Admin is frequently one of the biggest time-consumers for small businesses. According to a report in The Independent, 33% of SME owners say there isn’t enough time in the day to get everything done. (1) This number becomes even more significant when you consider that admin can take up to 40% of a business owner’s workday.
This is especially the case for children’s activity providers. You have regular classes to schedule, class leaders to train, and bookings and attendees to manage. There’s also work to meet Ofsted and GDPR requirements and safeguarding needs. Sometimes, it can feel like all the time goes to maintaining the business, let alone being able to put time into marketing and growth. And, of course, being able to focus on providing kids with an inspiring and rewarding experience.
Benefits of using booking software to manage children’s activities
Booking software for classes and events can often help reduce this admin. Class booking systems have many features that help streamline the booking process.
They assist with scheduling the classes and publishing the details. They also help you to manage all the relevant customer information you need to run your activities.
Some booking software providers process payments, send invoices, and produce overview reports.
This can help reduce admin workload by up to 60% and leave you more time to focus on improving and growing your business.
Features included in the best booking systems
Booking systems should enable you to:
- add your activity schedule
- publish it in a presentable way on your website or on a dedicated webpage
- Add your desired ticket types and pricing to the activities
- Take bookings and payments from customers
- Gather the customer details you need to run the activities
- Access the booking, payment, and customer details in a quick and easy way
Modern booking software providers may have more advanced features, such as:
- SMS and email customer communication options
- Integration with popular accounting software to help manage expenses and booking revenue
- Automated reminder systems to reduce no-shows and encourage customer retention
- Mobile apps for on-the-go management
Are class booking systems worth it?
While there is usually a cost to using this software, it is good to weigh up the benefits. The value of time saved, improved customer experience, and possible growth opportunities are all worth considering.
This article looks at the 10 best booking software for classes and shares its key features and benefits. We have also included a summary of customer reviews to see what other class and activity providers think of the software.
We hope you find a class booking software that fits your needs. And that it helps reduce administrative work and allows you to focus on teaching and engaging kids.
Bookwhen
Bookwhen is class and course management software. It takes bookings and manages regular classes, short courses, and one-off events. It also has online class features.
Benefits of Bookwhen
Bookwhen has a lot of functionality and features accompanied by good customer support, helping you to understand and set these features up. Key features include being able to have clients sign up as members, have waiting lists, and run discount codes. This can be useful for maintaining an existing client base and reaching new customers.
Bookwhen allows you to take online and offline payments. With these, you can choose to put the Stripe payment commissions on the customer or include them in the price. You can also customise your booking page to your brand and attach waivers or other documents to the booking form. This helps keep necessary forms and information automated and part of a single booking process. You can also create multiple ticket options.
You can add attachments and images to events and embed the booking page on your website. Zoom, Vimeo, and YouTube integrations are also available for running online classes.
Pricing for Bookwhen
Bookwhen’s pricing structure is tiered:
- Free version: 50 bookings monthly, 1 team member, free events only
- £9.00 monthly: 300 bookings, 2 team members
- £19.00 monthly: 800 bookings, 5 team members
- £39.00 monthly: 1800 bookings, 10 team members
Each paid tier includes full feature access. The main difference between tiers is the booking volume and team size.
Reviews of Bookwhen
Bookwhen averaged 4.9 out of 5 stars from 180 Capterra reviews.
The reviews for Bookwhen spoke highly of the chat support and the online how-to guides for setting up the software. This was helpful as they found the interface slightly complicated to get used to.
Customers found Bookwhen good value for money. They liked the easy website integration and straightforward booking. They would have liked more email marketing options and also a calendar view.
| Pros | Cons |
| Excellent chat support and online guides | Lack of email marketing options |
| Zoom and online video integrations | More complicated interface |
| Straightforward online bookings with custom pages and forms | No calendar view |
Pebble
Pebble is a relative newcomer and is designed for children’s activity organisers and childcare providers. It creates resources, including a blog and podcast, for these small businesses. Pebble also lists activities and classes on its site for parents to view.
Benefits of Pebble
Pebble offers several benefits for organising classes and activities. One is having a client database. This includes bookings, attendance, medical records, and photo consent in one place. This can help team members have the information they need when running classes. You can also better understand your clients to aid marketing and scheduling decisions.
The booking page is customisable with the option to run discount codes and create class schedules. Pebble also accepts childcare vouchers via Ponocho Pay. The page can also be embedded on your website. This can offer your clients an efficient booking process and help them get new bookings.
Marketing features include email and WhatsApp messaging and listing on the Pebble site. These give you a regular communication channel with your clients and some promotion from Pebble on their channels.
