# Gymdesk Reviews 2026. Verified Reviews, Pros & Cons | Capterra > 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-onRails/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 July 21st, 2026 # Reviews of Gymdesk Ease of use 4.7 Customer Service 4.9 ## Pros and Cons in Reviews CP Cameron P Head Instructor - OwnerSports, Self-employedUsed the software for: Less than 6 months. “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!“ October 11, 2024 SM Sean M Owner, Head InstructorHealth, Wellness and Fitness, 2 - 10 employeesUsed the software for: Less than 6 months. “Our only issue with website builder is that it downgrades our quality of photos and images don’t fit properly and are not scale able to fit.“ September 11, 2024 LB Logan B COONon-Profit Organization Management, 2 - 10 employeesUsed the software for: Less than 6 months. “I evaluated many other vendors and GymDesk was one of the only ones that didn't lock me into a proprietary payment processor/hardware, didn't require implementation fees or contracts, and was very transparent and affordable with pricing.“ May 9, 2025 AB Avigayil B DirectorSports, 2 - 10 employeesUsed the software for: 6-12 months. “For example, there is no option to bulk upgrade student belt rankings or even filter by age or unsigned documents.“ October 16, 2025 KS Kimberly S Operations DirectorRecreational Facilities and Services, 2 - 10 employeesUsed the software for: Less than 6 months. “Managing our school calendar in the Gym Schedule section has worked well and integrated well into our external website.“ September 3, 2025 AR Alec R Owner, ManagerHealth, Wellness and Fitness, 2 - 10 employeesUsed the software for: 1-2 years. “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.“ December 17, 2024 HL HANWEI L HEAD COACHHealth, Wellness and Fitness, Self-employedUsed the software for: 1-2 years. “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.“ July 12, 2024 AB Avigayil B DirectorSports, 2 - 10 employeesUsed the software for: 6-12 months. “No staff app = no effective approach for tracking accurate attendance.“ October 16, 2025 ## Showing most helpful reviews Showing 1-25 of 148 Reviews Sort by: Most Helpful Rating Company Size Reviewer's Role Length of Use Frequency of Use Alan M. Owner / Head Instructor Sports Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Why MaonRails is the best solution for a Martial Arts Studio" February 10, 2020 5.0 Excellent. As a martial arts studio owner you NEED a billing system, MAonRails is built specifically with martial arts studios in mind (Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is my discipline) which is important. It allows me more control over my accounts then other solutions as well. Pros I have actually used a number of products and competitors in the past, and I feel the customer service is top notch, ease of use and the right features are in place. (this was clearly built by a martial artist for martial artists Cons I haven't used the offered website as I already had my own. MaonRails has definitely grown since I first started using them and I am eager to see what new and useful features they plan on integrating. 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 RQ Ryan Q. owner Health, Wellness and Fitness Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "Usable but I would recommend different gym software" April 29, 2023 2.0 Gymdesk runs and works in the many essential areas but there are many obvious flaws Pros Nice looking interface, easy to use dashboard. Very easy initial set up compared to a competitor service I was also using. Many things just work. Staff responds to problems quickly enough for what I imagine is a small company, but the company doesnt have the resources to continue development to deal with what I feel are obvious issues. Cons Very few customization options. No integrated parent/guardian option on sign up forms and waivers (has to be done custom), which for software catering to martial arts businesses is a little ridiculous. Cumbersome to set up document and membership options and difficult to individualize membership options outside of the template you've created (although you can discount or add signup fees, etc). Students uploading profile pictures from all webcams come out with wrong aspect ratio and make my business look unprofessional. Cannot disable capchas on signup forms (among other elements that cannot be customized). Essential membership documents are not required to be signed right away and add an extra step for staff that can easily be missed when I feel the software should be able to automate this task. Alternatives considered [WellnessLiving](https://www.capterra.com/p/145039/WellnessLiving/) Reason for choosing Gymdesk wellness living was difficult to get set up, particularly when it came to merchant processing Switched from [GymMaster](https://www.capterra.com/p/57469/GymMaster/)[Zen Planner](https://www.capterra.com/p/134351/Zen-Planner/)[Mindbody](https://www.capterra.com/p/40229/MINDBODY/) wanted to try new gym software