Running a martial arts school is rewarding. But between collecting payments, tracking who showed up to class, chasing lapsed members, and handling paperwork, the administrative side can swallow your day whole.
Druid is martial arts school management software built specifically for school owners like you. Not a generic gym app. Not an enterprise platform designed for a chain of yoga studios. Something made for dojos, academies, and martial arts schools - where belt promotions matter, where a student who quits in month two costs you years of lifetime revenue, and where a good coach needs to spend time teaching, not troubleshooting spreadsheets.
This guide walks through every feature Druid offers. For each one, you will learn what it does and, more importantly, what it does for your school.
If you want quick answers first, read the martial arts school software FAQ. For more guides, see the Library. To learn why we built this product for owners and coaches, read how Druid started.
Key takeaways
- One place to manage students, programs, payments, and attendance - no separate billing tool, no separate waiver app
- Automatic email sequences fire at the right moments to convert leads, earn referrals, keep students, and win back former members
- Students and parents get their own mobile-friendly app for class schedules, check-in, and payments
- Built-in referral tracking turns word-of-mouth from a hope into a habit
- Your money moves through Stripe directly to your bank account - Druid never holds your funds
1. Your Daily Command Center
Every morning when you open Druid, the Home screen shows you exactly what needs your attention. Nothing more, nothing less.
Your Home screen surfaces urgent tasks: new membership requests, recent waivers, and cash due.
What you see on Home:
New membership requests
When a prospective student completes your online sign-up - fills out their info, signs the liability waiver, and saves a payment method - they do not automatically become a member. They become a membership request, waiting for your approval.
This is a deliberate gate. You get to review who wants to join, which program they picked, and - if they were referred - who sent them. Then you accept them into your school with a single tap.
Why does this matter? Because it keeps you in control. A student who was referred by one of your black belts gets the same moment of acknowledgement as a walk-in. You know everyone who's coming in before they start.
Recently signed waivers
The Home screen also shows you students who signed a liability waiver but have not yet been accepted into a program. This is useful in situations where someone visited an event or trial class and signed your waiver before you had a chance to formally enroll them. You see them here so no one falls through the cracks.
Cash payers who owe
Some of your students pay cash rather than autopay. Druid keeps track of when their next payment is due and surfaces a list of cash students whose payment is coming up. You see the names, you collect the payment - no spreadsheet required.
2. Students: Your Complete Roster
The Students section is your full roster. Every active member, every trial student, every person connected to your school lives here.
The student roster gives you quick access to every member's full profile.
Individual student profiles
Each student has their own profile where you can see and manage everything in one place:
Payments - A full history of every invoice for that student. You can view individual invoices, charge an outstanding balance directly from Druid, and see whether a payment went through or failed.
Liability waiver - Whether or not the student has a signed waiver on file, and access to it when needed.
Emergency contact - The emergency contact provided during sign-up. Always there when you need it.
Attendance history - Every class this student has checked into, listed chronologically. This is how you spot a student who has been showing up less and less - a reliable early warning before they quit.
Notes - Private notes for the coach. Did this student mention an injury? Are they training for an upcoming competition? Did a parent mention a concern? Add it here. You can edit and delete notes as needed.
Belt rank - The student's current belt rank. When they earn a promotion, you record it in Druid and it stays on file. You can also navigate directly to the promote flow to record a new rank with a confirmation screen.
Manage membership - This is the control panel for a student's membership lifecycle:
- Cancel a membership - If a student needs to stop, you can cancel from here. There is also a cancel-undone screen for when a student changes their mind before the cancelation fully processes.
- Pause a membership - For students who travel, take a break, or have a temporary reason to step away. Pausing is different from canceling - the relationship stays intact.
- Resume a membership - When a paused student comes back.
- Gift a membership - You can give a student a period of membership as a gift. This is great for belt promotion rewards, community outreach, or bringing a sibling on board.
- Apply a discount - Apply a price reduction to a membership. Useful for family pricing, loyalty discounts, or special arrangements. The discount success screen confirms it was applied.
Check a student in from their profile - You can also manually check a student in directly from their profile screen, which is useful when they forget to check themselves in.
Adding new students
You can add a student manually from the coach side - either into the school in general, or directly into a specific program. This is useful for walk-ins, people who prefer not to sign up online, or situations where you want to get someone set up before they arrive.
