Mindbody Review 2026: Do the Marketplace Fees Pay Off?
5 february 2026 • BY LC
Running a salon, spa, or wellness business has always meant juggling multiple tools: one for appointments, another for payments, a separate system for client management, marketing, and more.
Mindbody promises to consolidate all of these functions into a single platform, offering booking, POS, marketing, loyalty, and reporting under one roof.
In theory, this all-in-one approach should save time and streamline operations for solo providers and multi-staff businesses alike. In practice, however, high subscription costs, additional marketplace fees, and difficult-to-reach support make the platform a more complicated choice than its polished interface suggests.
So what do users really think of Mindbody, and do the features justify the costs? Let’s break down where it works and where it falls short.
First:
Mindbody’s pricing model is tiered and scoped to businesses that want a full-service operations and client management platform, but it’s a lot less simple to budget for than some rivals. Plans start at about $99–$129 per month per location for basic scheduling, payments, client profiles, reporting, and listing in the Mindbody consumer app, though many gyms and studios report entry pricing closer to $129–$159/mo. in practice.1
It's worth noting that Mindbody's pricing is not openly displayed on their website; a demo must be scheduled first. The following pricing data has been pulled from consumer reviews and relevant articles.
Starter Plan: ~$129–$159/mo. — foundational scheduling, class and appointment booking, payment processing, staff management, basic reporting, and app listing.
Accelerate Plan: ~$259–$279/mo. — adds richer tools like automated marketing, advanced reporting, resource management, and lead capture.
Ultimate Plan: ~$399–$499/mo. — more advanced analytics, retention marketing (email/SMS automations), review prompts, and referral programs.
Ultimate Plus / Enterprise: Custom pricing — top-end capabilities, dedicated account support, and scalable features for multi-location enterprises.
There’s no free or forever-free plan, and add-ons like branded mobile apps, or enhanced SMS/email marketing can push total costs significantly higher. Payment processing fees (typically a percentage + per-transaction charge) and setup/onboarding costs are also common extras most studios factor into their budgets.
Note: If clients find your business through Mindbody’s marketplace and purchase any of your promoted intro offers, Mindbody charges a 20% marketplace/marketing fee on the total purchase price, which gets deducted from what you actually receive for that service.
Mindbody’s pricing can deliver deep operational and marketing features for beauty and wellness studios that will use them, but the real monthly outlay often exceeds the headline subscription when you include transaction costs, marketplace fees, and necessary upgrades, especially for larger or fast-growing businesses.
When evaluating Mindbody, it’s important to look beyond scheduling and consider how well the platform lets you tailor the client experience, your internal workflows, and the way your brand shows up across booking touchpoints.
Mindbody allows you to customize service menus, class schedules, automated client communications, intake forms, and booking widgets to align with your brand and operations. You can control how appointments, memberships, and classes are displayed, configure staff permissions, and tailor notifications and policies to fit your business model. While the interface itself is more standardized than highly flexible boutique platforms, Mindbody gives studios and wellness businesses meaningful control over how clients interact with their booking experience.
Mindbody is built as a comprehensive management platform for salons, spas, studios, and wellness businesses — not just a scheduler. It combines online booking and class scheduling (with waitlists and staff availability), client profiles and CRM, staff management, and integrated POS and payments into one system. You also get inventory tracking, reporting, automated email/SMS marketing, and exposure through the Mindbody consumer app, giving businesses a unified set of tools to manage daily operations and client growth in one place.
Mindbody offers a robust ecosystem of third-party integrations designed for salons, spas, and wellness businesses, connecting with tools for marketing, client management, e-commerce, reporting, and communications. Its marketplace includes partners like ClassPass, Shopify, ActiveCampaign, and Constant Contact, and businesses can also use APIs or automation platforms to link unsupported apps. Compared with basic appointment systems, Mindbody provides deeper, industry-focused connections that help streamline operations and grow client engagement.
