CoreBookings vs WellnessLiving: What Australian Studios Need to Know

A quick note before we start: this comparison is published by CoreBookings. Prices and contract terms below come from WellnessLiving's own pricing page, help centre and business terms, checked on 25 September 2026. Reddit comments are individual experiences, not a survey, and most are not labelled as Australian. We found substantially more public forum discussion about WellnessLiving than CoreBookings, so the owner-feedback section is not a balanced sample of both products. Get a written AUD quote, including GST, before you sign.

The Quick Comparison

On mobile, each feature is shown as a card with both platforms clearly labelled.

Pricing: Compare the Tier You Will Actually Use

Line the plans up by what they include, not by the cheapest number on each website.

CoreBookings pricing

• Starter: A$59/month + GST. Unlimited clients, class bookings, workshops, pass packs, one location, newsletters and email support. Separate teacher accounts are listed on all plans.
• Growth: A$99/month + GST. Adds recurring memberships, product sales, coupons, manual waitlists, the teacher app and two rooms at one location.
• Scale: A$149/month + GST. Adds automatic waitlists, multiple rooms, marketing automations, and hands-on support and onboarding. The plan is described for multi-location studios.

Payments go to your own Stripe account. The published platform charge is Stripe's card rate plus 1%. SMS marketing is an optional A$19/month add-on, then you buy prepaid credits. A white-label app is also an add-on, and there is no public price, so ask for one. See the current pricing page.

WellnessLiving pricing

On 25 September 2026 the WellnessLiving pricing page showed:

• Starter: $69/month ($62 on annual billing). Classes and appointments, the Achieve client app, the Elevate staff app, POS, email and SMS notifications, one staff member, and free data migration.
• Business: $199/month ($179 on annual billing). Adds unlimited staff, rewards and loyalty, events, email and text marketing, and lead management. The page also shows a $39 introductory figure.
• BusinessPro: $349/month ($314 on annual billing). Adds the white-label Achieve client app. A $69 introductory figure is also shown.
• Enterprise: custom. Adds a parent account, a dedicated account manager, multi-location reporting and cross-location visits.

Those dollar figures are not labelled AUD or USD on the pricing page. Do not treat $199 as A$199 until WellnessLiving confirms the currency, GST and the rate after any introductory discount. Budget the regular price, not the starred promo.

Australian Total Cost Calculator

Convert both platforms to an estimated monthly and annual cost in Australian dollars. Enter the figures from your own WellnessLiving quote. Its public pricing page does not label the subscription currency, and its Australian processor rate varies by account.

Your studio

Monthly card revenue (A$) Card transactions per month Marketing SMS sent per month

CoreBookings inputs

Plan, before GST Starter, A$59 Growth, A$99 Scale, A$149 Stripe percentage Stripe fee per transaction (A$) Additional SMS credit spend (A$)

Include the A$19 monthly SMS add-on

The calculator adds 10% GST to the CoreBookings subscription, the published 1% platform fee, and the Stripe rate you enter. Stripe currently displays 1.7% + A$0.30 for Australian domestic cards. Edit these fields if your actual Stripe rate differs.

WellnessLiving quote inputs

Plan price shown Starter, $69 Business, $199 BusinessPro, $349 Currency on your quote AUD USD 1 USD in AUD Processor percentage Processor fee per transaction (A$) Monthly gateway fee (A$) Annual maintenance fee (A$) Message Center monthly fee (A$) Marketing SMS price

Add 10% GST to the subscription

The public page does not label its dollar currency. The default exchange rate of 1 USD = A$1.50 is an editable example, not a live rate. Uncheck GST if it is already included. Enter every processor and Message Center charge from your written Australian quote.

WellnessLiving payment fees are still zero. Enter the processor percentage, per-transaction fee, gateway fee and annual fee from your quote before relying on the comparison.

Estimated total in AUD

CoreBookings

A$0.00 / month

A$0.00 / year

• Subscription including GST: A$0.00
• Card and platform fees: A$0.00
• SMS: A$0.00

WellnessLiving

A$0.00 / month

A$0.00 / year

• Converted subscription: A$0.00
• Entered payment fees: A$0.00
• Message Center and SMS: A$0.00

Enter your costs to compare.

Estimate only: excludes chargebacks, international cards, bank fees, hardware, onboarding and early cancellation costs. It does not provide accounting or tax advice.

Card fees are a separate line

CoreBookings does not replace Stripe. You pay Stripe's rate plus the 1% platform fee, and the money settles to your Stripe account.

