MatPilot vs MAAT
MAAT is built for combat sports academies, and it sells on taking the payments and memberships off a tired instructor's hands. MatPilot does that too, and treats it as the floor: the difference is the community, the day-to-day running of the academy, and the money after it lands. Both columns are the vendors' own words, as of 28 October 2026.
MAAT is a good product used by a lot of good academies. This page is for you if you are choosing between the two, and it says where MAAT is the better fit for you.
MAAT
Left: MAAT, upcoming classes, from its App Store listing. Right: MatPilot, classes.
Payments first, then everything a payment does not cover.
| As of 28 October 2026 | MatPilot | MAAT |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $79 a month + 0.49% of each payment on Pro, flat, unlimited students. Free plan: $0 + 2%. | $59 a month + 1% of each payment, or $49 a month + 1% billed annually: one Unlimited Plan, unlimited members. |
| Fee on payments | 0.49% of each payment on Pro, on top of Stripe's own; 2% on the Free plan. | 1% on each in-app transaction, on top of Stripe's fees. The academy can pass it to the student at checkout. |
| On 10,000 a month in payments | $79 + $49 = $128 a month on Pro, before Stripe's own fees. | $59 + $100 = $159 a month, or $49 + $100 = $149 on the annual plan, before Stripe's fees. |
| Card processing | Stripe's own rate, paid to Stripe, into your own Stripe account: 2.9% + 30¢ on cards, 0.8% capped at $5 on ACH. | Stripe: cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay, SEPA and Bacs direct debit, iDEAL. |
| Contract | Monthly. Cancel in Settings and it ends at the end of the billing month. | Month to month, or a discounted annual plan. "You can cancel anytime." |
| Free plan or trial | A Free plan with no time limit, no card. Pro is a switch you flip later. | A 7-day free trial. |
| Switching in | We do the migration for you: members imported, and customers and subscriptions already in your own Stripe account linked in place. | Free migration done by their team, including active subscriptions, cards and SEPA or Bacs mandates. |
| Belt and rank tracking | Nineteen arts, each with its own ladder or none. A rank per art on every profile, every promotion dated; a coach-only shortlist that never says ready. | Belt promotion management and history, and an alert when a student is ready for their next stripe or belt. |
| Advanced billing | Family billing on Pro, one parent paying once for every child; class packs; holds booked for a later date; signup fees and trial days per plan; a delinquency list with one-tap retry; ad-hoc charges, payment links and partial refunds. | Class packs and credit plans, pauses with billing adjusted, signup fees, 7-day member trials, kids under a parent's account, fixed-term contracts, proration, smart retries and a delinquency dashboard. |
| CRM and leads | On Pro, no add-on: leads from your website, landing page and embedded form in one pipeline, with stages, an assignee, a follow-up date and its reminder, notes, households and a funnel report. Convert to a member in one tap. | Not stated on their site; reminders when a member's trial is ending. |
| Members and each other | Kudos between members, signed or anonymous; a recap of each class sent to the people who trained in it. | A leaderboard, streaks and milestones in the student app. |
| Members and the academy | A suggestion box with statuses, anonymous if you allow it; reports to staff about conduct or safeguarding; Ask the professor, a private thread with a coach. | Broadcast announcements, push notifications and multi-channel messaging, SMS among them. No suggestion box or feedback channel stated. |
| Day-to-day operations | The AI co-pilot drafts the work (announce a closure, cancel a class, chase a failed payment, name who is drifting) and runs it when you confirm. Rules in plain words, a recap drafted 15 minutes after each class, reports you build and schedule. | Scheduling and bookings, a self-service kiosk, digital waivers, class, instructor and student analytics, several affiliated academies in one place. |
| AI | The AI co-pilot on Pro: asks before it acts, and recommends before you ask. | Not stated on their site. |
| Accounting | Xero on Pro: each payment becomes an invoice and a payment against a clearing account; each plan, pack or seminar books to the income account you choose, sales tax per plan mapped to your tax rates. | Financial and automated tax reports; CSV exports for any accounting tool. No Xero or QuickBooks integration stated. |
| Phone | MatPilot Phone, an add-on: the academy's own number at $25 a month, the caller named before you answer, every call a conversation in the Inbox. | SMS is named; no phone line stated. |
| Website | Designed, built and hosted by us, wired into MatPilot so the timetable, prices and join links stay live. | Not stated on their site. |
| Where the data lives | AWS in the EU (Stockholm); export and erasure from the app. | Not stated on their site. |
MAAT's column is read from their pricing page, their features page, their FAQ and their App Store listing on 28 October 2026, quoted where it matters; MAAT shows its prices in dollars. "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. MAAT's logo belongs to MAAT and is shown to identify them.
