A Jackrabbit alternative for studios where students progress
Jackrabbit Class and Jackrabbit Dance are well-established tools for youth activity programs. If you want a price based only on your active students, your own choice of payment processor and grades with readiness and exam entries, ClubTide gives you classes, attendance, family billing and a parent portal on any phone, in five languages and hosted in the EU.
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Two ways to run a youth activity program
Jackrabbit is a long-standing platform for youth activity businesses, with Jackrabbit Class for programs such as gymnastics, swim and cheer and Jackrabbit Dance for dance studios. It covers online registration, automated tuition, attendance with makeups, a Parent Portal, appointments, camps and events, an in-studio store and, for dance, recital and costume planning. Jackrabbit says it serves more than 7,000 clients worldwide.
ClubTide is built for schools where students move up through levels and families pay for several children: dance studios, music schools, sports clubs and martial arts gyms. It focuses on grades and exams, attendance, family billing and a parent portal, together with the consents and documents that come with teaching children. Staff and parents use it in English, Romanian, German, Spanish or French.
If recitals, costumes, makeup classes and an in-studio shop are at the heart of your season, Jackrabbit may remain the better fit. If you mostly need classes, levels, families and billing, read on.
ClubTide vs Jackrabbit at a glance*
Prices are monthly. ClubTide prices are shown in your page's currency, Jackrabbit prices in US dollars as published.
| What you get | ClubTide | Jackrabbit |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | $49 for up to 50 students | From $49 |
| Students that count | Active students only | All students, inactive too |
| Larger schools | $79 up to 100, $129 up to 200, $179 up to 400 active students | Price rises with the total number of students at month end |
| Setup fee and contract | No setup fee, monthly or annual, cancel anytime | No contracts; no setup fee except $169 for Plus |
| Payment processors | Stripe, PayPal or Authorize.net | Jackrabbit Pay or an approved partner |
| Fee on family payments | None from ClubTide | No markup, according to Jackrabbit |
| Parent access | Portal on any phone | Parent Portal; branded app with Plus |
| Branded parent app | On the roadmap | Plus, from $93 a month plus $169 setup |
| Levels and progress | Grades, readiness and exams | Skills and levels with dates |
| Self check-in | QR code at the entrance | Self check-in screen |
| Private lessons | One-to-one lessons with conflict warnings | Appointments |
| Signed forms | Versioned consent forms with PDF copies | E-signature of agreement text at registration |
| Makeup classes | Excused absences and rescheduled sessions | Yes |
| Recital and costume planning | Events with sign-up and the fee on the family invoice | Jackrabbit Dance |
| In-studio store with inventory | On the roadmap | Yes |
| Texting families | On the roadmap | Through your own Twilio or Plivo account |
| BI dashboard and API | On the roadmap | BI dashboard on Enterprise ($245 a month); API |
Jackrabbit information from jackrabbitclass.com and jackrabbitdance.com (pricing, ePayments and feature pages), checked in October 2026. Prices and features change; please confirm them on Jackrabbit's website. Spotted something out of date? Write to [email protected]. Jackrabbit pricing page ↗
You only pay for students who are still coming
Jackrabbit's price starts at $49 a month and follows the total number of students on file at the end of each month, inactive students included. ClubTide counts only active students: archive a student who leaves and they stop counting straight away, while their history stays on file. Parents and staff never count either.
ClubTide costs $49 a month for up to 50 active students, $79 for up to 100 and $129 for up to 200, with every feature, location and teacher included. There is no setup fee and no contract: pay monthly, or annually for less, and cancel at the end of any paid period.
- Archived students never count toward your plan
- Every feature in every plan
- No setup fee, monthly or annual billing
Keep the payment processor you prefer
Integrated payments in Jackrabbit run through Jackrabbit Pay or an approved ePayments partner, and Square and PayPal are not integrated. Jackrabbit says it adds no markup to processing. In ClubTide you connect your studio's own Stripe, PayPal or Authorize.net account, pay that processor's standard rates under your own agreement, and ClubTide adds no fee to the payments families make.
