Comparison
MatFlow vs Zen Planner
Zen Planner has been around for years and powers a lot of CrossFit boxes and martial arts schools. It is enterprise software with enterprise pricing. MatFlow takes a different angle: free for students, free for small academies, and built specifically for jiu jitsu.
At a glance
| Feature | MatFlow | Zen Planner |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | Free for small academies | About $117 per month and up |
| Setup fee | None | Often charged |
| Built for Brazilian Jiu Jitsu | Yes | Generic fitness and martial arts |
| Belt and stripe tracking tuned for BJJ | Yes | Basic rank fields |
| Free student companion app | Yes | Member app on paid tier |
| Training log with rolls and partners | Yes | No |
| Community feed and leaderboards | Yes | No |
| Attendance tracking | Yes | Yes |
| Billing and recurring payments | Yes | Yes |
| Class schedule and bookings | Yes | Yes |
| Pro shop | Yes | Yes |
| Waiver signing | Yes | Yes |
Pricing
MatFlow is free for small academies and free for students forever. Larger gyms pay a flat monthly fee. No setup costs. No long contracts.
Zen Planner starts at about $117 per month and climbs from there based on member count. Larger gyms can spend several hundred per month, and there are sometimes setup fees and contract terms to negotiate.
Who it is for
MatFlow is for jiu jitsu academies that want a modern, mobile-first system without paying enterprise prices. Owners get the back office. Students get a real app. Everyone wins.
Zen Planner is for established gyms with the budget for enterprise software and a need for deep reporting, retail, and POS integrations. It is overkill for a small BJJ academy with 40 students.
The biggest difference
Zen Planner is built for the gym owner, with the student app added later as a feature on a higher tier. MatFlow is built for the student first, and the gym back office is the natural extension. Same data, opposite starting point. Owners pay nothing until their academy is large, and students never pay at all.