Zen Planner review (2026): is it worth $99 a month?
Membership, scheduling and billing software for gyms and studios
Black Friday: is there a Zen Planner sale?
Zen Planner report card
Weak · out of 4.0 · graded Nov 12, 2026
Best for membership billing for martial arts and fitness studios
Zen Planner covers memberships, billing, class scheduling, a member app and lead capture for studios. Prices start at $99 a month and rise with your active member count, and card readers, the branded app and payments each cost extra.
Who Zen Planner is for
- Fits if you run a martial arts or fitness studio and bill members every month
- Works for a studio that can predict its active member count, as the price follows it
Who Zen Planner is not for
- Pricey if you grow, as the bill rises with active members and the $99 figure is only a starting price
- Watch out: card readers cost $39 a month each and a branded mobile app is $39 a month
- Watch out: Engage starts at $249 a month and a stand-alone website at $99, both sold apart
- Skip it if you want a trial, as the pricing page mentions none
- Watch out: payment processing carries extra fees
Why Zen Planner gets a 1.6
Five grades, each with its reason. The GPA is their average: an A is 4 points, an F is none.
- CValue for moneyFrom $99 a month, priced by active members, against a middle of $49.90 and a dearer quarter from $119. Plans run $99, $198 and $348, with readers and the app on top.
- FFree plan and trialNo trial or free plan on the pricing page. Plans run month to month.
- CFeaturesMemberships, billing, scheduling, a member app, lead capture, marketing and reports. Marketing automation is a separate product, Engage, from $249 a month.
- CEase of useNo store rating on record. A studio builds its programs, memberships and billing first.
- CPlatforms and integrationsWeb only on the listing, with one integration. A member app is sold as an add-on.
What these grades rest on. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from Zen Planner's own pages on 12 November 2026. Its pricing page was blocked when we checked, so this rests on the listing. Not based on using the product, and shorter than our full reviews. How we review and grade.
Make Zen Planner? Put this grade on your site
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<a href="https://toolgpa.com/tools/zen-planner#review"><img src="https://toolgpa.com/badge/zen-planner.svg" alt="Zen Planner: 1.6 GPA on ToolGPA" width="196" height="56"></a>Where Zen Planner stands among salon, spa and studio booking apps
Zen Planner's GPA of 1.6 is higher than 1 of the 33 other salon, spa and studio booking apps we grade, and level with 5.
It stands best on value for money (C, above 4 of 33) and worst on free plan and trial (F, above 0).
Its paid plans start at $99 a month, against a middle price of $49.90 for the category: 14 of the 20 others that charge start lower.
On features, ease of use and platforms it scores 2.0 out of 4. 12 tools score higher and cost less.
Each grade against the category
Every bar is all 34 salon, spa and studio booking apps we grade, cut by the letter each got. Zen Planner’s own letter is outlined.
- CValue for moneyAbove 4 of 33, level with 23
- FFree plan and trialAbove 0 of 33, level with 16
- CFeaturesAbove 0 of 33, level with 20
- CEase of useAbove 0 of 33, level with 28
- CPlatforms and integrationsAbove 0 of 33, level with 8
Price against what you get
Each dot is one of 21 salon, spa and studio booking apps. Further left costs less, and higher up scores better on features, ease of use and platforms. Point at a dot to see which tool it is.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Keep Zen Planner, or make your own?
Keep it
To replace Zen Planner you would be making texts to thousands of numbers, registered with the carriers. That is not a weekend's work, with an AI app builder or without one.
That makes this kind of software worth paying for, not this one in particular: 27 of the 33 other salon, spa and studio booking apps grade higher. It costs $1,188 a year.
What you could make
- Class booking and reports: an app builder makes these well.
What you could not
- Texts to thousands of numbers, registered with the carriers.
- AI features, unless you pay a model provider for each request yourself.
What this rests on. Zen Planner’s listing: what it does, where it runs, what it plugs into and what it costs. It is a judgement about the kind of software this is. We have not built a replacement for it, and making your own means looking after it too. How we decide, and every tool’s verdict.
What is Zen Planner?
Zen Planner is gym management software for martial arts schools, CrossFit boxes, yoga and fitness studios. The base Studio package covers memberships, class scheduling, billing, attendance, payroll and staff and member mobile apps. Higher packages add a custom website and marketing automation, and pricing follows the number of active members.
Worth knowing
- Prices are 'starting at' figures: the bill follows the active member count, and multi-location pricing is quoted in a demo.
- Payment processing carries additional charges or fees; the card readers cost $39 per month each, and a branded mobile app is $39 per month.
- Zen Planner Engage is sold separately from $249 per month, and a stand-alone website from $99 per month.
- The pricing page mentions no free trial; plans run month to month, with an annual contract available on request.
Key features
- Memberships and billing
- Membership management with automated billing and payment processing, plus attendance tracking and payroll management.
- Class scheduling and booking
- Online scheduling with member self-service, belt and skill tracking, and a staff mobile app.
- Member app
- A member mobile app comes with every package, and a custom-branded app is sold separately.
- Website and lead capture
- Essentials adds a custom website with SEO optimization and built-in lead capture and form integration.
- Marketing automation
- Ultimate, or the separate Engage product, adds automated email and text campaigns, AI-powered tools and lead follow-up workflows.
- Reporting and dashboards
- Reporting and dashboards in every package, with a SugarWOD integration for workout tracking.
Zen Planner pricing
As of Nov 12, 2026, Zen Planner is a paid product, starting at $99 per month and up, priced by active members.
- Starts at
- $99 per month and up, priced by active members
- Free plan
- None
- Free trial
- None listed
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Zen Planner Studio | $99per month and up, by active members | Memberships, billing, class scheduling, attendance, payroll, reporting and staff and member apps. Price rises with active members. |
| Zen Planner Essentials | $198per month and up, by active members | Everything in Studio plus a branded, SEO-optimized website with lead capture. |
| Zen Planner Ultimate | $348per month and up, by active members | Everything in Essentials plus marketing automation, CRM, AI email and text campaigns and lead tools. |
Read from zenplanner.com on Nov 12, 2026. Prices change, so confirm with Zen Planner before you buy.
Works with
- SugarWOD
Zen Planner alternatives
- Zen Planner vs PushPress
Free plan · from $159/mo
- Zen Planner vs Gymdesk
Free trial · from $75/mo
- Zen Planner vs Kicksite
Free trial · from $49/mo
- Zen Planner vs Mindbody
From $79/mo
Common questions
Does Zen Planner have an Android app?
No Android app was listed when its pages were read on Nov 12, 2026. Zen Planner is listed for Web.
Does Zen Planner have an iPhone app?
No iPhone app was listed when its pages were read on Nov 12, 2026. Zen Planner is listed for Web.
Is Zen Planner open source?
Zen Planner is not described as open source on its own site, as read on Nov 12, 2026.
Sources for this page
The prices, plans, platforms and features above were read from these pages on Nov 12, 2026.