Pricing for Pebble
Pebble has two pricing options. You can sign up for free and pay a 10% commission on each booking, or you can pay £15.00 a month for a 1% commission per booking.
Reviews of Pebble
Pebble averaged 4.7 out of 5 stars from 59 Trustpilot reviews.
Reviews of Pebble liked the interface and found it user-friendly. They said there was good customer service. They would like a feature to allow parents to book multiple days at once.
| Pros | Cons |
| Good, user-friendly interface | Limited website integration |
| Listing and marketing on Pebble | No timetable view for parents |
| Able to run promotions and accept childcare vouchers | Not able to group contacts |
| Good customer service | Customers have to book one date/time at a time. |
ClassForKids
ClassForKids is a booking and management software provider. Its website lists kids’ activities for parents to browse and book. ClassForKids also produces resources to support event organisers, including a podcast, 12-week course, blog, and webinars.
Benefits of ClassForKids
A key feature of ClassForKids is the option to collect upfront payments with monthly subscriptions and invoicing. It also accepts childcare vouchers. You can also run trial sessions. Sign-up is done through bespoke registration, where you can create your own questions. This ensures you get all the information you need. Parents also have access to a personalised dashboard when they sign in.
Registration can also be recorded offline, which is useful if your venue doesn’t have a Wi-Fi connection. ClassForKids has resources and data management that help you stay Ofsted and GDPR compliant. This can be useful when starting out as a business and staying on top of this important admin.
Pricing for ClassForKids
ClassForKids costs £34.99 a month or a total of £349.99 with an annual plan. This excludes the additional transaction fee, and there is also a ClassForKids booking fee of 3.1% per booking at the time of writing.
Reviews of ClassForKids
ClassForKids had an average of 4.8 out of 5 stars from 99 Capterra reviews.
Reviewers liked the clean, user-friendly interface. They found excellent customer support and liked the feature to hide classes from view to allow members to sign up first. The reviews noted that there was no calendar view and that the messaging features would not allow attachments.
| Pros | Cons |
| Dedicated subdomain on the ClassForKids site and timetable integration on your site | Cannot provide discounts to rolling customers |
| Resources for organisers, including Ofsted and GDPR support | Unable to send attachments with messages |
| Custom registration questions and trials | No calendar view |
| Free set-up and onboarding assistance | Parents have issues with customer support and cannot cancel subscriptions |
Happity
Happity is an online platform for organisers of classes to list activities and take bookings. They specialise in baby and toddler classes.
Benefits of Happity
Happity key features include taking payments, customisable tickets, and interactive registers.
There is marketing support with resources, listing on Happity, and possible features in the Happity What’s On newsletter. This can help grow your business and communicate to new clients. You can also download a mailing list of your clients for use on external email software. Listing on Happity gives you a pre-sale page with an option for parents to follow the page. You can then send them a message when new classes are added.
Happity also gives you access to their Venue Directory, which helps you find a suitable venue to host your activity.
Pricing for Happity
Happity allows you to list for free, giving you access to its guides and advice.
For a custom page and bookings, Happity starts at £5.00 a month, plus 2.5% per booking + VAT and a Stripe processing fee.
Happity charges £10.00 a month to be a featured listing.
Reviews of Happity
Happity has 9 positive reviews on Facebook from providers and parents.
| Pros | Cons |
| Marketing support and resources | Limited customisation of the page |
| Listing on a popular platform with parents | No membership or subscription option for parents |
| Interactive class registers | Limited integrations, including website embed |
ThinkSmart Software
ThinkSmart Software provides scheduling and customer management solutions with their suite of software. Their options are DanceBiz, SwimBiz, TennisBiz, MusicBiz, GymnasticsBiz, SportsBiz, and ClassBiz.
Benefits of ThinkSmart Software
ThinkSmart Software has payment partner options, including Stripe, PayPal, and Quickbooks integration. This can help with finance admin while offering parents an efficient payment solution. The software provides you with finance reports and also does invoicing.
It offers an unlimited number of staff logins, making it a good choice for large teams. You can log staff qualifications and skills and set tasks for team members. This can help manage the team and ensure a smooth service for parents.
If a class is missed, ThinkSmart Software offers an enrollment option for make-up classes. There is also a customer portal with waiting lists and skill tracking to record students’ progress over time.
To communicate with customers, email and SMS messages can be run from within the software. There is also an event planner for one-off events and a Zoom integration for hosting online classes.
Pricing for ThinkSmart Software
ThinkSmart Software costs £25.00 a month for up to 50 customers, £50.00 a month for 250 customers, or £90.00 a month for up to 1000 customers.
