---
title: "Palaestral and Mindbody"
description: "Palaestral and Mindbody side by side: booking, payments, packs, waivers, client records, studios and cost, each statement about Mindbody linked to its source."
canonical: "https://palaestral.com/compare/mindbody"
---

# Palaestral and Mindbody

## Which is better, Palaestral or Mindbody?

It depends on what you run. Mindbody's own pricing page says it fits small businesses and solo entrepreneurs, growing businesses and multi-location businesses in fitness, beauty and wellness, and that it may not fit an independent, one-person operator who rents time at a shared location and only needs basic booking and payments.[^1] Palaestral suits an independent instructor who sells their own time: one link that takes the booking, collects a signed waiver for every person and charges the card into the instructor's own Stripe account. Instructor signups for Palaestral open in January 2027.

palaestral.com/i/your-name

Sample Coach

Surf, running, yoga and strength — sample data

1. Tue, Jun 8 · 6:30 AM $55.00 Dawn patrol · Surf 2 of 3 seats taken
2. Thu, Jun 10 · 5:30 PM $20.00 Track intervals · Running 3 of 3 seats taken Full — join the queue of 6
3. Sat, Jun 12 · 8:00 AM $55.00 Beginners · Surf 2 of 3 seats taken

Sample data. Not a real instructor or client.

Who each one suits
| Who | What matters | Fits |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Small businesses and solo entrepreneurs, growing businesses and multi-location businesses in fitness, beauty and wellness | Mindbody[^1] |
| An independent, one-person operator who rents time at a shared location | Basic booking and payments | Mindbody may not fit, by its own page[^1] |
| An independent instructor who sells their own time | One link that takes the booking, collects a signed waiver for every person and charges the card into the instructor's own Stripe account | Palaestral |

## What is Mindbody?

Mindbody is management software for fitness, beauty and wellness businesses that combines client management, scheduling for classes and appointments, and a point of sale.[^2] It says more than 40,000 businesses are powered by Mindbody.[^2] It also runs the Mindbody app, where it says over 3 million active users search, book and buy.[^2]

## What is Palaestral?

Booking, waivers and payments for an instructor who sells their own time, such as surf, yoga, running or strength, where one instructor is a complete customer. There is no marketplace, no feed and no ranking: people reach an instructor's page through the instructor's own links and through search, never through a Palaestral directory of instructors.

Instructor signups open in January 2027. Until then the list on [Get started](https://palaestral.com/start) is open, and [the demo](https://palaestral.com/try) runs Palaestral's own screens in a browser over a made-up week.

## How does booking work in each?

Mindbody

Mindbody's pricing table marks three things as included on every plan: class schedules and appointment booking embedded on the business's own website, a customized website, and a listing on the Mindbody app.[^1] The same page notes that not all features are available in all regions or on all tiers.[^1] The table adds, from the Accelerate plan up, room and resource management and Pick-a-Spot, which lets members choose their spot when booking a class.[^1]

Palaestral

On Palaestral, an instructor's page lives at palaestral.com/i/your-name, under a name that is theirs, and lists the next 14 days of times anybody can book. A lesson's days and hour are set once, and its times are made 120 days ahead in the lesson's own time zone. A private lesson has one seat and a small group has more, and nothing can book the instructor into two places at once. A full time takes a queue of 2 places for every seat, and a freed seat is held for the next person in line. A client books with a name and an email address, with no account to make and nothing to install, and can move their own booking up to 3 times while cancelling would still refund it in full.

## How do payments work, and whose account is paid?

Mindbody

Mindbody offers its own processing, Mindbody Payments, which it says is powered by Stripe.[^2] Mindbody does not require Mindbody Payments, and a business can use a third-party processor of its choice.[^1] With Mindbody Payments, Mindbody says memberships bill automatically each cycle and late-cancel and no-show fees are charged automatically under the business's cancellation policy.[^1]

Palaestral

On Palaestral, a client pays by card on Stripe's own payment page, into a Stripe account that belongs to the instructor. The instructor is the merchant: the money is theirs, Stripe bills its processing to them, and any 1099-K is issued in their name. Stripe pays the balance out on the schedule that account sets, and the instructor's money never sits with Palaestral on the way: the one part of a payment that passes through is a studio's share, where the instructor teaches at a studio that keeps one. There are no bank debits. A booking is refunded on the terms it was sold under, and a chargeback is the instructor's to answer from their own Stripe dashboard.