Review Source Response from Gymdesk June 29, 2023 Hi Ryan, Sorry to hear you did not have a good experience with our product! We wanted to follow up and see if we could address some of your concerns - \* We do have integrated parent / guardian options, both a signature requirements for waivers, and as contacts \* You can require membership documents to be signed during sign up (it's an optional setting) If you could let us know what is missing for you with regards to customizing your memberships and sign-up forms, we'd love to take a look. Also, we'd be happy to take a look at any uploaded member photos that did not look right, though we are limited in what what we can do with the assets members upload themselves. Please reach out to us at support@gymdesk.com and let's chat! JL Jeff L. Owner and Operator Health, Wellness and Fitness Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "Best Gym Owner App on the Market" November 11, 2024 5.0 It is an easy-to-use and modify application for any gym. Pros Gymdesk took me 2 days to fully set up for my new gym. As I grew and needed to change and adapt certain aspects, I could do it on the computer or from the app in a matter of minutes. When I had a question about merging clients, they were super responsive and gave easy instructions. Cons I like it all. I have not had any issues. Switched from [Mindbody](https://www.capterra.com/p/40229/MINDBODY/) Mindbody is not user friendly and is a bunch of patchwork that takes hours to change anything. Review Source MD Matthew D. Co-owner and coach Sports Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "Awesome software" September 17, 2024 5.0 Awesome software. Everyone finds it easy to use. No real complaints at all. Pros Easy to use, logical UI, helpful staff. It's very enjoyable, and leagues ahead of the others I tried. Cons Checking in history isn't saved.. I guess if you use the front desk app it might, but that's a whole load of overhead for us. Also seem to have 2 waivers being signed sometimes somehow, dunno how or why there are two 😄 Alternatives considered [Martialytics](https://www.capterra.com/p/136339/Martialytics/) Reason for choosing Gymdesk Martialytics has a horrible UI and poorer features. Review Source Response from Gymdesk November 6, 2024 Matthew, Thanks so much for taking the time to share your feedback. We're thrilled to hear that you've had a great experience. We also did want to offer support for the cons you referenced. If you see duplicate waivers, that’s usually because the document is assigned to both memberships and the sign-up form. You’ll want to remove the waivers from your memberships to prevent this. To remove the documents from memberships, click on the “Members” tab -> click “Memberships” -> click the pencil to edit the membership -> under the “Documents” section, uncheck the document. Do this for each membership. As far as the check-in history, we'd be happy to troubleshoot that for you, as it should be logged. Could you reach out to our support team (https://gymdesk.com/contact) with an example and we'll get that sorted for you? Thanks so much for your partnership! -The Gymdesk Team 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 LB Logan B. COO Non-Profit Organization Management Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "Great value and great service" May 9, 2025 5.0 I was able to get setup extremely quickly and make it work for our use case. I evaluated many other vendors and GymDesk was one of the only ones that didn't lock me into a proprietary payment processor/hardware, didn't require implementation fees or contracts, and was very transparent and affordable with pricing. Pros The onboarding and live support was fantastic. I was truly impressed with everyone I interacted with and the company's willingness to take my feedback. I also love the fact the there's no implementation fees or contracts. Cons The platform is a bit restrictive, would be great to have more flexibility in the configuration and customizations. Alternatives considered [SmartRec](https://www.capterra.com/p/198905/SmartRec/)[ROLLER](https://www.capterra.com/p/164715/ROLLER/) Reason for choosing Gymdesk Service, Price, Self-Service Kiosk support Review Source Response from Gymdesk May 12, 2025 Thanks so much for your partnership and sharing your experience Logan! We'll reach out on the configuration piece as it's possible we have some options to solve for what you're looking to do. We have plenty of configuration settings, so we'll see if we can help! Thanks! -The Gymdesk Team KR Kyle R. Owner and Head Coach Sports Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "Gymdesk is my hero as a small business owner!" April 30, 2025 5.0 Can’t complain, highly recommend using the software for businesses Pros Attendance tracking and signing up new members at my bjj academy, all the students love using the app and checking in to class is seamless. Cons Need to be able to add videos to content just for members Review Source JS Jerry S. Head Coach Owner Health, Wellness