A straightforward look at both platforms — what they do well, where they fall short, and how to decide which one fits your studio.
If you run a boutique fitness studio, you have probably spent at least some time comparing Mindbody and Mariana Tek. They are the two dominant platforms in the space, they serve similar customers, and they are genuinely different products in ways that matter.
This post is not a sales pitch for either one. It is a practical breakdown of what each platform does, who it is built for, and where each one leaves studio owners on their own.
Both Mindbody and Mariana Tek are full studio management platforms. At their core, they handle the same set of problems:
If you need to run a fitness studio, both platforms can do the job. The differences come down to who they are built for, how they feel to use, and what they cost.
Mindbody has been around since 2001 and is the largest platform in the fitness and wellness space by a wide margin. Estimates put the number of businesses on Mindbody at over 60,000 globally. It is the default choice for most independent studio owners, not because it is the best tool in every category, but because it is everywhere.
Mariana Tek launched in 2016 with a specific focus on boutique fitness. It was acquired by Xplor Technologies in 2022 and has since become the platform of choice for many franchise networks, including Club Pilates, Pure Barre, barre3, and others.
| Category | Mindbody | Mariana Tek |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | Independent studios, large gyms, multi-modality businesses | Boutique franchise networks, barre, pilates, cycling |
| Starting price | ~$129/month | Not publicly listed; typically higher for independents |
| Consumer discovery app | Yes — large consumer base | No — branded app only |
| User interface | Functional but dated | Modern, clean |
| Franchise support | Possible but not optimized | Built for it |
| Third-party integrations | Large ecosystem | Growing but smaller |
| API access | Open, well-documented | Available but gated |
| Support quality | Inconsistent | Generally strong |
| Retention reporting | Limited | Limited |
The choice usually comes down to two questions.
Are you part of a franchise or planning to become one? If yes, the answer is probably decided for you. Most major boutique fitness franchise networks are standardized on Mariana Tek. Club Pilates, Pure Barre, and barre3 all run on it. If you are joining one of those networks, you will be on Mariana Tek regardless of your personal preference.
Do you rely on the Mindbody consumer app for new client discovery? If a meaningful portion of your new clients find you through the Mindbody app, switching platforms carries real risk. Mariana Tek does not have a comparable consumer-facing discovery product. Independent studios in markets where Mindbody's app is heavily used should factor this in carefully before switching.
If neither of those applies to you, the choice often comes down to how much the user experience matters to your staff. Studios that switch from Mindbody to Mariana Tek consistently report that the cleaner interface reduces staff training time and day-to-day friction. Studios that stay on Mindbody often cite the integrations ecosystem and the consumer app as reasons to stay put.
Here is the thing that does not come up in most comparisons: both Mindbody and Mariana Tek are operational platforms. They are built to run your studio, not to tell you who is about to leave it.
Both have reporting. Both show you check-in counts, revenue summaries, and membership numbers. What they do not do is look at that data and tell you: here are the five members most likely to cancel this month, here is what you should say to each of them, and here is who just cancelled this morning while you were teaching a class.
The gap this creates: most studio owners find out a member has lapsed when they notice they haven't been around in a while. By that point it has usually been 6 to 8 weeks. The member has mentally moved on. The window to have a conversation that might change their mind has closed.
This is not a criticism of either platform. It is just not what they are designed to do. They are booking and billing tools. Retention intelligence is a different problem.
StudioPulse is built on top of Mindbody (and Mariana Tek, coming soon) specifically to fill this gap. It connects to your account, pulls your data every day, and sends you a weekly email with exactly who needs your attention: who is lapsing, who just signed up, whose birthday is this week, and who cancelled their membership this morning. No dashboards. No logging in. Just your inbox.
If you are on Mindbody and want to see what that looks like for your studio, the trial is free for 30 days.
Connect to Mindbody and get your first retention report in 24 hours. Free 30-day trial, no credit card required.
Start Free TrialWorks with Mindbody. Mariana Tek support coming soon.