Gymdesk Versus              Zen Planner

Looking for Zen Planner Alternatives?

We will take a head-to-head look at Gymdesk vs ZenPlanner to show you where each gym management platform shines and where each falls short.

See why gyms, martial arts schools, yoga studios, dance, and gymnastics gyms prefer Gymdesk or Zen planner to manage their business.

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Gymdesk Logo GYMDESK
MindBody Logo Zen Planner
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Gymdesk vs Zen Planner

Both Gymdesk and Zen Planner have their strengths and weaknesses. In the table below, we outline the most important factors when choosing your gym management software so you can determine which is right for your business.

Logo Gymdesk
MindBody Logo Zen Planner
Free Trial
30-day free trial with access to all features and full support.
The only option is to book a demo with a sales person.
Starting Price
Starts at $75/month. All features included.
Starts at $99/month with no website and limited marketing features
Website
Every plan includes a fully customizable website that looks great on any device. You can also embed signup forms and schedules on an external website.
No website included. You must pay an extra setup and monthly fee for Zen Planner to build and manage your website.
Payment Processing
Choose from 5 options. Integrates with Stripe, Square, and Authorize.net to handle your membership payments and point-of-sale. Your payment processor stays separate and under your full control.
The only option is Zen Planner payments. Users have cited frequent outages and issues with Zen planner payments.
Payment Processing Fees
Fixed rates that save you over 20% on membership payments.
Variable rates that trigger higher rates for membership payments (off session payments). Learn more here.
Easy of Use
Easy-to-use software with a modern look and feel. No training is needed - but world-class support is available should you need it.
Outdated user interface that resembles a spreadsheet makes it hard to find what you need.
Reporting
Intuitive reporting dashboard with all key gym metrics pre-configured.
Clunky and unintuitive reporting; no pre-built revenue growth reports.
Marketing Tools
Included in all plans.
Separate product with an extra monthly fee.
Ranks and programs
Ability to track ranks and programs automatically for members.
No ability to automatically track ranks and programs. Tracking must be done manually.
Overall Rating 4.8
Overall Rating  4.3

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What Makes Gymdesk Better than Zen Planner

Gymdesk is a modern, user-friendly, and easy-to-use alternative to Zen Planner that makes it easy to run and grow your gym.

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Gymdesk Logo Gymdesk
/images/uploads/8094/content/zen%20planner%20logo%202.png Zen Planner

Easy To Use Member Management

Spot issues quickly without being overwhelmed. Address expiring memberships, overdue payments and missing waivers with ease on your laptop or mobile device.

Create on demand reports using a variety of built-in and custom filters, and export to CSV or PDF for offline usage.

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Member and Manager Friendly Attendance Tracking

Self service member check-in via a numeric code, name search, bar code scanner, or QR codes - on any device.

Managers can backdate attendance quickly and efficiently with our mass check-in feature.

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Gymdesk Logo Gymdesk
MindBody Logo Zen Planner
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Gymdesk Logo Gymdesk
MindBody Logo Zen Planner

Billing And Reporting

Understand your revenue in real-time with visual charts and filters. Access it from anywhere on your smartphone, tablet, or laptop.

Generate point-of-sale and membership payments, project revenue for the coming year, and review month-over-month member and revenue growth and churn in your gym.

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Gymdesk vs Zen Planner: What the Users Have to Say

We could talk for hours about the difference between Gymdesk and Zen Planner, but we'll let users speak for themselves.

Gymdesk Logo GYMDESK
Overall Highest rated 4.8 (104)
Ease of Use 4.7
Customer Service 4.9
Features 4.6
Value for Money 4.8
MindBody Logo Zen Planner
Overall  4.3(263)
Ease of Use  4.1
Customer Service  4.4
Features  4.1
Value for Money  4.2
Features

  • Features

    Gymdesk Logo GYMDESK
    "Gymdesk nailed it. I would highly recommend any gym owner give gymdesk a shot. It's very easy to use lots of built-in features, no upselling, and excellent customer service. If you email, they get back to you quickly—simple as that."
    Avatar photo Joey M.
    MindBody Logo Zen Planner
    "Using Zen Planner became a highly negative experience as I was forced to face daily reminders of how ineffective it was. It cost me time, money, and lots of stress as a business owner. With the amount of negative reviews detailing similar experiences in recent years, I'm shocked they get any new customers at all. For now, they try to get every penny they can put of their longtime customers who are fleeing the platform by charging multiple different fees when you try to close your account."
    Avatar photo Avigayil B.

