Although your job as a massage therapist is to help your clients relax, running a massage therapy business can be quite stressful. From managing your schedule to communicating with clients to keeping your data organized, your workflow can quickly become messy. Luckily, massage therapy software can smooth away these obstacles, making your business run more efficiently.

To help you decide what massage therapy software your business should invest in, this guide will cover the following information:

• 7 best massage therapy software solutions
• Why use massage therapy software?
• 7 essential features of massage therapy software

Massage therapy software is an administrative solution built to help practices streamline task and scheduling management. By investing in such a solution, you’ll reduce your workload by automating tedious administrative tasks and benefit from increased productivity levels. Plus, it will leave you more time to connect with your customers and grow your business.

With the right massage therapy software, you’ll be able to spend more time making clients feel comfortable and less time managing background tasks.

7 best massage therapy software solutions

Whether you’re a massage therapist just starting your practice or a seasoned professional with a small team, you can benefit from investing in massage therapy software. However, when you think about the multitude of options, you might feel a little intimidated.

We’re here to help—we’ll cover the top seven best massage therapy apps and what you can expect from purchasing each one. Let’s begin!

1. MassageBook

Massage therapy software and apps are often created for various wellness businesses, such as yoga studios, salons, and spas. Massage clinics are just one of the businesses that these solutions serve. MassageBook is different: it was created specifically for independent massage therapists by a former massage therapist. That’s how you know that our software is tailored to your needs.

Our mission is to find massage professionals who want to run their own independent businesses, teach them how to grow the practice of their dreams, provide them with the software tools they need, and then let them focus on doing what they love—helping people feel better.

As we’ve grown, we’ve only added more integrated tools and resources to make every step of your practice easier. Some of our top massage therapy software features include:

• Streamlined booking. MassageBook’s scheduling capability simplifies your day-to-day by making it easy to accept online bookings and manage your availability. It syncs with your Google Calendar, giving you a complete view of your scheduled events. Plus, you can integrate our online booking feature with your website so clients can book and manage appointments online with no fuss.

• Customizable intake forms. Reduce your time spent managing and organizing paperwork with our digital intake forms, which are customizable to the exact needs of your practice. Your clients can complete these forms before their appointments to help you prepare, get into sessions faster, and provide top-notch service.

• Digital SOAP notes. MassageBook offers secure digital SOAP notes to help you save time and organize your client records. Use our free feature to create as many written notes as you like, or purchase our premium version to annotate anatomical charts.

• Marketing tools. Attract new clients and increase repeat visits with our marketing features. Create and send attractive emails with our library of email templates, increase your gift certificate sales with our seamless system, and generate promotional offers to get clients in the door.

• Website builder. Use MassageBook’s website builder to create a professionally designed business website that’s easy to update and manage. You can use your existing website name, and we create a website optimized to boost your rankings on Google and other search engines. Plus, your website will be listed in our professional search directory, a unique feature potential clients can use to discover your practice!

• Secure payment options. With our massage therapy software solution, you can accept secure online payments. This includes all types of credit cards, even Health Savings Account (HSA) and Flexible Savings Account (FSA) cards. And with MassageBook’s accounting integration, you can connect scheduling, billing, and client histories to keep your financial records organized.

• Client database. MassageBook provides a database for you to track client-specific information, including appointment history, contact information, messages, SOAP notes, intake forms, and accounting records. By storing this information in a single location, you can more efficiently access your notes and use them to grow your number of regular clients.

• Outcall bookings. For massage therapists willing to bring their services to the client, our software solution takes complex outcall booking criteria into account to help you create these appointments without worry. We’ll consider location, driving distance, downtime between outcall appointments, and more to help you create a realistic schedule that works for you.

• Memberships. Some clients will book more frequently than others. For those clients, a membership plan allows them to pay upfront for a number of specified services per month. Then they’ll book their appointments directly through your website. With our software solution, you can create custom membership plans and automate billing for seamless client management.

Aside from these features, we also offer a mobile app version of MassageBook software. MassageBook Manager gives you the freedom to run your practice while on the go. Whether you’re having a busy day or on an outcall booking, you can easily access your calendar, jot down SOAP notes, and review intake forms at a glance. Our massage therapy app streamlines everything from scheduling to payments, allowing you to enjoy a better massage practice management experience.