WellnessLiving's merchant fee article says listed processor prices are in USD unless stated otherwise. For Australia, the only processor with a published note is QuickPay (PayChoice), and the article says those fees vary by account. It does not publish an Australian percentage rate. Gateway figures such as $20 a month and $0.32 a transaction appear under Canada and other regions, not under Australia. Ask for the Australian schedule in writing, including any monthly gateway fee, per-transaction fee and annual maintenance fee.

One Pilates instructor on Reddit said WellnessLiving "looks cheap up front" and that card-processing fees were raised without notice. That is one person's claim. Another instructor said getting onto the processor, and later off it, was "insanely time-consuming", while support itself was good once a complex ticket reached the right team. Both comments are in r/pilatesinstructors.

SMS is not included in the headline price

CoreBookings booking reminders by email are on the published plans. Marketing SMS is the A$19/month add-on plus credits. You only pay for messages you send, and 100 starter credits are included with the add-on.

WellnessLiving's SMS article says a fee of $0.09 applies for Australia and UK marketing SMS, against $0.05 for US and Canadian users. That $0.09 is not labelled AUD. Message Center, which covers marketing texts, is a separate subscription, and the help centre says transactional SMS is free for US and Canadian customers. Australian studios should confirm whether class reminders are free or charged.

The Contract Is Part of the Price

CoreBookings publishes no lock-in contract and says you can cancel anytime. There is also a three-month money-back guarantee on the pricing page.

WellnessLiving's business terms say the agreement automatically renews each year for 12 months. To stop that, you must give written notice at least 30 days before the renewal date, and you keep paying until the term ends. Month-to-month plans also need 30 days' written notice. If you leave a discounted term early, the cancellation fee is the lower of the remaining payments or the discount you already received. A new plan of 12 months or longer can be cancelled in the first 30 days without that fee. Renewals do not get that window.

That matches what owners describe when they try to leave. In r/smallbusiness, the original poster wrote:

"I was locked in at a lifetime rate of $129. There is a contract, but this is the 3rd time they've increased the price... they didn't even tell me I would be locked into a contract... I only found out about a contract when I was reading BBB reports."

A later commenter, with the platform for at least seven years, said prices had been raised and that an overcharge was refunded only after many phone calls and threats to report the company to the BBB and the FTC. They did receive the refund. Other comments on the same thread say price changes came with new features, or that support explained a renewal rate clearly. Read the thread as a split, not a verdict.

Before you sign, ask for the order form, the currency, whether GST is extra, the price after any intro months, the renewal date, and the exact cancellation fee. Email is safer than chat.

What Owners Say in Public Forums

We read publicly indexed Reddit threads from 2024 to 2025. They are not an Australian sample. A few comments praise the product in very similar language, and one r/massage commenter alleged that positive comments were being planted. That allegation is unverified. Treat glowing comments and angry ones the same way: as single experiences.

Why this section focuses on WellnessLiving: we did not find a comparable volume of independent public forum discussion about CoreBookings. CoreBookings customer stories are vendor-published, so we have not presented them as equivalent evidence. Less public discussion does not prove fewer problems or better results. It means this section is useful due diligence on WellnessLiving, not a side-by-side satisfaction survey.

Studios that settled in after a steep start

A small yoga and Pilates studio owner in r/smallbusiness switched in February and wrote that the first weeks were "overwhelming because it's super customizable, but once you figure it out, it saves tons of time."

On the same thread, someone running massage and yoga for about four years said scheduling, payments and inventory do what they need, clients book on their own, and support has been helpful. A personal trainer listed the client app, automated marketing and waitlists as the useful parts, and said onboarding takes patience.

In r/pilatesinstructors, a long-term user called it the easiest system they had used, and singled out in-platform client messaging, reports, and a simple client app.

Outages, billing errors and the cost of leaving

In r/YogaTeachers, a studio that had just moved from Glofox reported two outages in the first week. One reply, from someone who had switched from Mindbody because WellnessLiving was cheaper and included more, said they were ready to switch back:

"Wellness has continuous outages, the app doesn't work 1/2 the time and my clients are always being under charged or over charged. This month I had to refund $3000 due to over charges. Every time they do an update all my pricing resets."

The same person said merchant fees looked low but came with a monthly fee, so the all-in cost was higher. A six-year customer on that thread disagreed about reliability: outages were rare, and WellnessLiving was "very good about communicating outages and keeping updates on restoration."

