A dojo needs software that handles what general gym platforms cannot: belt and rank tracking, family memberships with sibling discounts, multi-program scheduling (gi and no-gi), and parent-signed waivers for minors. The best pick depends on your priority:
Membership + POS in one system: GymRoute, Zen Planner, or Spark (all have built-in point of sale that charges the same member record as dues)
Door access control tied to membership: GymRoute (native), GymMaster (native Bluetooth hardware), or any Kisi-integrated platform (PushPress, Zen Planner)
Martial-arts-native simplicity: Kicksite or Martialytics
Free tier for a new school: PushPress Core Free or 1club (free up to 100 students)
CrossFit or MMA with strength focus: Wodify
The rule that matters most: buy for how a dojo actually runs (belts, families, minors), not for the longest feature list. All nine platforms, with honest trade-offs, are below.
What makes martial arts software different from gym software
Standard gym software is built around individual adult memberships in a single discipline. A dojo runs differently, and the gaps show up fast when you try to force generic software to fit.
Belt promotions do not happen on a flat monthly schedule; they need rank tracking and promotion history per student. A family of four training together is not one membership; it is four, with sibling pricing logic. Kids’ classes need parent-signed waivers. Gi and no-gi run on separate timetables. And when a parent’s card declines on the 1st, you cannot be chasing them down at pickup.
The five capabilities that separate real martial arts software from general gym platforms are: belt and rank tracking with multi-level progression, family accounts with unified billing, multi-program scheduling, digital waivers for minors, and recurring billing with automated failed-payment recovery. Every platform below is judged against those, plus the two things the buyers in this guide asked about most: membership POS and door access control.
Data point worth knowing: schools report that getting a new student to attend five classes lifts long-term retention to around 90%, versus roughly 46% after a single visit, per martial arts industry retention research. Attendance tracking is not admin busywork; it is the earliest retention lever you have.
The 9 best martial arts management software at a glance
Jump to the platform that fits your school, then read the full breakdown below.
| # | Platform | Best for | Built-in POS? | Door access | Starting price (cited) |
| 1 | GymRoute | All-in-one with native POS + access control | Yes (Exceed tier) | Native | $99/mo |
| 2 | Kicksite | Martial-arts-native simplicity | Add-on | Via integration | ~$49 to $199/mo |
| 3 | Zen Planner | Established schools wanting depth | Yes | Kisi integration | ~$99 to $348/mo |
| 4 | PushPress | Free tier for new dojos | Yes | Kisi integration | $0/mo (Core Free) |
| 5 | Spark Membership | Marketing and lead conversion | Yes | Via integration | ~$239 to $499/mo |
| 6 | Martialytics | Budget belt-tracking for small schools | Limited | Via integration | ~$69/mo |
| 7 | GymMaster | 24/7 dojos needing native door hardware | Yes | Native Bluetooth | ~$89 to $209/mo |
| 8 | Wodify | MMA gyms with strength-and-conditioning | Yes | Kisi integration | ~$179/mo |
| 9 | 1club | Free plan up to 100 students | Yes | Via integration | $0/mo, paid from ~$63/mo |
Pricing is commonly cited from public pages and third-party review data as of July 2026 and varies by promotion, region, and school size. Confirm directly before deciding. Where a figure could not be verified, it is flagged rather than guessed.
The 9 best martial arts management software, compared
1. GymRoute: best all-in-one with native POS and access control
GymRoute is a strong fit for dojos that want membership billing, retail POS, and door access in one system rather than stitched together from a platform plus a separate access vendor. It supports belt and rank progression, family memberships, and multi-program scheduling, the martial-arts essentials, alongside the operational layer.
Its two clearest advantages for the buyers in this guide are that POS and access control are both native. Point of sale charges the same member record as dues (from the Exceed tier), and access control is built in rather than requiring a third-party bridge like Kisi. Pricing is flat and published: $99 Excel, $199 Exceed (adds POS, loyalty, inventory), $299 Ultimate, all with unlimited members and staff.
Use it when: you want belts, families, retail POS, and 24/7 door access from one platform at a flat rate.
Honest trade-off: it is a younger platform with a thinner independent review base than Kicksite or Zen Planner, so test support responsiveness during a trial.
If you are running your dojo on a management tool plus a separate door system plus a retail till, that is three bills and three logins doing one job. You can see how GymRoute’s pricing folds them into one flat tier without a sales call.
2. Kicksite: best martial-arts-native simplicity
Kicksite was built for martial arts schools from day one, and it shows in the belt and rank tracking, which reviewers consistently rate among the best in the category. It is family-owned with a strong support reputation, which matters to smaller schools that value a human on the phone.
