member Portal very useful. - Overall features combined equals a great product. - Support has proven to be very responsive. Cons \- At time of writing, there are limited integration options e.g. No 'Zapier' integration. However, for most users I believe you won't need another system. That's one of the benefits of this software. - There are work arounds, however at time of writing there is no customised tagging system for member database. - Even though I believe they have an easy Family management feature. At time of writing there is no easy way to communicate directly with a parent/guardian of a child student. For example, currently the email would be addressed directly to the child, not the parent/guardian. Alternatives considered [Martialytics](https://www.capterra.com/p/136339/Martialytics/)[Clubworx](https://www.capterra.com/p/141410/ClubWorx/)[Zen Planner](https://www.capterra.com/p/134351/Zen-Planner/)[Mindbody](https://www.capterra.com/p/40229/MINDBODY/)[MemberPress](https://www.capterra.com/p/134534/MemberPress/) Reason for choosing Gymdesk \- Looks good. - Easy to use. - Easy bulk communication via text or email. - Online Member Portal is more flexible than other solutions I reviewed. - Handles most things I require to create a complete solution for my gym/dojo. Review Source ## Send me user reviews about this product ### Fill out the form and we'll send a list of the top-rated software based on real user reviews directly to your inbox. Talk to a Capterra advisor for free and get results within 15 minutes.