Mindbody lets clients book appointments and services online 24/7 through multiple channels — including your website (via branded web widgets), the Mindbody consumer app, and your own branded mobile app if you choose to create one — with real‑time availability reflected instantly across all booking points. Bookings sync automatically with your business calendar, and clients receive confirmations and reminders to help reduce no‑shows. You can also capture payment details at the time of booking to help secure appointments and manage deposits or prepayments as part of the scheduling flow.
Mindbody provides a centralized, easy-to-use calendar that displays appointments, staff availability, class schedules, and service durations in real time. You can drag-and-drop to reschedule, block off time, or adjust services with just a few clicks, keeping your studio or salon schedule organized and flexible across multiple locations and staff members.
Mindbody’s built-in client management system stores detailed profiles including contact information, appointment history, purchases, preferences, and notes. This lets businesses personalize services, track client engagement, and build loyalty, while also supporting targeted marketing and retention campaigns. It’s more advanced than basic appointment notes, giving wellness and beauty businesses a full picture of each client relationship.
Mindbody allows businesses to automatically send email and SMS reminders to clients for upcoming appointments, confirmations, cancellations, and class bookings. Messages are customizable to reflect your brand voice, helping reduce no-shows, keep clients informed, and improve engagement without manual follow-up.
Mindbody offers robust reporting and analytics that track appointments, sales, staff performance, client retention, and class or service trends. These insights give salon and wellness owners the ability to make data-driven decisions, identify growth opportunities, optimize schedules, and monitor overall business health in a single dashboard.
Mindbody includes inventory management tools that let salons and wellness businesses track product stock levels, set low-stock alerts, and manage retail sales alongside service bookings. This ensures you can stay organized, avoid overselling, and maintain accurate product data across multiple locations if needed.
Mindbody offers a built-in client loyalty and rewards program that helps retain clients and incentivize repeat visits. You can set up custom rewards, track points automatically, and redeem rewards at checkout, all fully integrated with your booking and POS system to make loyalty management seamless.
Mindbody provides a website and online booking platform that lets wellness and beauty businesses showcase services, sell products, and accept appointments 24/7. You can use Mindbody’s customizable web widgets on an existing site or create a fully branded website that integrates bookings, class schedules, and client accounts, so clients can schedule and pay without leaving your site.
Mindbody features a fully integrated POS and payment system that supports credit/debit cards, mobile wallets, and prepayments for bookings or classes. Payments sync automatically with client accounts and appointments, and the system can store cards on file, handle refunds or discounts, and process transactions across multiple locations. This ensures clients have flexible payment options while your business stays organized and paid efficiently.
Mindbody includes built-in marketing tools that let salons and wellness businesses communicate with clients via email and SMS, send appointment confirmations and reminders, and promote services or classes. Its platform also supports targeted campaigns, automated promotions, and client engagement workflows, all integrated with your client database, so you can grow your business and retain clients without needing a separate marketing tool.
Mindbody has long been a go-to platform for fitness studios and wellness businesses, and its reputation is shaped by the experiences of the professionals who use it every day.
Here's what they have to say about Mindbody:
Mindbody positions itself as a full-featured, industry-focused platform for salons, spas, and wellness businesses, offering tools for booking, POS, marketing, loyalty, and reporting all in one place. In theory, its depth and integrations make it ideal for growing businesses that need more than a basic scheduling system.
In practice, however, many users find the platform frustrating and expensive at times. High subscription fees, additional marketplace charges, and a sometimes opaque pricing structure can quickly make Mindbody a costly option. Customer support is frequently cited as difficult to reach, and the platform’s complexity can lead to a steeper learning curve for small teams.
Ultimately, Mindbody is a powerful but imperfect solution. For businesses willing to navigate its higher costs and complicated setup, it can deliver comprehensive functionality. But for salons or wellness providers that value simplicity, responsiveness, and cost transparency, it may not be the most practical choice.
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