Software comparison

ClubEasy vs Zen Planner

Zen Planner handles the basics for general martial arts studios. If you run a BJJ academy, the basics aren't enough — you need belt tracking with promotion gates, grading event management, and a technique library built for grappling. That is what ClubEasy is.

ClubEasy

BJJ-specific

Zen Planner

General martial arts

BJJ belt tracking & promotion gates

409 BJJ technique library

Grading event management

AI promotion advisor

Technique heatmap per member

Stripe billing & recurring memberships

Class scheduling

Digital waivers

Member self-service portal

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Purpose-built for BJJ

No per-member pricing

Where ClubEasy wins for BJJ

ClubEasy was designed from the ground up for Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. The belt tracking system understands the five adult belts, four-stripe progression, and promotion criteria including minimum days in rank, session count gates, skill assessment averages, instructor sign-offs, and competition requirements. All of this is displayed in real time on a dashboard for every student on your roster.

The 409-technique library covers the complete canonical BJJ curriculum across gi and no-gi. When you log techniques after class, every attending student automatically receives an exposure record — building a personal heatmap that shows exactly where their knowledge is strong and where it is thin.

Grading events in ClubEasy let you create a structured ceremony, pull up candidate gate status, and record bulk promotions with permanent belt history. The AI promotion advisor (Elite plan) ranks your entire roster by readiness and surfaces gap analysis for every near-ready student.

What Zen Planner does well

Zen Planner is a capable general martial arts and fitness studio platform. It handles recurring billing, class scheduling, attendance, and basic member management for a broad range of studio types — karate, MMA, yoga, and fitness. For gyms that need a generic multi-discipline solution, it covers the operational fundamentals.

For BJJ academies, the gap is in depth: Zen Planner has basic rank fields but no promotion gates, no session-count criteria, no instructor sign-off workflows, and no grading ceremony tools. Managing BJJ promotions properly requires a system that understands the sport — and Zen Planner's general-purpose design means those workflows live outside the platform, typically in spreadsheets.

Frequently asked questions

Can I import my Zen Planner member data into ClubEasy?

Yes. ClubEasy has a CSV importer that accepts standard member exports. Contact support and we'll walk you through the migration — member details and membership status can all be brought across.

Does ClubEasy cost more than Zen Planner?

ClubEasy's plans start at $79/month. Given the additional BJJ-specific features — belt tracking, grading events, technique library, AI tools — the value per dollar is significantly higher for BJJ academies.

Is there a free trial?

Yes. ClubEasy offers a 14-day free trial with no credit card required. You can import your full roster and test every feature before committing.

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