Pulse Studio vs the usual suspects
Most studio platforms are feature-rich, add-on-heavy and price-shy. Here's a straight look at where we win, where we match, and where we honestly don't — yet.
Feature for feature
“Typical platforms” below reflects the big incumbent studio-management suites commonly sold in South Africa. Every claim about us links to a real, shipping feature.
| Capability | Pulse Studio | Typical platforms |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing published openly | On the homepage — R0 to R1,500/mo | Usually gated behind a demo call |
| Member mobile app | Included on every plan | Often a paid add-on (R1,500+/mo) |
| Class bookings & capacity | ||
| Waitlist with timed offers | Offer-and-confirm with push + email | Usually a simple first-come list |
| Repeating series edit/cancel with auto-refunds | ||
| Payments in ZAR via PayFast to your own account | Often routed through the platform | |
| Automatic monthly invoicing & pro-rata | ||
| Once-off class packs & drop-ins (no forced subscriptions) | Per-package billing model | Often subscription-first |
| Digital waivers with e-signature | ||
| QR check-in & attendance | Any phone camera — no hardware | Often a paid access-control add-on |
| Lead capture & pipeline | Included | Typically a paid CRM add-on (R1,500+/mo) |
| Website schedule widget | ||
| Reports: fill rate, revenue, attendance, growth | ||
| Workout programming & performance tracking | Not our focus — we do operations | Some platforms include this |
| Debit orders | On our roadmap | |
| Setup fees / long-term contracts | None — cancel anytime | Setup fees are common |
Comparison reflects publicly advertised capabilities of major studio-management platforms as at July 2026. Every platform differs — the honest move is a side-by-side trial, which is why ours is free.
The maths for a 100-member studio
Base subscription plus a member app — the two things every studio ends up wanting.
Pulse Studio
R800/month
Medium plan, member app included, no setup fee, no contract.
Typical platform
R3,000+/month
±R1,900 base band + ±R1,500 branded-app add-on, often plus a setup fee.
That difference pays a coach for a weekend of classes. Every month. See our full pricing →