Gym Software in Belgium: Rules, Payments and Prices

What does a gym in Belgium need from its software?

A Belgian gym needs software that manages members and memberships and fits four local rules: direct debit (domiciliëring / domiciliation) is allowed for online memberships only with explicit consent and a signed mandate, cash must still be accepted on site, the automatic renewal clause has to appear in bold on page 1 of the contract, and access to sports facilities is, for now, taxed at 6% VAT. Published prices for gym software used in Belgium run from about €79 to €599 a month, and several vendors only work with a quote.

This guide is written for owners in Flanders, Brussels and Wallonia alike. Belgium is a bilingual market, so the same club often has Dutch-speaking and French-speaking members, and the software shortlist differs a little between the two sides of the language border. You will find what the rules mean for your choice of software, the options Belgian clubs compare and where Trainera fits. It is general information, not legal or tax advice: take your own situation to your accountant.

The Belgian rules at a glance

VAT: 6%, but note the words "for now"

The federal budget agreement of November 2025 planned to raise VAT on sport from 6% to 12%. The rise was first postponed to 1 March 2026. After a negative opinion from the Council of State, the government decided on 13 February 2026 not to apply the increase to sports activities. The Flemish broadcaster VRT described it as a postponement, though, with the possibility of a new attempt. Keep an eye on Fitness.be, the sector organisation that ran the VAT campaign and follows the file.

What that means for your software: you need to be able to change the price and the VAT rate of a membership without asking every member to sign again. If you also sell personal training, the question is whether it belongs to access (6%) or stands on its own (21%). A PT studio where clients can only come in during their session falls under 21% according to the circular.

Renewal and cancellation: what inspectors check

Since 2022 the FPS Economy (FOD Economie / SPF Economie) has inspected 51 fitness centres, and 31 of them were not in order. That is more than half. Most of the issues are administrative, so a clear contract and good date tracking in your software fix them:

• The renewal clause is in bold on the first page of the contract.
• After the first automatic renewal, a member can cancel at any time, without a penalty, with no more than 2 months' notice.
• Prices are visible before you ask for a name or email address.
• If you sell online, members get a withdrawal button for the first 14 days.

What I see missing most often in smaller clubs: a clear date of the first renewal for each member. Without it, the front desk does not know whether the 2-month notice rule already applies or whether the member is still in the first term.

Direct debit, Bancontact or card: how to collect membership fees?

For monthly fees you have a handful of options in Belgium, but not all of them work automatically. This is how they work with a provider such as Stripe:

Payconiq by Bancontact is being renamed "Wero and Bancontact" in 2026, and existing QR codes keep working, according to BNP Paribas Fortis. For monthly memberships that does not help yet: on Stripe, neither Bancontact nor Wero is meant for recurring payments. Direct debit or card remain the two routes for automatic collection.

One practical check before you compare features: look at how the software handles a rejected debit. Who tells the member? Is their access paused? That is where clubs lose money without noticing. For more on fees, Stripe and payments at the desk, read gym payment software.

Which software do Belgian clubs compare?

Below are the systems you often come across in Flanders, Brussels and Wallonia, with the price as the vendor publishes it (checked in October 2026). Always check the vendor's page, because prices change.

For context: according to crowdsourced Numbeo figures (October 2026), the average monthly gym membership costs €29.41 in Brussels, €33.31 in Antwerp, €31.50 in Ghent and €37.49 in Liège. With fees like that, a software bill of €200 a month equals several memberships for a small club. Always work out how many members your software costs you.

How to choose

• Your members pay by direct debit: pick software with built-in SEPA collection, or let the domiciliëring run through your bank and record each member's status.
• You have Dutch-speaking and French-speaking members: check that the member app works in both languages, not just the dashboard.
• You run a PT studio: keep the 21% rate in mind and look at how you sell session packs.
• You plan to grow: ask for the price at your current number of members and at double that.

For a wider look at what gym software costs, see how much gym management software costs.

Where Trainera fits in Belgium, and what it does not do

• Price: on trainera.fit/pricing for Belgium, Core costs €109 a month (self-serve, paid by card), White Label €199 and Studio €239 (after a call, invoiced). The first 3 trainers are included; each additional trainer costs €14.99 a month. A year costs 10 times the monthly price.
• Memberships in euro: you create your own packages with your own price and period and sell them online by card through your own Stripe account, with a 0% Trainera platform fee. Stripe bills its processing fees to you directly.
• No direct debit and no Bancontact in Trainera. Online checkout works with cards. Domiciliëring runs through your own bank or provider, and you record the membership in Trainera. Cash or bank transfers taken at the desk are recorded in Trainera too.
• Check-in with a digital member card and QR code in the app, or manually from the overview. More in QR check-in for gyms.
• Languages: the app runs in 26 languages, including Dutch and French.
• Included in Core: leads CRM with a 7-stage pipeline and reminders, class planner with recurring series, website builder with your own domain, members-only community feed and the AI assistant TRAI (200 requests a month). On White Label and Studio you get your own iOS and Android apps under your brand.

Trainera does not provide a ready-made cancellation or withdrawal button: you set that up on your own website, and Trainera helps you track the end date of each membership. Your club remains the controller of its members' data under the GDPR. Reminders before a renewal date are covered in membership renewal reminders.

What to write down before your next demo

1. How will you collect: direct debit, card, cash, or a mix?
2. Is your renewal clause in bold on page 1, and can the software show each member's first renewal date?
3. Can a member cancel after that renewal with at most 2 months' notice?
4. Can you change the VAT rate of a package if the 6% ever changes after all?
5. Does the member app exist in Dutch and in French?
6. What does the first year cost in total at your current number of members, payment fees included?

If you also have a location in the Netherlands, the guide to gym membership administration in the Netherlands covers the Dutch rules.

See how member cards, QR check-in and card payments work together on Trainera for gyms.