Pilates class booking system: members pick the class, the studio keeps the rules
A pilates class booking system lets a member pick a class and a time from the weekly timetable. Capacity, instructor availability and the cancellation window are the studio's rules. ALTAI Digital builds it on the studio's own class packs and memberships. Reminders go out a day and two hours before class, with a cancel link inside. A cancelled place returns to capacity and the waitlist is notified. The calendar syncs both ways with Google Calendar or Outlook. The first live flow opens in four to eight weeks.
A pilates or yoga studio sells class packs and memberships and runs a weekly timetable with a fixed number of reformer beds or mats per class. Bookings arrive by message, through a booking app with a monthly fee, or both at once. Whoever keeps the list has to count: who is in, who dropped out, who is waiting. When the count is kept by hand, the same slot gets one name too many, or a free place is assumed full and a member is turned away. The timetable changes every week and the counting starts again.
Many studios already pay a monthly fee for a booking app. The app owns the timetable, the member list and the payment flow; the studio adapts its rules to the app's options and pays every month whether the classes are full or empty. When the studio wants a different cancellation window, a waitlist that notifies in order, or a reminder in its own wording, the answer is often that the app does not do that. ALTAI Digital builds the booking flow on the studio's rules instead, and the source code stays with the studio.
The questions a member asks most often are practical: how many classes are left on the pack, how late a booking can be cancelled, and whether a full class has a waitlist. The cancellation window decides whether a late cancel costs a class credit, and the waitlist decides who gets the freed place. In the build these rules are written once. Reminders go out a day and two hours before class with a cancel link inside, a cancelled place returns to capacity, and the next member on the waitlist is notified without anyone having to remember.
Member data is personal data under the GDPR: name, phone number, e-mail address, pack and booking history. In the build it stays in the studio's own database, in the studio's name, and only the fields needed for booking and reminders are stored. The timetable syncs both ways with Google Calendar or Outlook, so an instructor's own calendar closes a slot before a member can book it. We work from Rotterdam and Istanbul. Below is the scope, the process and the questions we are asked most; pricing follows the discovery call.
What goes wrong today
- 01
Capacity is counted by hand
Reformer beds and mats are fixed, but who is in and who dropped out sits in a message thread. A slot gets one name too many, or a free place is assumed full and a member is turned away at the door.
- 02
Late cancellations leave the place empty
A member cancels an hour before class. The place is free, but nobody tells the waitlist, so the bed stays empty and the class credit is argued over the next day.
- 03
The booking app sets the rules
The monthly fee buys a fixed set of options. A different cancellation window, an ordered waitlist or a reminder in the studio's own wording is often not available. The member list lives in the app's account, not the studio's.
- 04
Reminders depend on memory
If nobody sends a reminder, the no-show is discovered when the class starts. If a reminder goes to a group chat, there is no cancel link in it. The member replies in the group and the count starts again.
- 05
Instructor availability lives elsewhere
The instructor's own calendar and the class timetable are two separate things. A holiday or a private client is entered in one and forgotten in the other. Members find out when the class is cancelled at the door.
- 06
Member data is scattered
Names and phone numbers sit in a chat app, payments in a spreadsheet, attendance in someone's head. Under the GDPR the studio is responsible for all of it, but nobody can say where a member's record actually is.
Scope of the build
Members pick their own class and time
The member opens the weekly timetable and picks the class, the instructor and the time. Class length, instructor availability, capacity and holidays are set as rules; when a rule changes, the timetable changes with it. A full class shows a waitlist option instead of a message to the studio.
Capacity and waitlist per class
Capacity is set per class, whether reformer beds or mats. When the class is full, the member joins the waitlist; when a place frees up, the next member on the list is notified. Nobody counts by hand.
Reminders with a cancel link
Reminders go out a day before and two hours before class by WhatsApp, SMS or e-mail. The cancel link is inside the message; one tap frees the place and returns it to capacity. The studio decides which channels are used and how many reminders go out.
Two-way sync with Google Calendar or Outlook
The studio and instructor calendars sync both ways with Google Calendar or Outlook. An instructor's own appointments count as busy; a clashing slot never opens for booking, and a change on either side shows on both.
Class packs and optional prepayment
Class packs can be sold with prepayment at the point of booking, if the studio wants that. Payment, cancellation and refund rules are written the way the studio sets them; the system does not refund on its own.