MassageBook offers a variety of different pricing plans, depending on the features that are the best fit for your massage therapy practice. Even better, we offer a free 30-day full-access trial upfront for interested massage therapists that aren’t sure if they want to make a purchase yet. After that, plans range from $19.99 to $47.88 a month.

Plus, members of the American Massage Therapy Association (AMTA) receive 25% off monthly subscriptions, and members of the Associated Bodywork & Massage Professionals (ABMP) receive 15% off monthly subscriptions.

2. ClinicSense

ClinicSense is a massage therapy software solution for a variety of wellness practitioners, including massage therapists, physical therapists, occupation therapists, natural medicine practitioners, and more. It has a variety of management features, including customizable SOAP notes and forms, online scheduling capabilities, and email and SMS reminders.

Some of the unique features it offers include:

• No-Show Guard. This feature gives you a defense against no-shows, which can cost you from $50-$150 in revenue. ClinicSense provides several optional levels of No-Show Guard to prevent the awkward phone call to a client to ask if they’re coming and empower you to charge a no-show fee if necessary.

• Kodee Marketing Assistant. Kodee is a personal marketing assistant that automatically handles client retention, requests reviews and referrals, sends birthday wishes, and helps fill your appointment book. It does this by creating and sending personalized email campaigns and messaging.

ClinicSense will help you prevent burnout and eliminate overtime with its tools, helping you manage your administrative and business tasks. If you’re struggling with getting started, its customer service team is happy to help, and they have free resource templates you can use for your business.

In terms of pricing, this massage therapy app starts at $39 a month for its “lite” features ideal for part-time practitioners. Its standard package includes features needed for full-time practitioners, including text message reminders and No-Show Guard, and costs $69 a month. It also offers a premium package at $129 a month, ideal for larger clinics and wellness centers. Plus, it has a 14-day free trial.

3. MindBody

Developed for fitness and wellness businesses, MindBody helps massage therapists and other wellness practitioners grow their businesses. It boasts an unmatched consumer network and advanced tools that your practice can leverage to increase revenue and business.

MindBody’s standout features include:

• Branded mobile app. Increase brand awareness and bookings with branded massage therapy apps. MindBody’s app allows you to boost client retention and engagement by allowing clients to book and schedule appointments directly from their phones. Plus, clients can check in through the app, avoiding long front desk lines.

• Client network. The Mindbody app is one of the largest global networks of wellness lovers. By investing in this software solution, you’ll showcase your massage practice’s offerings to over 1.9 million fitness and wellness lovers, greatly expanding your reach.

• ClassPass. ClassPass is designed to give you access to a wider audience of new potential customers, helping you tap into a significant revenue stream. Available as an add-on, MindBody guarantees that ClassPass will increase your revenue—but if you lose revenue instead, MindBody will write you a check for two times the difference.

• Messenger. Messenger is an AI-powered front desk assistant that makes sure you never miss a client. It automatically responds to missed calls, answers frequently asked questions, and helps clients book appointments.

To get an exact price, contact MindBody for a quote. Note that it offers four different pricing packages: Starter, Accelerate, Ultimate, and Ultimate Plus, with Starter including the least amount of features and Ultimate Plus including the most. Some add-ons, such as the branded mobile app and Messenger, can only be purchased with higher-level packages.

4. Square Appointments

You may be familiar with Square, an organization that provides a variety of solutions for businesses of all sizes and types, from retail stores to restaurants to massage therapy practices. Their most notable offerings include Square for Retail, a point of sale and payment solution, and Square Online Store, a free eCommerce website.

However, Square also has an Appointments solution. This solution has the following features:

• Scheduling. Square Appointments allows customers to find and book massage appointments online with an easy-to-use booking website. They also offer automated email and text reminders, Google Calendar sync, waitlists, and social media integrations.

• Point of sale. From contactless payments to professional invoices, Square Appointments empowers you to accept payment through a variety of ways, streamlining your revenue generation. It will even allow your clients to pay in installments with Afterpay.

