Best Pilates Studio Software for Small Reformer Studios

Most "best Pilates software" lists are written by vendors who rank themselves first or by directories that rank whoever pays. Neither tells you the thing that matters most in a small reformer studio: if you own six reformers, can the system sell exactly six spots, hold the 7 a.m. Tuesday reformer for the client who has had it for two years, and refill a late cancellation without you texting people from the parking lot?

This guide compares seven established tools, plus a short note on our own, against the criteria a reformer studio actually runs on. Every feature and price below comes from each vendor's own public pricing or feature page, checked on November 9, 2026. Where a page did not say something, the table says "not stated" instead of guessing. Pricing pages change often, so treat this as a starting shortlist and confirm the details in a demo.

What a reformer studio needs that a gym does not

A gym sells access to a room. A reformer studio sells a specific machine at a specific time, usually to a small group of regulars. That changes what you should look for.

• Capacity tied to equipment. Class size should equal the number of working reformers, and you should be able to drop it by one when a spring breaks without rebuilding the schedule.
• Spot selection (optional but common). Some clients care which reformer they get (by the window, away from the mirror, the one with the shorter footbar). Vendors call it "spot booking," "Book-a-Spot" or "Pick-a-Spot."
• Fixed recurring spots. Regulars want the same class every week without rebooking. Look for "standing reservations" or "recurring bookings," and check whether the client can see and manage them or only staff can.
• Waitlist that fills itself. With six to twelve spots, one late cancellation is a meaningful share of the class revenue. You want the next person added automatically (or offered the spot), not a list you work by hand.
• Packs and memberships side by side. Most reformer studios sell both class packs and monthly memberships, plus a few private sessions. The tool should handle all three without workarounds.
• Intro offers limited to new clients. An intro pack that existing members can buy again is a leak in your pricing.
• A booking page with your name on it. Clients should book from your link or website, not from a marketplace that also shows the studio down the street.
• Instructor logins. Instructors should see their roster and check people in without having the owner's password.
• A published price you can plan around. Quote-only pricing is not a dealbreaker, but you should know the number before you build your budget.

If you are still in the planning stage, our guide on how to open a Pilates studio covers where software fits into the opening checklist and budget.

Comparison table

Checked on vendor public pages on November 9, 2026 (prices approximate, in USD per month). "Not stated" means the public page we opened did not mention it, not that the feature is missing. Ask in the demo.

A few notes on reading this table:

• Payment processing is a separate cost from the subscription for every tool here. Arketa's pricing page, for example, lists a 3% transaction fee plus Stripe fees on its Individual plan. Ask each vendor for their card rate in writing, because on a studio doing a few thousand dollars a month, a percentage point matters more than a $20 difference in the monthly fee.
• Promotional prices expire. WellnessLiving showed discounted prices for its Business and BusinessPro plans ("Save 80% for 2 Months") next to struck-through list prices of $199 and $349 per month, with the offer marked as expiring November 15, 2026. Budget for the list price.

Short reviews

These are short and limited to what each vendor publishes. Read them as "what to verify," not as a verdict.

Mindbody

Mindbody's pricing page lists Starter, Accelerate and Ultimate plans, plus Enterprise for multi-location businesses, with a starting price of $79 per month in North America. The detail that matters for reformer studios: Client Pick-a-Spot is not included in Starter. It starts at Accelerate, which also adds room and resource management. A branded app is an add-on on Accelerate and Ultimate. Mindbody's scheduling page says the next waitlisted client is moved to the roster automatically when someone cancels, and that repeating appointments can be set up through the Mindbody software or Business app. Its public pages we opened did not spell out how recurring class bookings work for regulars.

Ask in the demo: the price of Accelerate for one location, whether regulars can hold a recurring class spot, and whether being listed on the Mindbody consumer app matters to you or just shows clients other studios. More detail in our Mindbody alternatives page.

