Pulse Reviews and Analysis
How Many Employees Should I Schedule Each Shift at My Martial Arts Studio?
Curated by Chief Revenue Officer Kory White · CRO Syndicate
How Many Employees Should I Schedule Each Shift at My Martial Arts Studio?
Direct Answer
You stop scheduling by habit and start dividing. The formula is staff needed for a given class block = that block's average gross profit / your agreed-upon gross-profit-per-staff target. First, you and your head instructor agree on one number: the gross profit a working staffer should cover during a class block doing an average job for an average mat count - call it $250 a block.
That is a floor, not a ceiling. Then you pull each class time's trailing three-to-six-month gross profit by day of week. If the 4 PM kids' class averages $500 in gross profit on a Monday, then $500 / $250 = 2 staff on the mat - a lead instructor plus an assistant to split belt levels and watch safety.
If the 6 PM mixed class averages $1,000, you need 4. You do that for every class block and every day, then place those shifts against when students actually train - the after-school kids' wave, the adult evening surge, and the Saturday family block - so the instruction is on the mat when the studio is full.
PULSE has a free Rep Scheduling Matrix that runs this division across every class block and every day at once. Below are the ten tools that solve this problem, ranked, with PULSE first because it is free and built around this exact method.
The Top 10 Tools to Staff a Martial Arts Studio by the Numbers
Every tool below can build a schedule. Only a few build it off your gross-profit math, and only one is free and designed around the staff-target method that keeps you from over-staffing a thin midday and under-staffing a packed kids' class. The rankings reflect how well each tool serves a dojo owner who wants the schedule to track enrollment and the money, not just fill the grid.
A single dojo, a two-room academy, a small chain of karate or jiu-jitsu schools - same method, swap the class block for a store day.
1. PULSE Rep Scheduling Matrix 🏆 BEST OVERALL
🛠️ Use it free now -> Rep Scheduling Matrix - no login, no spreadsheet, instant staff counts by class block and day.
PULSE's free Rep Scheduling Matrix runs the whole method in your browser. It takes a weekly gross-profit target and a per-shift minimum and auto-distributes the staff counts by day, protecting your highest-value class blocks instead of spreading instructors flat across the calendar.
Here is the method it is built on, step by step, because the math is the point:
Step one - agree on the per-staff gross-profit number. Sit down with your head instructor and set the gross profit a working staffer should cover during a class doing an average job for an average roster. Say it out loud: "In our studio, if you run a clean class, keep students progressing, and renew belts, you should be covering no less than $250 a block in gross profit." That is the honest floor.
The instructors who want prime classes do not coast - they fill the mat, then keep students enrolled toward the next rank. The number gives everyone the same yardstick: you, your head instructor, and every coach and assistant on the schedule.
Step two - pull gross profit per block, per day of week. Take each class slot and average its gross profit by day over a trailing three to six months. The 4 PM kids' class hits $500 on a typical Monday and the 6 PM mixed class hits $1,000 on a typical Tuesday. Now divide by your $250 target.
The afternoon needs two staff; the evening needs four. Two staffers each covering their honest $250 carry the $500 the kids' block generates - and if enrollment climbs, the block beats it. Run that division for every block and every day and the staffing plan writes itself.
No favorites, no "we always run one instructor," no scheduling buddies into the dead 1 PM - just gross profit divided by the target.
Step three - place the shifts where the students train. The count tells you how many; class timing tells you when. Pull the check-ins for each block and look at when students actually walk in. If the rush hits after school and again in the early evening, you staff a lead plus an assistant at 4 PM, a single instructor through the midday lull, and a full crew for the 6 and 7 PM classes rather than parking everyone at noon.
The matrix lets you slot instructors against the real enrollment curve so coverage matches the mat instead of habit.
Because it is free, browser-only, and built by a 22-year revenue operator for exactly this question, it is the default pick for any dojo owner. Best for: owners and head instructors who want the schedule to come straight off the gross-profit and enrollment math and refuse to pay per-seat fees to get it.
2. When I Work
When I Work is one of the most widely used shift-scheduling apps for hourly studio staff, starting around $2.50 per user per month on the Essentials plan and climbing to roughly $8 per user per month with attendance and labor tools. It handles instructor availability, shift swaps, and mobile clock-in cleanly, and managers can copy a class week forward in a couple of clicks.
Where it is strong is execution - getting the published schedule onto every instructor's phone with reminders. Where it leaves you on your own is the *why*: it will not tell you the 6 PM needs four people. You bring the headcount math; it runs the logistics.
For a dojo owner who already knows their per-block targets, it is a reliable, affordable backbone.
3. Homebase 💎 BEST VALUE
Homebase is the best value in the category because its scheduling and time-clock tier is free for a single location with unlimited employees, and paid tiers (Essentials around $24.95 per location per month, Plus around $59.95, All-in-One around $99.95) are priced per location rather than per head.
For a single studio running a roster of part-time instructors and assistants, per-location pricing is dramatically cheaper than per-user tools. You get scheduling, time tracking, team messaging, and basic labor-cost forecasting against revenue. It is the natural pick for an owner watching every dollar who still wants revenue-aware scheduling without an enterprise contract.
4. Deputy
Deputy runs about $4.50 per user per month for scheduling and $6 for the premium tier that adds time and attendance. Its strength is demand-based scheduling: connect an enrollment or sales feed and Deputy will suggest staffing against projected attendance, which is the closest off-the-shelf cousin to the gross-profit method.
It also handles compliance - break rules, overtime alerts - which matters once you run enough instructors to trip labor thresholds. For owners who want auto-suggested coverage tied to enrollment data and clean labor-law guardrails, Deputy earns its price.