• Client management. Manage your clients with customer profiles, notes, and transaction and appointment history. Other Square integrations like Square Marketing and Square Loyalty can augment your client management, allowing you to send automated marketing campaigns and create loyalty programs.

Square Appointments is free to use but does carry a processing fee for each transaction, depending on how the client pays. Furthermore, it offers paid package options with more features. Square Appointments Plus is $29 per month, and Premium is $69 per month.

5. Vagaro

Vagaro is built for salons, spas, and fitness centers, and it is a powerful solution for massage practices. With it, you can schedule clients and staff, seamlessly process payments, manage SOAP notes, and promote your business.

Some of Vagaro’s standout features include:

• Vagaro Marketplace. List your massage practice on Vagaro.com and the Vagaro massage therapy app to tap into a new audience and promote your business to a greater number of potential clients. You might even get featured for additional exposure.

• Scheduling calendar. With Vagaro’s calendar feature, you can automate appointment reminders for clients and staff and require clients to provide credit card information for their appointments. Plus, you can use the waitlist function to quickly fill any last-minute cancellations.

• EMR documentation. Ensure EMR compliance while managing your patient records. Create customer intake forms and SOAP notes, boost productivity with electronic patient records, and provide staff members with detailed record forms for clear communication.

Vagaro offers 24/7 live phone, chat, and email support to make sure your experience is as smooth as possible. You can also sign up for a free trial of this solution to get an understanding of how it’ll work for you.

Following your free trial period, Vagaro offers flexible payment options. Their individual package is $25 per month, with an additional $10 per month for each added staff member who requires calendar bookable access. If you have multiple locations, you’ll need to contact Vagaro for a custom quote.

6. Acuity Scheduling

This software is an all-in-one appointment management and scheduling solution that adapts to any type of business. One of Acuity Scheduling’s main benefits is that it’s simple yet powerful. This solution focuses on helping you do these three things:

• Control your availability 24/7. Use Acuity Scheduling to manage multiple locations and employees and encourage clients to make bookings through your business calendar.

• Organize your schedule. This massage therapy app auto-adjusts your calendar to your time zone, lets clients easily cancel and reschedule appointments, and sends automated reminders to minimize no-shows.

• Organize client information. Ask clients to fill out intake forms when they book their appointment and store that information with Acuity Scheduling, ensuring that you have everything you need to know about your clients in one place.

To empower your scheduling activities, Acuity Scheduling also integrates with a variety of third-party apps, including Zapier, Google Analytics, Square, Stripe, and PayPal.

The price for Acuity Scheduling starts at $20 per month and goes up to $61 per month. However, if you pay annually instead of monthly, you can save 20%. And there’s a seven-day free trial you can leverage if you’d like to see if this solution is right for your massage practice.

7. Jane

Jane’s mission is to be an ally to health practitioners in the healthcare space. This solution wants to help small businesses as they provide care to their clients and create a thriving community of healthcare professionals.

Some of Jane’s standout features include:

• Patient profiles. Patients can access their patient profiles to view upcoming appointments and previous appointments. Patients can also cancel or reschedule visits.

• Accessible charting. Massage therapists can use any device they like, whether it’s a laptop or iPad, to type, dictate, or handwrite notes into a patient’s chart. You can access your charts from anywhere with an internet connection and even add photos and videos to ensure that clients receive the best care possible.

• Waitlist management. Customize your waitlists by adding requests with client availability and notification preferences. When there is an opening in your schedule, clients can be notified of openings that match their preferences, allowing them to get the massage they want and helping you reduce the impact of no-shows and cancellations.

To access these unique features, you’ll have to pay $79 per month for the base plan and $109 per month for the premium plan. On top of these fees, you’ll need to pay extra per staff member and practitioner. However, Jane also allows you to get in touch with their team to ask for a custom plan, which is great for new, small, or part-time massage practices that may not need all of Jane’s features.

Why use massage therapy software?

While being a massage therapist means that you’ll be alleviating the pain of your clients, you’ll need to address pain points within your own practice to perform effective treatments. Some of the areas massage therapy practices have trouble with include:

• Client communication. Maybe you feel that you’re not clear on what your client wants or what injuries they have. Or, maybe your clients don’t show up on time or have expectations that don’t align with yours. Regardless of the exact miscommunication, poor client communication can result in poor client experiences, which hurts your bottom line.