3. Programs, Schedules, and Pricing
Programs are the foundation of what you sell. A program is your adult class, your kids class, your BJJ fundamentals, your competition team - any curriculum offering with a name, a schedule, and a price.
Each program has its own students, schedule, attendance view, and pricing setup.
What each program includes
Basic details - Name, description, and how the program is configured for trials (see below).
Students - When students are enrolled, you can view the full list of active members in that program.
Schedule - Set the class days and times for this program. Students can see the schedule in their app when they are choosing whether to join.
Attendance - A view of class attendance for that program specifically. Useful if you want to see who has been showing up to Wednesday night sparring versus the Monday fundamentals class.
Pricing - The price students pay. This connects to your Stripe account and includes both the recurring monthly tuition and an optional signup fee (common for gear, registration, or processing costs).
Trials - three options
When someone wants to try your school, you have three different ways to set it up:
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Free trial days - A student gets a set number of days to train without being billed. When the days expire, billing begins automatically. Great for a "first two weeks free" offer.
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Free check-ins - Instead of days, you give a student a set number of classes. They can use those classes at their own pace. When they use their last included check-in, billing starts. This is a good fit for "try your first 3 classes free" promotions.
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No trial - Full billing starts immediately when you accept a student. Common when a student transfers from another school and just wants to get started.
You can also set a specific billing start date when accepting a student into a program. This overrides the trial type entirely and lets you say, "This student starts paying on the 1st of next month," regardless of what the program default says.
Automatic program-to-belt-system linking
If your school has exactly one belt system configured, Druid will automatically connect new programs to that belt system. You do not have to manually wire it up every time.
4. Payments and Revenue
Getting paid reliably is one of the most stressful parts of running a school. Druid handles the billing so you spend less time chasing invoices and more time on the mat.
The revenue report shows total collected revenue, individual payments, and a daily chart for any date range.
Stripe Connect billing
Druid uses Stripe to process card payments. This means:
- Your students save a card when they sign up
- Monthly tuition charges happen automatically, on schedule
- Druid does not hold your money - payments go directly to your Stripe account and then to your bank
- Failed payment emails notify students when a card is declined, so they can update their details without you having to make an awkward phone call
Signup fees
You can attach a signup fee to any program. This is charged once, when the student first enrolls - before the recurring monthly billing begins. Signup fees help offset equipment, onboarding costs, or processing, and they also psychologically increase commitment (a student who paid to join is more likely to stick around than one who started for free).
Cash payment tracking
Not every student pays by card. For students who prefer cash, Druid lets you mark a membership as cash pay. Their billing schedule is tracked the same way as a card student - you just see them on the Home screen when payment is due, and you collect it in person. Nothing slips through.
In-person payment collection
If a student owes money, you can take payment right from their profile. Navigate to their payment history, select the invoice, and process the charge. A success screen confirms it went through. Useful for when someone has an outstanding balance and hands you cash or card in person.
Revenue report
The Revenue report (under the Business & Money menu) shows you:
- Total revenue collected in any date range you choose
- A revenue by day chart so you can see your income over time - helpful for spotting seasonal patterns or measuring the impact of a promotion
- A payment breakdown listing every individual transaction, with the student name, program, and amount
You pick the start and end dates in your own time zone. Druid respects school-level timezone settings so the numbers always match the dates you're thinking about.
Payouts
The Payouts section connects to your Stripe payout schedule. You can view your payout history and edit your banking details when needed.
5. The Growth Center: Four Levers to Grow Your School
The Growth Center is Druid's engine for systematic school growth. It is based on a simple idea: your school grows when students coming in is greater than students leaving. Four growth levers address each part of that equation.
The Growth Center dashboard shows all four levers at a glance with recent metrics.
Each lever has:
- A chart showing recent activity (leads, referrals, cancelations, or reactivations)
- A set of automated email sequences that fire at exactly the right moments
You do not have to write these emails yourself. Druid sends them on your behalf, personalized to your school's name and the student's name. They fire based on real behavior - not arbitrary schedules.
Lever 1: Convert Leads
Job: Turn people who expressed interest into paying members.
When someone starts your online sign-up flow and does not finish, they are a lead - they showed interest but did not convert. Left alone, most of them will never come back. With Druid, they do not get left alone.
The Convert Leads chart shows new leads vs new members week by week.
