Health and fitness businesses using a member billing management solution typically fall into one of two buckets: some businesses use a third-party member management SaaS solution, and others integrate billing into their bespoke software solution.

Each path offers distinct benefits. The best choice depends on your organisation's specific requirements and goals.

Made for fitness, right out of the box

Member management SaaS platforms provide an all-in-one solution, encompassing tools for member databases, class management, communication and billing - keeping things simple.

They also come with pre-built integrations and user-friendly interfaces. This ease of use is useful for organisations that lack comprehensive IT resources or developer support. Market-ready member management solutions are maintained by SaaS companies that strive to meet changing consumer and business demands.

However, sometimes it can be difficult to find the right solution for your business's specific needs.

Building a custom solution

Building your software solution and integrating with a billing partner allows for a more tailored approach that closely aligns with your business processes and branding. You can control key aspects of the solution and integrate it deeply into the framework of your business.

This can include how you manage member data, branding, interface, processes, integrations with existing infrastructure and finding the best-integrating partners for your own business (e.g. a payments partner).

However, without access to in-house developers, building a DIY solution can become costly over time. Additionally, developing a bespoke payments platform is extremely complex and challenging - hence the need to integrate with an existing solution.

What's the right move for your business?

There are benefits to using a market-ready member management solution and there are benefits to carving your path with a bespoke software solution. Your choice should align with your organisation's specific needs, size, resources, and objectives.

While bespoke solutions are uniquely tailored to your business's highly specific needs, they often require in-house development support to be built and maintained. Outsourcing can quickly get expensive, and bespoke solutions must be maintained to ensure future compatibility.

On the other hand, ready-made solutions are easy to use and deploy, plus they're often highly cost-effective. While some may lack specific features desired for your own business, these products are backed by teams who strive to meet demands.

Ezypay offers both market-ready and integration capabilities to health and fitness business owners.