Reviews of ThinkSmart Software
DanceBiz by ThinkSmart Software has an average of 4.7 out of 5 stars from 85 reviews on Capterra.
DanceBiz users liked the helpful customer service and found that the software covered most of their needs. However, they did say that it could be more user-friendly, with the interface having a slightly dated design. The reviewers liked the linking with Xero and other software but found it complicated to set up.
| Pros | Cons |
| Lots of integrations, including Xero, Quickbooks, Stripe and Zoom | Dated design that could be more user-friendly |
| Built-in team management capabilities | Takes time to learn to use a more complicated setup |
| Class management with skill tracking and customer portal | No booking page requires your website to be linked to the software for online bookings. |
Franscape
Franscape is digital franchise management software with a mobile-first design. It offers solutions for managing franchises, bookings, staff, and clients.
Benefits of Franscape
Franscape has features for managing staff and customers across multiple locations. Franchisors can collect royalties and track financial data.
Franchisees or individual businesses can use the software to take online bookings and manage classes. Customers can easily access class schedules, bookings, and information through a portal, which can be designed with custom branding.
The software has integrated email and SMS communications. It also has features to assist with health and safety management, such as storing medical records.
Pricing for Franscape
Franscape starts at £15.00 a month, with a 3.9% +30p fee per transaction, including card fees. You can upgrade for custom branding and automated fee collection for £37.00 a month, with a 3% +30p transaction fee.
Reviews of Franscape
Franscape had an average of 5 out of 5 stars from 11 Capterra reviews.
Reviews of Franscape said that it was easy to use and had good technical support. They said it improved their customers’ experience and the software was constantly being improved upon. They would have liked a feature for a visual timetable and would find an app useful.
| Pros | Cons |
| Multiple franchise and team management | No visual timetable for class integration |
| Customer portal with limited views for franchisee users | Little marketing support |
| Website integration or standalone booking link | No free version or trial |
Bookeo
Bookeo is a booking and management software for classes, courses, appointments, and group workshops. It also has features suitable for tour booking and schools.
Benefits of Bookeo
Bookeo is a course booking system with several key features. The software can record in-person, phone, and online bookings. It also allows for POS payments alongside those made online. Bookings and payments are then all in one system, which is further supported by integration with Xero, Square, and Stripe.
Bookeo lets you offer prepaid packages, gifts, and memberships, which can all be effective marketing tools. This class booking system also enables you to send automated communications and has a Mailchimp integration.
The software integrates with WIX and allows for website embedding or works as a standalone booking page. Clients can then view availability in real time with a calendar view and automatic calendar syncs so that they never miss a session.
The Developer API is made available. Developers can further customise to extend capabilities and integrate with external services.
Pricing for Bookeo
Bookeo starts from $39.95 a month (approx. £31.33) for 20 teachers and rooms, and 1000 monthly bookings. Teachers and bookings allowed doubles for $79.95 a month (approx. £62.69). The top tier plan provides for 60 teachers and rooms and 3000 bookings a month, costing $119.95 a month (approx. £94.06).
Reviews of Bookeo
Bookeo had an average of 4.3 out of 5 stars from 96 Capterra reviews.
Reviews of Bookeo liked that it allows multiple instructors to access the software. They also said that it was easy for customers to make a booking and liked the customisable reservation system. However, they also said that the design of the UI could be improved, and some found it challenging to get technical support.
| Pros | Cons |
| Lots of integrations such as WIX, Mailchimp, and Xero | UI could be simpler and more attractive |
| Allows for online and in-person bookings and payments | One of the more costly options |
| Calendar view and personal calendar sync | It can be technically challenging to operate and customise |
Class Manager
Class Manager is class admin and event booking software. It is designed to support dance classes, gymnastics schools, and sports clubs with taking class bookings.
Benefits of Class Manager
Class Manager software has several benefits for scheduling classes and taking bookings. The admin and customer apps make scheduling and booking classes straightforward. Class Manager enables you to set up recurring payments, payment plans, and pay-as-you-go options for your clients. The software also takes care of invoicing, with integration with Xero, Quickbooks, and Stripe.
This class booking system also tracks attendance and creates waiting lists. Class Manager provides customer insights to track growth, too. This includes a visual customer map that could be useful for planning marketing campaigns and choosing venues. The software can also collect feedback from customers.
Class Manager lets you send automated and scheduled emails to your customers. This feature comes with an integrated AI writing generator, which is useful for assisting in the sending of personalised messages.
You can embed the booking page on your website or use a Class Manager booking page.