Pricing is commonly cited at $49 to $199/month by student count, making its entry point genuinely affordable for a small dojo. It is deliberately focused rather than sprawling, which is its strength and its limit.
Use it when: you run a small-to-mid martial arts school and want simplicity, strong belt tracking, and hands-on support.
Honest trade-off: too narrow for mixed-model gyms running striking plus BJJ plus strength work, no real fight-team tools, and reported to be slow on mobile.
3. Zen Planner: best for established schools wanting depth
Zen Planner has the deepest operational feature set on this list, with belt and rank tracking built in, POS included, and Kisi door-access integration. For an established school that needs rank depth and can absorb some complexity, it is capable.
Pricing is a flat $99, $198, or $348/month, but add-ons (marketing, branded app, website) can push the real cost past $400/month, and it is now owned by Daxko, with reviewers reporting yearly price creep. The interface is dated, and support is described as slower than it once was.
Use it when: you run an established, mid-size school that needs deep rank tracking and can tolerate an older UI.
Honest trade-off: steep learning curve, add-on stacking, and post-acquisition price increases with limited new value.
4. PushPress: best free tier for new dojos
PushPress powers more than 1,000 martial arts schools and offers a genuinely free Core plan, which makes it a real option for a new dojo watching cash flow. It has added belt tracking, family memberships, and parent-signed waivers, and includes built-in POS and Kisi door-access integration.
The honest caveat: PushPress started in CrossFit, and for a dedicated dojo, the martial arts features can feel bolted on rather than native, with promotion workflows less tight than Kicksite or Spark. The free tier’s processing rate (cited 4.19% to 4.99% + $0.30) is high, and paid tiers run $159 to $229/month.
Use it when: you are opening a school and want a real free platform to start on.
Honest trade-off: CrossFit DNA means belt and promotion workflows are less refined, and the free-tier processing rate is steep.
5. Spark Membership: best for marketing and lead conversion
Spark is built specifically for martial arts and leans hard into lead management, follow-up automation, and filling classes. If your pain is “I cannot get enough students through the door,” Spark’s marketing engine is its real strength, and it includes belt tracking and POS.
Pricing runs $239 to $499/month, which is priced like a marketing tool rather than a budget back office. Reviewers note software freezes, payment bugs, and unclear setup fees as recurring frustrations.
Use it when: lead generation and conversion are your bottleneck, not back-office operations.
Honest trade-off: expensive, and the operational features feel secondary to the marketing engine, with reliability complaints.
6. Martialytics: best budget belt-tracking for small schools
Martialytics is a martial-arts-specific, cost-effective option with integrated belt tracking and RFID fob check-ins, aimed squarely at small schools. For a dojo under 100 students focused on belt tracking and fundamental billing, it covers the basics affordably at around $69/month.
Use it when: you run a small school and want affordable, martial-arts-specific belt tracking above all else.
Honest trade-off: reported slow on mobile, lacks per-class attendance tracking, limited invoicing, and reviewers mention pop-ups nagging students about unpaid balances at check-in.
7. GymMaster: best for 24/7 dojos needing native door hardware
GymMaster’s differentiator is integrated 24/7 Bluetooth door access using its own hardware, rather than wiring up a third-party system like Kisi. For a dojo offering open-mat or off-hours training where unmanned access is a genuine operational need, that native integration is a real advantage.
Pricing runs $89 to $209/month, with the door hardware an additional cost. It handles memberships and billing solidly but is less martial-arts-native than Kicksite or Spark on rank workflows.
Use it when: unstaffed 24/7 or open-mat access is central to your model and you want native door hardware.
Honest trade-off: access hardware adds cost, and belt/promotion tooling is lighter than the martial-arts-first platforms.
8. Wodify: best for MMA gyms with strength-and-conditioning
Wodify came out of CrossFit, and its strength is performance and workout tracking. For an MMA gym that programs serious strength-and-conditioning and wants athletes logging sessions and tracking numbers, that performance depth is genuinely useful, and it includes POS and Kisi access.
Pricing starts around $179/month per location. For a traditional belt-based school, though, it is built around the wrong center: rank tracking is limited next to martial-arts-native platforms, and the performance depth is overhead you will not use.
Use it when: you run an MMA or hybrid gym with real strength-and-conditioning programming.
Honest trade-off: built for barbells, not belts, so rank workflows are weak for a traditional dojo.
9. 1club: best free plan up to 100 students
1club is an AI-native platform offering belt tracking, family accounts, and automated billing, with a free plan for up to 100 active students and paid plans from around $63/month. For a small or growing school, the free tier with full belt tracking is a strong entry point.
Use it when: you are a small-to-mid school wanting martial-arts features on a free or low-cost plan.
