Best free martial arts gym software in 2026
Free martial arts gym software comes in three kinds: a free plan you can stay on, a free trial that turns into a paid plan, and free general tools such as a spreadsheet and a calendar. All three can work for a small academy. None of them avoids the cost of taking payments, and that is where most free software is paid for.
Who wrote this. MatPilot publishes this guide, and MatPilot is one of the nine options in it. So there is no winner here: the platforms are in alphabetical order, every price is copied from the vendor's own website on 4 November 2026, and anything a vendor does not publish says so. Prices change, so check the vendor's page before you sign, and tell us at support@matpilot.io if a figure here is out of date.
- Two platforms here have a free plan you can stay on: MatPilot (up to 20 members) and PushPress. Six others offer free trials, from 7 days to 8 weeks.
- Free plans earn their money on payments: MatPilot Free adds a 2% platform fee to Stripe's rate, and PushPress Free charges 4.99% + 30¢ per card payment.
- On 20 members paying $100 a month by card, MatPilot Free and MatGoat's $40 plan both come to $104 a month in total, and PushPress Free to $105.80.
- Neither free plan records belt promotions: PushPress keeps rank tracking for Pro and Max, and MatPilot for Pro.
- A spreadsheet, a calendar and Stripe payment links cost the least in fees and the most in your time.
Free plan, free trial or free tools
- A free plan has no end date. You run the academy on it within its limits and pay only on the payments you take.
- A free trial is the paid product for a set time. It tells you whether the software fits, not what it will cost you.
- Free tools such as Google Sheets, Google Forms and Google Calendar cost nothing and do exactly what you build them to do.
The options at a glance
As published on each vendor's own site on 4 November 2026, in US dollars.
| Option | What is free | Where it stops | What you pay on card payments |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gymdesk | A 30-day trial, no card | Then from $75 a month | Rate not published |
| Kicksite | A 30-day trial | Then from $49 a month | Through Basys, rate not published |
| MAAT | A 7-day trial | Then $59 a month | Stripe's rate plus 1% |
| Martialytics | A 30-day trial, no card | Then from $69 a month | Stripe's rate, no platform fee |
| MatGoat | A 30-day trial, no card | Then from $40 a month | Stripe's rate, no platform fee |
| MatPilot | A free plan with no time limit: members, classes, attendance, a check-in kiosk and online payments | 20 members, 7 classes a week, one membership plan and one art; belt promotion on Pro | Stripe's rate plus a 2% platform fee |
| PushPress | A free plan with no time limit | Rank tracking on Pro and Max; the full CRM on Grow | 4.99% + 30¢ |
| Spark Membership | An 8-week trial | Then $199 a month | Spark Payments, rate not published |
| Spreadsheet, form and calendar | Whatever you build | Your time | Stripe's rate, if you send Stripe payment links |
What free costs once members pay you
The fairest way to compare is by what leaves your account each month. Take an academy in the US with 20 members each paying $100 a month by card, $2,000 in all, at the published rates. Stripe's standard US card rate is 2.9% + 30¢, which is $64 on those 20 payments.
| Option | Software | Fees on $2,000 of card payments | Total a month |
|---|---|---|---|
| MAAT, after the trial | $59 | $64 to Stripe, plus $20 (1%) | $143 |
| Martialytics, after the trial | $69 | $64 to Stripe | $133 |
| MatGoat Basic, after the trial | $40 | $64 to Stripe | $104 |
| MatPilot Free | $0 | $64 to Stripe, plus $40 (2%) | $104 |
| PushPress Free | $0 | $105.80 (4.99% + 30¢) | $105.80 |
| Spreadsheet and Stripe payment links | $0 | $64 to Stripe | $64 |
| Gymdesk, Kicksite or Spark Membership, after the trial | $75, $49 or $199 | Rate not published | Software plus processing |
At this size a free plan and a cheap paid plan cost about the same. The spreadsheet route is cheapest in fees because nothing sits between you and Stripe, but you do the reconciling, the chasing of failed payments and the attendance by hand. Bank debits cost less than cards on every option that offers them.
In Europe the numbers move: Stripe's standard rate for European cards is 1.5% + €0.25, so the same 20 members at €100 cost €35 in Stripe fees, plus €40 of platform fee on MatPilot Free.
Each option in brief
Gymdesk (30-day trial)
Suits: trying a full martial arts platform, including belt tracking that flags who is ready to promote, for 30 days without entering a card. After that: $75 a month up to 50 active members, $100 up to 100, $150 up to 150 and $200 up to 250 with Gymdesk Payments, $25 to $40 more on your own processor, and a quote above 250. See Gymdesk's pricing page. Our longer side-by-side: MatPilot vs Gymdesk.
Kicksite (30-day trial)
Suits: testing a belt curriculum with one-click promotion before you pay; afterwards, $49 a month for up to 25 students. Card processing runs through Basys at a rate Kicksite does not publish, so ask for it before the trial ends. See Kicksite's pricing page. Our longer side-by-side: MatPilot vs Kicksite.