Pricing for Class Manager
Class Manager starts at £30.00 a month or £300.00 a year with unlimited classes and staff. You can upgrade to the growth plan at £39.00 a month. This allows you to add leads, custom forms, and Zapier integration.
Reviews of Class Manager
Class Manager had an average of 4.8 out of 5 stars from 175 Capterra reviews.
Reviews of Class Manager liked the option for booking trial classes, found information quick to access, and made it easy to sign up new customers. They said the custom maps were also good for planning flyering. They would have liked a make-up class feature when customers miss a session. Also, users would like clearer reports and exports.
| Pros | Cons |
| Staff and customer app | Could have cleaner reports and exports |
| Marketing features, including customer maps and scheduled emails | No make-up class feature |
| Custom onboarding and feedback | Could have more brand customisation |
Magic Booking
Magic Booking is a course booking system designed for schools and clubs.
Benefits of Magic Booking
Magic Booking software has several benefits for children’s activity providers. These include customisable rules for payments, eligibility, and scheduling. You can set up discounts and deposits to encourage bookings. You can set up instalment pay plans, support tax-free childcare, and accept childcare vouchers.
The class booking software provides consent forms, registers, and data management systems, which can help meet GDPR and OFSTED requirements. You can also send automated and custom messages via email and SMS.
Pricing for Magic Booking
Magic Booking for clubs starts at £59 a month + transaction fee and VAT. This gives you unlimited clients, activities, settings, and an e-shop. Custom branding is an additional cost. The cost for schools varies depending on software needs.
Reviews of Magic Booking
Magic Booking had an average of 4.2 out of 5 stars from 42 Trustpilot reviews.
Reviews for Magic Booking said the customer service was prompt and helpful. Users found the software suitable for collating data, bookings, registers, and emails in one place. They said it cut down on paperwork with a clear overview of financials. It was told to take some time to learn the system, with parents needing support to understand it, too.
| Pros | Cons |
| Multiple payment options, including childcare vouchers | Takes time to learn the system |
| Good overviews and collating of data | Parents needed initial support to use the system |
| Automated and custom messaging | No free trial |
Which booking software is best for classes?
The best booking software for classes depends on the size of your business. BookWhen has a good range of functionality at an affordable price. You can take both online and offline payments, and it has good customisation for taking bookings. It is also a good choice if you offer video classes with Zoom and YouTube integrations. We like that you are able to get familiar with the software first through the free plan.
If you are a small business for baby and toddler activities or classes, Happity could be a good software. It allows you to list for free, which can help you reach a new audience. If you want to take bookings through Happity, you can also do that at a reasonable price. For larger businesses and franchises, Franscape might be useful. It has features for managing multiple locations and teams and collecting royalties.
Pebble is a new product worth trying. It still has features to be added, but it allows you to list on the Pebble site and also provides some useful resources. ClassForKids is also worth considering, with reviews noting it had a clean interface, giving a good user experience.
The best booking software depends on what features your business needs. Digital management systems can be useful for cutting down admin time and increasing bookings. We hope you find the software that works for you.
Booking system recommendations based on activity type
For dance and movement classes, you can consider Bookwhen or ClassForKids for their:
- Flexible term booking systems
- Strong attendance tracking
- Easy trial class management
- Multiple payment options
For baby and toddler groups, Happity might be your best choice due to:
- Parent-friendly interfaces
- Strong marketplace presence
- Easy photo consent management
- Flexible booking options for caregivers
For sports clubs, ThinkSmart Software or Magic Booking offer:
- Equipment tracking capabilities
- Skill progression monitoring
- Multiple class type management
- Team communication tools
FAQs
How do I choose an online booking system?
You could start by listing the key features you need to choose an online booking system. For example, take online payments or email marketing features. You also want to consider how the software will integrate with your website. Also, is there other software you use that needs to integrate with the booking system? You can then check the different software options suitable for your needs. Making use of free trials and demos, as well as reading reviews, can also help you choose an online booking system.
How to set up a class booking system?
To set up a class booking system, you could start by watching a demo or using a free trial to learn the software and its features. Think through your customers’ journeys when booking to keep things as streamlined as possible for them. When setting up your booking forms, you must also consider what data you need, such as photo consent. Many class booking systems let you customise your business branding, too. Some will also set up a class booking system for your business.
Is there free scheduling software?
Yes, there is free scheduling software for events and activities. Pebble lets you list events that only charge a 10% commission on paid bookings. Bookwhen is free for scheduling up to 50 free-to-attend events a month. Happity also lets you list free events, classes, and activities for kids on the site. You must then pay a fee to take bookings directly through the site.
Sources