Research & sources
Where our pricing claims come from.
Our Total Cost of Ownership calculator quotes specific numbers: base plans, add-ons, processing rates, contract terms, and export fees. This page is the receipt. Every number traces back to a public source you can verify yourself.
Sources were verified on 2026-04-23. Competitor prices change; if you spot a number that looks stale, let us know and we will update it.
How we build the 12-month numbers
We start from the vendor's own published pricing page. Where a vendor obscures the real monthly bill behind "custom quote" or per-calendar scaling, we cross-check against third-party pricing teardowns written by competitors and consultants (Gymdesk, GlossGenius, Pabau, StudioStackPro). We add payment processing using the rates each vendor actually charges, applied against a revenue assumption for each business size. We include the add-ons that wellness customers almost always end up buying (branded app, SMS reminders, email marketing, website builder) because ignoring them produces a fiction the studio owner does not recognize.
The resulting 12-month total is conservative: we use the low end of each range, we use the published floor price rather than aggregator estimates of the real quote, and we do not include setup fees or contract-renewal price hikes (which several vendors routinely charge).
Vendor pricing pages
Primary sources: each vendor's own pricing page.
- Mindbody Business Pricing (Starter, Accelerate, Ultimate, Ultimate Plus)
- Acuity Scheduling Plans (Starter $20, Standard $34, Premium $61; annual pricing 20% off)
- Vagaro US Pricing (per-calendar base + per-feature add-ons)
- Booker (by Mindbody) (Starter, Accelerate, Ultimate, Ultimate Plus; 12-month minimum)
Third-party pricing teardowns
Independent write-ups that publish the actual monthly numbers vendors ask customers to keep quiet. We use these to ground the mid-tier and enterprise prices Mindbody does not rate-card.
Contracts, cancellation, and data export
The most important numbers are the ones vendors do not put on pricing pages. Contract length, 30-day auto-renew notice, and data-export fees all live in terms of service and support docs.
- Mindbody: Contracts, Cancellation, Data Exports Mindbody's own blog post on contract terms.
- Exporting From Mindbody (Gymdesk migration guide) Gymdesk is a competitor; their migration guide cites a paid export fee offered only on cancellation. Mindbody's own TOS §8.3 confirms "additional fees may apply" without publishing the number.
- Mindbody Branded App Launch Requirements (Support FAQ)
- Acuity: Sending appointment reminders via text Confirms SMS reminders require Standard tier or higher.
- Acuity Scheduling pricing, billing, invoices (Squarespace)
- Squarespace transaction fees & payment processing
- Mindbody marketplace commission (Gymdesk) Documents the 20% commission on new client first purchases via the Mindbody consumer app.
Customer reviews and complaints
Review-site corpora for Mindbody, Vagaro, and Booker. We read these to calibrate what actual customers say, not to cherry-pick dissatisfied voices. When we cite a quote on our landing page, it comes from one of these corpora and we link to the specific review.
What is not fully verified
We flag uncertain numbers on the landing page and in this list so you can decide how much weight to give them.
- Mindbody data-export fee: Gymdesk's migration guide cites a paid export on cancellation. Mindbody's TOS confirms additional fees may apply but does not publish the number. We cite Gymdesk as the source, not Mindbody.
- Mindbody Marketing Suite pricing: aggregator range of $75 to $250 per month, not rate-carded. We show a range, not a point estimate.
- Vagaro branded app price: public page shows $100 per month; older founder docs cite $200. We use the current $100 figure with a footnote.
- Mindbody Starter floor: aggregators quote $99, $129, and $139 as "current." We use $139 as the most-recent 2026 number.
Have a source we should add?
If you run a studio and have a bill that contradicts our numbers, we want to see it. Send it over and we will cite it.