One member record in the studio's own database
Name, phone, e-mail, pack and booking history sit in one record in the studio's own database; duplicates are merged and required fields are defined. Only what booking and reminders need is stored, which keeps what the studio must protect under the GDPR small.
Monthly report: occupancy and no-shows
At month end the report shows occupancy, the no-show rate and the most requested times. Which classes run empty and which fill first is visible in numbers, and the timetable is adjusted from the report rather than from memory.
How the build runs
- 01
Discovery (1 week)
Timetable, capacity, packs, memberships and the cancellation window are written down; instructor calendars and the current booking flow are reviewed.
- 02
Build
Timetable, capacity and rules are set in the calendar; Google Calendar or Outlook sync, reminder channels and optional prepayment are configured.
- 03
Trial week
The studio team runs the flow for a week: booking, cancelling and the waitlist are tested on real classes, and the rules are corrected.
- 04
Launch and measurement
Members receive the booking link and the first live flow opens, four to eight weeks from discovery. Occupancy and the no-show rate are measured from month one.
Pilates studio booking build
- Weekly timetable with capacity and instructor availability rules
- Booking page where members pick their own class and time
- Reminders a day and two hours before class by WhatsApp, SMS or e-mail
- Cancel link, waitlist and places that return to capacity
- Two-way sync with Google Calendar or Outlook
- Optional prepayment for class packs, with the studio's refund rule
- Monthly report: occupancy, no-show rate, most requested times
- Member data in the studio's own database, under the GDPR
Pricing is given after the discovery call, once the scope is clear.
Products used in this build
Online booking and scheduling
Online booking for clinics, salons and hotels; reminders and cancellation handling close the empty slot.
CRM and customer management
The customer record gathers in one place: duplicates merge, required fields are defined, the report comes out on its own.
WhatsApp Business integration
Notifications, order tracking and customer conversations gather in the business account; the history stays with the company.
Terms used on this page
- Class pack
- A class pack is a set number of classes bought in advance and used up booking by booking, unlike a membership that renews monthly.
- Cancellation window
- The cancellation window is the last moment before class at which a member can cancel without losing the credit; the studio sets it.
- Waitlist
- The waitlist is the ordered list of members who want a place in a full class and are notified when a cancellation frees one.
- Two-way calendar sync
- Two-way calendar sync is the link that updates the booking calendar and Google Calendar or Outlook on both sides; a clashing slot never opens.
- No-show rate
- The no-show rate is the share of booked places where the member did not attend, shown in the monthly report alongside occupancy.
pilates class booking systemFrequently asked questions
The first live flow opens in four to eight weeks. Discovery takes one week; the build, a trial week and launch follow. The time depends on the number of instructors, the range of classes and whether prepayment is set up. The exact schedule is written in the discovery report.
You can. The build replaces the monthly fee with a flow that follows your rules and keeps member data in your own database. If a payment provider or a calendar you already use should stay, it is connected rather than replaced.
The member joins the waitlist. When someone cancels, the place returns to capacity and the next member on the list is notified. Announcing a free place does not depend on anyone noticing it, and nobody counts capacity by hand.
WhatsApp, SMS or e-mail; the default is two reminders, a day before and two hours before class. The cancel link is inside the message. The studio decides which channels are used and how many reminders go out.
Class packs can be sold with optional prepayment, and the refund rule is the studio's. How remaining credits are tracked depends on the studio's pack and membership rules. It is settled in the discovery week and written into the discovery report.
Yes. The timetable syncs both ways with Google Calendar or Outlook, and an instructor's own appointments count as busy. A clashing slot never opens for booking; a holiday entered in the instructor's calendar closes the class slot for that time.
In the studio's own database, in the studio's name. Only the fields needed for booking and reminders are kept: name, contact details, pack and bookings. Health notes and anything beyond booking are not entered into the system, which keeps what the studio must protect under the GDPR small.
Pricing depends on the number of instructors, the range of classes and whether prepayment is set up, and is given after the discovery call. The scope of the build is listed in the package above; the discovery report states the schedule and the scope for your studio.
The process first, the proposal after
In a short discovery call we map the process together and tell you plainly whether it is worth automating. If it is not, we say that too.
30 minutes · no preparation needed