Momence

Momence does not publish plan prices. Its pricing page asks you to request a custom package. Its Pilates page is specific about reformers: clients "choose their exact reformer or mat position from a branded room map you set up," and classes are capped to the equipment count. A feature it calls Spotfiller can offer last-minute openings to the waitlist, and its help center describes several waitlist modes (one where the first person on the list is added automatically, one where everyone is notified and the first to respond gets the spot, and a double opt-in where people are offered the spot one at a time). It supports memberships, usage-based plans, intro offers and class packs. Recurring bookings were not mentioned on the Pilates page we opened.

Ask in the demo: the monthly price for your size, the card processing rate, and how a waitlisted client is assigned a reformer when a spot opens. See Momence alternatives.

Arketa

Arketa is one of the few that publishes a price for very small operators: an Individual plan at $49 per month (about 17% less if billed annually), with a 3% transaction fee plus Stripe fees and one team member login. Studio Core, Growth and Suite plans are priced on request and include unlimited team members and multiple rooms. Its comparison lists waitlist management, clients picking their spot in the branded app, memberships, recurring packages, packs and intro offers. A custom branded mobile app is included only in Studio Suite and is an add-on elsewhere.

Ask in the demo: whether the Individual plan fits once you hire your first instructor (it lists one login), and the Studio Core price. See Arketa alternatives.

WellnessLiving

WellnessLiving lists Starter at $69 per month with one staff member, then Business and BusinessPro with unlimited staff (both showing a temporary discount at the time of writing; the struck-through list prices were $199 and $349). The feature list includes "Book-a-Spot Asset Reservations," configurable wait lists, membership and auto-pay billing, and introductory offers limited to new clients. A white-label client app comes with BusinessPro or as an add-on. The pricing page text we could read did not show which plan includes which booking feature.

Ask in the demo: whether Book-a-Spot and wait lists are in Starter, and what the price is after the promotion ends.

Walla

Walla publishes a starting price of $299 per month per location, billed monthly. That plan includes classes and appointments, Book-a-Spot, waitlists, plans and intro offers, payroll setup and unlimited users. Its Pilates page says it "lets clients reserve the exact reformer they like" and that waitlists automatically offer a canceled spot to the next person. A branded studio app is included in Pro, whose price was not listed. Standing or recurring bookings were not mentioned on the Pilates page.

Ask in the demo: recurring bookings for regulars, and the Pro price. Walla is built with boutique studios in mind, but the entry price is the highest published in this list, so it fits better once your class revenue is steady.

Punchpass

Punchpass has the clearest published pricing in the group: Grow at $59, Flow at $99 and Pro at $149 per month, with annual options. All plans include waitlists, passes and class packages, new-customer offers and instructor accounts. Recurring memberships start at Flow, so a studio that sells monthly memberships should budget for Flow, not Grow. Its feature page says waitlists can either alert everyone or auto-fill the first person, and that "standing reservations auto-book regulars into their weekly classes." We did not find spot selection on its public pages.

Ask in the demo: whether you can assign specific reformers if you ever want to, and how standing reservations behave when a regular runs out of credits. See Punchpass alternatives.

Glofox

Glofox's pricing page is a quote request form with no published prices. Its Pilates page describes a visual booking flow to "reserve reformers or spaces," waitlists that "auto-fill cancellations from waitlist instantly," memberships combined with class packs, intro offers, and a branded app option. Glofox's July 2026 product update says members can pick their spot on the web portal before booking and change spots in the app without cancelling. Recurring bookings were not mentioned on the Pilates page.

Ask in the demo: the quote for one location, whether spot booking is included in your tier, and contract length. See Glofox alternatives.

Lorari

This is our own tool, so read this one with that in mind. It is a booking and management tool for small studios that works as a web app, not through app stores. It covers online booking from the studio's own page, class capacity, fixed spots for regulars, a waitlist, and class packs and memberships. Pricing starts at 16 EUR per month plus VAT, with a 14-day trial. It is a smaller company than most names here, so a US studio should use the trial to check that it covers the specific workflows it needs.