  • Payment Processing

    Gymdesk Logo GYMDESK
    "Zen Planner looked outdated, was difficult for our students to navigate, took over a week to respond to our emails, and only allowed us to use their own in-house payment processing service (which charged us undisclosed fees). The switch to Gymdesk was just a much better option in all ways."
    Avatar photo Yen Y.
    MindBody Logo Zen Planner
     "I have to say the payment platform with who they partner with is absolutely terrible. EasyDebit/PaySimple really let's Zen Planner down with exorbitant fees, delayed processing (then they charge a big dishonour fee to my customers) and an archaic user interface. "
    Avatar photo Kelly R.

Gymdesk is a Leader in Gym Management

GetApp has named Gymdesk a category leader in their 2025 gym software report.

The highly detailed ranking uses review benchmark data from gym management software users.

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Comparison chart

Summary: When to Choose Zen Planner vs Gymdesk

Here’s our summary of when to choose Gymdesk vs Zen Planner gym management software:

When to Choose Gymdesk

  • You don't want to pay extra for marketing features or a gym website

  • You want in-depth reporting that's easy to understand

  • You need to track member progress automatically

When to Choose Zen Planner

  • You want to bundle business insurance with your gym software

  • You want to pay someone to manage your gym's marketing and website

Gymdesk is the fastest-growing Zen Planner alternative!

Simplicity icon
Simplicity

Thanks to easy click-and-drag features, beautiful reporting, and a refined dashboard for easy access - you won’t want to ever switch management platforms again.

Versatility icon
Flexibility

We’ve built Gymdesk to be adaptable for any growing fitness business. Fit your exact needs with customizable fields, form builders, saved templates, and your very own website.

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Support to Grow Your Gym

Don’t sit on hold for hours ever again. Gymdesk has an experienced support team to help you with whatever you need. Email, chat, video support, and more.

Payment processor icon
Payment Processor Choice

With over 5 options to choose from, you can choose the payment processor that’s best for your business and own your payment data.

Cost-effectiveness icon
Everything In One Place

At Gymdesk, get all the features you need on Day 1 with a 30-day free trial to make sure it’s right for you (no credit card required). 

You Can Ask Us Anything, Really!

As martial artists, fitness junkies and software developers - we built this product because you are our ideal customer. We will work with you to make sure our product fits your needs. Your success is our success.

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Frequently Asked Questions

  • How easy is it to switch from Zen Planner to Gymdesk?

    Switching from Zen Planner to Gymdesk is very simple with our migration tool. Export your member data from Zen Planner and import it into Gymdesk in a matter of minutes.

    You can also migrate your payment data, leads/prospects lists, products, attendance and more.

  • What are the payment processing fees?

    All payment processing is run through our payments partners - Stripe, Square and Authorize.net, and each have their own set of fees depending on your location and payment types.

    We do not charge anything extra beyond the fees charged by your selected payment processor.

  • Can I charge members using direct bank debits?

    We support direct bank debits for member payments, depending on your location and payment processor.

    Stripe and Authorize.net provide ACH and eChecks respectively to US customers. Stripe also provides SEPA bank debits to EU customers, BECS direct debits in Australia, and Pre-Authorized Debits in Canada.

  • Do you track ranks, levels and promotion requirements?

    You can track attendance using a tablet at the front desk, or manually in bulk at the back office.

    For each program you run in your gym, you can set up promotion criteria for each rank / belt, and then generate reporting on members' progress towards their promotion criteria. The system also generates notifications when members are ready to be tested for promotion.

  • Can I use Gymdesk's online functionality with my website?

    All of our online features can work independently from the website we provide, and integrated on your existing website.

    This includes the gym weekly schedule, lead capture forms, the member sign-up form and access to the member portal.

  • Are you available in my country?

    Any gym around the world can use our software! Credit-card processing might be limited to the countries supported by our payment partners, but you can still run payments manually and use all of our features without limitation.