Ruunly vs Mindbody
Mindbody owns ClassPass discovery. Ruunly owns the membership engine.
Let's be direct about two things. First, Mindbody's ClassPass marketplace (3.7M monthly users) is a real discovery channel no other fitness platform can match — if 20%+ of your new members come from ClassPass, that moat is hard to leave. Second, Ruunly does not actively serve the gym/fitness vertical today; we're completing state-by-state membership-compliance work first. If you're shopping fitness software anyway, here's how the underlying membership engine compares — $19/mo entry vs Mindbody Essential at $99/mo per location, month-to-month vs Mindbody's 12-month contract, no ClassPass commission and no ClassPass marketplace either.
Ruunly
$19/mo
website + billing + portal
Mindbody
$99/mo per location
Mindbody Essential (Starter) plan starts at $99/mo per location with a 12-month contract minimum. Accelerate is $259-279/mo per location, Ultimate (the lowest tier including email/SMS marketing) is $499-699/mo per location. Published pricing varies by negotiation. Payment processing (2.75-3.5%) and the 20% ClassPass marketplace commission are billed on top. Source
Why service businesses switch to Ruunly
Documented 486% price escalation over 10 years
Long-time Mindbody customers have publicly documented a pattern of compounding renewal hikes — the same customer profile that paid about $80/mo in 2015 was paying roughly $469/mo in 2026. Multiple 2023-2025 reports cite 30%+ year-over-year increases with no new features announced. Combined with the March 2026 EGYM merger, the next renewal cycle is the highest-uncertainty pricing moment Mindbody customers have faced in years.
1.2-star Sitejabber reputation, broad post-cancellation billing complaints
Mindbody scores roughly 4.0/5 on G2 but 1.2/5 on Sitejabber. The most consistent Sitejabber complaints across years: mid-contract price hikes, being charged after explicitly cancelling, slow support, contract lock-in tactics, and difficulty exporting data when leaving. The pattern is too consistent to dismiss as cherry-picked.
EGYM merger uncertainty (March 2026)
In March 2026, Playlist (parent of Mindbody, ClassPass, and Booker) merged with EGYM in a $7.5B deal. Full impact on existing customers is unfolding — concerns include potential price hikes as the combined entity pursues synergies, feature roadmap shifts, and changes to ClassPass partner economics. The 12-month contract minimum makes that uncertainty hard to wait out.
Month-to-month vs 12-month contract
Mindbody's standard contract is 12 months with early-termination penalties, and some agreements auto-renew. Ruunly is month-to-month with no early-termination fee and no auto-renewing multi-year term — cancel at the end of any billing period without a phone call.
20% ClassPass commission on marketplace bookings
Mindbody owns ClassPass. Bookings that originate from the ClassPass marketplace pay Mindbody a 20% commission per appointment. That's the trade for discovery from 3.7M monthly marketplace users. Ruunly has no marketplace commission — and is honest that it has no marketplace either, so you build discovery via your own website, SEO, and email.
2.75-3.5% payment processing on top of subscription
Mindbody's built-in payment processing runs 2.75-3.5% on every transaction, charged on top of the monthly software fee. Ruunly uses Stripe Connect tied to your own Stripe account at Stripe's standard rates, plus a transparent Ruunly platform fee disclosed on the pricing page — payouts go directly to you on Stripe's schedule.