Another owner, using WellnessLiving for online classes, reported whole regions unable to log in and Zoom sessions dropping. In r/massage, one spa said payments were being denied so nobody could sign up, and another said the platform had gone down three times that year and they felt too integrated to leave. A different small spa said booking and reminders were steady. A medspa said they were three months into onboarding and still could not message clients. That last case is a clinic, not a yoga timetable, but it is a useful warning: confirm the features you were promised are actually on your plan.

What clients notice

Clients in r/pilates do not get a Mindbody-style map of every studio in the area. One teacher said you see a single business schedule. A client said Mindbody was better for that reason, and that one nearby studio had left WellnessLiving for Mariana Tek while another had moved to Momence. Another client said they had no problems.

A separate client complaint is about late cancellation, not the software alone. People book every spot, then cancel inside a six-hour window, so the timetable looks full until the last moment. That is a policy choice. If you use either platform, set the cancellation window and the no-show fee to match how your room actually fills.

In a Pilates Community thread, one owner said they use WellnessLiving, had used Mindbody in previous jobs, and found WellnessLiving better and less expensive. Facebook comments may need a login. It is still one studio, not a poll.

Quotes are lightly corrected for spelling only. They are individual, unaudited experiences and are not evidence of typical results.

How They Compare Day to Day

Scheduling, classes and reformers

CoreBookings: Classes, workshops, courses, terms, rooms, teachers, capacities, passes and memberships. You can cap a reformer class to the number of machines.

WellnessLiving: Classes, events and appointments, plus Book-a-Spot for reserving a specific asset. That matters if clients must choose a reformer, chair or room, not just a seat count.

WellnessLiving's official waitlist guide documents manual promotion, automatic promotion and confirmation-based offers across classes, events, appointments and assets. Confirm that these settings are included in the plan quoted to you.

Same test for both: book a reformer class on a phone, join a waitlist, cancel inside your policy window, and buy a pack. Do not decide from a screenshot.

Memberships, retail and privates

CoreBookings: Passes are on Starter. Recurring memberships and product sales start on Growth.

WellnessLiving: POS and credit card processing are on Starter. Appointments are on Starter. Loyalty and lead management start on Business.

Same test: if more than a small share of revenue is 1:1 appointments or a retail counter, WellnessLiving is the closer published fit. If the business is a class timetable, CoreBookings covers that at the lower AUD price.

Finding new clients

WellnessLiving publishes an Explorer business listing, Reserve with Google, ClassPass and Wellhub. That is not the same as the Mindbody consumer app, and Reddit clients say they cannot browse a whole city's studios in one place. It is still more discovery plumbing than CoreBookings publishes.

CoreBookings does not run a consumer marketplace. ClassPass appears on the add-ons page as something to ask about, not as a priced, self-serve switch. Wellhub is not listed. If those networks already fill your off-peak classes, confirm the integration in writing with whichever vendor you choose.

Apps

Both include a client app on the entry plan. WellnessLiving's white-label app is BusinessPro, so put $349 (currency unconfirmed) in the comparison, not $69. CoreBookings' branded app has no public price. Ask both vendors what "white label" includes: your name in the app stores, push notifications, and who pays the store fees.

Health funds, tax and support hours

CoreBookings includes private health claim details on every plan, bills in AUD plus GST, and support is in Australia. WellnessLiving is Wellness Living Systems Inc. The pricing page lists a North American toll-free sales number. Starter support is community and live chat. Phone is added on Business and BusinessPro. Nothing on the public pages describes an Australian private health receipt workflow. If your teachers issue fund receipts, test that on CoreBookings and ask WellnessLiving whether they can produce the same receipt.

Realistic Australian Studio Scenarios

Solo teacher, one room

CoreBookings Starter is A$59 + GST, with teacher accounts already on the plan. WellnessLiving Starter is $69 for one staff login. The moment you add a second teacher, WellnessLiving's published step is Business at $199. That is the comparison that matters, not Starter versus Starter, if you expect to hire within the year.

Studio with two to four teachers, memberships and a waitlist

CoreBookings Growth is A$99 + GST: recurring memberships, manual waitlists, two rooms. Automatic waitlists and marketing automations are Scale at A$149 + GST, plus A$19 if you want SMS campaigns. WellnessLiving Business is $199 and is the first plan with unlimited staff, email and text marketing, loyalty and leads. Add the Australian SMS rate and the merchant schedule before you call one cheaper.

You want ClassPass, Wellhub, or your own app icon

WellnessLiving publishes ClassPass, Wellhub and Reserve with Google, and puts the white-label app on BusinessPro. CoreBookings can quote a branded app and a ClassPass conversation, but those are not published as included features with a price. If that channel is how you fill Tuesday midday, price WellnessLiving Business or BusinessPro properly and compare it with the CoreBookings quote, not with A$59.

