account42 vs Punchpass
Facts about Punchpass 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 in sessions at a fixed time: classes, courses, workshops and drop-ins. Every plan includes memberships, credit packs, waitlists with automatic promotion, the assistant and payments that settle on your own Stripe or PayPal account. Plans differ by booking volume, never by feature. Punchpass is class management software for independent studios: yoga, Pilates, dance, pole, aerial and craft studios that run a timetable and sell passes. It prices by feature tier, with passes and waitlists on Grow, recurring memberships on Flow and intake forms on Pro.
At a glance
| Feature | account42 | Punchpass |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | $29 a month on Solo, or $23 a month billed annually | $59 a month on Grow, billed monthly; an annual option is offered and new clients get their first two months at half price1 |
| Per-booking fees or commission | None. Stripe or PayPal charge their own processing fees and nothing else is added | Not stated on the pricing page; each tier is a flat monthly fee, with Stripe's processing fees on top1 |
| Where payments settle | Your own Stripe or PayPal account, as direct charges | Through Stripe: the plan table lists worldwide payments via Stripe on every tier1 |
| Feature gating across tiers | None. Plans differ by bookings, messaging balance and locations, never by feature | Yes. Recurring memberships, multi-day series, family accounts and gift passes start at Flow ($99); intake forms, custom fields and unlimited automations at Pro ($149)1 |
| Waitlists | Every plan, with automatic promotion and time-limited offers | Every plan: waitlists for full classes are in the Grow list1 |
| Memberships and credit packs | Every plan, alongside free sessions and drop-ins | Passes and class packages on every plan; recurring memberships from Flow1 |
| Assistant | Every plan, from 100 to 1,500 conversations a month | Not listed on the pricing or features pages12 |
| Booking page languages | 12 | Listed as worldwide languages supported, on every plan; no count given1 |
| Countries | 46 | Not stated; payments are described as worldwide via Stripe1 |
| Free trial | 14 days, no card | 14 days, no credit card1 |
- 1. Punchpass pricing page: https://www.punchpass.com/pricing, as fetched on September 15, 2026.
- 2. Punchpass features page: https://www.punchpass.com/features, as fetched on September 15, 2026.
Where account42 is the better fit
- You sell memberships or packs from day one. Punchpass sells passes on Grow at $59 but puts recurring memberships on Flow at $99, $40 a month more; account42 carries both on every plan.
- You want the assistant without buying the top tier. Punchpass lists no assistant on Grow, Flow or Pro; account42 includes one on every plan, with a monthly allowance of conversations.
- You want a second processor beside Stripe. Punchpass's plan table lists worldwide payments via Stripe; account42 settles on your own Stripe or PayPal account, as direct charges.
- You sell outside the US. account42 names its 46 countries and 12 booking page languages; Punchpass says worldwide payments and worldwide languages without naming either.
- You need a consent tick or an emergency contact at booking. Punchpass places custom intake forms and custom fields on Pro at $149; account42 lets you choose what to collect at booking on every plan.
Under the hood
Whether a customer holds a membership, a credit pack or nothing at all, one entitlement check decides what the booking costs. A class needs no separate setup per payment model.
Where Punchpass is the better fit
- Punchpass is the better fit if your business books one client at a time rather than seats in a session.
Switching from Punchpass
Your customer list moves by email or phone number, and passes in progress are re-issued as credit packs with the balance each customer has left. The weekly timetable is described once as a recurring pattern rather than imported class by class. What does not move is the video library, standing reservations and Punchpass's email automations, which have no equivalent here.
Questions people ask
- What does a studio with 500 bookings a month and four instructors pay on Punchpass and on account42?
- Take the configuration a class business needs: waitlists and memberships on both, and the assistant where it exists. On account42, 500 bookings fit Studio: $59 x 12 = $708 a year billed monthly, or $47 x 12 = $564 billed annually. Four instructors change nothing, because the plans count bookings, not people, and memberships, waitlists and the assistant are included. On Punchpass, waitlists are on Grow but recurring memberships need Flow, so the like-for-like plan is Flow at $99: $99 x 12 = $1,188 a year. Instructors are unlimited on every Punchpass plan, and there is no assistant to add. Punchpass has an annual toggle, but the page as fetched showed monthly prices, so no annual figure is given here. The half-price first two months take $99 off year one, to $1,089. account42 is cheaper: by $480 a year on monthly billing and by $624 on annual billing.
- Does Punchpass charge per booking?
- account42 charges no per-booking fee and no commission on any plan; Stripe or PayPal take their processing fee and nothing else is added. Punchpass's pricing page shows flat monthly fees and does not state a per-booking charge. Its FAQ asks whether there are hidden fees, and the answer is not visible on the page. Stripe's processing fees apply to card payments through Punchpass.
- Can I keep selling memberships if I move from Punchpass Flow?
- Yes. A recurring membership is one of account42's four payment models, on every plan, and is read at booking time to decide what a seat costs. A studio that bought Flow for memberships lands on Solo or Studio here, by booking volume alone, with members recreated on their renewal date. Punchpass's page puts recurring memberships on Flow at $99, above Grow at $59, where passes and class packages start.
- Does account42 have a video library like Punchpass?
- No. account42 books seats in sessions that happen at a fixed time, in a room or online, and hosts no recorded video. Punchpass includes a video content library on every plan: 10,000 minutes on Grow, 20,000 on Flow and 30,000 on Pro, beside live classes through Zoom.