Short answer: For most studios in Europe, the right payment setup is the one that works inside your booking system, charges memberships automatically and has the lowest effective rate for your mix of payments, not the lowest headline rate. Stripe is the usual choice for online booking with cards, Apple Pay and Google Pay. Square makes most sense if you sell a lot at the counter. Local apps (MobilePay in Denmark and Finland, Vipps in Norway, Swish in Sweden, Bizum in Spain) are popular with customers, but only save you work if your booking system supports them. Work out your own effective rate with the formula below and the current rates for your country.
"Which one is cheapest?"
That is how the payment question usually arrives. It is a fair question, but it is the wrong place to start. Fee tables differ by country, by card type and by provider, and they change. A rate list printed in a blog post is out of date the day a provider adjusts its pricing.
So this guide does something more useful: it shows you what to compare, how to turn a provider's price list into one number you can compare across offers, and which local payment methods your customers are likely to expect in each market. You fill in the current rates yourself, from each provider's own pricing page.
What are the real options for a studio in Europe?
"Stripe vs Square vs MobilePay" sounds like three versions of the same thing. They are really three different kinds of payment solution:
| Type | Strong at | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| Online card processor (e.g. Stripe) | Online booking, saved cards for memberships, Apple Pay and Google Pay, cards from any country | Fees for cards issued outside your region and for currency conversion |
| Point-of-sale system (e.g. Square) | Card readers and payments at the counter: retail, drinks, mats, walk-ins | Only available in some European countries; may sit outside your booking system |
| Local payment app or direct debit (e.g. MobilePay, Vipps, Swish, Bizum, SEPA Direct Debit) | Familiar to local customers, quick on the phone | Visitors often do not have it; manual matching if your booking system does not integrate it |
Many studios end up with a combination: one solution for bookings and memberships, and possibly another for the counter. The important part is that the money for bookings lands where your bookings are, so you are not matching payments to customers by hand.
What should you compare between payment providers?
Seven things decide what payments actually cost you and how much work they create:
- The per-transaction fee. Usually a percentage plus a fixed amount per payment. Both parts matter, as the example below shows.
- Fixed costs. Monthly fees, setup fees, card readers. A low transaction fee can hide a monthly subscription.
- Cards from other countries. Providers often charge more for cards issued outside your region (for example outside the EEA, or UK cards in the EU), and add a fee for currency conversion. If you are in a tourist area or a city with many international residents, this can move your average noticeably.
- Recurring payments. Can memberships be charged automatically every month? What happens when a card expires or a payment fails? In the EU and the UK, online card payments fall under strong customer authentication (SCA), so the first payment is confirmed by the customer and later automatic charges need to be set up correctly.
- Payout time. How many days from payment until the money is in your bank account, and is the first payout slower? This matters for cash flow in your first months.
- Chargebacks and refunds. A cardholder can dispute a payment through their bank, and most card processors charge a fee per dispute. Also ask whether the transaction fee is returned when you refund a customer.
- Integration with your booking system. Does a payment automatically become a booking, a class pack or a membership? Without that link, every payment is a small admin job. For the wider checklist, see our guide on how to choose the right booking system.
How do you work out what payments really cost?
Turn every offer into one number: your effective rate, the share of your revenue that goes on payment costs.
Monthly payment costs = for each product: number of payments × (amount × percentage fee + fixed fee)
+ extra fees for cards from other countries and currency conversion
+ fixed monthly fees (subscription, card reader)
+ disputes × dispute fee
Effective rate = monthly payment costs ÷ monthly revenue paid through the provider
Worked example (hypothetical rates)
Note: the rates below are invented to show the method. They are not any provider's actual prices. Check the current rates for your country on each provider's own pricing page before you compare.
Say you have two offers: Offer A charges 1.5% + €0.25 per payment, Offer B charges 1.0% + €0.50. B has the lower percentage. Here is what each charges on a typical studio payment:
| Payment | Offer A (1.5% + €0.25) | Offer B (1.0% + €0.50) |
|---|---|---|
| Drop-in, €15 | €0.48 (3.2%) | €0.65 (4.3%) |
| Monthly membership, €60 | €1.15 (1.9%) | €1.10 (1.8%) |
| 10-class pack, €120 | €2.05 (1.7%) | €1.70 (1.4%) |
The fixed fee hits small payments hardest: on a €15 drop-in it makes up most of the cost. Now apply both offers to two studios that each take €8,400 a month:
| Studio (€8,400 a month) | Offer A | Offer B |
|---|---|---|
| Membership studio: 125 memberships, 20 drop-ins, 5 packs (150 payments) | €163.50 (1.95%) | €159.00 (1.89%) |
| Drop-in studio: 25 memberships, 300 drop-ins, 20 packs (345 payments) | €212.25 (2.53%) | €256.50 (3.05%) |
Two lessons come out of this. First, the offer with the lower percentage is the more expensive one for the drop-in studio: €531 more a year. Second, the same revenue costs the drop-in studio more than the membership studio with either offer, simply because it takes more than twice as many payments.