Two suburbs

CoreBookings Scale is the plan described for multiple rooms and multi-location studios, at A$149 + GST. WellnessLiving puts parent accounts, multi-location reporting and cross-location visits on Enterprise, which has no public price. Ask both for a written answer on permissions, consolidated reports, GST invoices and whether a second site is a second subscription.

Switching from WellnessLiving to CoreBookings

Both companies advertise migration help. WellnessLiving includes free data migration and onboarding training on its pricing page. CoreBookings imports customers, bookings and passes at no extra charge. Historical reports you still need should be exported and kept before either account closes.

1. Find the WellnessLiving renewal date and the notice clause in your order form, not only the website terms.
2. Send written cancellation notice at least 30 days before that date if you are on an annual term.
3. Export clients, active passes, memberships and any attendance or accounting history you must keep.
4. Email the export to CoreBookings at support@kriya.com.au and rebuild passes before go-live.
5. Run a test booking, a test refund and a health-fund receipt on a phone before you change the website button.
6. Keep the written confirmation of the final WellnessLiving billing date, including any cancellation fee.

Common Questions

How much does WellnessLiving cost in Australia?

The public page shows Starter at $69, Business at $199 and BusinessPro at $349 per month, with lower annual figures and short introductory prices. It does not label the currency as AUD. Card processing, Message Center SMS, and any early-exit fee sit outside that number. Ask for the total in writing.

Is WellnessLiving cheaper than CoreBookings?

Not on a like-for-like studio. A single teacher can compare A$59 + GST with an unconfirmed $69. A studio that needs a second teacher, memberships and marketing is comparing CoreBookings at A$99 or A$149 + GST with WellnessLiving Business at $199, plus processor and SMS costs. BusinessPro at $349 is the white-label tier, not the entry tier.

Does WellnessLiving lock studios into a contract?

The business terms auto-renew for 12 months unless you give 30 days' written notice before renewal. Month-to-month plans also need 30 days' written notice. Leaving a discounted term early can trigger a cancellation fee. Owners on Reddit say they discovered the annual term only when they tried to cancel, and that "lifetime" rates were later increased.

Can CoreBookings import WellnessLiving data?

CoreBookings will import customers, bookings and passes for free. Keep your own copy of attendance, accounting and waivers. Do this before the WellnessLiving term ends.

Which one handles Australian private health receipts?

CoreBookings includes private health claim details on all plans. WellnessLiving does not advertise an equivalent Australian workflow. If receipts matter, test them rather than assuming a global platform has them.

So, Which One Should You Choose?

For an independent Australian class studio, CoreBookings is the clearer commercial fit: AUD pricing, GST on the invoice, Stripe payouts, health-fund details, and no annual renewal clause.

WellnessLiving is the stronger published toolkit when you need appointments, POS, loyalty, lead campaigns, ClassPass or Wellhub, and you are ready to buy Business or BusinessPro and read the renewal clause. The forum record is mixed: some owners say it saves time once it is configured, and others describe outages, billing mistakes and a hard exit. Price the tier you will live in, in AUD, before you decide.

Sources and Methodology

Product facts were checked against public vendor pages on 25 September 2026. Forum comments were selected because they were publicly indexed and about running or attending a studio. They were not treated as representative, and they were not filtered to Australia because almost none of the threads say where the business is. We found substantially more independent forum discussion about WellnessLiving than CoreBookings, so forum volume and sentiment should not be read as a direct satisfaction comparison.

• WellnessLiving pricing and plan features
• WellnessLiving business terms, including renewal and cancellation
• WellnessLiving merchant processing fees by country
• WellnessLiving SMS messaging fees
• WellnessLiving waitlist configuration
• Stripe Australia standard card pricing
• CoreBookings pricing
• CoreBookings add-ons, including SMS, ClassPass and the white-label app
• r/smallbusiness: WellnessLiving price hikes
• r/YogaTeachers: WellnessLiving outages
• r/smallbusiness: current WellnessLiving users
• r/pilatesinstructors: Any WellnessLiving users?
• r/pilates: client and teacher experiences
• r/massage: WellnessLiving spa software experiences
• Pilates Community: booking software thread

Related Reading

• Best Yoga Studio Management Software in Australia
• CoreBookings vs Mindbody
• CoreBookings vs Momence
• Best Online Appointment Scheduling Software in Australia