Gym software: what it needs and when custom pays off

Anyone searching for “gym software” almost always has one already. It just can't keep up. Billing fails and someone has to call the member. The turnstile lets in people who owe. The churn spreadsheet is built by hand, when it's built at all. And the member who stopped showing up only appears in the report after they've canceled.

In this article I show what gym software needs to have in 2026, what changed in billing with Pix Automático, where the LGPD comes in, and how to choose between off-the-shelf software and a system built for your operation.

The gym market grew, and operations got heavier

Brazil has 41,332 gyms, the third-highest number in the world after the United States and India, according to the Health & Fitness Association's 2025 Global Report, cited by Diario de Pernambuco in July 2026. Counting active business registrations, the Panorama Setorial Fitness Brasil puts the number at 22,581 in 2015 and just over 60,000 in 2025, as reported by Jornal da USP in April 2026.

Globally, the industry keeps growing. The HFA reported in August 2025 that between 2023 and 2024, membership rose 6%, revenue rose 8% on average and the number of locations grew almost 4%, across the nearly 30 countries in the survey.

More gyms means more competition for the same member. The fight comes down to how easy it is to sign up, pay, get in and book a class. All of that is software.

What gym software needs to have

I split it into four blocks. If one of them fails, the team goes back to pen and paper.

• Members, plans and contracts. Member, plan, term, freezes, transfers between locations, dependents and corporate sales. This is where your business rules live.
• Recurring billing. Recurring credit card, Pix Automático and boleto, with automatic retries when a payment fails and a notice to the member before blocking.
• Access control. Turnstile integration: lets in members who are paid up, blocks those who aren't, logs every entry. It can be a card, a QR code on the phone, biometrics or facial recognition.
• Management dashboard. Monthly revenue, delinquency, new sign-ups, cancellations and, most important, the list of who is no longer showing up.

For studios and boxes, there's a fifth block: class scheduling, with spot limits, waitlists and credit-based classes. This is similar to what I covered on the cost of an online booking system: the scheduling rules weigh most on scope.

Pix Automático: memberships without a card

Until 2025, automatic membership billing almost always depended on a credit card. Members without a card, or who didn't want to use their limit, paid by boleto or manual Pix every month. And every month someone forgot.

Banks started offering Pix Automático on June 16, 2025, according to Agência Brasil, and gyms are among the listed use cases, alongside utility bills, schools and subscriptions. It works simply:

1. The member authorizes the charge just once and can set a maximum amount.
2. Before each due date, the gym sends the charge to the member's bank.
3. The bank schedules the payment and notifies the member, who can check the amount.
4. The member can cancel anytime, right in their banking app.

It costs the member nothing. And the gym can now bill members without a card automatically too.

The takeaway if you're hiring: the system needs to treat Pix Automático as a complete billing method, with authorization, failures, cancellation and reconciliation. A “generate Pix” button won't cut it. If your current software doesn't offer this, it's one of the first questions to ask.

Biometrics at the turnstile and the LGPD

Facial and fingerprint recognition at the turnstile solve a real problem: members lending out their card. But they come with an obligation. Article 5 of the General Data Protection Law classifies “genetic or biometric data, when linked to a natural person” as sensitive personal data.

In practice, the system needs to:

• record the member's consent clearly;
• store biometrics with more protection than the rest of the profile;
• limit who on the team can view and export this data;
• delete biometrics when the member leaves, unless there's another legal basis to keep them.

If you're switching systems, also ask where the data lives and whether it leaves with you. At the Studio, code, files and logins are in the client's name.

Off-the-shelf or custom gym software

There's off-the-shelf software for gyms of every size, and for many it's the right choice. The reasoning is the same one I laid out in custom system or off-the-shelf software: you pay a monthly fee and accept the tool's rules.

Off-the-shelf software is usually enough when:

• the gym has one location, or a few, with the same operation;
• plans are monthly, quarterly and annual, without many exceptions;
• the turnstile is from a manufacturer the tool already supports;
• the vendor's generic app works for members.

A custom system starts to pay off when:

• it's a chain with several locations and different rules by market, franchise or price tier;
• the model is your own: credit-based classes, hybrid in-person and online packages, family memberships, corporate sales;
• you want an app and member area with your brand, not the vendor's;
• the gym needs to talk to existing systems, like an ERP, CRM, training platform or corporate wellness partners;
• the software fee, plus extra modules, already costs more than owning your own system.

There's a middle path: keep the off-the-shelf software for operations and build custom only what sets you apart, like the member app or the chain dashboard.

What drives the price of gym software

I don't publish a price list, because the same name, “gym software,” covers very different projects. What weighs on the budget:

• Number of locations and rules per location. One rule is one system; ten exceptions are another.
• Payment methods. Recurring card, Pix Automático, boleto, automatic retries and reminder sequences.
• Type of turnstile and ID. Each manufacturer has its own integration; biometrics add the LGPD layer.
• Member app. Web, iOS and Android, with workouts, scheduling, payments and check-in.
• Integrations. ERP, accounting, WhatsApp and partners.

That's why a serious price only comes after a discovery that writes the scope. At the Studio, the price is fixed after that step and the deadline is written into the contract.

How we do it at the Studio

We start with the operation, not the screens. We map how members sign up, pay, attend and cancel, and where your team loses time today. That defines the scope of the first version: the minimum that gets the gym off spreadsheets and manual collections.

We have our in-house dev team, and design and build use Claude Code and Figma. Every system we deliver ships with an AI agent that runs daily, flags failures, suggests improvements and checks that the data makes sense. At a gym, that means catching batch billing failures, active members who haven't come in for weeks, or a turnstile that stopped logging.

As proof of timing, AI Vou Eu, an AI travel SaaS, went live in 4 weeks with the Studio. Every project has its own timeline, but the method is the same.

If your gym, studio or chain has outgrown off-the-shelf software, see how we build custom systems and SaaS and request a discovery.