Feature comparison
| Feature | Ruunly | Mindbody |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | ||
| Starting price (monthly billing) | $19/mo flat | $99/mo per location (Essential), 12-month contract minimum[src] |
| Mid-tier (for resource management, analytics) | $59/mo Pro (flat) | $259-279/mo per location (Accelerate)[src] |
| Tier required for email + SMS marketing | Pro tier ($59/mo) | Ultimate tier ($499-699/mo per location)[src] |
| Enterprise / multi-location ceiling | Growth $129/mo (flat per tenant, not per location) | $700+/mo per location (Ultimate Plus, contract negotiated)[src] |
| Payment processing | Stripe standard rates passthrough + transparent Ruunly platform fee | 2.75% – 3.5% per transaction (Mindbody-controlled processor)[src] |
| Marketplace commission | None — no marketplace either, you build discovery yourself | 20% ClassPass commission per marketplace booking[src] |
| Contract minimum | Month-to-month, cancel anytime | 12-month contract typical, early-termination penalty[src] |
| Per-location pricing | Flat per-tenant pricing | Per location — multiply monthly fee by location count[src] |
| Website | ||
| Website builder included | AI-built site, plan-signup-ready in under 10 minutes | No — embeddable booking widgets only, bring your own website[src] |
| Custom domain | Pro+ | Not applicable (no website builder)[src] |
| Built-in blog / SEO content engine | Growth tier — AI-assisted blog + city landing pages | No native blog or content engine[src] |
| Billing | ||
| Membership lifecycle (join, pause, freeze, resume, cancel) | Built in from Starter — customer self-serve from portal | Yes, but configuration depth gated behind higher tiers + support tickets[src] |
| Self-serve plan signup from website | Built in — customers pick a plan and check out themselves | Via Mindbody/ClassPass marketplace or embedded widget on your own site[src] |
| Tenant-owned Stripe account | No — Mindbody controls the payment processor setup[src] | |
| Customers | ||
| Client portal | Service client portal with billing, plan, and messaging | Yes — via Mindbody consumer app + branded app add-on[src] |
| White-label native mobile app | PWA only — not a native white-label app | Branded mobile app available on Ultimate tier as paid add-on[src] |
| Operations | ||
| Scheduling (class capacity, waitlists, recurring) | Job scheduling, On-My-Way share-link with live ETA, crew timesheets | Class scheduling with capacity, waitlists, room/resource booking, recurring[src] |
| Marketing | ||
| Email + SMS campaigns | Included on Pro tier ($59/mo) — sequences, broadcasts, no per-message overage | Ultimate tier ($499-699/mo per location); SMS volume-priced with overages[src] |
| Lead inbox + booking-request capture | Included on Pro tier ($59/mo) | Lead management gated to Ultimate tier ($499-699/mo per location)[src] |
| Review requests + NPS surveys | Included on Pro tier ($59/mo) | Not built-in — third-party integrations only[src] |
| Crew | ||
| Crew time clock + timesheets | Built in (field-service crews) | Class instructor scheduling only — no timekeeping or payroll[src] |
| Reporting | ||
| Pre-built reports | Core membership + revenue reporting | 100+ pre-built reports (fitness-vertical depth)[src] |
| Integrations | ||
| ClassPass marketplace integration | Not available — Mindbody owns ClassPass | Native ClassPass sync (40K+ studios, 3.7M monthly marketplace users)[src] |
| QuickBooks Online sync | Growth tier | Via Mindbody API / third-party (not native)[src] |
| AI | ||
| AI website + content generation | AI-built website at signup; Growth tier adds AI content suggestions | No AI website builder or AI content engine[src] |
| Pricing history | ||
| Documented 10-year price escalation (same customer profile) | Flat published pricing — $19 / $59 / $129 per month, no per-location ratchet | 2015: ~$80/mo → 2026: ~$469/mo (+486%); 30%+ year-over-year hikes documented in 2023-2025[src] |
| Vendor stability | ||
| Recent corporate event | Independent company; no merger activity | March 2026: Playlist (Mindbody parent) merged with EGYM in a $7.5B deal[src] |
| Best for | ||
| Ideal use case | Service-business owners selling monthly plans from their own website | Established fitness/wellness studios dependent on ClassPass discovery and 100+ fitness-vertical reports |
| Vertical fit today | Field-service verticals (lawn, cleaning, pool, handyman, HVAC); gym/fitness intentionally not launched yet | Fitness, wellness, yoga, pilates, boutique gyms (deep vertical-specific tooling) |
Common questions
Does Ruunly serve gyms and fitness studios today?
