What Sweatpals does

Sweatpals is an Austin, Texas-based social fitness marketplace founded in September 2021 by Salar Shahini (CEO) and Mandi Zhou (CPO). The platform enables boutique fitness studios, gyms, run clubs, yoga instructors, and event organizers to host in-person classes, events, retreats, and paid memberships, while letting members discover and book experiences through a consumer mobile app (iOS and Android) and web interface. Underlying the product is a mobile-first SaaS stack that unifies booking, scheduling, payment processing (including Tap to Pay with no additional hardware), member management, analytics, communications (chat, SMS, email), and a social layer (Posts, Chats, Community Pages, Home Feed). An AI-powered Discovery Feed, native integrations with Zapier, Meta Pixel, Google Tag, and Attentive, and SMS-based passwordless authentication round out the technical differentiators. Co-hosting, group tiers, event bundles, and member referrals enable community-led expansion across cities.

Sweatpals makes money primarily through a marketplace discovery commission (advertised as 3x lower than ClassPass, with no commission on a host's own members), transaction fees on Tap to Pay in-person sales, recurring fees on paid community memberships, and outcome-based affiliate payouts to referring instructors. Pricing is anchored on a freemium model ($0 monthly fees to start, pay-as-you-go) with newer Starter and Pro packages, and an enterprise 'Book a Demo' motion for larger accounts. Distribution combines product-led growth with a $1,000-per-onboarded-studio affiliate channel and strategic event partnerships (Daybreaker, Strong New York, HYROX). As of late 2025/early 2026 the platform reports 1M+ active members, 200K+ monthly events, 621 cities (24 active markets scaling to 36), and $50M cumulative paid out to fitness businesses; total disclosed funding is approximately $15M across rounds led by Antler, Pear VC, a16z speedrun, Patron, and HartBeat Ventures (Kevin Hart).

Name

Sweatpals

Legal name

sweatpals, inc

Website

https://sweatpals.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2021

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Sweatpals is an Austin-based social fitness marketplace that lets boutique studios, gyms, and event hosts manage classes, events, retreats, and paid memberships while members discover and book in-person fitness experiences across 1M+ users in 621 cities.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Fitness Studio Management Software

NAICS

Diet and Weight Reducing Centers (812191)

SIC

Services-Membership Sports & Recreation Clubs (7997)

akta.pro primary industry

Meditation Apps, Digital Courses & Online Communities (HSADAJAH)

akta.pro secondary industry

Stress Management & Burnout Prevention Coaching (HSADAGAD)

Keywords

• Fitness marketplace platform
• Studio management software
• Event booking platform
• Membership management software
• Wellness community platform

Headquarters

HQ city

Austin

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Marketplace / Discovery Commission: Transaction-based commission on bookings driven through Sweatpals' Discovery Feed, advertised as 3x lower than ClassPass; hosts pay nothing on their own members.
2. Tap to Pay Processing Fees: Revenue from payment processing on in-person sales (tickets, merch, food) made through the Sweatpals Tap to Pay feature, structured via a Starter/Pro pricing tier.
3. Paid Memberships (SaaS Subscriptions): Recurring revenue from community membership tiers sold by hosts to their members via the platform, with Sweatpals taking a fee on the membership stream.
4. Affiliate / Referral Program: Structured referral program paying $1,000 (front page) / $500 (FAQ) per qualified gym or studio that onboards, generating leads and revenue.
5. Starter & Pro Pricing Packages: New Starter and Pro pricing packages with transparent, tiered fee structures providing better margins and growth tools for small and growing communities.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion5 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Sweatpals is a mobile-first SaaS marketplace platform that lets boutique fitness hosts (studios, gyms, run clubs, yoga instructors, retreat organizers) run bookings, memberships, classes, events, retreats, in-person Tap to Pay, and community communication from one dashboard, while members discover and book those experiences through the Sweatpals web platform and iOS/Android apps. The company monetizes via marketplace discovery commissions, payment processing fees, and recurring subscription tiers on paid memberships and Starter/Pro host packages.

Product overview

Sweatpals is a single platform-plus-modules SaaS offering for boutique fitness studios, gyms, and event/retreat hosts, sold alongside a consumer-facing Sweatpals App. The core Sweatpals Platform hosts operator modules for Classes, Events (with Event Bundles and Group Tiers), Retreats, Memberships (with Payment Plans), Tap to Pay, and Tracking Links, while the Member Management Dashboard and Insights & Reports provide back-office analytics. Community engagement is delivered through Posts, Chats, Community Pages, and the Home Feed, with personalization via the AI-powered Social Discovery feed. Platform-level capabilities are extended through the Sweatpals Integrations Hub (Zapier, Meta Pixel, Google Tag, Attentive), supplemented by the Sweatpals University education program and the Sweatpals Affiliates referral sub-brand.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Sweatpals University: Education and resource platform for building and scaling fitness communities, launched December 2025.

