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Manage and Grow Your Fitness Business Better with Exercise.com. Learn more below.
Choose Exercise.com’s All-In-One Fitness Business Management Software. Review our head-to-head PunchPass software comparison and see for yourself. Get a custom web and smartphone app designed for your brand with additional customization available throughout your custom-built software. Grow your business, turn leads into clients, and increase revenue.
There are many thoughts that go into running a successful fitness business, and choosing a software company is one that deserves a great deal of consideration. You want to choose a system that will provide all the services you need for your business while maintaining a smooth operation.
You have many choices when considering software, but which one will cover everything you need without making you pay for things you don’t?
In this article, we will cover the company background of PunchPass, as well as the functions, pricing, and options that go along with it. Along the way, we will show you why we think Exercise.com can provide everything you’re looking for in a software company, and how it can help accelerate your success.
If you’re intrigued by the idea of having fitness business management software that is completely customized to your business, request a demo today.
Fitness Pros Who Trust Exercise.com
PunchPass Software Review
PunchPass originated in 2013 from a discussion that founder, Chris Patton, had with an owner of a small fitness business. This owner was trying to find a simpler way to run her business and was frustrated by the software options that she had been looking into.
From this conversation, PunchPass was created. Today, it aims to service the needs of small fitness businesses, specifically targeting group classes, that want a more streamlined way to sell packages and keep track of attendance.
While the software may work well for smaller businesses, it does not encompass the needs of a larger gym or health club that may offer more services. For example, there is no mention of personal training on the PunchPass website. For many facilities, training is a main source of revenue and there needs to be a system in place that can help keep track of appointments.
A larger facility could still use PunchPass for its group exercise classes, however, it would mean that they would need additional software to accommodate the other areas of their business. With Exercise.com’s software, you are able to cover all aspects of your fitness business rather than only one specific department.
Exercise.com provides software that is entirely customizable to your business, created by a successful dev team with a proven track record. You will be able to interact with an advisory board and fitness professionals to develop a program that includes everything you need for your business.
Unless otherwise stated, all images and reviews below are of/about Exercise.com’s All-In-One Fitness Business Management software platform.
PunchPass vs Exercise.com
The most glaring difference between PunchPass and Exercise.com is in the type of fitness business that will benefit most from their software. PunchPass is exclusively designed for group fitness and therefore lacks the capacity to assist in other areas of many facilities. Exercise.com, on the other hand, can be used for all areas in a fitness facility.
When a company, such as PunchPass, markets to such a niche audience, they need to make sure they excel at everything from top to bottom, including customer service. Unfortunately for some users of PunchPass, this was not the case. One customer was dissatisfied enough to leave a review:
Customer service was very poor. Was blamed for not understanding the software when there were glitches with online payment occuring[sic] additional fees. Not a good look blaming customers. (Source: Capterra)
Exercise.com exists to help you succeed and will work for you to make it happen. Although we cater to a broader range of fitness businesses, we’d like to expand on the following areas and show you why we think we have an advantage, even in the group fitness realm.
Fitness Business Management (FBM)
From memberships to personal training to group fitness, Exercise.com’s software is capable of making things smoother for your fitness business. Rather than needing multiple software platforms to provide the tools needed for business success, you can find everything in one place. This saves time and money for you and your business since you do not need to train your employees on how to use more than one software.
The software is just as easy to use for customers as it is for your employees. They can sign-up for classes, view their personal training appointments, and track their progress all online or using your customized app.
Calendars and Booking
PunchPass is built for group fitness, and their calendar and booking methods are reflective of that. They have a schedule available for online viewing, as well as the ability to book a spot in a class via a one-time payment or from a package. These features may work well for a facility with fewer offerings or less growth potential, but for those with more offerings, there are limitations.
For larger businesses with more offerings, or those looking to grow, Exercise.com has a more user-friendly platform for both employees and clients. Our schedules can be sorted by time, day, location, or instructor and also offer the ability to sign-up in advance online. This sorting ability is especially useful for facilities that have multiple class studios and different classes that take place at the same time.
Our system also allows for clients to view personal training appointments, a feature that PunchPass does not have. There are so many facilities that offer personal training and, because of this, software companies that do not offer the ability to book and view these services are missing out on a large portion of the market. If your facility is exclusively group fitness, however, Exercise.com’s customized software will still work perfectly for your business.
Accepting Payments Securely and Easily
Using Stripe, both PunchPass and Exercise.com have the ability to accept one-time payments or purchase of packages. For PunchPass, however, this is the extent of what the software can be used for. The limited functions do not work well for businesses with a wider variety of services.