## What about packs, memberships and waivers?

Mindbody

Mindbody's plans include intro offers and automatic membership renewals.[^1] Mindbody says waivers can be required and are typically completed as a digital acknowledgment, like a checkbox, with a timestamp, during booking, account creation or at the front desk, and that signature behaviour can vary by flow.[^2] Mindbody's forms are a separate tool, which can be required, often per service, and can include a digital signature.[^2]

Palaestral

On Palaestral, a membership charges one price a month for a number of visits or unlimited ones, and a member can pause for up to 90 days. A lesson pack sells lessons used as they are booked, any pack can be bought as a gift, and a client can make a lesson weekly to keep their seat. A booking is confirmed only once the instructor's waiver is signed for every person on it, each by name, and for anyone under 18 by a parent or guardian. A signed waiver is kept for 5 years, or a child's until they are 20, whichever is later, and nobody can delete one before then.

## What does each keep about a client?

Mindbody

Mindbody includes client management for tracking client information and relationships, and its Business app gives staff access to client account and profile information.[^2]

Palaestral

On Palaestral, everybody who books, buys a pack, is given lessons or pays for a membership month is on one record of what they booked, signed and paid. An instructor's notes about a client are kept 24 months from the day each was written, and a studio the instructor teaches at sees none of them. A copy of everything Palaestral holds about the instructor arrives as one file: each record a spreadsheet and each signed waiver a page.

## What if several people teach at one place?

Mindbody

Mindbody includes unlimited users per location on every plan.[^1] It says staff schedules, automatic substitutions and staff permissions are all managed within Mindbody.[^2]

Palaestral

On Palaestral, a studio is a place with a roster, where each person holds a seat as an owner, a manager or an instructor. Whoever teaches stays the merchant, paid into their own Stripe account, and the studio's share of each seat is taken from that payment and paid on to the studio.

## What does each cost?

Mindbody

As read on October 20, 2026, Mindbody's pricing page says plans start at $79 USD a month per location in North America and Asia, and its Starter, Accelerate and Ultimate plans each show "Let's talk" in place of a price.[^1] Mindbody Payments charges a processing rate plus a fixed fee of $0.10 to $0.30 per transaction in North America and Asia.[^1] Mindbody charges nothing to list a business on its app; a fee of 20%, capped at $30 USD, applies only to the first purchase by someone new whom the app delivered.[^1] Mindbody charges no onboarding fee.[^1]

Palaestral

Palaestral's pricing is set before signups open in January 2027, and nothing is charged before then. Card processing is Stripe's, billed to the instructor's own Stripe account, which sets the rate they pay; Stripe's standard US card rate is 2.9% + 30¢ a charge as of October 20, 2026.[^3] A client pays exactly the price an instructor lists, and nothing is added to it.

## How would I move from Mindbody?

Mindbody

Mindbody says cancellation is typically handled through the Mindbody account or Customer Support, and may require advance notice depending on the plan and billing terms agreed.[^1]

Palaestral

Palaestral takes a spreadsheet of the people an instructor already teaches, up to 1,000 rows at a time: names and email addresses, notes and the lessons each has left. Every line is shown before anything is written, nobody in the list is told anything unless the instructor asks, and an import can be undone for 14 days while nobody has been told and none of its lessons has been spent.

## Sources

[^1]: [https://www.mindbodyonline.com/business/pricing](https://www.mindbodyonline.com/business/pricing) (read October 20, 2026)
[^2]: [https://www.mindbodyonline.com/](https://www.mindbodyonline.com/) (read October 20, 2026)
[^3]: [https://stripe.com/pricing](https://stripe.com/pricing) (read October 20, 2026)

Mindbody and its marks belong to their owner, which is not affiliated with Palaestral and has not reviewed this page.

[Get started](https://palaestral.com/start)