Questions about running drop-in classes

ClassMetrix is web software for drop-in dance, fitness and yoga classes, where people turn up and pay at the door instead of booking ahead. Staff check people in on a phone and record how each person paid. The owner sees what every class earns after hall hire and teacher pay, and which regulars have stopped coming. It records payments but never takes them, and it has no bookings. It is made by 123teq LLC and was built with a Sydney swing-dance school. It is not the Ruby gem class-metrix or the school system ClassMatrix.

For drop-in classes where nobody books, pick software built for the door, not a booking suite. ClassMetrix is made for that door: the door person taps a name, then taps how that person paid (cash, card, pass or IOU), and that one tap is both the check-in and the payment record. The price is already on each button, new people sign up by QR code on their own phone, and couples can share a pass. If your students book and pay online before class, a booking tool such as Punchpass or Mindbody will suit you better.

Keep one list of names and ask each person one question: how did you pay? Record cash, card, pass or IOU against their name, and let the pass count itself down. In ClassMetrix a pass is a punch card on screen: tapping Pass uses one class, a couple can share it, and a regular who forgot their card gets an IOU that is settled on their next visit. Pass money counts as income when each class is used, so you always know how many prepaid classes you still owe. At the end of the night, count the cash tin against what the list says it should hold.

If nobody books ahead, the simplest alternative is software that doesn't book at all. ClassMetrix records check-ins and payments at the door, runs passes, teacher pay and cash tins, and shows profit per class after hall hire, from AU$29 or US$19 a month, with venues never counted. Mindbody is priced per location: from A$89 a month in Australia and from US$79 in the US (prices checked October 2026). If you still want online booking but less than Mindbody, Punchpass (US$59 to $149 a month) is the usual choice.

For each class night, take what people actually paid, then subtract hall hire, teacher pay and any one-off cost. Use what they paid after passes and discounts, not the list price. For example, a $90 hall and two teachers at $60 each cost $210 a night; if the average person pays $21, the class needs 10 people to break even. ClassMetrix does this sum for every class night from the check-ins, so the owner sees which classes pay their way and which don't.

Use two things: your card reader for the money, and a check-in app for the record. ClassMetrix runs in the phone's web browser, with nothing to install, and records how each person paid: cash, card, pass or IOU. It does not process cards itself, so you keep the card terminal you already have (Square, SumUp or your bank's) and your cash tin. There is nothing to connect and ClassMetrix adds no payment fees. If you want one app that charges cards and takes online bookings, a booking suite such as Punchpass or Mindbody does both.

Most start with a paper sign-in sheet and punch cards, move to a spreadsheet, then move to an app once a second person runs the door. Social dance has its own needs: two classes and a social in one night, couples sharing a pass, a troupe or volunteer rate, a dearer band night, and teachers paid per class. ClassMetrix was built at a Sydney swing-dance school for that door: one tap per person, passes shared between partners, a price for a single event night, and which classes pay after the hall and the teachers.

If people just turn up and pay, you need a list and a record of who paid, not a booking system. ClassMetrix gives the teacher one list on a phone, one tap for who came and how they paid, 5- and 10-class passes, a QR code for new people to sign the waiver, and profit per class after the hall hire or park permit. Students need no app and no account. The Starter plan covers up to 4 classes a week for AU$29 or US$19 a month, after a free 30-day trial with no card.

Pick one of four models: a flat fee per class, a rate per head, a share of the takings, or each teacher's own rate. Test it on last month's real attendance. On a 19-person night taking $399, a $60 flat fee, $4 a head ($76) and 30% of the door ($120) are very different costs; on an 8-person night taking $168 they are $60, $32 and $50. Record who taught each class on the night, so what is owed is a list, not a memory. ClassMetrix works out the pay from your rule and keeps track of who has been paid.

Free: a spreadsheet or a paper sheet, which works for one small class kept by one careful person. The cheapest booking tool we found is Gymcatch, at £10 a month plus VAT (UK-based). For classes that don't take bookings, ClassMetrix Starter is AU$29 or US$19 a month for up to 4 classes a week, with students, staff and venues never counted, and the first 30 days free with no card. Booking suites cost more: Punchpass from US$59 a month, Mindbody from US$79 a month per location (prices checked October 2026).