Honest trade-off: newer and less established than Kicksite or Zen Planner, so verify depth and support against your specific workflows.
Find a POS system for your dojo that handles memberships well
This is the question most dojo owners get wrong, and it is worth answering directly, because the obvious answer is the wrong one.
Why a generic retail POS is the wrong choice for a dojo
Search “cheapest POS,” and you get Square, Loyverse, or Helcim. Those are excellent for ringing up a gi or a bottle of water, but none of them runs recurring membership billing, the belt-based tuition, family plans, and autopay that make up 80 to 95% of a dojo’s revenue. A dojo that uses a retail POS as its only system ends up billing tuition manually somewhere else, which is exactly where missed payments and quiet churn start.
The POS a dojo actually needs is one built into its management platform, so a retail sale and a membership charge hit the same student record, the same reporting, and the same deposit.
The best martial arts platforms with membership POS built in
Among the nine above, four handle membership plus POS as one connected system rather than two tools:
GymRoute includes native POS from its Exceed tier ($199/month), charging retail to the same member record as tuition, with inventory management for gis and gear included, at a flat rate with unlimited members.
Zen Planner includes POS in its flat-rate plans, strong on the membership side, though with the dated interface and add-on-cost caveats noted above.
Spark Membership includes POS alongside its marketing engine, good if lead conversion is also a priority and you can absorb the higher price.
PushPress includes built-in POS on its plans, including the free tier, workable for a hybrid school, with the belt-workflow caveat that its roots are in CrossFit.
How to choose the membership POS that fits
Ask three questions. Does the POS charge the same member record as tuition, so you are not reconciling two systems? Does it include inventory for gear you actually sell? And is the processing rate reasonable on both tuition and retail, since that is where the real cost lives? For a dojo that wants POS, tuition, and gear inventory genuinely unified without a per-member cost penalty, GymRoute’s Exceed tier is the most direct fit; for an established school already committed to depth, Zen Planner’s included POS is capable.
The test for any dojo POS: sell a $40 gi to a student who also pays monthly tuition, and see whether both show up on one student record and one report. If they land in two systems, it is not a dojo POS; it is a retail till bolted onto your school.
Martial arts studio access control software providers (door + membership integration)
The second question in this guide, which providers offer door access control for a dojo, has a nuance most listicles miss: there is a real difference between native access control and integrated access control, and it affects both cost and reliability.
Native vs integrated door access: the distinction that matters
Native access control means the door logic is built into the management platform itself. Billing status controls the door in real time; an active student’s fob or app works, a failed payment locks them out automatically, with no third-party bridge. Fewer moving parts, one bill, one support line.
Integrated access control means the management platform connects to a separate door-hardware vendor, most commonly Kisi, which handles the physical unlocking while the platform passes membership status across. It works well and is widely used, but it means two vendors, two subscriptions, and a dependency on the integration staying healthy.
Neither is wrong. Native is simpler and usually cheaper overall; integrated lets you pair a platform you like with Kisi’s mature hardware. What matters is knowing which you are buying.
Providers offering native door access
GymRoute builds access control into the platform, so door entry is tied directly to membership and payment status without a separate access vendor, a fit for dojos wanting open-mat or 24/7 access managed from one system.
GymMaster offers native 24/7 Bluetooth door access using its own proprietary hardware, a strong fit specifically for unstaffed dojos where the door is central to the model.
Providers offering integrated (Kisi) door access
Several strong platforms reach door access through the Kisi integration rather than natively: PushPress, Zen Planner, Gymdesk, and TeamUp all connect to Kisi to automate entry based on membership and billing status. If you already favor one of these for its other strengths, the Kisi route gives you capable access control, just with the two-vendor structure.
How to choose an access control setup for your dojo
If open-mat, off-hours, or fully unstaffed training is core to your model, lean toward native (GymRoute or GymMaster) for fewer failure points and one bill. If you have already chosen a platform for its belt tracking or marketing and just need to add a door, a Kisi integration is the pragmatic path. Either way, confirm one thing before buying: that a failed payment actually revokes door access automatically, since that real-time billing-to-door link is the entire point of access control for a dojo.
Ask any provider this directly: “When a student’s card fails on the 1st, does the door stop letting them in without my staff doing anything?” A confident yes, native or via Kisi, is what you are paying for. Anything vaguer means you will be managing access by hand.
How to choose the right martial arts software
Narrow the nine by answering four questions in order.
1. Is it genuinely built for martial arts?
Belt and rank tracking, family billing, and promotion workflows should be native, not bolted on. Platforms with CrossFit or general-gym DNA (PushPress, Wodify) can work for hybrid gyms but feel secondary for a traditional dojo. Kicksite, Spark, Martialytics, and 1club are martial-arts-first.