Automated emails in this lever:
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Nudge to complete registration - Fires when someone enters their email but stops there within 3 hours. The message welcomes them and invites them to pick up where they left off.
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Follow-up on partial registration - Fires when someone starts entering contact details but does not finish within 3 hours. A warm follow-up with a direct link back to the form.
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Help with program choice - Fires when someone views the programs page but does not select one within 3 hours. Offers to help them find the right program and briefly describes what each one offers.
What this means for you: Someone visits your sign-up page after seeing your school's Instagram. They start filling in the form, get distracted, and put their phone down. Without Druid, that lead goes cold and you never know they existed. With Druid, they get a gentle, personalized email a few hours later - in your school's voice - and many of them come back.
The dashboard shows you new leads and converted leads over the last 30 days so you can see whether your sign-up flow is healthy.
Lever 2: Generate Referrals
Job: Grow your school through word-of-mouth.
Research consistently shows that referred students stay longer and are more loyal than students who found you through an ad. A student who was brought in by a friend already has a reason to show up - and a person they know on the mats.
The referrals chart tracks word-of-mouth growth week by week.
Automated emails in this lever:
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On first invoice paid - The moment a student pays their first invoice, they get an email asking them to share their journey and bring a friend. This is the best time to ask - they are most excited right now.
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7 days after first invoice - A follow-up. Their first week is behind them. The message reinforces how much progress they have made and reminds them that their friend can try a free week.
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30 days after first invoice - One month in. A third invitation to share, often tied to a community-focused message about growing the school together.
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90 days after first invoice - Three months in, steady progress, and one more ask - framed around the student's accomplishments as much as the offer.
Each referral is tracked. When someone joins using a referral link, Druid connects the new student to the referrer - so you can see who is building your school for you.
Lever 3: Prevent Attrition
Job: Keep students who are at risk of quitting.
Industry data is clear: most students who quit do so within the first 90 days. Not because they disliked martial arts - because no one checked in with them at the right time.
A student who gets a personal message asking how training is going is less likely to quietly disappear than one who shows up, sweats, goes home, and never hears from you between classes.
Pauses and cancelations charted by week - so you can spot problems before they compound.
Automated emails in this lever:
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Early feedback - Fires 10 days after first payment. The message is simple: "How are you enjoying your training?" It shows the student that you care, opens a conversation, and catches small frustrations before they become reasons to quit.
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Later feedback - Fires 90 days after first invoice. A congratulations on three months of training, paired with another genuine request for feedback. This is the plateau moment for many students - the novelty has worn off, but the habit may not be fully formed yet. A message from the coach at exactly this moment changes the outcome for a meaningful number of students.
The chart shows you pauses and cancelations by week. Watch it after starting a new class, after a belt test cycle, or after a policy change - you will see patterns emerge.
Lever 4: Revive Memberships
Job: Bring former students back to the mat.
When a student cancels, it is easy to write them off. But martial arts schools that systematically reach out to former members see a percentage of them return - especially at 3, 6, and 12 months, when life circumstances often change.
Three automated win-back emails fire at the moments former students are most likely to reconsider.
Automated emails in this lever:
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3 months after cancelation - A warm, non-pushy message. "We miss you. We would love to see you back. If the timing works, let's talk." Many students pause training for financial or schedule reasons. Three months later, that reason may have resolved.
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6 months after cancelation - A second message. The tone acknowledges the gap and focuses on what the student accomplished during their time. It does not beg - it reminds them that the door is open.
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12 months after cancelation - A year later. Many coaches never reach out this far. Druid does it automatically. A simple email mentioning that the student's journey does not have to be over. Some of the best returning members come back at this window.
None of these emails require you to do anything. Once Druid knows a membership was canceled, the clock starts, and the emails go out on schedule. You stay focused on students who are on the mat while Druid quietly works to bring back the ones who aren't.
6. Referrals: Word-of-Mouth as a System
Beyond the Growth Center's referral automation, Druid has a dedicated Referrals section for managing and tracking your school's word-of-mouth pipeline.
The referrals list shows every converted referral - who sent them and which program they joined.
Referral tracking
Every student who joins through a referral link is connected in Druid to the person who referred them. You can see the full history: who has been sending people your way and how many of those people became members.
This matters for two reasons. First, it tells you which of your students are your biggest advocates - the ones who deserve acknowledgement. Second, it shows you whether your referral system is working or stagnant.