Exercise.com, on the other hand, is able to do everything that PunchPass can and more. The software has the ability to bill recurring payments for memberships, handle personal training billing, and manage products or merchandise sales. It also has the ability to send a monthly invoice to customers for all services and bills accrued during the month.
PunchPass might be effective at accepting payments for the services they provide but, again, the number of services they provide is so limited that the software does not make sense for many businesses that need to accept payments for more than group fitness.
Increase Business Efficiency With Easy Report Access
In order to stay profitable, businesses need to know which of their services are contributing, from a revenue standpoint, and which ones cost more to provide than they are worth. Exercise.com offers more than a dozen different reports to help you analyze your business. Using this information, you can evaluate your business model and decide if it needs changes or if you are on the right track.
PunchPass highlights their ability to provide monthly summaries and breakdowns, but they are unclear about what exactly is being summarized or broken down beyond revenue.
In this category, Exercise.com has a clear advantage in giving you detailed reports on all aspects of your business.
Increase Revenue With Key Business Marketing Integrations
Many businesses have success using outside tools for their business. Exercise.com makes it easy to integrate these tools and provide a seamless transition for your company. You can continue using the tools that have made you successful but do so in an integrated platform within our software. Here are a few examples of resources that can be integrated into our software to help you get the most out of your business:
- MailChimp
- ConstantContact
- ConvertKit
- Zapier
- Google Analytics
- Facebook Pixel
It helps to be able to learn and put a system in place to say ‘We have this issue with the shoulder or this elbow pain, this hip internal rotation issue’ and we’ve gone through it with 25 other guys. We’ve had good success with 24 of them so we have a game plan in place.
The flip side is if you get stuck in a rut and your systems don’t work and are not scalable you’re just like why isn’t this working. You can’t see outside the box at all. Systems help eliminate problems.
Custom-Branded Websites, Web, and Smartphone Apps
When potential customers are deciding where to take their business, their choice is made by seeing the unique features of their options. For a fitness business, this could include equipment or amenities, but these things are promoted through their brand.
Exercise.com offers customization for all apps and websites that your business uses. This shows both potential customers and current members that you are committed to providing services at a higher level than your competition. It shows that your business believes in providing tools that can be used for clients to become successful.
PunchPass offers a customizable website but, according to their own website, this is only for class schedules. PunchPass does not offer a mobile app, let alone one that is customizable.
Fully Customized to Your Brand
Given that PunchPass does not offer the creation of a website (beyond for use of a class schedule) or mobile app, it would be impossible for them to offer customization of these features. Instead, let’s focus on how Exercise.com can make your brand stand out.
People like to feel like they are a part of something, and providing customization promotes your brand as a community that people belong to. It makes them excited to tell others about their experience at your gym, rather than just about the workout they had at the gym. This is a form of marketing for your business.
When people track their progress on your custom software, they connect their results directly to your business. Sure, they could keep a log in a notebook, but giving them an online tracking platform ensures that they will think of your business each time they mark their progress.
Automation From Your Own Custom Apps
After choosing which features you want your app to include, Exercise.com offers you ways to use automation to simplify the way you run your business. A few of these options include:
- Automatic Emails and Texts/Other Automatic Features
- Highlight Exercise.com
- Automate Workout Delivery
- Automate Resource Delivery
- Automate Assessment Delivery
- Automate Reminders/Alerts via app, text, and email
Custom-Designed Website
In an increasingly digital age, it is important for businesses to have a website where people can learn basic information but also learn more about the company itself. The customization offered by Exercise.com gives you the chance to express everything you want people to know about your fitness business by showcasing your brand. Of course, business hours and services are listed, but it is done with custom colors, logos, and functionality to promote your brand. Additional custom features include:
- Responsive
- SEO optimized
- Unlimited theme changes
- Built to convert visitors to leads
- Custom graphic work
- Google Certified Partner
Security Features
Exercise.com is committed to keeping your information, as well as your clients’ information, safe and secure. Because of this, we provide the following security measures to our customers:
- SSL Secure
- Privacy Shield Framework
- Google Cloud
Integrations and Add-ons
PunchPass makes claims in regard to businesses not having to pay for things they don’t need, but they do this only by providing tiers of software rather than customizing the features a business needs for one price. PunchPass offers their Bedrock package for a fairly low price, but it does not include any of the features that they claim make their software better than the competition. Users have to upgrade to the highest tiers to even sell passes and memberships, which is one of their most touted features.
Exercise.com does not specifically offer add-ons because, well, everything you want or need is included from the start. We customize everything for your needs so you don’t have to worry about choosing a package that is “closest” to what you need. You and your business deserve everything you need, and that’s what Exercise.com provides.
