Best Jiu-Jitsu Software for BJJ Gyms (2026): An Honest Comparison

Last updated: September 11, 2026

Two things before the table. First: we make one of the tools here, BJJ Notes for Gyms. This is not a neutral review site. We will say where the others beat us. Second: there is no single best BJJ gym software. A 30-student garage and a multi-location school are different jobs.

Ask the internet for jiu-jitsu academy software and the same names come back: Gymdesk, Zen Planner, Kicksite, PushPress, Spark, BJJLINK, and now GRADR. Most comparison grids leave BJJ Notes out. This page puts it back in, next to the tools academy owners actually shortlist.

The shortlist

• BJJ Notes for Gyms: academy portal plus the student app practitioners already use to log training
• GRADR: BJJ-only grading and positional curriculum, built by Nic Gregoriades
• BJJLINK: BJJ-specific suite, including UFC GYM BJJ studios
• Gymdesk: martial arts and fitness, clean UI, no payment markup
• Zen Planner: long-running fitness + martial arts platform
• Kicksite: traditional martial-arts schools, lower entry price
• PushPress: CrossFit-first, free tier
• Spark Membership: martial-arts CRM and payments

Comparison table

BJJ Notes prices are live product (September 2026). Other starting prices follow each vendor's public page and GRADR's May 2026 comparison, rechecked where the pricing page is public. Features are what vendors claim. "Unknown" means we would rather say so than guess.

Sources: vendor pricing pages; GRADR comparison (May 2026); BJJ Notes for Gyms live plans Essential $49 / Growth $97 / Scale $197. Scroll the table on mobile.

Three rows that actually decide

Feature checklists look identical: attendance, billing, a rank field. The academy you have in six months is decided by three things those grids hide.

1. Was it built for jiu-jitsu, or adapted to it?

Most platforms can store a belt color. That is not the same as running a grading day. Kids belts, stripes, time-in-grade, and a list you can print and apply to the roster are BJJ problems. Gymdesk, Zen Planner, and PushPress give you a flexible rank engine. Kicksite and Spark are closer to a generic rank field.

Three tools on this list are actually BJJ-shaped. GRADR goes deepest on positional curriculum: a class is guard or stand-up, and promotion can require coverage across areas. BJJLINK is BJJ-native with a long track record and a member app. BJJ Notes is BJJ-native on the ops side (ceremonies, IBJJF-style rules you can edit, kids, Muay Thai armbands) and on the student side (the journal app). We do not yet gate a stripe on "10 guard classes." If that loop is the reason you are buying, GRADR is the honest pick today.

2. Who touches your money

A transaction fee is normal. Stripe, Square, and Asaas all charge one. The trap is a software company inserting itself as the processor and stacking a markup on top, every month, forever. On 80 students at $150, a couple of extra percent is real money.

BJJ Notes, GRADR, Gymdesk, and Kicksite stay on the right side of that row: you keep your processor, no software skim. BJJ Notes takes 0% of tuition on Stripe Connect. Brazil can also collect PIX and boleto through Asaas. Zen Planner, Spark, PushPress's free tier, and BJJLINK's $49 plan take a cut or steer you to their stack. Confirm it before you sign. At scale it can cost more than the subscription.

Cash in the same ledger is a real front-desk job. GRADR advertises card and cash together. On BJJ Notes, cash write-off exists on Asaas today, not yet on Stripe. If your room is mostly cash at the desk, ask that in the demo.

3. Does the student have an app, and do the pieces talk?

GRADR is explicit: no native mobile app, web and a front-desk kiosk. That is a fair trade if you want zero downloads. It is a hole if your students already live on their phones.

BJJ Notes started as the student journal (logs, techniques, belt journey) and grew the academy portal on top. Check-in can come from the phone, a QR poster, a totem, or roll call. Engagement (Active / Attention / Inactive) is read from approved attendance, not only from a failed card. The student sees months and trainings toward the next rank. They do not yet see "8 of 10 guard." The ceremony list stays with the coach.

BJJLINK is the other BJJ product with a real app. Gymdesk and Zen Planner ship member apps too. Those apps are membership cards. Ours is a training diary that happens to check in. That is the wedge. It is also why a comparison that only scores billing will underrate us and overrate a processor with a rank dropdown.

Where BJJ Notes loses

We will not dress this up.

