I'm delighted I chose Glofox... For lots of reasons

I was just about to sign up to Mindbody when a friend pointed Glofox out to me. After carrying out a demo of the software I was very happy with how easy it was to navigate and my decision was made instantly. Since joining our bookings are up 40%, we're saving heaps of time which was previously spent doing admin and our client base is growing at an incredible rate! If you're looking for a great alternative to Mindbody, these are the reasons why I went with Glofox and made one of my best business decisions to date: On one hand I had Mindbody. If you're looking for software and a custom branded app just as I was (was adamant to make it as simple as possible for people to pay me so wanted an app), you would have to go for their most expensive package at 195 a month. Mindbody also increase your monthly subscription fee when you hit a certain number of members or trainers using the app. My intentions were to use a software package to help us really get a handle on our admin and free time to grow my business. With this growth in mind, expected costs could almost double in the next few months, leaving me with a pricing package I could no longer afford. On the other hand, I had Glofox. Their pricing packages range from 80-140 a month and each package comes with a custom branded app completely matching your business's brand. Not only this, they don't charge you for adding more members or users. As the sales rep I spoke to put it, they want to see your business grow and for this reason, they're not going to penalize you for doing just that. A breath of fresh air if you ask me! Our custom branded app from Glofox gives our members a really simple means of booking and paying for our services. On the backend, I needed a system that would help me minimize admin with as few clicks possible without overcomplicating things. I've found the Glofox Dashboard really clear and simple to use. I tend to set my Dashboard to show weekly bookings, payments due and revenue for ease. I can create and update my schedule, manage memberships including payments, renewals and automated billing in my Dashboard too- really great having everything in one place! Overall, there's nothing better than working with a team of people who really want to see your business grow stronger every day. With such a quick response time to any of our queries, it's safe to say choosing Glofox has been the best business decision I've made. Mindbody won't know what hit them!

Great product and new improvements however some very frustrating features

I have definitely seen improvements with communication over the past 4 -6 months. Their customer service has improved greatly. Overall the staff are very supportive and friendly to work with. We have been really well supported during the COVID-19 challenges and very much appreciated Glofox seeing what customers needed and added some great features during this time. The one downfall is communication - especially when things change eg. booking only into your next booking period - this was not communicated to us that the previous 'glitch' (as explained to me), where you could book in as far in advance as the studio allowed if you were on an unrestricted membership, had now changed. We could not communicate and or prepare our members returning to in studio classes (after COVID) for the changes - and hence created a lot of stress that could have been avoided.

Pros

Easy to schedule classes, dashboard is well designed and easy to navigate, great user app, new features that were added during COVID-19 - zoom integration to live classes, on demand feature for members.

Cons

The current set up to memberships allowing subscription members to only book ahead into their next booking period. This does not provide flexibility for our business and creates a lot of confusion for our members. I can understand how monthly billed memberships can work on this system however ours are weekly (see below). So members can only book a max of 2 weeks/min of 1 week in advance. It then creates confusion amongst members as to why some members can book further ahead (ie credit pass users) and if members have different payment dates its a bit like a yoyo effect. Explaining how it works to members is very confusing. This feature has only come into being in our studio. Prior to COVID-19 closures members were able to book 4 weeks in advance (booking window set by us) but now it has changed has caused great havoc. It has taken away a lot of value in our product and flexibility in the way our members book and become very frustrating for members as well as staff now managing the queries. If I knew this feature would come into play before we signed up to glofox I actually would strongly reconsider my decision. We are a small boutique fitness studio (we provide reformer class - max of 10 per class) our membership costs are expensive ($40-$55 per week) hence all of our members are on weekly subscriptions. We also provide credit packs for client who want to pay per class.

Really wish I could give this software a better score.

Asides from the frustrating technical issues outlined above, the support is very poor. Issues take weeks to resolve often with a "We don't know what the cause of the issue is" as a response, and then the same problem will reoccur later. The customer support team were great when I first signed up, I imagine there were fewer clients on their books and it was easier for them to manage. Now it takes weeks to resolve issues, the support team sound fatigued and are often defensive and salty when speaking on the phone (same applies to email correspondence). Glofox also make regular "upgrades" to the software and do not take time to explain to their customers in full detail what the updates involve. An "upgrade" was made to the payments integration in 2019 which meant that access to the separate back-end Stripe system was lost, which was massively frustrating given the inaccuracies of the built-in Glofox reporting software and clients information randomly going missing from their back-end website. I get the impression that this "upgrade" was not fully tested as there were numerous issues with it (eg: old clients being reactivated and billed years after the fact). I unfortunately cannot recommend this software to anyone as it has only caused frustration, disappointment and countless hours of extra work for myself and my team. The issues above caused a lot of upset to our clients which lessened their experience as our customers: this is the opposite of what any business needs!

Pros

Glofox is a highly visual platform and easy to use (aside from the glitches which I will get to later). It looks very pretty and it would be amazing if it actually worked properly.

Cons

It simply does not work. And I'm talking about the bare basics here. The reporting features are inaccurate and have added uncountable extra admin hours to my month. Regular glitches occur, a few of these are: payments being processed from users and then their purchased class credits disappearing, buttons on the back-end or admin website randomly disappearing or not working, classes / events / staff members being deleted from the calendar and then they re-appear randomly, start / end date functionality of classes randomly not working, clients being billed randomly following the completion of their payment periods, courses not visible on the admin app. I could go on.

Amazing!

Love it!!!! :)

Pros

A perfect solution for my business. I was a MBO user for several years, but unfortunately the branded mobile app was dated and had limited functionality, it was also super expensive and costs increasing year on year was just not affordable for my business. I started off on the standard plan, but as I like things branded to me and my business I had to upgrade, and this just ended up costing the business hefty sums which we could not afford. Glofox were pretty easy to set up and get started with and they even helped me migrate my clients over. It's been pretty much smooth sailing and the customer support team have been EXTREMELY HELPFUL. You can have calls with the very happy and efficient team and they are willing to help and follow up on your requests. What I like the most and most looking forward in the future to is new features. They are constantly updating the software and adding new features in which makes it a great piece of software to work with and it's great for my clients too. Everything is branded to me, I like that we have a News section in the app and a store where I can sell my merchandise. We can create events as we put on workshops and masterclasses throughout the year. Looking forward to working with these guys more to take my business to new levels. Thanks guys, I'm soo happy I joined you! :) Highly recommended!

Cons

A few scheduling problems on the app - being looked at now, and reporting features, however new reports are being added.

GloFox has been such a better experience than other platforms!

My personal account helper, [SENSITIVE CONTENT HIDDEN], has been so incredibly helpful. She has gone above and beyond to help me be successful and to run my business more efficiently.

Pros

That if I have had problems arise while using glofox, the customer support I have received has been super helpful. They have spent as much time as is needed to help me make sure everything is set up and my questions are early answered.

Cons

There are a few tie ups that are inconvenient. Like, I cannot be listed as a trainer in classes since I am the administrator so I had to create a dummy account to get around that restriction. But the problems are minor and nothing to be super frustrated over.