The referral link
Druid generates a unique join-school link for your school that tracks the referral source automatically. When a new student uses that link to sign up, the connection is logged.
You can also generate links for individual students - so when someone says "my friend sent me," that friend gets the credit without anyone having to remember a code.
Bring a Friend
Druid includes a Bring a Friend flow. A current student - or anyone you share the link with - can visit a page for your school, enter their name, and get a personal referral link to share. This is how a student who wants to bring a training partner does it without needing to log in or do anything complicated.
The referral poster
Druid can generate a referral poster with a unique QR code pointing to your join-school page. Print it, hang it at the front desk, and let it work for you. Every time someone scans it, the signup is tracked.
7. Attendance and Check-In
Knowing who showed up to class is about more than compliance - it is a retention tool. Students who miss two weeks in a row are at much higher risk of quitting. Seeing that pattern early lets you act before they disappear.
Live attendance view - who is already checked in and who hasn't arrived yet.
Coach-side attendance
The Attendance screen (under Manage School) shows you today's live attendance. At a glance, you see who is checked in and who is not. You can search for a specific student by name, which is useful in a large class.
Bulk check-in lets you select multiple students and check them all in at once - helpful when you teach a class that runs in a gym or space where people do not always check in themselves. Select the names, confirm, and the records are saved for everyone.
Student check-in
Students can check in themselves from their app (see the Student App section below). There is also a Front Door URL - a link specific to your school. When a logged-in student visits this page, they are checked in automatically and redirected to a success screen. You can display this as a QR code at the entrance of your school.
Per-student attendance history
Each student's profile includes their full attendance history - every class they have checked into. Over time, this becomes a powerful record. Did a student get their blue belt while missing most of January? Did a newer student suddenly stop showing up in month two? The data is there.
8. Liability Waivers: No More Paper
Paper waivers get lost. They do not get signed in the excitement of a first class. They sit in a drawer until you need them, and then they are missing.
Druid includes digital liability waivers that students sign as part of the join-school process - before they ever step on the mat.
Configure your liability waiver once - then it's automatically part of every enrollment.
How it works
You configure your waiver in the Liability Waiver settings. When a prospective student completes the join-school flow, signing the waiver is a required step before they can finish enrolling.
For adult students, the adult signs. For children, a parent signs on behalf of the child. The right flow is shown automatically based on whether the enrollee is an adult or a minor.
Seeing waiver status
From the Home screen, you can see students who recently signed a waiver but are not yet enrolled in a program - useful for catching people mid-process. From each student's profile, you can check their waiver status directly.
No more chasing signatures
The old workflow: student joins, you forget to hand them the paper, they attend three classes, you realize you have no waiver on file, you awkwardly ask, they say they will bring it next time, and it never gets signed. Druid ends that loop.
9. Announcements: Talk to Your Whole School
Need to let students know about a schedule change? Belt test coming up? School closed for a holiday? Announcements let you send a message to your whole school - or a specific program - in minutes.
Write an announcement, choose who receives it, preview it, and send - all in a few taps.
How announcements work
- Write your message - A title and body, as simple or detailed as you need.
- Select your audience - Send to everyone at your school, or narrow it to members of a specific program. Useful when you need to tell your adult BJJ students something that does not apply to the kids class.
- Preview - See exactly how it will look before it goes out.
- Send - One tap and the message is on its way to every student in the selected group.
Save as draft - If you are not ready to send, you can save and come back later.
Announcements are available under the Communicate section of the school menu and appear in the student's experience, so they do not miss time-sensitive updates.
10. Belt Systems and Rank Tracking
Belts are not just fabric. They are milestones that change how a student sees themselves and how committed they become. Research on martial arts retention consistently shows that students who earn their first rank are dramatically more likely to continue training.
Druid treats rank tracking as a first-class feature - not an afterthought.
Record a belt promotion from the student's profile - it stays on file permanently.
Configuring your belt system
In the Belt system section of the menu, you configure the rank structure for your school or martial art. The belt system can be connected to your programs so that every student in that program follows the right progression.
If you have only one belt system configured, new programs are automatically linked to it - no extra setup needed.
Recording promotions
When a student earns a new rank, navigate to their profile, open Belt rank, and tap promote. Druid walks you through the promotion and shows a confirmation screen. The rank is recorded on the student's file permanently.
