Comparison · Class Manager alternative
A Class Manager alternative that stops taking a cut as you grow
Class Manager is capable software and its headline is hard to argue with: no monthly subscription. The cost simply sits somewhere else. Every payment your members make carries a fee on top of your card processor's, so the better your term goes, the more the software costs. And the booking portal your parents use is theirs, not yours. Tempo Book It charges a flat licence, takes nothing per booking at any volume, and runs on a WordPress site your club owns outright.
No per-booking fees · 14-day free trial on licences · Built with a real school
The honest comparison
| Class Manager | Tempo Book It | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | No subscription; a percentage of every payment processed. Published fee is 1% inc. VAT per Stripe or GoCardless transaction, and Class Manager has said the newer platform adds roughly a further 0.2% in place of the subscription (August 2026; confirm current fees with them) | Flat: £249/yr self-managed, or £99/mo fully managed (Club Partner) |
| Per-booking fee | A percentage of every payment, at every volume, forever | £0, at any volume (you pay only your own card processor, e.g. Stripe's standard rate) |
| Who owns the website | Their platform, your portal | Your site, your domain, your data |
| Where the money goes | Through their payment integration, minus their percentage | Straight to your own Stripe or PayPal account, untouched |
| Branding | Your logo on their system | Your logo, colours and your words: players and coaches, or swimmers and instructors, across every screen and email |
| Registers | Yes, app-based | Yes, on any phone browser, with medical details PIN-protected and every view logged |
| If you leave | Export your data | Export everything; on Club Partner we hand the whole site over free |
| Native mobile app | Yes | No; parents book in the browser they already have, nothing to install |
What the percentage actually costs
Worked examples against both our tiers, using roughly 1.2% as Class Manager's cut. All figures exclude Stripe's own processing fees, which you pay either way, so they cancel out. Class Manager's exact rate varies, so run your own numbers; the shape is what matters.
| Your yearly bookings | Class Manager (~1.2%)* | Tempo licence (£249/yr) | Tempo Club Partner (£990/yr) |
|---|---|---|---|
| £20,000 | ~£240/yr | £249/yr | £990/yr |
| £40,000 | ~£480/yr | £249/yr | £990/yr |
| £70,000 | ~£840/yr | £249/yr | £990/yr |
| £120,000 | ~£1,440/yr | £249/yr | £990/yr |
Two of these columns never move. Against the licence, the crossover sits around £21,000 a year, roughly £1,750 a month. Below that Class Manager costs you less, and we would rather say so than pretend otherwise. Club Partner is a different comparison, because it buys hosting, setup and a full website your club owns rather than booking software alone, and it comes out ahead of the percentage from around £82,000 of annual bookings. *Where the 1.2% comes from: Class Manager's own help documentation states a fee of 1% including VAT on each Stripe or GoCardless transaction. Separately, in a July 2025 interview with Dance Informa, the company said it had increased the percentage it takes per transaction by roughly 0.2% in order to remove the monthly subscription on its newer platform. Added together that gives the approximate 1.2% used above. Figures checked August 2026. Class Manager sets final fees per club and may have changed them since, so please confirm current rates with them before relying on this comparison.
Where Class Manager is genuinely strong
If your club is just starting out and taking a few thousand pounds a term, a percentage is a kinder deal than a licence, and there is no upfront cost to find. They have a polished parent app, phone support across the UK, US and Australia, and a large user base behind them. If you want to be a customer on someone else's platform and never think about a website, they are a sensible choice. One thing worth asking them directly: they currently run two products, Class Manager Classic on the older subscription model and the newer platform on the percentage model, so it is worth being clear which one you are signing up to.
Switching is a two-week job, not a leap
On Club Partner we set everything up: your branding and vocabulary, your terms, classes and prices, your email wording, and guidance importing your member list. Your card payments run through your own Stripe from day one, so nothing sits between you and your money. And if you ever leave us, handover of the whole site is free. That is written into our terms, not just this page.
Also comparing?
If ClassForKids is on your shortlist too, we have written the same honest, row-by-row comparison for them: a ClassForKids alternative.
See it as your club
Watch the booking flow in a working demo, or talk it through with us and run the numbers on your own club.
No per-booking fees 14-day free trial on licences 3-month minimum on Club Partner, then monthly
Comparing? Ask us anything
Straight answers on fees, migration and what it costs. Anything else, just ask.
Does Tempo Book It really take nothing per booking?
No percentage, no per-booking charge, at any volume. You pay your card processor's standard rate, exactly as you would with any online payment, and that money goes to Stripe rather than to us. Our income is the licence, which is the same whether your club takes £2,000 a year or £200,000.
At what point does Tempo work out cheaper than Class Manager?
Around £21,000 of annual bookings against our £249 licence. Below that, Class Manager's percentage is the cheaper option. We would rather tell you that now than have you discover it three months in.
Can you migrate us from Class Manager?
Yes. Members, classes, terms and prices all come across, and we will guide the member import and set up your terms and pricing with you. Historic transactions stay in your Class Manager account as a record, the same as they would moving to any new system.
What does Tempo Book It cost?
£249 a year for the licence if you run your own site, or £99 a month for Club Partner where we build it, host it and run it for you. No per-booking fees on either.
Tempo for your sport: Dance schools Football academies Swim schools Gymnastics clubs Martial arts schools