Mat Track vs 
PushPress
The PushPress alternative built for combat sports.
PushPress made its name with a free plan, and it is a real one: unlimited members, no monthly fee. The fine print is the processing rate, 4.99% + 30¢ on cards until you pay for Pro, and rank tracking sits in the paid tiers too. Mat Track's free plan takes no cut of your payments and includes the belts.
Every figure on this page checked against PushPress's public pricing, August 2026.
The fair version first
What PushPress is, honestly
PushPress is slick, modern gym software with a genuinely free entry point: $0 a month, unlimited members, leads and staff, plus real apps for members and staff. The paid tiers, Pro at $159 and Max at $229, unlock rank tracking, member intel, waitlisting and the Committed Club attendance rewards, and drop the card rate from 4.99% + 30¢ to 2.89% + 30¢. Its Train add-on and branded app are extra. The model is coherent: free to start, monetised through processing, upsold through features.
Do the arithmetic on the free plan. A gym putting $10,000 a month through cards pays roughly $499 in processing at 4.99% before the 30¢ per transaction, against about $289 at Pro's 2.89%, so the free plan can cost more than the paid one, and either way the platform takes a margin on your payments. Rank tracking, the feature a martial arts gym is here for, is Pro and up. Mat Track's free plan includes multi-art ranks, the member app and retention alerts, and passes your payments through at your processor's standard rate with nothing added.
Side by side
Mat Track vs PushPress at a glance
| Mat Track | PushPress | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing and plans | ||
| Free plan | Yes, full features to 200 contacts | Yes, unlimited members |
| Card rate on the free plan | Your processor's standard rate, nothing added | 4.99% + 30¢ |
| Card rate on paid plans | Still your processor's rate | 2.89% + 30¢ (Pro $159, Max $229) |
| Rank tracking | Every plan, free included | Pro and Max only |
| Branded app / Train | Member app included in every plan | Branded app $81 to $97/mo; Train from $79/mo |
| Member experience | ||
| Member app | Included: streaks, badges, leaderboards, community | Included: bookings, purchases, profile |
| Attendance rewards | Streaks, badges and challenges, every plan | Committed Club, on paid tiers |
| Workout tracking | Session logging in the app | Via Train add-on (from $79/mo) |
| Retention and coaching | ||
| Retention alerts | Each member vs their own 60-day pattern | Member Intel on paid tiers |
| Comeback flows | Comeback challenges built in | Not advertised |
| Per-coach retention view | Yes | Not advertised |
| Martial arts fit | ||
| Belt and rank tracking | Multi-art ranks, every plan | PushPress Rank Tracking, Pro and Max, custom criteria |
| Gradings and promotions | Criteria-based, visible in the app | Promotions and custom ranking criteria on paid tiers |
| Public gym page | Your page on an 11,000-gym directory | Not offered |
Sources: PushPress's public pricing page and Mat Track's pricing, both checked August 2026. Full breakdown: PushPress pricing explained.
The maths
The worked example: what free costs at $10,000 a month in card volume
A 120-member gym collecting $10,000 a month by card on PushPress Free pays about 4.99%, roughly $499 a month in processing before per-transaction cents, more than Pro's $159 subscription plus its 2.89% rate (about $289) would cost combined. On Mat Track the same gym under 200 contacts pays $0 to the platform and processes at its own Stripe or GoCardless standard rate, and rank tracking is not waiting in a higher tier. Free plans differ in where the money goes; check the processing line, not the price line.
Free that stays free at the till
Mat Track's free plan is funded by gyms upgrading for growth features, not by a margin on your card payments. You connect Stripe or GoCardless directly and pay their standard published rates; Mat Track adds no percentage and no per-transaction fee on any plan. What your members pay is what you receive, minus your processor, full stop.
Ranks are core, not an upsell
PushPress Rank Tracking is well built, with custom criteria and clean promotion flows, and it belongs to Pro and Max. Mat Track puts multi-art rank ladders in every plan because for a martial arts gym they are not a power feature, they are the point. Grading criteria live in the member app, so a white belt can see exactly what stands between them and blue.
Retention tooling on the plan you actually start on
PushPress keeps Member Intel and Committed Club for its paid tiers, which is fair business but means the free tier records attendance without acting on it. Mat Track's free plan carries the full retention loop: alerts when a member drops against their own 60-day pattern, streaks and badges pulling them back daily, and comeback challenges for the ones who slip. The mechanics are in our retention guide.
The rest of the toolkit
Also in Mat Track, so nothing is lost in the move
The front desk
- Kiosk and QR check-in. Members self-scan on the way in; the register fills itself.
- Class scheduling. Bookings, waitlists and capacity limits, synced to the member app.
- Digital waivers. Signed on a phone at the door, stored against the member, no paper.
- Guest passes. Members share a pass from the app, so trials walk in pre-registered.
The money
- Stripe and GoCardless billing. Cards and direct debits, with failed payments chased automatically.
- Family and group billing. One payer, several members, one invoice.
- Day passes and drop-ins. Paid at the door with QR entry and a waiver in the same flow.
- No platform transaction fees. You pay your processor's rate and nothing on top.
Keeping people
- Email and SMS inbox. Messages to members from the console, replies back in one place.
- Automations. Welcome sequences, missed-payment chases and comeback nudges on paid plans.
- Multi-location reporting. Every site on one screen, on Pro.
- Your page on the directory. A claimed profile on the 11,000-gym Mat Track directory, pointing searchers at your door.
Who moves
The gyms that switch from PushPress
The gym that did the processing maths
At 4.99% on the free plan, $10,000 of monthly card volume costs about $499. Owners who notice that line switch to a platform that takes nothing on top of the processor's rate.
The martial arts gym on a fitness platform
PushPress serves functional fitness first; rank tracking arrived later and lives in paid tiers. Gyms whose identity is belts and gradings move to software where that is the core, on every plan.
The startup gym choosing its first system
Both platforms let you start free. The difference at day one: Mat Track's free plan includes ranks, retention alerts and the full member app, and never takes a percentage of your revenue.
The part nobody else has
Practitioners in your area may already be on Mat Track
Mat Track is not just gym software; it is the app martial artists use to log their training, keep streaks and find somewhere to train on the 11,000-gym directory. That is a pool of active practitioners no other platform on this page can show you. Claim your gym's page and your timetable, trial offer and grading culture are in front of the people already searching your postcode.
Switching
What moving from PushPress looks like
- Export members, plans and payment history from PushPress (CSV exports in the admin).
- Import into Mat Track, set up rank ladders, invite members to the app; fresh payment consent is collected in the invite flow.
- Run both for one billing cycle, compare the processing line on your statements, then close the PushPress account.
The honest bit
When PushPress is the better pick
Pick PushPress if you also run functional fitness and want its ecosystem, staff apps and hardware polish, if unlimited members on a free plan matters more than the processing rate, or if you are happy paying for Pro where the rate drops and the feature set is strong. It is some of the best-designed software in this market. Comparing the whole market rather than just us? Our best PushPress alternatives roundup covers the field.
Frequently asked questions
PushPress is free; why would I pay for anything else?
Does PushPress do belt tracking?
What does PushPress have that Mat Track does not?
Is Mat Track's free plan really equivalent to a paid plan?
How long does switching from PushPress take?
More data-led comparisons from the same team: best muay thai gym software, best MMA gym software, best boxing gym software, Wodify vs PushPress and the retention guide behind our alerts.
Try the switch without the risk
Free up to 200 contacts, no card. Import your members, run one real week, and keep PushPress until you are sure. And practitioners already log their training on the Mat Track app; claiming your gym's page puts your timetable in front of them.