That second point matches what we see in our own data. In our European studio booking report (8,100+ class bookings at 17 boutique studios, July 2025 to June 2026), 55.6% of bookings were paid with credit from a membership or class pack. Every booking paid that way is a booking that did not need its own payment, and its own fixed fee. Payment fees are also a cost to build into your prices; our guide on how to price fitness classes covers how to structure memberships and packs.
Fill-in table: compare your offers
Copy this table, fill it in from each provider's pricing page or written offer, and calculate your effective rate with the formula above.
| What to check | Provider 1 | Provider 2 | Provider 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Percentage per payment (domestic cards) | ___ % | ___ % | ___ % |
| Fixed fee per payment | €___ | €___ | €___ |
| Extra for cards from other countries / currency conversion | ___ | ___ | ___ |
| Monthly fee, setup fee, hardware | ___ | ___ | ___ |
| Automatic membership payments? Handling of failed payments? | Yes / no | Yes / no | Yes / no |
| Payout time (days to your bank) | ___ | ___ | ___ |
| Fee per dispute / fee returned on refunds? | ___ | ___ | ___ |
| Built into your booking system? | Yes / no | Yes / no | Yes / no |
| Your effective rate | ___ % | ___ % | ___ % |
Use your real mix: last month's number of drop-ins, packs and memberships, and a rough share of foreign cards. Ten minutes with this table beats any rate comparison you will find online, because it uses your numbers.
Which local payment methods do customers expect, country by country?
Cards, Apple Pay and Google Pay work across Europe. On top of that, many countries have a local favourite:
- Denmark and Finland: MobilePay.
- Norway: Vipps. Vipps and MobilePay have merged into Vipps MobilePay, but customers still know the app by its local name.
- Sweden: Swish.
- Spain: Bizum.
- Netherlands and Belgium: iDEAL and Bancontact respectively.
- UK: Direct Debit is a familiar way to pay for recurring memberships.
- Eurozone: SEPA Direct Debit for recurring payments.
Two caveats. First, local apps are built for local customers: tourists, visiting students and many newcomers will not have them, so you need a card option anyway. Second, a local app only saves time if your booking system knows about the payment. If members pay by app to your account and you then mark them as paid by hand, the low fee is eaten by admin.
Stripe, Square or a local app: what fits your studio?
- Most of your sales happen online (bookings, packs, memberships): a card processor that is built into your booking system, typically Stripe. Your customers can pay by card, Apple Pay or Google Pay, and memberships renew automatically.
- You sell a lot at the counter (retail, drinks, mat rental): a point-of-sale system such as Square can make sense for the counter, if it operates in your country. Keep memberships and bookings in the booking system, otherwise you are reconciling two systems every month.
- Your members expect a local app: choose a booking system that integrates that app directly, or accept the manual work. Apple Pay and Google Pay give much of the same tap-to-pay convenience.
- Many international customers: cards and wallets are a must, and the fees for non-domestic cards deserve a line of their own in your comparison.
Where Class Booking stands
Class Booking takes payments through Stripe: cards, Apple Pay and Google Pay, with automatic payments for memberships. On top of that, it supports MobilePay for Danish studios billing in DKK and Vipps for Norwegian studios billing in NOK, both via Vipps MobilePay with your own agreement (MobilePay is not available for studios in Finland). Swish and Bizum are not supported. We add no commission on top of Stripe's standard fees. If Swish or Bizum is a must for your members, that is a real reason to look at other systems, and better to know before you switch than after.
Frequently asked questions
Is Stripe or Square cheaper for a yoga studio?
It depends on your country, your customers' cards and the size of your payments. Both publish rates per country, so compare the current ones for yours. Calculate your effective rate with your real mix of drop-ins, packs and memberships: an offer with a lower percentage can still be more expensive if its fixed fee per payment is higher and you take many small payments.
Can I use MobilePay in Sweden or Norway?
MobilePay is used in Denmark and Finland. In Norway the equivalent is Vipps, and in Sweden it is Swish. Vipps and MobilePay have merged into one company, Vipps MobilePay, but the apps are still known by their local names.
How much do card fees cost a studio?
Multiply each product's number of payments by the amount times the percentage fee, plus the fixed fee, and add any monthly fees. Hypothetically, at 1.5% + €0.25 per payment, 100 members paying €60 a month cost €1.15 each, or €1,380 a year. Check the current rate for your country before you rely on any figure.
Should memberships be paid by card or by direct debit?
Both work for recurring payments. Cards are instant and work for customers from any country; direct debit is familiar for memberships in the UK and the eurozone. What matters most is that renewals and failed payments are handled automatically by the system your members book in.
Which payment methods does Class Booking support?
Cards, Apple Pay and Google Pay through Stripe, including automatic payments for memberships. Danish studios (DKK) can also take MobilePay and Norwegian studios (NOK) Vipps, both via Vipps MobilePay with your own agreement; MobilePay is not available for studios in Finland. Swish and Bizum are not supported. Plans start at €10 / £8 a month with no commission on top of Stripe's fees; see the pricing page.
Take bookings and payments in one place
Drop-ins, class packs and memberships with cards, Apple Pay and Google Pay via Stripe, and no commission on top. From €10 / £8 a month.
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