Mindbody is a cloud service billed monthly per location. On its European pricing page the Starter tier starts at €99 a month, with Accelerate and Ultimate above it; payments you take carry a processing rate plus $0.10–0.30 per transaction. In return you get online booking, payments, website widgets, email and SMS marketing on the top tier, and a consumer app the company says has more than 3 million users.
cronowiz Studio does a narrower job: running the front desk. It is a program for Windows 10/11 and 64-bit Linux, made by YPT Srl in Italy, that keeps members, medical certificates, plans, memberships, the schedule and reports in a single database file on the gym’s computer. It costs €199 once, the licence is valid forever for the major version purchased with all its updates, and after purchase it runs without internet and without an account. Members and athletes are unlimited, with no per-member fee.
The arithmetic is simple: at the stated European starting price, €199 is about two months of Starter for one location. It is not a like-for-like comparison, because Mindbody does things Studio does not. But if your gym does not use those things, you are paying every month for features that sit idle.
Side by side
| Criterion | cronowiz Studio | Mindbody |
|---|---|---|
| Model | Desktop program, one-time licence | Cloud subscription |
| Price | €199 once, updates included | From €99/month per location (Starter, EU page); $79/month in North America and Asia |
| Payment fees | None (does not process payments) | Processing rate plus $0.10–0.30 per transaction |
| Where data lives | A file on the gym’s computer | Not stated (cloud service) |
| Works offline | Yes, after purchase | Not stated; no offline mode documented |
| Platforms | Windows 10/11, 64-bit Linux | Web, phone and tablet |
| Client app | No | Yes: Mindbody app; branded app as an add-on |
| Online booking and payment | No | Yes |
| Email and SMS marketing | No | Yes, on Ultimate |
Information about other products checked on their websites on 2026-10-07. Prices and features may change.
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A purchase, not a subscription
€199 once, updates included. No transaction fees, because Studio does not process payments.
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Data on the gym’s computer
one local database file with full backup and exact restore. The licence server only receives an anonymous fingerprint of the machine.
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The whole front desk
members, competitive and non-competitive medical certificates, memberships with suspension and refunds, classes with capacity and a waiting list.
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Who might not renew
a list of members attending less, inactive for 14+ days or expiring without renewal, plus the monthly trend.
Two models: cloud subscription or a licence on your PC
A cloud service lives on the vendor’s servers. You open it from any browser, clients get an app, and updates arrive without you doing anything. The price is the subscription: you pay for as long as you use it, it grows with locations and tiers, and without a connection the system stops.
A desktop program like Studio lives on the gym’s computer. You pay once, the data sits in a file you can copy and keep wherever you like, and the front desk keeps working if the line goes down. The price is convenience: no web version or app, and backups are your job, done from the settings in one click.
When Mindbody is the better choice
Mindbody is the right choice if clients need to book and pay on their own, from a phone or your website; if you want card payments and recurring billing in the same system; if you run email or SMS campaigns; if you manage several locations; or if you want to be found by people using the Mindbody consumer app. Studio has none of these.
The same goes if you are often on the road and want the system on your phone: Studio runs on a PC, and there is no web version.
A working day with Studio
When you open it, the overview shows what needs attention: memberships expired, expiring today, this week or within 30 days, with phone numbers next to them. At the desk you sell or renew a plan with a fixed duration in days or months, a price and an enrolment fee; a suspension pushes the end date forward, a cancellation records the refund.
The schedule has day, week and month views, recurring classes by room and instructor, capacity, a waiting list with automatic promotion, no-shows, and one-off appointments such as personal training or a free trial, with clash detection. At month end the report compares active, new and lost members, renewals, sales and bookings with the previous month, and exports to CSV.
Your gym in one program. Your data in your gym.
Windows and Linux · €199 once, no subscription
The questions people usually ask
Is cronowiz Studio a free Mindbody alternative?
No. Studio costs €199 once, with no subscription. The cronowiz athlete app and cw·dashboard are free, but they are not gym management software.
Can members book classes themselves?
No. Bookings are entered by the front desk in Studio’s schedule. If you need clients to book online, Mindbody or another cloud service is a better fit.
Can I take card payments like with Mindbody?
No. Studio records sales, renewals and refunds of memberships, but it does not process card payments or recurring billing. You take the money with the terminal or method you already use.
Does it run on a Mac?
No. Studio runs on Windows 10/11 and 64-bit Linux (AppImage or .deb). There is no macOS version and no web version.
What happens to my data if I stop using it?
It stays where it is: in a file on your computer, which you can fully back up at any time. Reports export to CSV. There is no account to close.
Are the Mindbody prices current?
They are taken from Mindbody’s official pricing page, checked on 7 October 2026. They vary by region and can change.
