What people actually leave Mindbody over
You cannot shop what you cannot see
Mindbody publishes one number: “starting at $79 USD/month per location,” as of September 15, 2026. That is the Starter tier. Accelerate and Ultimate carry no price on the pricing page; third-party pricing guides have put Accelerate around $259–$279 and Ultimate around $499 per location, but those are their numbers, not Mindbody’s. Two of three tiers require a sales conversation before you learn the price.
A price you have to be qualified to hear is a price set by what someone believes you can pay. That is a structural choice, not an oversight, and it is worth knowing before you invest a discovery call in finding out.
Every location is a full subscription
Mindbody bills per location, and the tiers are per location too. A second studio does not add a modest increment — it adds another subscription at whatever tier you are on, before a single add-on; the branded mobile app is a paid add-on whose price the pricing page does not publish.
Mindbody’s pricing page does not state a contract term. Ask for it in writing before you sign: a multi-year term at a price that gets renegotiated upward at renewal is a very different commitment from month-to-month software.
The marketplace charges you for clients on both ends
A new client’s first purchase through the Mindbody marketplace carries a 20% commission charged to the business, capped at $30 per transaction (Mindbody’s pricing page, as of September 15, 2026). A $100 first booking is $80 before card processing, which Mindbody prices by plan and does not publish.
The cap matters and we will state it plainly: on a $300 service that 20% caps out at an effective 10%, and on a $500 package around 6%. The commission bites hardest on ordinary tickets, which is most of what this industry runs.
The part that catches people out is the double payment. You run ads, a client sees them, searches your name, finds you in the directory, and books there. You paid to acquire that client, then paid a commission on her — and the second payment never appears as a charge, because it is deducted before the money reaches you.
What Mindbody publishes — and what it does not
Only the Starter figure is published (mindbodyonline.com/pricing, checked September 15, 2026). Where a third-party figure is shown it is named as such rather than presented as vendor pricing.
Starter
From $79/mo per location
The only published tier
Accelerate
Quote only
Not published by Mindbody; third-party pricing guides report ~$259–$279/mo
Ultimate
Quote only
Not published by Mindbody; third-party pricing guides report ~$499/mo
Marketplace commission
20% of a new client’s first purchase
Capped at $30 per transaction
Card processing
Not published
Set by plan
Branded mobile app
Paid add-on
Price not published
Contract
Not published
Ask before signing
Data export at cancellation
Quoted at cancellation
Per Spark Membership’s migration guide, $500 USD (varies by region); Mindbody’s own FAQ names no price
What Tersavia costs
The booking platform is free forever when you process payments through Tersavia. That processing relationship is the entire business model — there is no subscription, no per-location charge, and no commission on a client you earned.
Booking platform
Free
When you process payments through Tersavia
Forms, charting & consent
Free
Photo & file storage
Free
Memberships, packages & waitlists
Free
Payroll, commissions & time clock
Free
Resource & room scheduling
Free
Confirmations & reminders
Free, unlimited
From your own number
SMS marketing
Segment packs from $9
Email marketing
5,000/mo free, packs above
Per location / per user
No charge
Marketplace commission
None — no marketplace
Side by side
The full feature-by-feature comparison across the whole category lives on its own page, including the platforms not named here.
What’s free here that others charge for
What Mindbody does better
Distribution, and it is not close. The Mindbody consumer app is a discovery channel on a scale no other platform in this comparison runs, and for a business with no marketing of its own and no client list, being discoverable inside it is a genuine service rather than a tax.
That is also the honest explanation for the commission. Mindbody is not charging 20% for processing a booking; it is charging for handing you a customer who had never heard of you. Whether that is a good trade depends entirely on whether you could have reached her yourself — and for a new studio in a competitive city, often you could not.
If most of your new clients arrive through the marketplace, that commission is customer acquisition cost and it may be the cheapest you will find. It turns against you when you are established and paying it on people who already knew your name.
Switching from Mindbody
Budget for the export. Mindbody’s Subscriber data export is a paid service for cancelling accounts, priced by the agent handling the cancellation rather than published (Mindbody’s own support FAQ, as of September 15, 2026); Spark Membership’s migration guide puts it at $500 USD, varying by region. It has to be requested within 25 days of cancelling and is delivered within five business days after verification. Ask for the number in writing before you give notice, so it is on record rather than a surprise.
Your client records, appointment history, service menu, staff, and product catalog all come across during setup. If you are mid-contract, check the remaining term before you plan a date; an agreement with time left usually has to run out or be bought out.
What moves, what doesn’t, and your saved cards
Questions from Mindbody users
How much does Mindbody actually cost?
Publicly, the only number is “starting at $79 USD/month per location” for Starter, as of September 15, 2026. Accelerate and Ultimate are not published — you have to take a sales call to be quoted; third-party pricing guides have reported roughly $259–$279 and $499 per location. We would encourage you to compare any quote against your own invoice rather than any summary, including this one.
Is there really a fee to export my data?
Yes. Mindbody’s own support FAQ describes the Subscriber data export as a paid service for cancelling accounts, with the price quoted by the cancellation agent rather than published (as of September 15, 2026). Spark Membership’s migration guide reports $500 USD, varying by region. Ask for the number directly, in writing, before you give notice.
What does the marketplace commission actually cost me?
Twenty percent of a new client’s first purchase, capped at $30 (Mindbody’s pricing page, as of September 15, 2026). A $100 first booking is $80 before card processing, which Mindbody sets by plan and does not publish. On larger tickets the cap lowers the effective rate — 10% on $300, 6% on $500.
Does Tersavia charge per location?
No. The booking platform is free forever when you process payments through Tersavia, and a second or fifth location costs exactly what the first one does. Marketing, AI Reception, and Paid Ads are optional and priced per location — see tersavia.com/pricing for current rates.
Will I lose the clients the marketplace sent me?
The client records are yours and export with everything else. What ends is the discovery channel — we do not run a marketplace, so we send you zero clients. If marketplace-sourced bookings are a meaningful share of your new business, that is a real trade-off and you should weigh it honestly before moving.
What about my contract?
Mindbody’s pricing page does not publish a contract term, so check your own agreement’s remaining term before planning a switch date. There is no contract on our side — month to month, cancel whenever, and no fee to take your data.
Wondering what the whole category costs, and how to work out your own number from your own statements?
15 minutes · no card, no contract · free with Tersavia processing
Sources and caveats
Mindbody’s Starter price, tier list and marketplace commission are from mindbodyonline.com/pricing, checked September 15, 2026. Accelerate and Ultimate figures are from third-party pricing guides and are labelled as such. The export process is from Mindbody’s own Subscriber data export FAQ; the $500 figure is from Spark Membership’s “Exporting from MindBody” guide (June 2026). We make no claim about who owns Mindbody — sources conflict and it is not relevant to what the software costs.
All Mindbody figures are published list prices as of September 15, 2026, not negotiated rates and not drawn from any private account. Vendors change pricing frequently — verify current terms directly with Mindbody before making a decision. Where third-party guides disagree with a vendor’s own pricing, we have said so rather than picking the number that suited us.
Our bias, stated plainly. We sell competing software and we want your business. Every figure above is checkable against Mindbody’s own pricing or your own invoice, and we would rather you check than take our word.