Square costs $29/month ($348/year). Here's why martial arts instructors are leaving.
That's $1,168 gone in 3 years. And you don't own anything. Stop paying, lose access.
That's 17 hours of a martial arts instructor's work every year — just to pay for Square.
Martial Arts Instructors face unique challenges that Square wasn't designed for: class/membership management, belt testing fees, multi-age scheduling. At $29/month ($348/year), Square takes 17 hours of a martial arts instructor working time annually — and it still doesn't cover everything. The median martial arts instructor earns $42,000/year. Software at $348/year is 0.8% of that income, every year, forever.
Martial Arts Instructors need these. Square doesn't include them — you'd pay for another subscription.
Helix includes all of this for $279 once.
Square is just one piece. What else are you losing money on?
Most martial arts instructors are fully switched before the weekend.
Go to Square Dashboard → Customers → Export. Also export transactions and item library.
15-minute setup. Import your customer list and service/product catalog.
Run both for 1-2 weeks. Test invoicing and booking through Helix.
Cancel paid subscriptions. Keep free account for records access.
Here's the math: Square at $29/month costs $348 in year one, $388 in year two (11.4% SaaS inflation), and $432 in year three. That's $1,168 gone in 3 years — and you don't own anything. Stop paying, lose access to your data, your clients, your history. Everything.
Helix is $279 once. Invoicing, scheduling, CRM, accounting, time tracking — all connected, all offline-capable, all yours. You break even in 9.6 months. After that, Square users keep paying $29 every month while you keep $889 over 3 years. The 30-day money-back guarantee means zero risk: if Helix doesn't work for your martial arts instructor business, full refund.
For solo martial arts instructors and small teams (1-5 people), yes. Helix includes invoicing, scheduling, CRM, time tracking, task management, and full accounting. Square lacks Higher processing fees than interchange-plus and No offline payment processing — Helix includes both. Square may be better if you have a large team (10+) or need enterprise-specific features.
Four steps: export your data, set up helix, parallel run, cancel square. Most martial arts instructors are fully switched in 1-2 days. You can run both in parallel until you're confident — cancel Square only when you're ready.
Export everything before canceling. Helix imports client lists, invoices, and expenses from CSV. Your data stays yours — unlike Square, where losing access means losing everything.
The median martial arts instructor earns $42,000/year. Square at $348/year represents 17 hours of work annually — just for software. Helix at $279 once is 0.7% of annual income, paid one time. After that, it's free forever.
Square is a subscription — you pay every month, the price goes up every year, and if you stop paying, you lose access to everything. Your client list, your invoices, your financial history. Gone. That is not ownership. That is renting your own business data.
Helix is $279 once — or $99 today and two more payments. Your data lives on your device. Everything is integrated: scheduling connects to CRM, jobs auto-generate invoices, time tracking feeds your accounting. No Zapier. No copying between apps. One purchase, own it forever. 30-day money-back guarantee means zero risk.
Full comparison, break-even math, and 30-day money-back guarantee.
Pricing verified March 2026. SaaS inflation rate: 11.4% YoY.