# What Payment Processing Costs Gyms and Studios

URL: https://www.paydude.io/resources/tools/payment-processing-for-gyms-and-studios
Type: Free interactive calculator
Summary: Card processing costs for gyms and studios, starting from a $89 average transaction and a realistic card mix. See your effective rate, not a headline rate.

Gym revenue is recurring, low-value and domestic, which makes it a failed-payment problem far more than a rate problem.

## Summary

A typical membership payment is around $89. Membership churn from expired cards is typically larger than any rate difference. At that ticket size the fixed fee is only 0.34% of the transaction — the percentage decides almost everything. Card mix matters more here than in most industries.

## What a membership payment really costs

At $89 a month the fixed fee is around 0.34% — meaningful, but dwarfed by what a lapsed membership costs.

**One $89 transaction, on published domestic rates**

|  | Fee | Effective rate |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Stripe 2.9% + 30¢ | $2.88 | 3.24% |
| Paydude 2.6% + 25¢ | $2.56 | 2.88% |

> **Business cards change this comparison:** Members pay on personal cards, so corporate share is low. A high corporate-card share is the one case where Paydude's +0.3% surcharge narrows the gap — the calculator above models it, and reports the share at which the advantage disappears.

## Failed payments cost more than fees

A member whose card expires and who is never recovered costs you their remaining lifetime value, not 30¢. At 8% monthly failure and 60% recovery, a gym at $45,000 MRR loses roughly $17,000 a year to payments that simply stopped working.

## What to check on your own statement

1. **Your real average transaction.** Total volume divided by transaction count.
2. **Your Amex and corporate card share.** In this industry it is usually higher than people expect, and it moves the answer.
3. **Whether you are being charged for keyed entry.** Manually entered card details cost more at most providers.
4. **Monthly, gateway and PCI fees**, divided by your volume.

Card account updater addresses the largest category of these automatically — see [what is account updater](https://www.paydude.io/resources/what-is-account-updater).

**See the full rate card** Every tier and every situational fee, published up front. — [View pricing](https://www.paydude.io/pricing)

## Frequently asked questions

### What does payment processing cost for gyms and studios?

At a typical $89 transaction, a standard 2.9% + 30¢ rate works out at 3.24%. At that ticket the fixed fee is almost irrelevant — the percentage and your card mix decide the bill. Corporate and Amex cards, which are common in this industry, cost more to accept everywhere.

### What is the best payment processor for gyms and studios?

Prioritise recurring billing quality and failed-payment recovery over rate. If you also take payment at the desk, you need card-present support, which API-first providers including Paydude do not offer.

### Why do business and corporate cards cost more?

Because their interchange is higher — the rewards and expense-management features those cards offer are funded from the fee the merchant pays. Some providers surcharge them explicitly; others fold the cost into a higher base rate that every merchant pays regardless of card mix.

### Is it cheaper to take ACH or bank transfer instead?

Frequently, at this ticket size. ACH is typically a flat fee of under a dollar rather than a percentage, so on a $89 payment it can cost a fraction of card processing. The trade is settlement speed and a longer dispute window.