and Fitness Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "Small to medium gyms highly recommend." October 23, 2024 5.0 Very good, streamlined everything so far. Daunting task of a new gym, kids members, uniforms and sales all simplified with gym desk. Pros Simple, easy to use platform. No crashes, lagging or interruptions between client and gym. Underestimated this software, worth the price. Cons We are using our own website portal which means another cost for us but have not had enough experience with the provided website to use yet. Review Source KM Kris M. Business owner Sports Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Quality Product, easy access and spot on to work with. " October 2, 2024 5.0 Super easy to install, fast interface and integration for my needs. Love it. Pros Easy to work with, great interface, like the flexible options! Cons No real complaints… Maybe customized belt test promotion option! Switched from [Kicksite](https://www.capterra.com/p/131168/Kicksite/) Needed a faster interface and easy to use. 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 SC Sharla C. Operations manager Sports Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "Not bad for the price." October 1, 2022 3.0 It’s ok. Easy enough to use but I’m used to using Spark and I feel like some of the features are lacking. For the price, I’ll stick around for now. Pros Mostly easy to use once you figure it out. Cons 1) You can’t send out waivers to multiple people at once. Would be nice if you could have them fill out the waivers without having to individually assign them to each person. 2)Wish there was a more detailed way to sort through leads, students etc. for example using tags for things like events, or to separate different types of leads etc. We have only used this for a month and haven’t even quite started using the full functioning yet so there may be more later. Alternatives considered [Spark Membership](https://www.capterra.com/p/229881/Spark/) Reason for choosing Gymdesk I really wanted to use Spark Membership but chose not to based on their pricing. Review Source Response from Gymdesk October 11, 2022 Thanks for reviewing us Sharla! We're sorry to hear you did not have the best experience with our software. There is an option to assign documents to members in bulk, using our bulk member operations, and there's plenty of filters you can use for the leads, including custom fields you can add. We'd be happy to help you utilize the software to the fullest extent - please reach out to our support and we'd help you get set up! RL Reuven L. Owner Sports Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "An up and coming top notch tool for martial arts schools" July 26, 2020 4.0 So far so great! Very few complaints/frustrations from members during transition as opposed to previous softwares used like zenplanner etc... where every step was met with crashing apps and the like. Here we have a program that works right in every smartphone/computer’s browser. Just log in and access everything, including remote training videos, which right now are crucial. Would love to see some more features surrounding support for remote training, but considering the relative “newness” of the product and how great everything else has been for myself and my students - a solid A-! Pros Easy setup (BIG) Automated Payment Processing Easy “on the fly” changes Beautiful schedule for website Booking and checkins Built in waivers/agreements/forms Developer is constantly listening to users and giving feedback as to why software functions the way it does or when features will be ready and DELIVERS Cons Lack of robust reporting Lack of configurable signup menu (users see a long list that you can’t organize by category, yet) A lot of functionality seems to leverage and almost depend on you using the built-in website builder, so if you have your own website, it might feel limiting Alternatives considered [Mindbody](https://www.capterra.com/p/40229/MINDBODY/) Reason for choosing Gymdesk Ease of use Switched from [Zen Planner](https://www.capterra.com/p/134351/Zen-Planner/) Too complex for my needs Constantly getting lost in menus Reporting numbers always wrong/different Payment processing felt like a prison sentence Ugly embedded scheduler Constant student complaints Review Source LB Luke B. Owner Health, Wellness and Fitness Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "Fantastic Software" October 20, 2021 5.0 Fantastic so far Pros The ease of use is what I like most. Everything is easy to use, even our members have mentioned how much easier it is for them to use. Cons Would be great if you had an App version for members also. Also an Event section, i.e putting on an internal comp or grading and our members could register for the event through this program. Reason for choosing Gymdesk Better overall package, and \[SENSITIVE CONTENT\] answered every question within hours. Switched from [Kicksite](https://www.capterra.com/p/131168/Kicksite/) Kicksite was decent but there customer service was