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The typical software for gyms and studios is complicated and way too expensive. So for solo teachers looking for a booking system, it can come down to a choice between Momence (formerly Ribbon) or Ubindi. We'll look at the differences to help you make an informed decision.
Momence is a massive product with tons of features, putting it roughly on the same level with MindBody. But this also means that Momence is complex and also pretty expensive. Momence can do a lot... but most of the features it comes with are ones you probably don’t need. And their pricing isn't very straightforward.
Ubindi provides "just the essentials", and it's amazingly user friendly. You won't find "multi-admin accounts" or things like payroll calculators for staff members... but Ubindi will solidly handle class bookings, payments, passes, memberships, attendance, on-demand videos, mass emailing, managing clients... all while still being very easy to use and intuitive. Ubindi is designed for non-techie people who don’t want complicated dashboards, configurations, settings and reports.
Summary: on "features", Momence beats Ubindi. On simplicity and cost, Ubindi beats Momence hands down.
At first glance, the pricing for Ubindi and Momence's three plans appears to be similar. But then Momence does something very sneaky that's not clear on their pricing page: it charges your clients extra "service fees" of 4% on every purchase. By contrast, Ubindi's pricing is transparent and much less expensive.
Looking at some real examples: on Ubindi, if students are paying you $1,000 or $5,000 per month, the platform collects a reasonable $30 or $99 respectively. Momence will already charge $70 when your revenue is just $1,000. And if your clients are bringing in $5,000 per month, Momence takes an astounding $260! Even MindBody would be attractive by comparison.
Momence offers a lot and may be interesting for "influencers" or bigger operations that have complex needs and maybe a team to drive it all. For example, "Superfans" on Ribbon is a Facebook-like feed where you can post things and then give access to different content to clients in different tiers. You can also build out a virtual store to sell products, or manage multiple teachers and staff in different rooms, providing different "services". You can even create the seating arrangement for each of your rooms and have clients book particular seats in the room.
By contrast, Ubindi does not have hundreds of configuration options and settings. It's lightweight by design — so you can be up & running in minutes.
Here's a side by side feature list:
Classes scheduling, bookings, attendance
On demand videos
Memberships & class passes
Waivers
Student referral program
Embed on own website
Clients grouping & tags
Emailing
SMS sending
Products (point of sale)
Multiple staff & payroll
"Superfans" (Facebook-like feed)
We think that Momence is "overkill" and too complex for most independent teachers. If you're more interested in teaching than tech, and you just need a solid, user-friendly system in place that's easy for you and your clients, Ubindi is the better choice.
