account42 vs Mindbody
Facts about Mindbody come from its public pricing and feature pages as of September 15, 2026; check their site for current terms.
account42 is a booking engine for businesses that sell seats at a fixed time, at a published flat price you can read before you talk to anyone. Every plan includes memberships, credit packs, waitlists, the assistant and payments that settle on your own Stripe or PayPal account, with no fee on any booking. Mindbody is an all-in-one platform for fitness, wellness and beauty businesses, sold by quote per location from a stated $79 a month. It adds a consumer marketplace app, branded apps and marketing automation on its higher tiers, and comes with sales onboarding.
At a glance
| Feature | account42 | Mindbody |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | $29 a month on Solo, or $23 a month billed annually | Starting at $79 a month per location; the prices of Starter, Accelerate and Ultimate are given by sales, not published1 |
| Per-booking fees or commission | None. Stripe or PayPal charge their own processing fees and nothing else is added | The software fee is flat. A 20% fee, capped at $30, applies to the first purchase of a client the Mindbody app delivers who was new to your business1 |
| Where payments settle | Your own Stripe or PayPal account, as direct charges | Mindbody Payments is offered on every plan with a rate that depends on the plan; a separate payment provider of your choice is allowed1 |
| Feature gating across tiers | None. Plans differ by bookings, messaging balance and locations, never by feature | Yes. Resource management and Pick-a-Spot from Accelerate; email and SMS marketing, lead management and AI Concierge on Ultimate; branded app as an add-on1 |
| Waitlists | Every plan, with automatic promotion and time-limited offers | Not stated on the pricing or fitness software pages12 |
| Memberships and credit packs | Every plan, alongside free sessions and drop-ins | Automatic recurring membership charges are named under Mindbody Payments; class packs are not described on these pages1 |
| Assistant | Every plan, from 100 to 1,500 conversations a month | AI Concierge: an add-on on Accelerate and included on Ultimate. It answers missed calls and texts and makes bookings12 |
| Booking page languages | 12 | Not stated on either page12 |
| Countries | 46 | Not stated; the pages say not all features are available in all regions1 |
| Free trial | 14 days, no card | Not stated; the path in is a demo with sales1 |
- 1. Mindbody business pricing page: https://www.mindbodyonline.com/business/pricing, as fetched on September 15, 2026.
- 2. Mindbody fitness software page: https://www.mindbodyonline.com/business/fitness-software, as fetched on September 15, 2026.
Where account42 is the better fit
- You want the price on the page before you talk to anyone. account42 publishes $29, $59 and $99 a month; Mindbody publishes a $79 starting point per location and quotes Starter, Accelerate and Ultimate through sales.
- You would rather not pay for your own new clients. account42 has no marketplace and takes no fee on any booking; the Mindbody app charges 20% of a new client's first purchase, capped at $30.
- You want the assistant without buying the top tier. Mindbody's AI Concierge is an add-on on Accelerate and included only on Ultimate; account42 includes its assistant on every plan.
- You want confirmations and reminders on the first plan. Mindbody includes email and text confirmations from Accelerate and marketing from Ultimate; account42 sends email confirmations and reminders on every plan, with texts from a messaging balance.
- You have several instructors and one room. Mindbody prices per location with unlimited users at each, so four instructors at one studio are 1 x $79 at the floor. A second location there is at least 2 x $79 = $158 a month. On account42 four instructors cost nothing extra, and a second location is the Multi plan at $99.
- You sell outside the US. account42 names 46 countries and 12 booking page languages; Mindbody's pages say not all features are available in all regions and list neither.
Under the hood
Every payment on account42 is a direct charge on the merchant's connected Stripe or PayPal account, the model Stripe documents when the merchant is the seller of record. account42 is never in the flow of funds.
Where Mindbody is the better fit
- New clients come to you through a consumer app. Mindbody lists your business on its app on every plan and says more than 3 million consumers a month shop there; account42 has no marketplace.
- You want a mobile app for the business today. Mindbody's fitness page lists the Mindbody Business app for running the business from your phone and a Class Check-in app; account42's owner app is on the roadmap.
Switching from Mindbody
Clients move as a list of names with an email or phone number, and active memberships are restarted here with their next renewal date. The weekly schedule is re-entered once as a recurring pattern; past visit history and reports stay in Mindbody. Listings on the Mindbody and ClassPass apps, branded apps and the marketing pipeline do not come across, because account42 has none of them.
Questions people ask
- What do 500 bookings a month with four instructors cost on Mindbody compared with account42?
- account42 puts 500 bookings on Studio: $59 x 12 = $708 billed monthly, or $47 x 12 = $564 billed annually, with waitlists, memberships and the assistant included. Four instructors at one location change nothing, because the plans count bookings and locations, not people. Mindbody publishes one figure: starting at $79 a month per location, so one location is at least $79 x 12 = $948 a year. Unlimited users are included per location, so four instructors add nothing there either. The like-for-like plan is Ultimate, the only tier with AI Concierge included, and its price and any annual discount come from sales, not the page. account42 is cheaper than Mindbody's floor by $240 a year on monthly billing and $384 on annual billing, before the marketplace fee on new clients.
- Is there a fee when a client books through the Mindbody app?
- account42 has no marketplace and no fee on any booking, so a new client costs nothing beyond Stripe or PayPal processing. Mindbody's page says an existing client booking through the app, a tracked referral or someone who found you elsewhere costs nothing. A new client the app delivers pays 20% of their first purchase, capped at $30, and every booking after that is commission-free.
- Do I lose the Mindbody marketplace if I switch?
- Yes. account42 has no consumer app and no listing network; your classes are found through your own website, your search presence and your own customers. Mindbody's page says listing on its app is free on every plan and that more than 3 million consumers see it. If a meaningful share of your new clients comes from there, count that before you move.
- Can I keep my payment processor?
- On account42 you connect your own Stripe or PayPal account and every payment settles there as a direct charge, with no other processor in the flow. Mindbody's page says Mindbody Payments is offered on every plan but not required, and that a separate provider of your choice can be used. Its rate depends on the plan you select.