For independent dance studios
Your studio.
Your app.
The name above your door.
Now on your dancers’ phones.
Bookings, memberships, payments and reception, together in an app that looks and feels like your studio. We take care of the platform. You make it your own.
Built through everyday studio life at AURA Dance Studios.
Now welcoming a small group of personally onboarded studios.
Yours will carry your name.
Actual AURA app screens · example data
A closer look
A little less admin.
A lot more studio.
From “what’s on?” to “see you there.”
A familiar, connected experience for your members.
01 / Feel at home
Your studio.
In their pocket.
Your colours. Their regular classes. The next date in the diary. A home screen that feels like part of your studio from the moment they open it.
AURA home screen · example member02 / Find their next class
The details.
All together.
Time, place, price and who’s booked. Give members the information they need, with a simple way to add a class to their calendar.
AURA class details · example booking03 / Make it a date
A place for them.
And their people.
Choose who’s coming, book ahead and pick from the payment options your studio offers. Less back-and-forth before the music starts.
AURA booking screen · example household
The reason you do it
More time
for this.
For the lessons. The people.
The studio you put your heart into.
A class evening at AURA Dance Studios
Built on the studio floor
Good software should understand a busy reception desk.
Studio Pilot started at AURA Dance Studios in Birmingham. James Cutler, one of AURA’s partners, built it around the questions that come up every day: who has paid, which child is booked, what a membership covers, and who is waiting for a place.
That experience shapes the platform. Members get a clear way to book. Your team gets the detail they need to run the studio. And you get a direct relationship with the person helping you launch.
Meet the first studio
The platform
From the first booking
to the last check-in.
Choose the tools that fit your operation. We agree your launch features and payment rules during onboarding, so your app reflects how your studio works.
Your brand, everywhere it matters
A dedicated app with your studio name, logo, colours and content.
- Branded iPhone and Android apps
- Web booking and existing-website embeds
- Studio news, events and teacher profiles
- Your contact details, policies and support links
A timetable people can use
Keep class information and bookings connected as your week changes.
- Classes, events, courses and class packs
- Capacity limits and waiting lists
- Guest and household bookings
- Cancellations, refund requests and eligible class rescheduling
More than pay-as-you-go
Bring your agreed pricing structure into one booking experience.
- Card checkout, Apple Pay and Google Pay where supported
- Recurring memberships and membership benefits
- Stored-value gift vouchers and promotional codes
- Pay on arrival and recorded cash or external card payments
Know who’s here and who’s paid
Give the front desk a practical view of the day, including the exceptions.
- Registers, QR check-in and optional Apple/Google Wallet cards
- Walk-ins and reception bookings
- Payment status and refund administration
- Day sheets, reconciliation and exports
A studio is more than a contact list
Keep the people behind each booking organised.
- Adults, children and the people an account books for
- Optional linked-partner and dependant sharing
- Care details and participation-waiver records
- Permissions for owners, administrators, reception and teachers
Keep members in the loop
Send useful information about their relationship with your studio.
- Booking updates, reminders and class changes
- Push notifications and transactional emails
- Studio announcements and event news
- Member controls for optional reminders and messages
Recognise the effort people put in
Optional features you can enable when they fit your studio.
- Loyalty stamps, attendance streaks and rewards
- Birthday perks, trials and referral offers
- Grades, medals and exam progression
- Class reviews and member feedback
The detail behind your decisions
Bring bookings, attendance and payment records into the same operation.
- Timetable, pricing and content management
- Booking, revenue and attendance reporting
- Staff access and operational controls
- CSV exports for further analysis and record keeping
Space for the way you work
Practice-floor hire, private-lesson scheduling and selected household controls have configurable or pilot support. We check suitability before including them.
Standing bookings, reserved-seat show sales and unusual instalment or family-pricing rules need a specific fit assessment. We won’t promise a workflow before we have agreed and tested it with you.
Your business stays yours
Shared technology.
Independent studios.
Your members download your studio’s app. Studio Pilot maintains the shared platform behind it.
Your name in the stores
Your studio owns its Apple and Google developer accounts. We help prepare and manage releases with the access you grant. Every app remains subject to store review.
