A Studio Pro alternative with no extra fee on your own processor
Studio Pro, formerly DanceStudio-Pro, is a full-featured studio platform at a flat monthly price. If you want to keep your own Stripe, PayPal or Authorize.net account without a per-transaction fee on top, ClubTide gives you classes, attendance, grades and exams, family billing and a parent portal on any phone, in five languages and hosted in the EU.
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Flat price or no fee on payments
Studio Pro, which many studio owners still know as DanceStudio-Pro, serves dance, cheer, gymnastics, theatre and martial arts studios and says it is used by over 7,000 educators. Every plan includes unlimited students, with native apps for parents and staff, family billing with autopay, online registration, recital planning, costume management, ticket sales and a point of sale. Higher plans add in-app chat, lead management and two-way texting.
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 that works on any phone, together with consents and documents. Staff and parents use it in English, Romanian, German, Spanish or French.
The two tools are priced differently. Studio Pro charges a flat monthly price, and payments run either through its own merchant services or through your own processor with a tech fee on top. ClubTide charges by the number of active students and adds nothing to payments. Which costs less depends on the size of your studio and how much you collect online.
ClubTide vs Studio Pro at a glance*
Prices are monthly. ClubTide prices are shown in your page's currency, Studio Pro prices in US dollars as published.
| What you get | ClubTide | Studio Pro |
|---|---|---|
| Up to 50 students | $49 | From $49 |
| Up to 100 students | $79 | From $49 |
| Larger studios | $129 up to 200, $179 up to 400 active students | Same plan price, unlimited students |
| Plans | One plan per size, every feature included | Essentials $49, Premier $79, Elite $165 |
| Fee when you use your own processor | None from ClubTide | 1.35% per transaction |
| Payment processors | Your own Stripe, PayPal or Authorize.net | Studio Pro Merchant Services (powered by Stripe), or your own Stripe, PayPal or Authorize.net |
| Built-in processing rates | Your processor's standard rates | From 2.66% + $0.25 in the US |
| Free trial | 14 days, no card | 30 days |
| Moving your data | CSV import with column matching and preview | Free data import |
| Parent access | Portal on any phone | Native iOS and Android app |
| Teacher attendance | On any phone, in the browser | Native staff app |
| Levels and progress | Grades with readiness, exam entries and history | Progress tracking; belt-test invoices and attendance minimums for martial arts |
| In-app chat with families | Announcements with email and in-app notifications | Premier and Elite |
| Lead management and two-way SMS | On the roadmap | Elite (SMS in the US and Canada) |
| Recitals, costumes and ticket sales | Events with sign-up and the fee on the family invoice | Yes |
| Point of sale and retail | On the roadmap | Yes |
Studio Pro information from gostudiopro.com (pricing, payments, features and martial arts pages), checked in October 2026. Prices and features change; please confirm them on gostudiopro.com. Spotted something out of date? Write to [email protected]. Studio Pro pricing page ↗
No fee on top of your own processor
Studio Pro lets you bring your own Stripe, PayPal or Authorize.net account, and adds a 1.35% tech fee to each transaction on top of the processor's own fee. On $10,000 of tuition collected in a month, that is $135. If you use Studio Pro Merchant Services instead, its published US rates start at 2.66% + $0.25 per transaction.
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 of its own, whichever of the three you choose.
- Stripe, PayPal or Authorize.net, under your own agreement
- No ClubTide fee on any family payment
- Autopay on a saved card for recurring fees
Which one costs less for your studio
Studio Pro's plans cost $49, $79 or $165 a month with unlimited students. ClubTide costs $49 a month for up to 50 active students, $79 for up to 100, $129 for up to 200 and $179 for up to 400, with every feature included and no fee on payments.
For a large studio that uses Studio Pro's own merchant services, the flat price may well cost less than ClubTide. For a small or mid-size studio that wants to keep its own processor, the tech fee can add up quickly as you collect more online. Add up both for your own numbers before you decide.
- Archived students, parents and staff never count
- Monthly or annual billing, cancel anytime
- No setup fee and no contract
Grades, readiness and exam entries
Start from the dance grades, ballroom medals, music grades or levels presets, or from belt presets if you also teach martial arts. 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 martial arts
- 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.
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 Studio Pro may suit you better
Studio Pro includes things ClubTide does not offer: native parent and staff apps for iOS and Android, two-way in-app chat, lead management with trial automation and two-way SMS on its Elite plan, recital planning, costume management and ticket sales, and a point of sale for retail. It also imports your data for free. And because every plan includes unlimited students at a flat price, a very large studio that uses Studio Pro's own merchant services may pay less than with ClubTide.
ClubTide is a better fit when you want to keep your own processor without a per-transaction fee, track grades and exam entries, or run your studio 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
Switch between seasons
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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 Studio Pro
Still have questions? Email us and we will get back to you.
Is Studio Pro the same as DanceStudio-Pro?
Yes. Studio Pro was formerly called DanceStudio-Pro. This page compares ClubTide with the current Studio Pro plans and payment options.
Can I import my students from Studio Pro?
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.
Does ClubTide charge a fee on payments?
No. You connect your studio's own Stripe, PayPal or Authorize.net account and pay only that processor's standard rates. ClubTide's price is $49 a month for up to 50 active students and $79 for up to 100. Check gostudiopro.com for Studio Pro's current prices and fees.
Does ClubTide have a parent app?
ClubTide's parent portal runs in the phone's browser, so parents sign in without installing an app. There is no native app, in-app chat or text messaging.
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