PushPress has a free plan. The things most boxes need are not on it.
The short answer
For most CrossFit boxes and functional fitness gyms, Recess is the strongest PushPress alternative in 2026: it is free with no tiers, and everything is on that one plan including a branded app and coach payroll. Gymdesk is the cleanest paid option at $75 to $200 a month with every feature included. Wodify is the one to choose if workout tracking and leaderboards are the heart of your gym. PushPress itself does one thing better than anyone, and if you run a jiu-jitsu programme alongside your classes it is worth knowing what.
| Platform | Best for | Starting price | One decisive capability | Where it falls short |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Recess | Boxes that want everything on one free plan | Free, no tiers | Programming, scores, on-ramp, open gym, coach pay and a branded app included | Workout tracking is not as deep as Wodify's |
| PushPress | Gyms wanting the best rank model, with a budget | Free, then $159 and $229 | Stripes are a real sub-level inside a belt, not separate rows | Rank tracking is not on the free plan |
| Gymdesk | Gyms wanting one clear price and no upsells | $75 to $200/mo by member count | Every feature on every plan | Each stripe must be its own rank row |
| Wodify | Gyms where the whiteboard is the culture | Plan prices not published | The best workout tracking and leaderboards available | Branded app $79/mo; card rate 3.8% on entry against 2.7% on top |
| Zen Planner | Gyms running CrossFit and martial arts together | $99 to $289/mo by member count | Handles two disciplines under one roof | Price rises with member count; documentation behind a login |
How This List Was Built
Every price and capability was read on the vendor's own pricing page or help centre on 8 September 2026. For PushPress specifically, we downloaded and searched their entire published help centre, 562 articles, so where this article says something is not documented, that rests on a search of all of it rather than on failing to find it.
Recess is our own product. Every competitor here gets a real reason to be chosen, and PushPress gets three.
What PushPress Does Better Than Us
Worth putting first, because it is true.
Stripes are modelled properly. In PushPress a stripe is a sub-level inside a belt rather than a separate rank row. A jiu-jitsu school ends up with about six rank entries rather than the 25 to 30 you get on platforms that make every stripe its own row. That is the cleanest approach in the category and nobody else matches it.
Rank Request. Members submit their own belt history by email or text, and an admin approves them in bulk. No other platform documents anything equivalent, and it removes the single most tedious part of switching software for an academy with a large roster.
AI-generated belt systems. You can generate a whole progression ladder from a prompt, which is a real time-saver for a new programme.
If those matter to you, PushPress is a good answer and this article is not going to talk you out of it.
Where PushPress Costs You
Rank tracking is not on the free plan. Their own FAQ says so directly: it is available only on Pro and Max, which are $159 and $229 a month. So the free plan that brought you in does not include the feature PushPress is best at.
There is no documented way to record a pass or fail on a grading. Belt tests run through a generic invite-only events feature that captures registration and payment. Nothing links the result back to a promotion, and "pass/fail" and "test result" return nothing across all 562 of their help articles.
Their marketing and their help centre disagree about migration. The marketing page says rank history "moves across cleanly". Their help centre says "manually entering rank history for hundreds of members is the #1 reason academies delay switching platforms." Both are their own words.
Family accounts are workable but manual. Every sub-account must use the primary payment method, each person needs their own plan to book, and children cannot share a parent's email. The documented workaround is typing a "+1" into the address.
Recess
Best for boxes that want everything on one free plan. Free, no tiers.
Daily programming with scores and leaderboards. On-ramp as its own programme. Open gym alongside classes. A progression ladder you define yourself, belts, stripes, levels or skills, with curriculum and grading notes attached, on the free plan rather than a $159 one. Family billing with several children on one payer. Class packs, memberships and drop-ins on one roster. Automated billing and failed payment recovery. Per-class coach pay. Kiosk check-in. Retail. And a branded app in both app stores, included.
Where Recess loses. Wodify tracks workouts more deeply than we do, and PushPress models stripes more elegantly. We also have fewer third-party integrations than the larger platforms.
Gymdesk
Best for gyms wanting one clear price. $75 to $200 a month by active member count.
Published pricing, every feature on every plan, no add-ons to discover later.
Where Gymdesk loses. Each stripe must be its own rank row, so a jiu-jitsu programme accumulates 25 to 30 rank entries where PushPress has six.
Wodify
Best for gyms where the whiteboard is the culture. Plan prices not published.
The best workout tracking and leaderboards in the category. If your members log every lift, this is the reason to choose it.
Where Wodify loses. No published plan prices. A branded app at $79 a month on every tier. And a card rate that penalises the cheaper plan, 3.8% against 2.7%.
Zen Planner
Best for gyms running CrossFit and martial arts together. $99 to $289 a month by member count.
A long track record in both communities and genuine capability across the two.
Where Zen Planner loses. The price rises as your membership grows, a branded app is $39 a month, texts are billed per message, and their documentation now sits behind a login so you cannot check a feature before buying.
What to Check Before You Move
- Which plan holds the feature you actually want. A free tier that excludes it is not free for you.
- Whether a grading result can be recorded, not just a grading event booked.
- What migrates, especially rank history and attendance. Ask what does not.
- Whether the branded app is included. The answers here range from free to $79 a month.
- How family billing works if you teach children. One card, one login, one bill is not standard.
Recess Fits Here
If you signed up to PushPress for the free plan and then found rank tracking behind $159 a month, Recess is worth twenty minutes. Everything is on the free plan, including the progression ladder, family billing and the branded app.
If PushPress's stripe model is what you want, they do it better than we do. That is the honest answer.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is rank tracking free on PushPress?
No. PushPress's own FAQ states that rank tracking is only available on Pro and Max plans, at $159 and $229 a month. Their free plan exists but does not include it.
What is the best free PushPress alternative?
Recess is free with no tiers, and includes progression tracking, family billing, coach payroll and a branded app on that one plan. Gymdesk is the cleanest paid alternative at $75 to $200 a month with every feature included.
Can PushPress record whether a student passed a belt test?
Their help centre documents no way to do this. Belt tests run through a generic invite-only events feature that captures registration and payment, with nothing linking a result back to a promotion. Searching all 562 of their published help articles returns no reference to pass, fail or test results.
Does PushPress handle family accounts?
Yes, through sub-accounts, with documented limits: all sub-accounts must use the primary account's payment method, each person needs their own plan to book classes, and children cannot share a parent's email address. The documented workaround is adding a "+1" to the email.
Which platform models belt stripes best?
PushPress. Stripes are a real sub-level inside a belt rather than separate rank rows, so a jiu-jitsu school has roughly six rank entries instead of 25 to 30. This is the one area where PushPress leads the category outright.
Does rank history transfer when switching to PushPress?
Their marketing says rank history moves across cleanly. Their help centre says manually entering rank history for hundreds of members is the most common reason academies delay switching. Ask them directly which applies to your situation before committing.