MAAT, Martialytics, MatGoat and Spark Membership (trials)
- MAAT: 7 days, then $59 a month ($49 paid annually) with unlimited members, plus 1% of each payment on top of Stripe's fees. See MAAT's pricing page.
- Martialytics: 30 days with no card, then from $69 a month up to 50 active students, at Stripe's standard rates with no platform fee. See Martialytics's pricing page.
- MatGoat: 30 days with no card, then $40 a month for up to 50 students before tax, at Stripe's own fees with no percentage fee. See MatGoat's pricing page.
- Spark Membership: 8 weeks, then $199 a month for every feature, with payments through Spark's own processing. See Spark Membership's pricing page.
MatPilot (free plan)
Suits: a small academy, up to 20 members, that wants members, classes, attendance, a self check-in kiosk and online payments into its own Stripe account, with no time limit and no card.
Worth checking: the 2% platform fee sits on top of Stripe's own rate. Free allows 20 members, 7 classes a week, one membership plan and one art, and belt promotion, family billing, data export and the lead pipeline are on Pro. Pro is $79 a month with unlimited members and a 0.49% platform fee. See MatPilot's pricing.
PushPress (free plan)
Suits: a gym that wants a free plan with no time limit and expects to move to a paid plan as it grows.
Worth checking: card payments cost 4.99% + 30¢ on Free, against 2.89% + 30¢ on Pro, so the free plan is paid for on every transaction. Rank tracking is on Pro and Max, and lead forms, landing pages and the full CRM come with Grow at $329 a month. See PushPress's pricing page. Our longer side-by-side: MatPilot vs PushPress.
A spreadsheet, a form and a calendar
Suits: a new academy with a handful of students and an owner who is happy to build their own system: a sheet for members and attendance, a form for trial enquiries, a shared calendar for the timetable, and Stripe payment links for dues.
Worth checking: nothing connects. A missed payment, an absence and a belt review live in different places and you join them up yourself. A waiver for a minor needs a guardian's signature and somewhere safe to keep it.
Which free option fits
- You want to choose a paid platform: use the trials, and ask each vendor for its processing rate before the trial ends.
- You want to stay free while you are small: MatPilot Free or PushPress Free. Compare the limits that matter to you: MatPilot Free stops at 20 members, and PushPress Free has the higher card rate.
- You grade, and want promotions recorded from day one: neither free plan does it. A low-priced plan with belts, such as MatGoat at $40, Kicksite at $49 or MAAT at $59, can cost about the same as a free plan once fees are counted.
- You have under ten students and like spreadsheets: free tools and Stripe payment links are the cheapest in fees, until the admin starts costing you evenings.
See what MatPilot costs
Free for up to 20 members, with no card. Pro is $79 or €79 a month with unlimited members and no contract.
FAQ
Is there free martial arts gym software?
Yes. MatPilot and PushPress have free plans you can stay on, and Gymdesk, Kicksite, Martialytics, MatGoat, MAAT and Spark Membership offer free trials of 7 days to 8 weeks. You can also run a very small academy on free tools such as Google Sheets and Google Calendar, taking dues by Stripe payment links.
What is the catch with free gym software?
The payments. A free plan is paid for through a fee on each payment: MatPilot Free adds a 2% platform fee to Stripe's rate, and PushPress Free charges 4.99% + 30¢ per card payment against 2.89% + 30¢ on its Pro plan. Free plans also keep some features for paid plans, including belt tracking on both.
Can I track belts on free gym software?
Not on the two free plans: PushPress keeps rank tracking for Pro and Max, and MatPilot keeps belt promotion for Pro. The trials from Gymdesk, Kicksite, Martialytics, MatGoat, MAAT and Spark Membership include belt tracking while they last.
When should I move from a free plan to a paid one?
When you reach a limit, such as MatPilot Free's 20 members, when you need a feature the free plan holds back, or when a paid plan's lower payment fee saves more than its price. MatPilot Pro at $79 a month cuts the platform fee from 2% to 0.49%, which covers its price at about $5,230 a month in payments.
Can I run a martial arts gym on Google Sheets?
A small one, yes. A sheet can hold members and attendance, a form can take trial enquiries and Stripe payment links can collect dues. What it cannot do is connect them: a failed payment, a missed class and a belt review stay in separate places until you join them up.
How this comparison was put together
Prices for each of the eight platforms were read from the vendor's own pricing page on 4 November 2026; features come from their feature and martial arts pages, last read between September and November 2026. Where a vendor publishes a price, it is quoted; where it sends you to sales, that is said instead of a guess. Third-party review sites were not used. The order is alphabetical because we make one of the products, and ranking ourselves first would tell you nothing.
Each platform's own page is linked so you can check it, and where we have a longer side-by-side comparison with MatPilot it is linked too. If something here is wrong or out of date, tell us and we will correct it.