poor. And the software was Clunky at times. Review Source BP Brian P. Owner Health, Wellness and Fitness Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "Simple and User Friendly" September 3, 2020 5.0 Onboarding was easy, tutorial videos/FAQ was helpful, but it was already easy to navigate prior to even watching them. Pros I really enjoy the simplicity of setting my academy up on the software, the positive feedback from my students who use this for class reservations, and how easy it is to navigate day to day operations. I really wish I discovered this sooner so I could've saved myself from the headaches I experienced using other software platforms. Customer service is great and very responsive which helps for troubleshooting on the fly. Cons I think it would be great if there was a feature within the software to interact with members where they would be notified if an admin user posted something under the content section or even a community board where we can also post updates. Switched from [Virtuagym](https://www.capterra.com/p/132191/Virtuagym/) Their platform was advertised to be suitable for small businesses, but really it's designed for large health clubs or small fitness gyms like crossfit. I didn't find it user friendly at all from onboarding to day to day management. The customer service wasn't as receptive as they are more UK based so that didn't really help with timely responses or onboarding. I wouldn't recommend them to martial arts studios. Review Source KM Kyle M. Manager Law Practice Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "Great software for managing a martial arts gym." August 2, 2021 5.0 Pros I like the customer service the most. \[SENSITIVE CONTENT\] has been most helpful and promptly responded to any questions or concern that I have had. Beyond that, the breadth of capabilities of the software is really great and I discover new functionality of the software almost weekly. Cons There are very few cons with this software. There are little things that have come up here and there, but \[SENSITIVE CONTENT\] has resolved them quickly or helped us find a workaround. Alternatives considered [Zen Planner](https://www.capterra.com/p/134351/Zen-Planner/) Reason for choosing Gymdesk The user interface is what drove me to choose MA on Rails initially. After looking deeper I found that the functionality our gym was looking for is here and is an all in one package. Great product. Review Source PB Paige B. Business Administration Support Education Management Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Amazing for moving from the old school ways " September 4, 2024 4.0 Great! Effective in exactly what we needed. the different channels in managing members helped up update from our old school system. Pros The options to manage each membership and edit the clients details accurately. Keeping pricing continuously updated and getting reminders on if we need to update. Cons I very much love this service, however we did need to update our wifi to have the best and easiest running time Review Source Response from Gymdesk September 10, 2024 Thanks for the review. We're glad Gymdesk has worked out for you and your gym! LF Laurel F. ARNP Health, Wellness and Fitness Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "Great product" May 14, 2024 5.0 Fantastic really. We really jumped feet first when deciding to take over a gym with very little prior experience with back-end knowledge and this program really made it so much easier. Pros We love how Gymdesk makes life so much easier for our business. The overall look of the program is great and the functionality of it has exceeded our expectations. Customer service has been excellent to work with any time we run into a snag. Cons We would like to be able to schedule members in "spots" in class (like movie theater or plane seating) to incentivize early booking for classes. It would help us be better prepared and discourage last minute booking. Review Source MB Matt B. Head Instructor Health, Wellness and Fitness Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "Gymdesk Software for BJJ Gyms" September 11, 2022 5.0 I really dont understand how I get so much spam (up to 20/day). If there could be a block to enable them not to resend emails. I would like it a whole lot more. Pros It like that it comes with its own webpage that can later be integrated with your own. It suits my gym perfectly accounting for all of my needs. I would recommend this for anyone setting up a BJJ Academy. It also has an easy to view, "how to" that helped me out. My emails initially to the Gymdesk Team, were answered quite quickly and after a while of using it, it became so much easier. Cons Being in Australia, it was annoying that only Square can be used for the POS. But Square isnt too bad with its low fees. Reason for choosing Gymdesk I liked the demo on Youtube and after viewing the others, I felt like this product was the one for me. I took about 5months to make my decision knowing how important it would be. I am glad I went with