Families pay invoices by card in the portal or save a card for autopay on recurring fees. Cash and bank transfers are recorded in a click, and overdue invoices are flagged after your grace period without ever locking a student out of class.
- Stripe, PayPal or Authorize.net, under your own agreement
- Autopay on a saved card for recurring fees
- Per-lesson billing and class packs next to monthly tuition
Grades, readiness and exam entries
Jackrabbit records skills and levels per class or student with the dates they were started, tested and attained. ClubTide adds a full grade system: start from the dance grades, ballroom medals, music grades or simple levels presets, list the skills for each level and set a minimum number of lessons, months at the current level, a minimum age or teacher approval. ClubTide shows who is ready, and a teacher always makes the decision.
For an exam session, invite the students who are ready and let parents enter them from the portal. Each entry adds the exam fee to the family's invoice. Afterwards, record results and move everyone who passed up a level in one step, with a permanent level history for every student.
- Editable presets for dance, ballroom, music and levels
- Readiness from lessons, time at level, age and skills
- Exam entries in the portal with the fee invoiced
Families, consents and documents
In ClubTide the family is the account holder: one parent or several, each with their own login, any number of children, one invoice with a sibling discount and one saved card. Parents see each child's timetable, attendance, level and progress, invoices and signed consents on any phone, without installing an app, and choose which notifications they receive.
Consent forms are versioned and every acceptance is kept with a PDF copy. Medical certificates and insurance can be tracked with expiry reminders, medical notes stay hidden from staff without permission, and a student's data can be exported or anonymized when a parent asks. Data is hosted in the EU, in Germany, with a DPA.
- Several guardians per family, each with their own login
- Versioned consent forms with PDF copies
- GDPR exports, anonymization and EU hosting
When Jackrabbit may suit you better
Jackrabbit includes things ClubTide does not offer: recital and costume planning for dance studios, makeup class handling, an in-studio store with inventory, texting through your own Twilio or Plivo account, a business intelligence dashboard on its Enterprise plan, an API and a branded parent app with Jackrabbit Plus. It also has dedicated versions for class programs such as gymnastics, swim and cheer and for dance studios. If those tools shape your season, Jackrabbit is a strong choice.
ClubTide is a better fit when you want to pay only for active students, choose between Stripe, PayPal and Authorize.net, track grades and exam entries, or run your school in a language other than English with data hosted in the EU.
Bring your students and families with you
Put your student and family list in a CSV file and upload it to ClubTide. The importer matches the columns to ClubTide fields, shows a preview of every row, skips duplicates and only saves when you confirm.
- Columns matched to ClubTide fields
- Preview before anything is saved
- Duplicates skipped automatically
Ready before the next term starts
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1
Prepare your list
Put your students and families in a CSV file.
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2
Import and check
Upload it to ClubTide, match the columns, review the preview and confirm.
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3
Connect payments
Connect your Stripe, PayPal or Authorize.net account and invite families to save their card.
More comparisons
See how ClubTide compares with other software studios and schools use, or explore what it does for your kind of school.
Questions about switching from Jackrabbit
Still have questions? Email us and we will get back to you.
Can I import my students from Jackrabbit?
Yes. Put your student and family list in a CSV file and upload it to ClubTide. The importer matches the columns, shows a preview and skips duplicates before anything is saved.
Will families' saved cards move over?
Saved cards cannot be copied between software providers. Families save their card again in the ClubTide parent portal, either when they pay their first invoice or from the payments page.
Do inactive students count toward the ClubTide price?
No. ClubTide counts only active students. Archived students, parents and staff never count, and plans start at $49 a month for up to 50 active students. Check Jackrabbit's website for its current prices.
Can I use PayPal with ClubTide?
Yes. You connect your studio's own Stripe, PayPal or Authorize.net account, pay that processor's standard rates under your own agreement, and ClubTide adds no fee to family payments.
Does ClubTide handle recitals and costumes?
No. ClubTide has no recital or costume planning and no in-studio store. It focuses on classes, grades and exams, attendance, family billing and the parent portal.
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