This gives you a running history of every student's progression - useful for your records, for conversations with students and parents, and for recognizing how far someone has come when they are thinking about quitting.
11. The Student App: What Your Students See
Everything above is the coach side of Druid. But your students also have their own experience - a clean, mobile-friendly app for everything they need.
Students manage their own schedule, check in, and pay - without needing to ask you.
Classes
The main screen for students shows your program schedule - class days and times. Students know when to show up without texting you.
Check-In
If a student has an active membership or trial, they can check themselves in from the app. This removes the friction of a paper sign-in sheet, and it means every check-in is automatically recorded in their attendance history.
Payments
Students with an active membership can view their payment history - every invoice, every charge, any failures. They can also:
- Update their payment method - When a card expires or changes, the student handles it themselves
- View a failed payment - If a charge did not go through, they see it and can resolve it without waiting for a call from you
Membership management
From the app, students can view their membership status and - where applicable - initiate a cancel or pause request. There are also cancel-aborted and pause-success screens to confirm the outcome.
For trial memberships, students can view their trial status and cancel if needed.
Joining a new program
If you want to invite a current student to add a second program - a competition class, a weapons course, a kids class for their child - students can join additional programs from within their account using a program-specific link you share with them.
Sign-up flow (the join-school experience for new students)
When a new prospect clicks your school's sign-up link, they go through a guided enrollment journey designed to feel easy and trustworthy:
- Age group - Adult, or a parent enrolling a child
- Contact details - Name, email, and for adults, emergency contact information
- Email verification - Confirms the email address is real
- Liability waiver - Signed digitally, specific to your school
- Profile photo - Optional but encouraged for easy identification on the mat
- Payment method - Card saved securely via Stripe
- Program selection - The student picks which program they want to try
Once complete, the coach sees a membership request. The student is in the system, the waiver is signed, and billing is ready to begin - all before the first class.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Druid handle billing automatically?
Yes. Students save a card when they sign up. Druid uses Stripe to charge their card on schedule each month, based on the pricing you configure for each program. You do not need to invoice anyone manually. For students who pay cash, the system tells you who is due so you can collect in person.
Does Druid work for kids programs?
Yes. The join-school flow supports both adult enrollments and parent-enrolling-a-child flows. Emergency contact collection, age group selection, and liability waiver signing are all built into the student experience with the right version shown automatically.
Can I offer a free trial before charging?
Yes. You can offer a trial with free days (e.g. two weeks free), free check-ins (e.g. first 3 classes free), or set a specific billing start date. Billing begins automatically once the trial period ends - no manual action required.
What martial arts disciplines does Druid work for?
Druid works for any martial arts school - karate, BJJ, taekwondo, Muay Thai, judo, kung fu, MMA gyms, mixed programs. The belt system, program structure, and schedule features are discipline-agnostic.
Do students need to download an app?
No. Druid works in a mobile web browser. Students can use it on any smartphone without downloading anything from an app store.
What happens when a payment fails?
Stripe handles the retry logic and sends automated notifications to the student. The failed charge appears in the student's payment section so they know what is outstanding. As the coach, you can also see payment status from each student's profile.
Can I pause a student's membership instead of canceling?
Yes. From the student's profile under Manage Membership, you can pause their membership. This keeps the student in your system - their profile, notes, and belt rank stay intact - while stopping billing temporarily. When they are ready to come back, you resume from the same place.
How do referrals get tracked?
When someone signs up using a referral link - either your school's general link or a personalized link - Druid records the connection. You can see a full list of referred students and who sent them in the Referrals section.
Can I send a message to only one program's students?
Yes. When creating an announcement, you can choose to send it to all active students or only to members of a specific program. If you run separate adult and kids classes, you do not have to send everything to everyone.
What does "prevent attrition" actually do?
Druid sends two automated emails on your behalf: one at 10 days after a student's first payment (early feedback) and one at 90 days (later feedback). Each asks the student how training is going in a warm, personal tone. These emails fire automatically - you do not write or schedule them. The goal is to surface small frustrations before they become reasons to quit.
Get Started with Druid
If you have been running your school on spreadsheets, paper waivers, and mental reminders - or on a generic gym app that was never built for martial arts - Druid is designed to replace all of it.
Every feature described above is part of one system. You are not stitching together five different tools. You are getting a school management platform built specifically for coaches who want to teach more and admin less.