2. What is your actual bottleneck?
Filling classes points to Spark’s marketing engine. A messy back office points to a clean operational platform. Unstaffed access points point to native door control. Naming the real pain narrows nine options to two faster than any feature checklist.
3. Do you need POS and access control unified, or added on?
If you sell gear and want 24/7 or open-mat access, a platform with both built in (GymRoute) avoids paying for and maintaining separate systems. If you only need one, or already have a door vendor, an integration-based platform is fine.
4. What is the true total cost at your size?
Add subscription plus processing plus any add-ons at your real student count. Watch pricing that scales by member count, and watch add-on stacking (marketing, branded app, website), which can double a low entry price. Flat-rate platforms hold their price as you grow.
Test before you commit. Whatever fits on paper, start the free trial before the sales call. A week of running real check-ins, a belt promotion, a family sign-up, and a failed-payment scenario tells you more than any demo.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best martial arts management software in 2026?
There is no single best; it depends on your priority. For an all-in-one with native POS and door access, GymRoute. For martial-arts-native simplicity and strong support, Kicksite. For deep operational features at an established school, Zen Planner. For a genuinely free tier, PushPress Core or 1club (free up to 100 students). For marketing and lead conversion, Spark. Match the platform to how your dojo actually runs (belts, families, minors) rather than to the longest feature list.
What is the best POS system for a dojo that handles memberships well?
Not a generic retail POS. Square, Loyverse, and Helcim are fine for selling a gi but do not run recurring tuition, family plans, or autopay, which are most of a dojo’s revenue. The POS a dojo needs is built into its management platform so retail and tuition hit one student record. Among martial arts platforms, GymRoute (native POS with gear inventory from the Exceed tier), Zen Planner (POS included), Spark, and PushPress all combine membership billing and POS in one system. GymRoute is flat-rate with unlimited members and no per-student penalty as you grow.
Which software providers offer access control for martial arts studios?
Two kinds. Native providers build door access into the platform: GymRoute (access tied directly to membership and payment status) and GymMaster (native 24/7 Bluetooth hardware). Integration-based providers connect to a separate door vendor, almost always Kisi: PushPress, Zen Planner, Gymdesk, and TeamUp all use the Kisi integration to unlock doors based on billing status. Native means one vendor and one bill; integrated lets you pair a preferred platform with Kisi’s hardware. Either way, confirm a failed payment automatically revokes access.
Do martial arts schools need special software instead of regular gym software?
Yes, for the martial-arts-specific parts. Regular gym software is built around individual adult memberships and typically lacks multi-level belt progression, promotion history, family accounts with sibling discounts, and parent-signed waivers for minors. A dojo forcing generic software to fit usually ends up tracking belts in spreadsheets and handling family billing manually, which defeats the purpose of buying software.
How much does martial arts management software cost?
Roughly free to $400+/month. Entry options start near $49/month (Kicksite) or $69/month (Martialytics), and some platforms have free or near-free tiers with limits (PushPress Core, 1club free up to 100 students). Mid-range flat-rate platforms run $99 to $199/month. Watch two cost traps: pricing that scales with student count, and add-ons (marketing, branded app, website) that can push an advertised entry price well past $400/month once you build the full stack.
Which martial arts software has the best belt and rank tracking?
The martial-arts-native platforms lead here: Kicksite is frequently cited for the best belt/rank tracking in the category, with Spark, Martialytics, and 1club also strong since they were built for dojos. Zen Planner has capable built-in rank tracking with more operational depth but a steeper learning curve. Platforms with CrossFit roots (PushPress, Wodify) added belt tracking later, so it works but feels less native. GymRoute supports belt and rank progression alongside its POS and access-control strengths.
Can one platform handle memberships, POS, and door access together?
Yes. That unification is exactly where an all-in-one platform earns its price. GymRoute handles membership billing, native POS with gear inventory, and native door access from one system at a flat rate. Zen Planner combines memberships and POS with Kisi-integrated access. The alternative, a management tool plus a separate retail POS plus a separate door vendor, means three bills, three logins, and three points of failure for what should be one connected workflow.
The bottom line
The best martial arts software is the one built for how a dojo actually runs: belts and promotions, families training together, minors who need signed waivers, and tuition that keeps flowing when a card declines. Start from that, not from a feature count.
If your specific need is a POS that genuinely handles memberships, or door access tied to billing status, the shortlist narrows fast. A generic retail POS will not run your tuition, and door access only works when a failed payment actually locks the door. For a dojo that wants belts, family billing, retail POS, and native 24/7 access from one flat-rate platform, GymRoute’s Exceed tier is built for exactly that combina