In addition, Exercise.com provides customization to the integrations it offers. Ready to see our software in action? Fill out the form below for a demo.
Grow and manage your fitness business better with Exercise.com
Workout Creation and Delivery
Many fitness businesses are seeing more revenue and better results for their clients using a hybrid system of in-person workouts, via classes or personal training, and customized workouts that clients perform on their own. Exercise.com wants you and your clients to succeed in this endeavor and, because of this, our software allows you to create workouts and send them to your clients.
The PunchPass software is limited to group fitness and does not include an option to create workouts at any of their pricing levels. This means they are not only missing out on a potential market for personal training use but also on making the most out of a hybrid system to help businesses grow.
Whereas PunchPass does not allow a business to create or design workouts in any scenario, Exercise.com allows you to deliver workouts for every scenario, including:
- Workout Planning-Personal Training
- Nutrition Assistance
- Goal Setting
- Traveling Athletes
- In-Person Clients
- Trainer Logging
- Online Clients
- Hybrid Clients (in-person/online)
- Busy Professionals
Customized Workout Design and Library
Many fitness software companies offer pre-designed workouts or a library of exercises with videos of random people who are not employees of your business. With Exercise.com, workout designs and exercise libraries can be customized.
Your clients are as unique as your business and, therefore, you don’t want to give them a generic workout designed by someone who has never even met them. Using Exercise.com software, you are able to listen to the needs of your clients and construct workout plans for them which will help them reach their individual goals.
When creating these plans, you also have the opportunity to upload your own videos of exercises you want your clients to perform. This puts your brand on the workouts and gets people excited to tell their friends and family about the success they are having because of your business.
Some of the software features include:
- Workout Plan Creator
- Intervals
- Alternate
- Block
- Smart Delivery
- Custom Exercise Library
- Easily Embed Your Videos into Your Platform
- Your Descriptions, Workouts, etc
Automated Delivery PDFs, Nutrition Plans, and More to Your Clients
Once you have used the Exercise.com software to create plans and programs that will help your clients succeed, you want to make it easy for them to have access. Our software allows for automated delivery of any number of plans, to your clients, to keep them on the right track. This helps hold them accountable all while making it easier on you. No more leaving yourself reminders to send updates to your client. Let our software do the work for you and set up automation.
E-Commerce/Point of Sale
PunchPass allows for purchases to be made in person or online with the point of sale portion of their software. However, the software is designed for paying for classes, meaning that customers can use it for either a single purchase or purchasing a certain number of classes in a package.
Exercise.com offers these same features, but so much more. Below are some examples.
Sell Pre-Built, Single Workout Plans (Mike Boyle)
Even though Exercise.com offers you the option to create custom programs, some people are looking for a more generic plan. This is an area in which you, as a fitness business owner, can capitalize through the use of a pre-built workout. Some people just want new ideas for leg day, or maybe their core routine is getting old. Using our software, you can have workouts ready to purchase for anyone looking for a change of pace from their usual routine.
Not only is this a potential source of revenue, but it is also built-in marketing for your business. If customers have success with your pre-built workouts, they are likely to either purchase more or utilize the services of a personal trainer to take their fitness game to the next level.
Deliver Automated Custom Programming (Dean Sommerset, AMPD)
You and your clients both have busy schedules. With Exercise.com, there is no need to add to the craziness of your lives by playing phone or email tag to deliver the latest custom workout. After you write the customized workout for the client, you can automate delivery to make life easier for you both.
Deliver Automated Monthly Programming (PJF Performance)
It is often said that training plans should change after four to six weeks in order to avoid hitting a plateau. Exercise.com provides a platform to automate this programming change. You may have clients that enjoy your pre-built workouts but either forget to make a new purchase or don’t know what to choose when its time to change their regimen.
Using our software, you can set up automated delivery of a new program every month. This helps you, as a business, because you can count on monthly revenue. It also keeps your clients on a successful path, meaning they are more likely to continue on with their program.
Deliver Annual Programming (Barbell Physio)
Clients with a long-term goal might want to commit to mapping out their success for more than just a month or two. With an annual program using the Exercise.com software, you can help your clients stay on track for an entire year. You gain the benefit of having a year’s worth of business from one client, as well as the opportunity to show what your business can do for them. At the end of their program, they may choose to utilize additional services that your business offers.
Deliver Workout of the Day Memberships (Madeline Moves)
Every day, many of us wake up to the sound of an alarm clock. Some of us bury our heads into our pillows, disgusted by the sound and how much we don’t want to get out of bed. Eventually, however, we get out of bed (after hitting snooze three of four times) and start our day.