5. Kicksite
Kicksite is built specifically for martial arts schools, bundling student management, attendance, billing, belt-rank tracking, and a staff schedule, typically priced through tiered plans starting around $79 per month. Its appeal is that it speaks the language of the dojo - ranks, testing, attendance streaks - and the instructor calendar sits next to enrollment and retention data.
It is the natural pick for an owner who wants the schedule to live beside the student roster, though you still supply the gross-profit-per-staff target it should schedule against.
6. Sling
Sling offers a genuinely useful free tier, with Premium around $1.70 per user per month and Business around $3.40. It leans into shift scheduling plus internal communication - newsfeeds, tasks, and announcements alongside the schedule. For a smaller studio that wants one app for both the instructor schedule and team messaging without a real budget, Sling covers a lot of ground cheaply.
It is lighter on enrollment forecasting than Deputy or Kicksite, so you supply the headcount targets and it handles publishing and coverage.
7. Connecteam
Connecteam is free for up to 10 users and roughly $29 per month for up to 30 users on the Basic plan, which makes it one of the cheapest ways to cover a small instructor crew. Beyond scheduling, it bundles checklists, training, and a full deskless-employee communication hub, so it doubles as an operations app for a studio where instructors never touch a computer.
For owners who want scheduling plus daily task management and instructor onboarding in one inexpensive package, Connecteam is hard to beat on breadth per dollar.
8. Zen Planner
Zen Planner is a martial-arts-and-fitness management platform bundling membership billing, attendance, belt tracking, and a staff schedule, typically starting around $117 per month. Like Kicksite it is built for the dojo, with the instructor calendar sitting next to the student roster and rank data, and it tends to suit larger academies with more programs and staff.
It lands here rather than higher because it is an all-in-one platform, not a labor-optimization tool, so you still feed it the per-staff gross-profit target.
9. Mindbody
Mindbody is the long-standing fitness-and-wellness platform that bundles class booking, membership billing, and a staff calendar in one system, typically starting around $139 per month for the Starter tier and climbing with add-ons. Its advantage for a studio that runs open mat and fitness classes alongside ranked curriculum is that staffing, booking, and payments live on one screen.
It is heavier and pricier than a pure scheduler, but for an owner who wants the whole operation under one roof, it keeps staffing close to the revenue numbers.
10. Shiftboard
Shiftboard is enterprise workforce scheduling sold by custom quote, aimed at complex, high-headcount operations with demanding coverage rules. It handles credential-based scheduling, multi-site coverage, and heavy compliance, which is more than most single dojos need. It lands at number ten for the typical studio owner precisely because it is built for scale beyond a school or two - but if you run a large multi-site academy group with intricate certification rules, it is worth a look.
How to Choose
- Start with the method, not the app. Agree on a per-staff gross-profit target before you buy anything - every tool here gets better when you feed it a real number.
- Match the pricing model to your shape. Per-location pricing (Homebase) wins for a single studio with lots of part-time instructors; per-user pricing (When I Work, Deputy) wins when you run a small, stable crew.
- Demand an enrollment connection if you want auto-suggested coverage - Deputy, Kicksite, and Zen Planner tie staffing to attendance; lighter tools make you supply the headcount.
- Use the free option to prove the method first. Run the PULSE Rep Scheduling Matrix or a free tier for a month, confirm the gross-profit math holds across your class blocks, then decide whether to pay for execution features.
- Weigh the all-in-one tradeoff. Kicksite, Zen Planner, and Mindbody fold billing and rank tracking into the schedule; if you already run those elsewhere, a lean scheduler plus the matrix is cheaper.
FAQ
How do I set the gross-profit-per-staff target for a class block? Look at your trailing monthly gross profit and your current instruction hours, then agree on the honest floor a staffer should cover during a class - many studios land somewhere between $200 and $350 a block depending on tuition and class size.
Set it with your head instructor so it is a shared yardstick, not a number one person invented, and revisit it once or twice a year.
Does the same method work for a yoga studio or a CrossFit box as for a dojo? Yes. The division is identical - gross profit for that block on that day divided by your per-staff target gives the headcount. A martial arts studio, a yoga room, a CrossFit box, or a dance studio all use the exact same math; you only swap the class block and the enrollment averages.
What if enrollment swings a lot week to week? Use a trailing three-to-six-month average by day of week and class block to smooth the noise, and schedule to that baseline. For known spikes - a belt-testing week, a back-to-school enrollment wave, an in-house tournament - add a manual bump on top of the calculated count rather than letting one wild week distort the whole average.
Why staff to gross profit instead of just one instructor per class? A flat "one instructor per class" does not pay the labor bill - gross profit does. Tying headcount to gross profit guarantees every scheduled instructor and assistant is covered by real margin and forces the conversation about which classes actually earn their coverage and which thin slots should be merged or cut.
Bottom Line
The free PULSE Rep Scheduling Matrix is the Best Overall because it runs the exact gross-profit-divided-by-staff-target method in your browser at no cost, and Homebase is the Best Value for a single studio thanks to per-location pricing and a free tier. Whichever you choose, the method wins: set a per-staff gross-profit target, divide each class block's gross profit by it to get headcount, and place those shifts where the students actually train.
Sources
- PULSE Rep Scheduling Matrix - /tools/rep-scheduling (free shift-count calculator).
- When I Work - official pricing and scheduling documentation, wheniwork.com.
- Homebase - pricing and free-tier terms, joinhomebase.com.
- Deputy - scheduling and demand-forecasting pricing, deputy.com.
- Kicksite - martial arts school management plans, kicksite.com.
- Sling - free and paid plan details, getsling.com.
- Connecteam - plan pricing and deskless-employee features, connecteam.com.
- Zen Planner - martial arts and fitness management plans, zenplanner.com.
- Mindbody - fitness scheduling and billing plans, mindbodyonline.com.