Gymdesk Review Source Response from Gymdesk September 19, 2022 Thanks for reviewing us, Matt! We're glad to hear you've enjoyed your experience overall. We thought you might like to know we also work with Stripe and GoCardless in Australia in case you're not happy with Square. If you'd like to know more, please reach out and we'll be happy to assist! TH Trish H. Head Coach Sports Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "Awesome and Easy to Use Software at a Solid Price Range" June 17, 2021 5.0 Very positive experience overall. Customer service is amazing and I have no plans on changing software. Pros I really enjoy how easy it is to set up memberships, schedules, personal training and other sales using Martial Arts on Rails. Loads of flexibility for payments and how you choose tot run your business. We're a small, not for profit boxing gym so flexibility was absolute key. Cons I would like if there were a way to track athletes progress more a long with coaching plans so I could keep everything in one place more efficiently. Also, I know its not in the cards and it's not a huge deal- but would be amazing if there were an app. Reason for choosing Gymdesk Ease of use and price point. Review Source BD Bobby D. owner Health, Wellness and Fitness Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "An amazing powerful modern program that does what is is supposed to!" August 4, 2023 5.0 Overall this software saved me a lot of money and clients due to it's ease of use in money transactions Pros The ease of use and ability to adapt to my gyms needs is amazing. With the added bonus of communication portals to my clients, text and email this is a powerful tool! Cons I wish the content page had more of a social media feel and less old web 1.0 feel. Reason for choosing Gymdesk The price was very friendly for a start up brick and mortar gym Switched from [Captyn](https://www.capterra.com/p/219862/Captyn/) Captyn was awful and not intuitive Review Source SK Seamus K. Manager Sports Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "Great for the price" September 20, 2022 5.0 Pros Very customizable and full of neat and useful features. Attendance tracking, session allotment, booking are all done really well. Friendly and clean UI. If I wanted to do what I'm doing on Gymdesk on Mindbody (or other big names), I'd probably spend double and with more headaches. There are some features that could be added (like an IOS app!) and some that could be more intuitive, but the Gymdesk team is very responsive and helpful, so I'm sure that regardless of your studio's style of doing things they could help calibrate the software to your situation. All-in-all, great software and major bang for your buck. Cons 1\. Sometimes the sign-up page will glitch out or be clunky, which can be embarrassing when dealing with a client. 2. Although it isn't the job of the software to do your math, I do wish there were more numbers that tracked different info about leads, demographics, attendance, new/old/returning students, and accounting stuff like revenue growth, average spent per student, number of paid/unpaid per month, etc. 3. To my knowledge, there is no easy way to upgrade or downgrade memberships. You have to manually cancel their current membership, add the other one, and then figure out the prorated difference (which can be somewhat confusing, especially on the fly). 4. No app, which is fine, but it is definitely easier to use the software on the computer than on the Ipad or phone. 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 ginda R. TEACHER MANAGER Education Management Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "RECOMENDED APPLICATION FOR YOUR GYMS" July 31, 2024 5.0 Pros this is easy application to use because it can help me to manage the teacher's schedule of workout!! Cons there are no problems inside the application and i use it well Review Source MH Matt H. Owner Recreational Facilities and Services Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Excellent Software and Amazing Customer Service" October 25, 2019 5.0 My experience has been great. We've grown to extremely quickly, and a big part of that has been through our website contact forms. I can't say enough about the customer service and the simplicity of the software. Both are fantastic. Pros I chose this software because of the ease of implementation. Other companies wanted weekly conference calls to train me on the software. MA on Rails was very intuitive. I had no problems setting up my school. Any issue I have has been resolved immediately. Eran offers fantastic customer service. Customer service really sets them apart from larger companies. Cons I'd like some added features. You have everything you need to run your business, but there are a couple of things that would be nice to have. Expanded reporting and an app would be top of the list. The positives vastly outweigh any negatives. Reason for choosing Gymdesk More modern and clean look. Positive reviews. 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.