Not yet, fully. Ruunly's current verticals are field-service businesses — lawn care, cleaning, pool service, handyman, HVAC. Gym and fitness is a hidden vertical while we complete the legal-compliance work specific to membership-based fitness in the US: state-by-state cancellation requirements (California's 5-day cooling-off, New York's 3-day cooling-off plus 15-day renewal window, etc.), military-relocation rights under SCRA, jurisdiction-aware disclosure templates. We're not promising a launch date — we'd rather ship it right than ship it fast. This comparison page exists so studio operators evaluating fitness software can see how the underlying membership engine compares to Mindbody; it is not a claim that we serve gyms in production today.
What does Mindbody actually cost a 500-member studio?
Mindbody Essential is $99/mo per location with a 12-month contract. To get email + SMS marketing you need Ultimate at $499-699/mo per location. A realistic monthly bill for a single-location 500-member studio on Ultimate: software fee plus 2.75-3.5% payment processing on every transaction plus 20% commission on every ClassPass marketplace booking. The advertised software fee is consistently the smallest part of the real bill. See /mindbody-pricing for the full breakdown.
What is the Mindbody 486% price-escalation pattern?
Long-time customers have publicly documented price increases averaging 486% over 10 years — the same customer profile paid roughly $80/mo in 2015 and roughly $469/mo in 2026. Multiple 2023-2025 reports cite 30%+ year-over-year hikes with no new features announced. Because contracts run 12 months minimum, you sign at one price during a sales push and absorb a steep increase at the next renewal. The pattern is documented across Sitejabber, Capterra, and trade press.
What is the ClassPass commission and should I care?
Mindbody owns ClassPass. When a customer books your studio through the ClassPass marketplace (3.7M monthly users), Mindbody takes a 20% commission on that booking. If 20%+ of your new members come through ClassPass, the marketplace is a real discovery moat and the commission is the cost of that traffic. If your customers find you through word of mouth or local SEO, you're paying for marketplace plumbing you don't use — and locked into the contract that comes with it.
Can I cancel Mindbody anytime?
Generally, no. Mindbody contracts are typically 12 months minimum with early-termination penalties, and some agreements auto-renew. Customer complaints on Sitejabber and Capterra repeatedly cite post-cancellation billing — being charged after explicitly cancelling. Always get cancellation confirmation in writing and watch your statements for at least three billing cycles after cancelling.
Where is Mindbody genuinely better than Ruunly today?
Three places. (1) ClassPass discovery — 3.7M monthly marketplace users is a channel no other platform offers. (2) Fitness-vertical depth — 100+ pre-built reports specific to studios (instructor productivity, class attendance cohorts, peak-hour utilization), plus native class capacity, waitlists, and room/resource booking honed over 20 years. (3) Branded native mobile app — Ultimate-tier studios get a white-label app for members; Ruunly's portal is a PWA, which works but isn't the same. We're not going to pretend the pricing and contract problems erase those real strengths.
Why is Ruunly not just a cheaper Mindbody for gyms?
Because we're being honest about scope. The membership engine, the website builder, the customer portal, the lifecycle flows (join, pause, freeze, resume, cancel from a portal) all genuinely work for service businesses today. What's not in production for the gym vertical specifically is the state-by-state membership-compliance layer — cooling-off windows, SCRA military rights, jurisdiction-aware cancellation disclosures. Until that's done, calling Ruunly a Mindbody replacement for fitness studios would be reckless. The honest framing is: if you're shopping fitness software and would benefit from a heads-up when our gym vertical launches with full compliance support, this page is the place to start the conversation.
What about the March 2026 EGYM merger?
In March 2026, Playlist (parent of Mindbody, ClassPass, and Booker) merged with EGYM in a $7.5B deal. The full impact on Mindbody customers is unfolding. Concerns include: (1) potential price hikes as the combined entity pursues synergies, (2) feature roadmap uncertainty as priorities shift, (3) ClassPass partner economics could change. For studios mid-contract or facing a renewal decision in 2026, the merger raises the cost of waiting to see how it plays out.
Sources
Comparison facts last verified against Mindbody's public pages on . Pricing and features can change — always confirm on the vendor's own site before switching. If you see something out of date, email [email protected] and we'll fix it.