Products and services

• Sweatpals Platform Sweatpals' core SaaS platform for boutique fitness studios, gyms, run clubs, yoga instructors, and event/retreat hosts to manage members, classes, events, retreats, memberships, payments, and community communication in a single product. Hosts pay $0 monthly fees to start and a marketplace discovery commission on bookings sourced through the Sweatpals Discovery Feed.
• Sweatpals App Native iOS and Android mobile application for consumers ("Pals") to discover nearby fitness classes, events, and retreats, book and pay, manage memberships, engage with community features such as Posts, Chats, Community Pages, and the Home Feed, and use Tap to Pay at in-person events.
• Sweatpals Integrations Hub Central integration layer that connects the Sweatpals platform to third-party tools, including Zapier for no-code automation, Meta Pixel for Facebook ad tracking and retargeting, Google Tag for analytics and conversion tracking, and Attentive for SMS marketing and member communication automation.
• Sweatpals University Education and training program for studio operators, instructors, and hosts using the Sweatpals platform, providing playbooks, case studies, templates, and frameworks to build, grow, and scale a fitness community business.

Quantifiable outcome

• Hosts turn 'three people showing up' into sold-out events in two months (Brandon Schneider / Steel City Club testimonial).
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers13 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration4 records

AI capability4 records

Feature7 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered flagship / exclusive partner, flagship customer / co-marketing, brand activation / event partner, event sponsorship, core integrations and growth channel.

• Daybreakerflagship / exclusive partnerStrategic or Co-development Partner · 13 January 2026Sweatpals became the exclusive U.S. platform partner for Daybreaker, the sober morning dance event organizer, to support operations across the United States. The partnership aims to promote the 'daylife' movement, with Sweatpals providing event management and discovery infrastructure for Daybreaker events.
• Pilates & Lattes Clubflagship customer / co-marketingGTM or Marketing Partner · 8 January 2026Sweatpals is the platform partner for Pilates & Lattes Club (founded by Steph Katz and Vale Lasak), providing event management and marketing tools; the club won 2025 Sweatpals Entrepreneurs of the Year and is a flagship example of multi-city expansion.
• HYROXbrand activation / event partnerGTM or Marketing Partner · 28 November 2025Sweatpals participated in a HYROX race and met with the HYROX team and CEO gathering, indicating a brand activation relationship tied to the growth of HYROX as a global fitness phenomenon.
• Strong New Yorkevent sponsorshipGTM or Marketing Partner · 27 September 2025SweatPals was a sponsor of Strong New York 2025, the NYC fitness and wellness festival on September 27, 2025, with 5,000+ attendees alongside Celcius, Hydrow, and Impact Kitchen.
• Zapier, Meta Pixel, Google Tag, and Attentivecore integrationsTechnology or Integration · 1 July 2025Native integrations announced via the SweatPals Integrations Hub, enabling hosts to automate event workflows, track conversions, and scale marketing through Zapier automations, Meta Pixel and Google Tag tracking, and Attentive SMS marketing.
• Affiliate Partner Networkgrowth channelChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 1 January 2025Structured referral program paying instructors and industry contacts $1,000 (front page) / $500 (FAQ) per qualified gym or studio introduced that successfully onboards. Partners apply via Airtable form; payments are issued monthly via direct deposit.

Scale indicators12 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Emerging players

• Strava: Strava is a consumer social fitness network with a large active community; it competes with Sweatpals on the social/community layer of fitness but does not provide operator-side bookings, payments, or studio management.
• Acuity Scheduling: Acuity Scheduling (Square-owned) is a widely used SMB scheduling and booking SaaS; it competes on the bookings/payments layer that Sweatpals offers studios but lacks Sweatpals' social discovery and community-led growth features.

Direct peers

• ClassPass: ClassPass is the dominant fitness class marketplace with a similar two-sided model of studios and consumers; Sweatpals explicitly positions against ClassPass on take rate (advertising 3x lower discovery commission) and on its free-to-start, no-monthly-fee pricing.
• Momence: Momence is a modern SaaS platform for boutique fitness studios covering bookings, memberships, and payments; it competes head-to-head with Sweatpals for the same SMB studio and host customer with overlapping feature sets.
• Mariana Tek: Mariana Tek is a boutique-fitness-focused SaaS platform (acquired by ABC Fitness) that Sweatpals cites as a legacy point solution it aims to displace with an integrated social discovery and community layer.
• Wodify: Wodify is a fitness management platform for gyms and studios (originally crossfit-focused) offering bookings, payments, and member management; comparable to Sweatpals on the operator SaaS side though weaker on the consumer marketplace layer.

Broad incumbents

• Mindbody: Mindbody is the established category leader in fitness/wellness studio SaaS (bookings, payments, marketing); Sweatpals names Mindbody as a primary point-solution competitor it aims to consolidate via an all-in-one, lower-cost platform.
• Wellhub (formerly Gympass): Wellhub/Gympass is the global corporate wellness platform connecting employers, gyms, and employees; it overlaps with Sweatpals in the consumer-side discovery and fitness access layer but targets B2B distribution through employers.
• Eventbrite: Eventbrite is a broad ticketing and events marketplace; Sweatpals overlaps with Eventbrite in ticketing and event discovery for in-person experiences but is specialized in fitness/wellness and adds community and host-management tooling.

Others

• Daybreaker: Daybreaker is a sober morning dance event series and Sweatpals' exclusive US platform partner; rather than competing, it is a flagship customer/co-marketing partner that supplies Sweatpals with branded event inventory and a Gen Z audience.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/sweatpals
• Instagraminstagram.com/sweatpalsapp
• TikToktiktok.com/@sweatpals

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds4 records

Investors10 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Sweatpals