Workout of the day memberships can work the same way. Let’s face it, there are plenty of days we don’t want to work out. Delivering a workout of the day might start out as the nagging sound that forces us to the gym but, eventually, it could turn into the sign of the start to our day.
Run Workout Challenges (Madeline Moves)
Today’s world is big on the concept of having an experience. This is part of what makes many businesses successful. You can utilize this strategy by running workout challenges for members at your gym. By designing a challenge, you are bringing your members together for a common goal, which promotes a sense of community.
Community is what makes many fitness businesses successful. Members challenge each other, support each other, and develop new friendships. The energy in this community is contagious and you may soon be getting new members simply because their friends raved to them about the fun workout challenge at your gym.
Performance Assessments
It is difficult to evaluate progress unless we have some kind of starting point to use as a comparison. This is where performance assessments can be so helpful. They give us a baseline to track our progress as we move forward in our goals.
PunchPass software does not have a portion which promotes or records performance assessments. It is a system used only for selling single classes and class packages, so it has limited capabilities for features that fitness businesses may find useful.
With Exercise.com software, you have a place to track baseline performance assessments, as well as progress along the way. This is also fully customizable to your business, meaning that you can choose what areas you assess and how you want to track progress.
The Value of Assessments
Assessments are mutually beneficial for clients and businesses. When a new member joins the gym, it is more than likely that they have a goal in mind. Without an assessment, they do not have an accurate idea of how far they need to go at the beginning or how far they’ve come after a few months of work.
From a business perspective, you have the opportunity to use the results of an assessment to show a member how your services can help them reach their goals. It could be how a personal trainer can help with weight loss or how one of your smoothies can aid in post-workout recovery. The information gained in an assessment is an invaluable way to market your business.
Complete Assessments for Clients
On any given day, you may have members join who all have different goals. One may want to improve endurance, another may want to gain muscle, and still, another might be looking to train for athletic performance. It would be impractical to use the same assessment for each of these individuals.
Exercise.com fixes this problem by allowing you to customize your assessments and tracking to each individual client if you choose. This sends a message to your members that they are not just another body in the building. It says that your business cares about their success.
Automate Client Engagement With Assessments
Once you have acquired new clients or members, you want to keep them. Sustaining your current base is easier than recruiting new customers, so it is important to keep them actively engaged with their goals and your business. By automating interactions with your clients, you can remind them of their goals and progress to make sure they continue walking in your door.
Exercise.com’s performance health software allows you to deliver recurring assessments, progress photos, and measurements to promote client re-engagement and retention.
PunchPass Software Pricing
For many businesses, choosing a software comes down to price. It is important to consider the features included and whether or not the price is reflective of how much or how little is offered.
PunchPass offers three different pricing tiers. Below is a breakdown of these tiers based on price and offerings. You should note that the Balsam program includes everything in the Bedrock program, and the Banyan program includes everything in the Bedrock and Balsam programs.
| Package | Bedrock | Balsam | Banyan |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | $39/mon | $64/mon | $89/mon |
| Features | Unlimited classes, passes, & instructors Online class schedule Customer self check-in Custom email creation & delivery Automated email receipts & reminders Full reporting |
Accept customer reservations Wait-list for full classes Create class series Memberships Collect Online Waivers Customer logins & accounts |
Integration with Stripe to sell memberships & passes online Sell tickets to classes to collect payment ahead of time |
PunchPass Software Competitors
With the constant changes in the fitness industry, more and more competitors are entering the market to vie for your business. Featured below is a table showing a few of PunchPass’s main competitors and their pricing options. Please note that all pricing is based on the information available at the time of writing.
| Competitor | Minimum Base Price | Maximum Base Price |
|---|---|---|
| BookStream | $19.95/mon | $79.95/mon |
| ClassJuggler | $44.95/mon | $104.95/mon |
| ClassBug | $79.00/mon | N/A |
| MINDBODY | $129.00/mon | $349.00/mon |
The Bottom Line: Pros and Cons
You want your fitness business to be successful and choosing the right software to fit your needs is a vital part. This is an important decision, but it does not necessarily have to be a difficult one.
Your choice should include everything your business needs to thrive. We believe that, based upon comparison, Exercise.com is the clear choice to take your fitness business to the top.
PunchPass Cons
PunchPass severely limits itself in the market because it pertains only to facilities whose only focus is group fitness. It would not make sense for a gym or health club to use PunchPass if it also offers personal training, merchandise sales, or spa services. The software simply does not have the capability to run all these aspects of your business without the help of another software.
