Mindbody is the platform most fitness and wellness businesses land on by default. Mako is the platform a growing number of independent operators switch to once they run the math. This comparison isn't designed to trash Mindbody — it's genuinely the right choice for specific businesses. But for the independent gym or studio owner with a single location and under 500 members, the numbers tell a clear story.
Here's the full breakdown.
Mindbody was built for scale. Two decades of product development aimed at multi-location fitness chains, franchise operators, and studios that depend on marketplace integrations (ClassPass, the Mindbody app). Its pricing model — per-seat licensing, modular add-ons, annual contracts — reflects the economics of enterprise software. It works well for the customer it was designed for.
Mako was built for the independent operator — the gym, studio, or wellness business running one or two locations, 50–600 members, and an owner who is simultaneously the CEO, CFO, and often still on the floor coaching. Its pricing model reflects that: flat-rate, month-to-month, published.
Most comparisons get stuck arguing about features. The real question is fit: which business type is this platform built for?
As of 24 August 2026, Mindbody publishes no pricing at all. Its pricing page lists three tiers — Starter, Accelerate, and Ultimate — and every one of them shows "Let's talk" where a price would be. There is no self-serve figure at any level.
This matters more than it first appears, and it is worth being precise rather than dramatic about it. You will find specific Mindbody numbers all over the internet, including in older versions of this very post. None of them can be checked against Mindbody's own page. We are not going to repeat figures we cannot verify, because doing that is how bad numbers spread.
What we can tell you is the structure, which Mindbody does describe: pricing scales with tier, and the platform is sold with add-on modules and additional user seats layered on top of a base plan. Your final number depends on which of those you end up with.
Mako publishes everything:
Roughly 20% off on annual billing. No contract at any tier.
If you are evaluating both, the useful move is not to trust anyone's quoted comparison — ours included. Get these in writing from Mindbody and then do your own arithmetic:
Then compare that total against $139 or $249 and decide. A comparison you did yourself with real quotes beats any number in a blog post.
Payment processing runs on both platforms and is usually the largest line on the invoice regardless of vendor. For a 250-member gym at $130/month average membership — $32,500 MRR — processing at roughly 2.5% is about $813/month, or $9,756/year. That cost exists whichever platform you choose. The software line is what you are actually comparing, and only one of these two will tell you what theirs is before a phone call.
Mindbody: Mature, comprehensive class scheduling. Handles complex multi-location schedules, room conflicts, instructor assignments, and waitlist management well. One of the strongest scheduling engines in the category.
Mako: Full class and appointment scheduling with recurring sessions, waitlists, and cancellation policies. Handles the full range of independent studio scheduling needs cleanly.
Edge: Mindbody for complex multi-location operations. Tied for single-location independent studios.
Mindbody: Comprehensive member profiles, good search and filtering, solid attendance tracking. Data syncs across locations in multi-location setups.
Mako: Unified member profiles with attendance history, billing, injury notes, lead source, and retention signals. At-risk member flags built into the dashboard.
Edge: Mako on retention intelligence. Mindbody on multi-location sync.
Mindbody: Reports on your own numbers. No comparison against market averages.
Mako: Pulse benchmarks your retention against your city and state, names at-risk members, and imports directly from Mindbody — free, and runnable alongside Mindbody without switching anything.
Edge: Mako, and it costs nothing to test the claim.
Mindbody: Solid recurring billing infrastructure. Failed payment handling exists but requires manual follow-up in many configurations.
Mako: Integrated billing with automated retry sequences, dunning emails, SMS card-update requests. Full failed-payment recovery runs in the background.
Edge: Mako on automated recovery. A 300-member gym recovering 70% of failed payments saves $5,000–$8,000/year versus manual follow-up — which is several times either platform's software cost.
Mindbody: Revenue reporting, class fill rates, basic P&L. Does not natively show MRR, LTV, CAC, or cash runway.
Mako: Native financial intelligence dashboard: MRR, LTV by cohort, CAC, churn rate, revenue per member, cash runway. No secondary system required.
Edge: Mako, not close. This is the most important feature for an owner-operator and the one Mindbody most conspicuously lacks.
Mindbody: Email and SMS available. The marketing suite that includes automation is a separate add-on rather than part of the base plan — ask what it costs on your quote. Without it, communication is manual.
Mako: Email, SMS, class reminders, post-class follow-ups, win-back sequences, and intro-conversion automation are all native and included at Basic.
Edge: Mako on what's included. Tied on capability once Mindbody's marketing add-on is active.
Mindbody: Large consumer marketplace drives real bookings. ClassPass integration built in. Extensive third-party integrations. If you depend on the Mindbody consumer app for discoverability, this is a meaningful differentiator.
Mako: Focused integrations. No consumer marketplace. If you depend on ClassPass or the Mindbody app for acquisition, switching has real implications.
Edge: Mindbody, clearly. The marketplace is the strongest reason to stay on the platform.
Mindbody: Available as a paid add-on rather than part of a base plan. Get the figure in writing — this is one of the line items that most often lands outside people's budget expectations.
Mako: Mobile experience for members and staff included. No separate app module.
Edge: Mako on what's included.
Mindbody: Annual commitments are common on mid-tier and higher plans. Ask specifically about early-termination terms before signing.
Mako: Month-to-month on all plans. No early termination penalty.
Edge: Mako.
If you're currently on Mindbody and considering switching, the real costs of migration are:
There is a cheaper first step than migrating. Pulse imports from Mindbody and is free — run it against your existing data, see what your retention actually looks like against your market, and let that inform whether a migration is worth it at all.
If any of those apply, this comparison ends here. Mindbody was built for your use case and the ROI on switching is probably negative.
Your wellness business is a business. Not a hobby, not a side project, not a calendar with a cash register. It deserves software that treats it accordingly. If your CRM can't tell you whether your business is financially healthy, it's not doing its job. And in 2026, you have better options.
See Mako in action — no sales call required
Mako is built for independent studio and service-business owners who'd rather spend their time on clients than on demo calls. Open the live demo, poke around, and see exactly how scheduling, billing, and financial intelligence come together in one place.
Try the demo: https://app.makocrm.so/demo
Self-serve. Instant access. No forms, no calendars, no "talk to sales."
