Frequently Asked Questions

Martial arts management software is a specialized platform designed to automate the administrative side of running a dojo or martial arts academy. It includes industry-specific features such as belt rank tracking, digital grading sheets, and automated attendance. Sport School Manager (SSM) standout as the ultimate martial arts school management software that combines these features into one easy-to-use dashboard.

While we started with a focus on martial arts (Karate, Taekwondo, BJJ), the platform is highly flexible and currently used by gymnastics clubs, cheer academies, dance schools, and yoga studios. Any school that manages recurring student memberships and class schedules can benefit from SSM.

Yes, SSM is designed for multi-tenant management. Whether you're a single dojo or a franchise with multiple locations, you can manage all your organizations under one parent account while maintaining separate student databases and financial reporting for each branch.

There is no single best product, only the best fit for how your school runs. Prioritise native belt and rank tracking, family accounts with one payment method, a self check-in kiosk, digital waivers signed by parents, and pricing that does not climb as you add students. Sport School Manager was built by a school owner around exactly those needs, and it is free for up to 20 students so you can judge it on your own data. Our buyer's guide walks through the full checklist.

Gym software tracks names, payments and class bookings. A martial arts school also needs ranks, sub-ranks and a syllabus per program, grading events with eligibility rules, time-in-grade, parents who pay for and sign on behalf of several children, and instructors who mark attendance by class rather than by door swipe. SSM models all of that natively, so belt tracking is not a custom field bolted onto a gym product. See grading and belt tracking.

Yes. Each school can have any number of programs, for example Karate, BJJ and Kickboxing, each with its own groups, ranks and syllabus. Students can be enrolled in more than one program, memberships can grant access to specific classes, and reports can be filtered by program. The same applies to gymnastics squads, yoga class packs or swim levels; see our industry solutions.

Dojo software costs vary, but SSM offers a transparent, flat-fee model. For our Professional School plan with unlimited students, it's just $89 USD/month. View our full pricing table for more details. We don't charge "success" fees or per-student costs.

Absolutely! We offer a "Free Forever" starter plan for schools with up to 20 students. For larger schools, we provide an industry-leading 90-day free trial to experience the full feature set before your first bill.

No. SSM is a month-to-month subscription service. You can upgrade, downgrade, or cancel your subscription at any time without any hidden cancellation fees or penalties.

Sport School Manager is free forever for schools with up to 20 students, with the full feature set and no card required. There is nothing to download: it runs in any browser on a laptop, iPad or Android tablet, so updates arrive automatically and your data is backed up in the cloud. Read what the free plan includes and how software pricing compares in 2026.

No. The Professional plan is a flat $89 USD per month per school with unlimited students, staff and parents. There is no setup fee, no charge for SMS templates or email, and we do not add a percentage on top of card payments. If you connect Stripe, you pay Stripe's own standard processing fee directly to Stripe. Full details on the pricing page.

Each school location is billed as its own plan under a single company billing account, so a franchise or multi-site owner gets one invoice and one company-level Owner Dashboard across every school. Small satellite locations under 20 students stay on the free plan.

Our system integrates directly with Stripe to handle recurring memberships. You can learn more in our guide on billing best practices. The automated communications system also handles failed payment notifications for you.

Yes. SSM features a powerful Grading & Syllabus engine. You can define specific requirements for every rank and even check out our guide to running graduation ceremonies for professional tips.

Yes, every SSM subscription includes a custom Parent/Student Portal. Families can log in to view grading history, download invoices, and book into upcoming classes.

Every student has one profile that holds attendance by class, rank and grading history, memberships and payments, signed documents, notes and a full activity log. Attendance flows in from the self check-in kiosk or the instructor's one-click Present checkbox, feeds grading eligibility, and triggers consecutive-absence alerts so nobody quietly disappears. Belt tracking is covered in depth in our belt tracking guide.

A parent has their own account linked to each child. The parent saves one card, receives the invoices, receipts and payment reminders for every child, and signs waivers on their behalf. Each child keeps an individual membership so class allowances, ranks and attendance stay separate, and per-student rates let you apply a sibling discount without creating a new package.

Yes. Set a school to manual billing and staff record cash, bank transfer or terminal payments with Collect Payment. The payment is applied to the oldest open invoice, a receipt can be emailed instantly, and the same Student Balances report and reminders work for manual and Stripe schools alike. See Billing & Payments.

Create a membership package with a weekly, fortnightly or monthly interval and connect Stripe. Each renewal is charged automatically, invoices and receipts are generated, and failed payments show up on the Student Balances report so you can send a one-click reminder. Class packs and one-off fees can sit alongside recurring memberships.

The Payments report shows charged, received, outstanding and credit for any date range with every invoice and status. Student Balances lists who owes what. The Owner Dashboard summarises weekly revenue, active members, new sales, leads and conversion per school, with churn and retention in Net Memberships and KPI targets in Membership Health. Everything exports to Excel or CSV. See Analytics & Reporting.

Upload your waiver, terms or consent form as a legal document, mark it required, and it is routed to the linked parent to e-sign. A public waiver link and QR code let walk-ins sign before their first class and create a lead automatically. Every signature is stored against the document version that was signed. See Digital Waivers & Forms.

Yes. Send individual emails with CC and BCC, bulk emails filtered by program, membership package or tag, event-driven templates such as welcome and birthday messages, and one-to-one SMS from a profile. Payment receipts and reminders go out from your own school email address. See Automated Communications.

Yes, we offer bulk import tools to help you transition. Our onboarding team is also available to help you map belt ranks and student history. Contact us for a data migration consultation.

Security is our top priority. We use industry-standard encryption and follow strict security protocols to ensure your student and financial information is always protected.

We offer comprehensive support including an extensive documentation portal and email support. For tips on optimization, check out our blog on improving student retention.

No installation. Sport School Manager runs in the browser on Mac, Windows, iPad and Android. The check-in kiosk is a locked browser page on any tablet, and parents and students use the portal from their phones. Staff need only a login.

A new school can register, create programs and classes and start taking check-ins the same day using the guided setup wizard. If you are moving from another system, bulk import brings students, parents and memberships across; most schools are fully live within a week, and our team will help map belt ranks and history.

Each school sets its own currency (USD, AUD, CAD, EUR, GBP and MKD), time zone, and date and time format. Prices, invoices, receipts and reports all follow the school's setting, so multi-country companies work from one account.