Recess vs ABC Ignite
Ignite is ABC Fitness's platform, sold to large gym chains and franchise groups. It publishes no prices at all. Every cost question on their site ends at Contact Sales or Request a Demo, which tells you who it is built for.
Every Ignite claim on this page was read on ABC Fitness's own website, and is footnoted below.
Recess has no monthly platform fee, no add-ons and no setup cost. It earns roughly 5% paid by the member at checkout, with card and bank processing covered by Recess out of that fee.
Recess is not built for chains past about a hundred locations. If that is you, Ignite is a more sensible fit than Recess, and we would say so on the first call.
Who each one suits, plainly. Ignite is enterprise gym software for chains and franchises with a head office. Recess is for independent studios, schools and gyms. If you are choosing between these two, the size of your operation decides it before anything else does.
Where the two actually differ.
ABC Fitness publishes no plan names, no prices, no card processing rates, no setup fees and no contract length for Ignite. Everything here that concerns money comes from the absence of a figure.
They are not really our competitor, and saying otherwise would waste your time. Ignite is built for chains and franchise groups. Head office reporting, franchisee management and member billing across many sites. ABC Fitness has spent years on problems Recess has never tried to solve.
If you run thirty gyms under one brand, the right answer on this page is probably them, and we would tell you that rather than pitch you.
You are one gym, or a handful, and the software should not cost you anything. Recess has no plan fee at all, and every feature is included from day one. There is no tier to climb, no seat count and no quote to negotiate.
And you want to know the price before the sales process starts. ABC publishes nothing for Ignite. Recess publishes its whole model in one line: free for the gym, about 5% paid by the member at checkout, processing covered out of that.
What you actually pay.
ABC Fitness publishes no prices for Ignite. The product page carries Contact Sales and Request a Demo, and lists no plan names, no figures and no rate card.
That is normal for enterprise software. Platforms sold to chains are quoted per deal, because the scope differs by how many sites you run and what you need wired into it. It is the shape of that market rather than a criticism.
What to ask for, in writing. The annual contract value, the card processing rate, the implementation fee, the contract length and the renewal uplift. Those five numbers make a comparison possible, to us or to anyone else.
Recess is one thing at one price. No plan to choose, no seat count, no setup fee, nothing behind a paywall and nothing to negotiate. Recess earns a service fee of about 5% paid by the member at checkout, and card and bank processing comes out of that fee rather than being charged on top.
Recess is one thing at one price. No plan to choose, no seat count, no setup fee, nothing behind a paywall inside the product. Recess earns a service fee of approximately 5% paid by the member at checkout, with card and bank processing covered by Recess out of that fee.
That is not automatically cheaper for you, and we would rather say so than have you find out. If you would rather absorb the cost yourself and keep the checkout total clean, a monthly subscription is a different trade. Do the arithmetic on your own volume before believing anyone, including us.
What Recess costs you.
There is nothing to put on the other side of this calculator, because ABC Fitness publishes no price for Ignite. What it does show is the Recess side: no plan fee, no processing billed to you, at any volume.
Your members pay a service fee of about 5% at checkout on Recess, which is how the software is free for you. That is a real trade rather than a free lunch, and the point of this is that you can see both sides of it.
What owners ask when they are weighing this up.
Actually free, permanently, with every feature included. There is no plan to choose and nothing behind a higher tier. Recess earns a service fee of approximately 5% paid by the member at checkout, and card and bank processing is covered out of that rather than billed to you on top.
Usually not. Ignite is sold to gym chains and franchise groups with a head office. Recess is built for independent studios, schools and gyms. If both names are on your shortlist, the first thing to settle is how many sites you run, because that decides it before any feature does.
No. There is one version of Recess and it includes messaging, sequences, campaigns, lead capture, reporting, staff, payroll, multiple locations and your own branded client app published under your own listing.
ABC Fitness's gym management platform, which they describe as enterprise grade. ABC Fitness is one of the larger companies in this industry and Ignite is their main product for operators at scale.
Recess, and it is not a close call. Every feature is included from day one and there is no plan fee to carry while you fill your first classes. Enterprise software bought on a quote is not what a single new gym needs.
Too small for Ignite, almost certainly. Exactly right for Recess. Independent single-location gyms are who Recess is built for, and there is no monthly fee to justify at that size.
Every Ignite claim on this page was read on ABC Fitness's own website, not from review sites or summaries, on 3 October 2026.
Sources: the ABC Fitness Ignite product page, for the description of the platform as enterprise grade and for the Contact Sales and Request a Demo routes, and for the absence of any published pricing.
Where this page says a figure is not published, that means it was not stated anywhere on ABC Fitness's public Ignite pages on the date above. Plan prices, card processing rates, setup fees and contract length all fall into that group.