• Positional coverage. GRADR can require attendance across guard, mount, and stand-up. We count approved check-ins in a window, plus months at belt. The class library is a program you share. It is not yet wired to the timetable.
• Track record. Zen Planner has been in the market since 2006. BJJLINK is in UFC GYM. Gymdesk has the review volume. GRADR is new. So are we, relative to those names. If you only buy software with a decade of case studies, pick Gymdesk or BJJLINK.
• Waiver e-sign and trial booking page.GRADR (and Gymdesk) sell sign-on-the-tablet in the trial flow. We store a signed PDF on the student record. Walk-in check-in exists. The public "book a trial, sign, done" page is thinner.
• Founder-as-black-belt brand.Nic Gregoriades is Roger Gracie's first black belt. That is a real sales advantage for GRADR. We are a product company that already has tens of thousands of practitioners in the app. Different proof.

Where the others win, in one line

• GRADR: deepest positional curriculum and grading philosophy. New, no native app, $99 to start.
• BJJLINK: mature BJJ suite and apps. Watch the 1% fee on the cheap plan.
• Gymdesk: best general martial-arts UI and no-markup payments if you are not BJJ-only.
• Zen Planner: multi-location and marketing muscle. Confirm processor markup.
• Kicksite: lowest serious entry if you are a small traditional school.
• PushPress: $0 start if you accept the free-tier processing trade and do not need belts yet.
• Spark: CRM-heavy striking schools. Pricey for a single BJJ room.

So which should you choose?

• You want belt ceremonies, check-in, billing, and students who already journal in an app: BJJ Notes for Gyms.
• You want promotion gated on positional class coverage, and you accept web/kiosk only: GRADR.
• You want a BJJ-native tool with a long install base and a member app: BJJLINK.
• You want maturity, clean payments, and a great UI across martial arts: Gymdesk.
• You are multi-location or marketing-heavy: Zen Planner or Spark.
• You want the lowest door in: Kicksite ($49) or PushPress free (no belt tracking until Pro).

GRADR published its own 2026 comparison. Read it. It is one of the clearer writeups in the category. It does not include us. That is the only reason this page exists.

If you are leaving Zen Planner, Gymdesk, or a spreadsheet

Most owners are not buying their first tool. They are leaving a fitness platform that never quite fit BJJ, or a spreadsheet that rotted. The pain usually shows up in two places: grading still lives in someone's head, and students go quiet before billing notices.

BJJ Notes will not pretend we import every Zen Planner report on day one. The trial is 14 days, self-serve, from $49. Setup is assisted on WhatsApp if you want a human. If positional blocks and a 90-minute call with a fourth-degree are what you need, book GRADR. If you want the student app and the ceremony list in the same product, start the Gyms trial.

Questions, answered

What is the best gym software for a BJJ academy?

It depends on size and what you refuse to give up. Deepest positional curriculum: GRADR. Mature BJJ suite with apps: BJJLINK. General martial arts with no markup: Gymdesk. Academy ops plus a training journal students already open: BJJ Notes for Gyms.

Which tool has the lowest fees?

On software price, BJJ Notes, Kicksite, and BJJLINK open at $49. PushPress is $0. Look at processing too. BJJ Notes, GRADR, Gymdesk, and Kicksite do not mark up cards. A 1% or 4% skim on 80 memberships dwarfs the monthly fee.

Do I have to make students install an app?

No. BJJ Notes check-in works from a QR poster, a front-desk totem, or coach roll call. Kids and walk-ins stay on the roster without an account. The app is there when the student wants a log and belt progress. GRADR's model is the inverse: nobody installs anything.

Does BJJ Notes only work for Jiu-Jitsu?

The student app is strongest in BJJ. The academy portal runs Jiu-Jitsu, Muay Thai (armbands), boxing, MMA, and wrestling groups in the same gym. Rank ceremonies exist for BJJ and Muay Thai. Other arts run on attendance.

Can I keep my own payment processor?

Yes, with BJJ Notes (Stripe Connect, 0% software cut) and with GRADR, Gymdesk, and Kicksite. Confirm Zen Planner, Spark, PushPress free, and BJJLINK $49 before you commit.

How we wrote this

We used public marketing and pricing pages, plus GRADR's May 2026 comparison for rows we could not re-verify from a login. The BJJ Notes column is the shipped Gyms product: roster, waivers (PDF), check-in, promotions, groups, library, engagement, Stripe Connect, and Asaas. We did not log into competitor apps. If a vendor updates a number, tell us and we will correct the table.