The two-layer cost most studios do not see coming
Most gyms and studios sign up for platforms like this because of the subscription price on the page. What is less visible upfront is the second layer: if a client books through the platform’s own app rather than your website, that booking can carry a commission on top of what you are already paying monthly.
That is a materially different structure to a flat-fee platform. It is not a case of picking the cheaper plan and being done. The cost scales with how many of your bookings come through the marketplace, which is often exactly the channel studios are encouraged to lean on for new-client discovery.
The subscription
The number on the pricing page, and the one you agreed to. On platforms structured this way it is charged per location, and it does not move with how busy you are.
The marketplace commission
A cut of bookings that arrive through the platform's own consumer app rather than your own website. This is the layer that is hardest to see in advance, and the one that grows as the marketplace does more for you.
Payment processing
Charged on top of both, and paid to a payment processor rather than to the software company. Every platform has it, ResNeo included, but it is worth knowing your rate when you are adding the layers up.
What this actually looks like in practice
A studio on a mid-tier plan like this, doing a moderate volume of marketplace-sourced bookings a month, can end up paying noticeably more once subscription, commission and processing are combined. Often significantly above the advertised subscription price alone, once a full month’s marketplace activity is added in.
Entry tier
$99 to $159
Per location, per month. Usually the price you see advertised.
Larger plans
$499 to $699+
Per location, per month. Often quoted by a salesperson rather than published.
Reported ranges for platforms structured this way, before any commission is added. Figures are in US dollars, which is how these platforms typically publish.
Platforms structured this way are also often priced per location. A second site means a second full subscription, not a shared or discounted add-on.
Is there a way to avoid the marketplace commission?
Usually yes. Bookings made directly through your own website or app, rather than the platform’s consumer marketplace, do not carry the same commission layer.
The trade-off is that avoiding the fee means not using the discovery channel the marketplace provides, which is part of what studios are paying the subscription for in the first place. If that channel is genuinely introducing you to people who would never otherwise have found you, the commission is a customer acquisition cost, and it may be a fair one. The question worth answering is what share of those bookings would have come to you anyway.
What to check on your own booking platform bill
- 1
What proportion of your bookings last month came through a marketplace app rather than your own site?
This is the number that drives the second layer. If it is not obvious from your reporting, ask your account manager for a breakdown of marketplace-attributed bookings.
- 2
Is your subscription tier priced for one location, and do you have or plan to have more than one?
Per-location pricing is the difference between a second site costing a little more and a second site doubling your software bill.
- 3
Has your effective monthly cost gone up as your business has grown, even without changing plans?
Add subscription, commission and processing for the last three months, then divide by three. On a flat fee that number does not move. On this model it does.