Which tool fits which studio

There is no single winner. Match the tool to the stage you are at.

A practical rule from running classes: in a four to six reformer studio, the features that save the most time are fixed spots and an automatic waitlist, not spot maps or a branded app. Spot maps matter once you have enough machines that clients notice the difference between them. A branded app matters once you run enough marketing that the app itself becomes a channel. Until then, a clean booking link on your website and Instagram bio does most of the job.

Questions to ask in a demo

Bring this list and have the salesperson show each item on screen, not describe it.

• Capacity: "Show me how I set a class to 6 and drop it to 5 for one session when a reformer is out of service."
• Fixed spots: "A client has Tuesday 7 a.m. every week. Show me how that is set up, what she sees in her account, and what happens when her pack runs out."
• Waitlist: "Someone cancels 3 hours before class. Who gets the spot, are they charged, and are they notified by email, text or push?"
• Late cancel and no-show: "Show me how I charge or deduct a credit for a late cancel, and how I waive it for one client."
• Packs vs memberships: "Can one client hold a monthly membership and a privates pack at the same time? Which one does a booking use?"
• Intro offer: "Can I limit the intro pack to one purchase per new client?"
• Instructor view: "Log in as an instructor. What can they see and change? Can they see revenue?"
• Booking page: "Show me what a new client sees from my link, on a phone, start to finish."
• Total cost: "What is the monthly price for one location with these features, the card processing rate, any setup fee, and the contract length?"
• Leaving: "If I cancel, can I export clients, active packs and remaining credits as a spreadsheet?"

Write down the answers in the same order for every vendor. After three demos, they blur together.

Switching tools without losing members

If you already run on one system, switching is mostly a data and communication job. Most of the risk is in remaining credits and recurring payments, not in the schedule.

Before you switch

• Export the client list with contact details.
• Export active packs and memberships with remaining credits and expiry dates per client. This is the file clients will dispute if it is wrong.
• List every fixed recurring spot (client, class, day, time).
• Note who pays by recurring card billing. Ask both vendors whether saved cards can be transferred or whether clients must re-enter them. The answer depends on the payment processors involved, so get it in writing.
• Pick a switch date at the start of a billing cycle so memberships renew in the new system.

Switch week

• Build the schedule and pack types in the new tool first, then import clients and credits.
• Recreate fixed spots before opening bookings to everyone else, so regulars do not lose their reformer.
• Send one clear message to clients.

Message template

Hi [first name], starting [date] we are moving our bookings to a new system. Your [pack/membership] and your [X] remaining classes are already set up there, and your regular [day, time] spot is saved. You will get an email from [system name] to set your password. If anything looks wrong, reply to this message and we will fix it the same day.

After the switch

• Keep read-only access to the old system for at least one billing cycle, if the old vendor allows it, to answer credit disputes.
• Check the first two weeks of waitlist and fixed-spot behavior yourself before you trust it.
• Cancel the old subscription only after the last renewal has moved over.

If you also teach yoga, our best yoga studio software comparison uses the same approach for mat-based studios.

Summary

• A reformer studio needs equipment-based capacity, fixed recurring spots, an automatic waitlist, and packs and memberships side by side. Spot maps and branded apps matter more as you grow.
• Published prices on November 9, 2026 (approximate): Punchpass $59 to $149/mo, Arketa Individual $49/mo, WellnessLiving Starter $69/mo, Mindbody from $79/mo, Walla from $299/mo per location. Momence and Glofox are quote only.
• On Mindbody, Pick-a-Spot starts at Accelerate, not Starter. On Punchpass, memberships start at Flow.
• Card processing fees are separate for every tool. Ask for the rate in writing.
• Use the demo checklist and make vendors show each workflow on screen.
• When switching, protect remaining credits and fixed spots first, then tell clients in one clear message.