It is hard to find a reason why a fitness business would choose to utilize more than one software to meet their needs when there are other options available that can perform all the needed functions within one program.
Exercise.com Pros
Exercise.com provides everything you need to run your fitness business within one software program. You can customize the software to work for the needs of your specific business, for one low price, so that you are only paying for what you need. This way, you don’t pay for things you don’t use and you don’t miss out on things you think you may use down the line.
You can customize your app and website to promote your brand so that your business is present in every step of your client’s progress. Using the same customization, you can create assessments, automate workout delivery and reminders, engage your clients, and generate reports to help your business grow.
You are also able to generate more revenue with e-commerce options and the ability to sell products using our point of sale software.
Your business, and its success, is important. You now have all the details you need to make an informed decision about the software you will use to reach your goals. Despite all of the options you have, we believe Exercise.com is the clear choice for you.
Can you see why Exercise.com software would be beneficial for your business?
If, after reading the details above, you feel Exercise.com could benefit your business, request a demo today.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Who are you guys, anyway?
The team at Exercise.com solves a major problem — how to grow your business without wasting time and losing money. We work with the real, confident decision makers — the best of the best — like James Harrison (Steelers great), Don Saladino, D1 Training, Fairchild Sports Performance, and Freestyle Connection — and offer our all-in-one fitness business software to simplify managing your business. The team at Exercise.com solves a major problem — how to grow your business without wasting time and losing money. We work with the real, confident decision makers — the best of the best — like Steelers great James Harrison, Don Saladino, D1 Training, Fairchild Sports Performance, and Freestyle Connection — and offer our all-in-one fitness business software to simplify managing your business.
What sets you apart from your competitors?
We turbocharge your business with our all-in-one fitness business software that’s custom branded for your business.• Efficiently schedule, view, and manage all appointments and classes — including by trainer, location, and service — with easy options for scheduling recurring events and availability.• Save time creating workouts with our simple workout plan creator and exercise manager and built-in integrations, tools, and more.• Sell your training three ways – group subscriptions, individualized training, and single workout plans – to increase revenue inside and outside your training walls.• Take clients through your custom assessments to automatically deliver personalized workouts based on the data important to their success.
Why not pay for custom development?
So many things could go wrong when building custom-branded apps. It’s also expensive, takes years to develop, and requires trust with your developers. We have a proven track record delivering apps for top trainers around the world and remove the risks present when doing it on your own.
What if I’m not technical?
You don’t need to be. Our dev team will build your custom-branded apps and take care of all the technical stuff so you can focus on what you do best.
What if I don’t have a following?
Engaging the followers you have is paramount because you can instantly convert engaged followers into paying clients with your all-in-one fitness business software.
Is it hard to set up?
No, it’s very easy. All you need to do is follow our success team’s proven process. We will deliver your custom-branded, all-in-one fitness business software, and you can do what you do best!
What if I wait to implement this solution?
If you wait, you will leave a lot of opportunity on the table to save time as you scale and manage your business with all-in-one software to engage and retain your clients. Whether you’re looking to bill customers on a recurring basis, single session, or package basis, do it all with a fully integrated, secure platform that can support in-person and online payments. This is a high-quality problem to solve. You shouldn’t wait to solve it.
What exactly do I get?
You get all-in-one fitness business software that does everything you need. No more having one software solution for doing personal training, another for booking and scheduling, something else for client assessments, and yet another pricey subscription for marketing and client communication. And then there are custom-branded iOS & Android apps. If you’re tired of paying too much for too many moving parts, stop the hacks and demo the Exercise.com all-in-one fitness business software today. This all-in-one fitness business software will save you time running your business, handle everything in one place, provide endless opportunities to engage and retain your clients, and allow you to sell workout plans.
Will this really work for me?
Yes. We have a proven track record with fitness professionals like Ashley Borden, Just-Train, PJF Performance, Madeline Moves, and Fit Thrive. Our all-in-one fitness business software will allow you to grow your business as much as you want.
What are the next steps?
The next step is simple. Click “Get a Price” anywhere on this page and schedule a call with one of our team members.
Will this integrate with my other software?
Our software integrates with a variety of other software including Zapier, Stripe, YouTube, Vimeo, MailChimp, MyFitnessPal, ConvertKit, and more.
What if I don’t have the budget?
This is an all-in-one fitness business software that allows you to grow your business as much as you’d like. You should strike while the iron is hot by investing in a workout platform that will help you scale your business, earn more revenue, retain and engage your clients, and save you time running your business.