MatPilot vs Gymdesk
Gymdesk is honest software: published prices, no contracts, no exit fee, a 30-day trial with no card. The differences are the member tiers, the add-ons, and family billing. Both columns are the vendors' own words, as of 14 September 2026.
Gymdesk is a good product used by a lot of good gyms. This page is for you if you are choosing between the two, and it says where Gymdesk is the better fit for you.
Gymdesk
Left: Gymdesk Members App, training progress, from its App Store listing. Right: MatPilot, rank and attendance.
Price, terms and what each knows about martial arts.
| As of 14 September 2026 | MatPilot | Gymdesk |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly price | €79 a month on Pro, flat, unlimited members. Free plan at €0. | $75 (up to 50 active members), $100 (51 to 100), $150 (101 to 200), $200 (201 to 400) a month; custom above 400. A branded member app is $100 a month more, an extra location $50. |
| What sets the price | Nothing. The same price at 40 members and at 400. | Active members; frozen members, cancelled clients and prospects do not count. |
| Contract | Monthly. Cancel in Settings and it ends at the end of the billing month. | "No contracts," "Cancel anytime." |
| Notice to cancel | None. | None stated. |
| Setup or exit fee | None. No exit fee either; your data exports from the app. | None. "No exit fee. Not for data, not ever." |
| Fee on payments | 0.49% of each payment on Pro, on top of Stripe's own; 2% on the Free plan. | Not stated on the pricing page. |
| Card processing | Stripe's own rate, paid to Stripe, into your own Stripe account. Card, SEPA direct debit, Bacs or ACH depending on your currency. | Through their payment integrations; rates not published on the pricing page. |
| Free plan or trial | A Free plan with no time limit, no card. Pro is a switch you flip later. | 30 days free, no card required. |
| Belt and rank tracking | Nineteen arts, each with its own ladder or none: the IBJJF adult and kids ladders, nine karate styles, WT and ITF taekwondo, judo kyu and dan, armbands for Muay Thai. A rank per art on every profile, every promotion dated. | Yes: promotion criteria per rank or belt, reports on progress towards them, and a notification when a member is ready to be tested. |
| Family billing | One parent pays once for every child on one subscription split per plan; a guardian signs a minor's waiver from their own phone. | Not mentioned on their martial arts page. |
| Kiosk check-in | Self check-in from the app or a front-desk kiosk, a coach's roster, a TV mode with the round timer and the live roster. | Yes: self check-in with a numeric keypad. |
| Waivers | Signed before the first class, from the join link, the kiosk or the app; a minor's by a guardian. | Yes: member onboarding and waivers. |
| Accounting | Xero on Pro: each payment becomes an invoice and a payment against a clearing account, VAT per plan mapped to your tax rates. | Reports and exports; no accounting integration stated on the site. |
| Where the data lives | AWS in the EU (Stockholm); export and erasure from the app. | Not stated on the pricing page. |
Gymdesk's column is read from their pricing page and their martial arts page on 14 September 2026, quoted where it matters; "not stated" means we looked and did not find it. Prices and terms change: check theirs before you decide, and tell us if a cell is out of date. Gymdesk's logo belongs to Gymdesk and is shown to identify them.
Where each one fits better.
Gymdesk may fit better if you want
- A gym under 50 members that wants the lowest published entry price and a 30-day trial before paying anything.
- The free templates and calculators Gymdesk publishes, and a website and landing pages from the same vendor.
- A team that wants the software to say who is ready to test.
MatPilot may fit better if you want
- The MatPilot member app on iOS and Android included, and the whole academy in a browser too. A white-label app under your own name is not included: it is quoted on request by scope, where Gymdesk's is $100 a month.
- Family billing built in: one payment for every child, a guardian's signature on a minor's waiver.
- A shortlist that never says ready: the professor decides, and nothing about promotion is visible to the member.
- Xero on Pro, with VAT per plan, and payments in your own Stripe account at 0.49%.
Six things you will not find in the usual gym software.
Seminars and courses, waiver firstOne link for a visiting black belt's seminar: register, sign the waiver, then pay, at the member price if you are one. A free seminar needs no Stripe account at all.Read how it works → 
A poster studioTwenty-four designs per size, filled from the seminar's own title, date, price and QR code. Drag, retype, swap the photo, export for Instagram, a story or A4.Read how it works → 
A co-pilot that actsAsk it to announce a closure, cancel a class, add a schedule or chase failed payments. It shows the action, you confirm, it runs.Read how it works → 
3,700 techniques in a libraryNineteen arts, every move named and linked to its neighbours. Your syllabus points at them, and each student's record fills in as classes are taught.Read how it works → 
An injury log with follow-upsTap the body map, say how bad. A serious injury schedules staff check-ins at one, three, seven and fourteen days, and billing can pause while they recover.Read how it works → 
Curriculum coverageWhat the syllabus says, what was actually taught, class by class and belt by belt, so a gap shows before a grading does.Read how it works →
Checked against Gymdesk's website and app listings on 14 September 2026. If they have one of these and we missed it, tell us and this page changes.
What the left column looks like.
Export members from Gymdesk to a spreadsheet and import them. If Gymdesk was charging through your own Stripe account, MatPilot links those customers and subscriptions in place; otherwise members re-enter one card through your join link.
Nobody trains before the waiver is signed, whichever way they arrive.
Questions you might have about the two
Both have no contract. What is actually different?
The price model and the add-ons. Gymdesk tiers by active members and prices the branded app and extra locations separately; MatPilot is one flat price, plus 0.49% on payments, with the MatPilot member app included. A white-label app under your own name is not included on either side: Gymdesk prices it at $100 a month, MatPilot quotes it on request by scope. Family billing and Xero are the two features one has and the other does not mention.
Does MatPilot tell me who is ready to test?
No, on purpose. It shows the record, sorted into strong, review and possibly overlooked, for coaches only. Gymdesk generates a notification when a member meets the promotion criteria you set; if you want that, it is the better fit.
Is there a free trial?
MatPilot has a Free plan with no time limit rather than a trial: use it as long as you like, and switch to Pro when you want the AI co-pilot, family billing, Xero and diplomas. Gymdesk's trial is 30 days with no card.
See it with your own roster.
No card required. Import your members from a spreadsheet in an afternoon.