Edition · 05 · vs Zen Planner
Comparison

OLM vs Zen Planner

Zen Planner is one of the most established names in martial arts + fitness software. OLM is the modern, pay-as-you-grow challenger. Here's the honest side-by-side.

Who's writing this

A jiu jitsu student building software for the academy he trains at.

I train at a gym that uses this app, and I build the product. If the table below says Zen Planner beats us on something, it's because they do.

The honest read

Zen Planner has been around for over a decade and is deeply embedded in martial arts and affiliate-gym workflows. It's a mature, feature-broad suite with dedicated support — and it's priced like one. OLM is leaner: a modern stack, fewer knobs, zero monthly platform fee, and 2% on each membership invoice ($2 minimum). If you value a deeply-tenured vendor with a large sales and support org, Zen Planner is a safe pick. If you want to sign up in 10 minutes, keep your Stripe account, and not pay until members pay you, pick OLM.

11

OLM wins

2

Zen Planner wins

1

Ties

What matters most

Built for

OLM

Martial arts academies (BJJ, Judo, Muay Thai, Karate, MMA)

Zen Planner

Martial arts, affiliate gyms, boutique fitness

Starting price

OLM

$0/mo · 2% on memberships ($2 min) · 3% on seminars/merch/drop-ins · free POS · zero processing markup

Zen Planner

Monthly subscription scaling with members (quoted)

Per-member fees

OLM

None

Zen Planner

Tier-based caps by active members

Full feature breakdown
CategoryOLMZen Planner

Built for

Martial arts academies (BJJ, Judo, Muay Thai, Karate, MMA)
Martial arts, affiliate gyms, boutique fitness

Starting price

$0/mo · 2% on memberships ($2 min) · 3% on seminars/merch/drop-ins · free POS · zero processing markup
Monthly subscription scaling with members (quoted)

Per-member fees

None
Tier-based caps by active members

Billing rails

Stripe Connect — your Stripe account, your payouts
Integrated payment processor; funds route through their system

Belt & rank tracking

Per-discipline, portable across gyms, full promotion lineage
Belt tracking included — solid, single-discipline-oriented

Portable member profiles

One profile across every OLM gym — journal, check-ins, belt lineage follow the member
Profile scoped to the gym

Training journal / AI coach

Included — 8-axis chart, voice-note transcription, technique heatmap
Not available

Churn prediction

Built-in AI Monitor with 14-day lead time
Retention reports; no predictive flagging

White-labeled member app

True white-label — your colors and logo on the app members install (no OLM branding visible to members)
Branded member app; custom-app offering on higher tiers

Demand pipeline / member discovery

Consumer-facing OLM app surfaces your gym to martial-arts students and traveling drop-ins — we grow when you grow
Admin-side only — no consumer-facing discovery

Onboarding

Self-serve, live in under 10 minutes
Sales-assisted, typical multi-week onboarding

Contract

No subscription — pay only per transaction
Monthly / annual depending on plan

Support depth

Priority email support
Large support org with dedicated CSMs on higher tiers

Reporting depth

Core retention, revenue, attendance, AI churn
Very deep reporting suite built up over a decade

Pricing and feature sets change — this page reflects a best-effort snapshot from publicly available info. Check their site directly before deciding.

Best fit

OLM is right if you're…

  • Gyms that want to skip the sales call and get live the same day
  • Owners keeping their own Stripe account and customer rails
  • Martial arts academies that want a modern journal + AI coach for members
  • Smaller gyms who don't want to pay by member count

Best fit

Zen Planner is better if you're…

  • Larger academies with complex reporting and workflow requirements
  • Owners who want a tenured vendor with a deep support bench
  • Affiliate gyms (CrossFit-style) needing programming-workout integrations
Beyond the invoice

The sticker price is never the whole price.

Gym software costs more than the monthly line item — it costs setup weeks, add-on negotiations, and the dread of moving your roster. Here's both sides of that ledger.

Effort & lock-in

What Zen Planner can cost beyond the bill

  • Pricing is quoted and scales with active member count — the bill grows in tier steps as your roster grows.
  • Onboarding is sales-assisted and typically runs multiple weeks before you're live.
  • Funds route through their integrated payment processor, not a merchant account you own.

OLM's answer

How OLM removes it

  • One price rule for every gym: 2% on memberships ($2 minimum), 3% on seminars/merch/drop-ins, $0 on POS. No tiers to decode, no quote to chase.
  • Every feature included — white-labeled member app, AI churn alerts, waivers, training journal. Nothing is sold back to you as an add-on.
  • Done-for-you migration, included in the one-time $499 setup: we import your roster from your current software, set up Stripe Connect with you on a call, and theme the app to your brand.
  • No contract to exit — you only pay per transaction, so stopping is just stopping.
OLM vs Zen Planner — FAQ

Honest answers, side by side.

Does OLM work for both martial arts and CrossFit-style gyms?

OLM is purpose-built for martial arts (BJJ, judo, muay thai, karate, MMA, wrestling). For CrossFit affiliates, Zen Planner's WOD library and programming integrations are a real advantage that OLM doesn't replicate. If you run both, weigh which side of the business is bigger.

Do you support belt tracking the way Zen Planner supports skill tracking?

OLM's belt and stripe tracking is per-discipline with promotion lineage — designed specifically for martial arts rank progression. Zen Planner's skill-tracking is more generic; it works but isn't tuned for BJJ stripes or Dan grades.

What about Zen Planner's reporting?

Zen Planner has a long bench of dashboards for fitness-gym KPIs. OLM's reporting is more focused — MRR, churn, attendance by member, revenue per member, instructor utilization, and a few others — but every report is CSV-exportable and the data model is queryable. If you live in spreadsheets, OLM's exports get you there; if you need pre-built fitness-industry dashboards, Zen Planner has more.

Can I migrate from Zen Planner mid-contract?

Yes via CSV export. Member roster, active subscriptions, and contact info migrate cleanly. Skill / rank records typically need to be recreated since the data shape differs.

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Still deciding?

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