Your payments, your bank account
Your studio connects its own Stripe account. Customer payments settle to your studio after the agreed platform fee, VAT and Stripe charges. Studio Pilot’s fees go to James Cutler Dance Ltd.
A separate home for your data
Each new studio has a separate Firebase project and studio-specific access. Your member data is used to run your service, under an agreed data-processing contract.
One place to maintain the product
Core improvements are developed centrally, then released to each branded app. Your normal timetable, prices and news can be updated without a fresh store submission.
A thoughtful start
We learn your studio
before we build your app.
The questionnaire is both research and the start of your onboarding checklist. It helps us find the important differences early.
- 01
Tell us how it works
Your current records, booking tools, payment types, memberships, packs, vouchers, timetable and website.
- 02
Agree the setup
We review your answers and, with permission, your public website. You confirm the proposed features, prices, policies and migration plan.
- 03
Connect and rehearse
We prepare your brand, accounts and app. Together we test bookings, payments, refunds, notifications and the front desk before inviting members.
- 04
Launch with a person
Start with an agreed pilot. James is your point of contact while your team and members settle in.
Not ready to switch? You can take part in the research without committing to a launch. Your responses stay private; any follow-up is your choice.
Start the questionnaireFounding studio pricing
Clear fees.
No monthly licence.
A platform fee on eligible Stripe payments through your app or web booking. Your setup scope and one-off onboarding price are agreed with you before work starts.
Studio Pilot supplies software to your business. Your studio remains responsible for what it sells to members and for its own tax treatment.
PLATFORM FEE
2.5% + VAT
For a UK studio, VAT at 20% on our fee makes the total platform deduction equivalent to 3% of the eligible payment. Stripe processing fees are additional.
- Member pays
- £100.00
- Studio Pilot fee
- £2.50
- VAT on our fee
- £0.50
- Remaining before Stripe fees
- £97.00
Our fee is calculated on the amount paid by the member, including any VAT in the studio’s selling price. A studio’s own VAT registration does not remove VAT from our fee.
Also allow for: developer-account fees and any separately agreed infrastructure, hardware or additional work. All costs and refund treatment are recorded in your studio agreement.
Cash and external card payments you record yourself carry no Studio Pilot transaction fee. Integrated card payments are covered by the agreed payment scope.
Will members download an app called Studio Pilot?
They will download an app with your studio’s name and branding—just as AURA members use the AURA Dance Studios app. Studio Pilot is the platform provider identified in the appropriate legal and support information.
Does Apple allow separately branded studio apps?
Apple reviews apps built from shared templates and expects the content provider to submit its app. Our approach uses your studio’s own developer account, branding, content and services. We help with submission, but neither Apple nor Google approval can be guaranteed.
Do I need a new website or new Stripe account?
You can keep your website and add booking links or embeds. You need a Stripe account belonging to your studio’s business; an existing eligible account may be connected. We check the setup and supported payment flows before launch.
Can you bring over our records and timetable?
We first agree what is needed and what your current system can export. With permission, we can review public website pages to prepare timetable, price and event suggestions. You approve the results. Sensitive member records are handled through a separate, agreed migration process, never the public questionnaire.
Can you support our exact membership or pricing rules?
The platform supports PAYG, memberships, packs, courses, vouchers and offers. Studios combine them in different ways. Use the questionnaire to tell us about term billing, instalments, couples, siblings, standing bookings and exceptions. We agree what is supported before you commit.
Is every feature switched on from day one?
No. We agree a launch configuration and test the flows your team will use. Some optional features are switched off by default or are being introduced through controlled pilots. The feature list is a guide to the platform, not a promise that every combination is suitable for every studio.
Who helps if something goes wrong?
James is the named contact for the initial studios. Booking and payment problems take priority. Support arrangements and escalation contacts are agreed before launch; this pilot does not include a guaranteed response time or uptime promise.
What happens to our data if we leave?
Your studio controls its member data and owns its brand and store accounts. The service agreement records the export, handover and deletion process. The shared Studio Pilot software remains licensed as part of the service.
Your next step
Let’s see how Studio Pilot
fits your studio.
Tell us what you do, how you take payments, and what you wish worked better.