Where each one fits better.
MAAT may fit better if you want
- A lower base price: $59 a month + 1% of each payment, or $49 + 1% on the annual plan, against $79 + 0.49%. Below about 4,000 a month in payments (6,000 on their annual plan), MAAT costs less; above it, MatPilot does.
- A student app built around motivation: a leaderboard, streaks, milestones, and an alert when someone is ready for their next stripe.
- 1:1 support on WhatsApp, and a student app in six languages.
MatPilot may fit better if you want
- Payments as a must, not the whole product: 0.49% on Pro into your own Stripe account, by card or direct debit depending on your currency.
- The admin drafted before you sit down: the co-pilot proposes and waits for your yes, the class recap is written for you, the Monday report arrives on its own.
- Xero with every plan, pack and seminar on its own income account, and a phone line and a website from the same place.
- Advanced billing: family billing so one parent pays once for every child, class packs, holds booked ahead, signup fees and trial days, and a failed payment retried in one tap.
- A CRM for every enquiry: leads from your website, landing page and embedded form in one pipeline, from new to contacted to member, with notes and a call, email or WhatsApp in one tap.
- Community and engagement tools: kudos between training partners, a suggestion box, reports to staff, Ask the professor, and a recap after every class.
Six things that run the academy, not just the billing.
Kudos, suggestions, reportsMembers give each other kudos after a roll, drop an idea in the suggestion box, anonymously if you allow it, and can report a problem to staff. The mat has a voice, and you hear it before it becomes a cancellation.Read how it works → 
A recap after every classFifteen minutes after class, a draft: who was on the mat, what was taught, homework, who needs a follow-up. The coach edits and publishes, and the members who trained get it on their phone.Read how it works → 
A co-pilot that actsAsk it to announce a closure, cancel a class, chase failed payments or name who is at risk of cancelling. It shows the action, you confirm, it runs. And it recommends before you ask.Read how it works → 
Reporting you build yourselfAttendance, bookings, payments, new members, cancellations, by class, coach, belt, plan or location, for any period. Save it, schedule it, and it lands in your inbox every Monday.Read how it works → 
Your academy's own numberAn add-on: calls ring the desk in the browser and the app, the caller already named, and land in the Inbox beside the member's messages. Personal numbers stay private.Read how it works → 
A website that stays rightWe design, build and host it, wired into MatPilot so the timetable, prices and join links on it are always live.Read how it works →
Checked against MAAT's website and app listing on 28 October 2026. If they have one of these and we missed it, tell us and this page changes.
What the payments side looks like.
We do the migration with you. Members come across from a spreadsheet, and if your memberships were charged through a Stripe account in your own name, 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 take payments. What is actually different?
Payments are the shared floor: both run memberships on Stripe, both bill month to month. MAAT charges 1% on each transaction and MatPilot 0.49% on Pro. The difference is what sits on top: MatPilot adds the member community (kudos, a suggestion box, reports to staff), an AI co-pilot that proposes the admin and waits for your yes, Xero with each plan mapped to its own income account, a phone line and a website. MAAT's site states none of those.
Does MatPilot tell me who is ready for their next stripe?
No, on purpose. It shows the record, sorted into strong, review and possibly overlooked, for coaches only, and the professor decides. MAAT says it alerts you when a student is ready for their next stripe or belt; 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. MAAT's trial is 7 days.
See it with your own roster.
No card required. Import your members from a spreadsheet in an afternoon.