• Schedule management. Common schedule management issues include overbooking yourself, double-booking an appointment time, and general uncertainty over when your appointments are. And those issues will only worsen as your practice expands and you hire new staff members. All of these can lead to lost clients, as they might view your practice as unprofessional.

• Disorganized data. There’s a lot of important information that comes with running a massage practice, including client details, financial reports, and appointment records. Keeping this information organized is crucial to keeping your practice running smoothly. If all your data is disorganized, you may struggle with day-to-day processes and big-picture tasks like taxes.

• Acquiring clients. Especially for massage therapists who are just starting a new practice, acquiring clients is a great challenge. Acquiring clients requires marketing and promotion, which many therapists might not have extensive knowledge of.

• Retaining clients. Even after your practice is more established, retaining the clients you secure remains a challenge. Many individuals will make only a single appointment, and recurring clients may suddenly cancel their appointments and choose not to return.

It can be frustrating to come across these challenges without a solution you can count on. Massage therapy software can address these common pain points and fix them by improving your operations. Not only can these solutions streamline your existing processes, but they can also help you acquire new clients and increase your revenue.

7 essential features of massage therapy software

When you begin researching massage therapy apps, you might feel overwhelmed by all the options and their unique offerings. To help you identify and narrow down your top picks, consider these seven essential features of massage therapy software:

1. Scheduling and appointments. Make the booking process more convenient for clients with online scheduling features. They’ll be able to see your practice’s availability, match it to their availability, and book an appointment online with no fuss. On your end, you’ll benefit from an automated system keeping track of your schedule—you’ll know when all your appointments are and won’t have to worry about double-booking again!

2. Digital payment and forms. Allow clients to pay for their appointments ahead of time with a secure digital payments feature. And save them time by enabling digital forms. That way, they can fill out the necessary forms online and in advance, so they can make appointments conveniently while on the go.

3. Client management. Get ahead of the game with your recurring clients by saving their information with the client management features of massage therapy software. Record their contact details, visit history, preferences, and notes to ensure that they have a great experience during all of their visits.

4. Electronic health records. For clients that have recurring pain or specific treatment needs, maintain secure records to help you customize their massages to their needs. Keep SOAP notes and treatment plans to ensure that all clients get the care and attention they need.

5. Marketing. Getting the word out about your practice is crucial to acquiring new clients. The best massage therapy apps have promotional messaging capabilities, including emails and texts. Some solutions allow you to build a custom website personalized to your branding. Others enable promotions and special offers so that you can offer discounts and packages.

6. Automated messaging. Think of how tedious it is to manually send out appointment reminders and confirmations of purchase. Massage therapy software will handle that for you with an automated system that sends such messages to your clients through email, SMS, or both.

7. Data and analytics. The first step to improving your massage therapy practice is by recording data and information related to your key performance indicators (KPIs). Massage therapy software will record this information, allowing you to analyze it to get actionable insights into how you can improve your practice.

As you consider which massage therapy software solution you want to purchase, weigh the features that align with your practice’s needs most heavily. If you are between two or three top options, research reviews from third-party sources to get objective observations. Or, schedule a trial period before diving in.

Additional resources

Regardless of your practice’s size or clientele, massage therapy software is a scalable solution that can greatly enhance your business. While migrating to a whole new software solution may seem like a daunting task, the benefits well outweigh the downsides. So don’t hesitate and start looking for your perfect provider today!

If you’d like to learn more about running a massage therapy business, check out these resources:

• A Guide to Massage Billing: Insurance Codes for Therapists — Accepting medical insurance can be complicated for massage therapists. This guide will cover all the basics you’ll need to know for your practice’s massage billing.
• Why Every Massage Therapist Should Raise Their Prices and How to Do It Without Losing Clients — Revenue generation is crucial for massage therapists hoping to future-proof their practice. Read about how you can raise prices without losing clients.
• Tips to Help Massage Therapists Simplify Tax Season — Tax season is a daunting time for business owners of all kinds. Check out this guide for tips and tricks to make tax season less stressful for your massage practice.