Thinking about leaving Studio Director? Read this first.
I'm James, half-owner of a dance studio. My wife runs the floor; I built Presently. Studio Director and Presently both target small-to-mid dance studios, so an "us vs them" pitch isn't useful here. Let me show you what actually differs.
If you've been on Studio Director for a while, the question isn't "is Presently better?" — it's "is the migration cost worth the gain?" Here's a real answer.
What Studio Director gets right
Studio Director isn't a bad product. Here's what they do well.
Affordable entry point.
Studio Director's pricing is straightforward and starts lower than the bigger incumbents. If you're a small studio, that matters.
Long track record.
Studio Director has been around for two decades. Their billing engine has seen every weird tuition edge case and handles it.
It runs studios reliably.
If your team is fluent in Studio Director and the system isn't visibly failing you, that's worth a lot. Switching for novelty is usually a mistake.
The rest of this page is for studios where something specific has started to chafe.
Where Presently is genuinely different
Where Presently took a different design path:
1. The interface is modern, not retrofitted.
Studio Director was originally a Windows-era app that's been moved to the web over time. It works, but the UI shows its age — multi-step modal dialogs, dense forms, navigation that requires training to learn.
Presently was built web-first in 2024-2026. A new front desk admin is productive in about an hour, without a printed manual. New parents can browse the public schedule without creating an account, click "Enroll" on a class, and finish via a one-click email sign-in link — no password setup, no forgotten-password loop two weeks later.
2. Payment processing has no markup.
Studio Director processes payments through a partner that takes a cut on top of standard Stripe rates. Over a $10K month of family payments, the difference is usually a couple hundred dollars.
Presently uses Stripe Connect directly. You pay Stripe's 2.9% + 30¢. We take nothing on top. We make money from the subscription, not by skimming your tuition.
3. Recital lineup tool is a real feature.
Studio Director handles events but the lineup tool is functional. Presently's lineup editor automatically warns you when a student appears in two adjacent classes without enough costume-change time. Multi-show events with separate matinee and evening lineups. Intermissions inline. PDF and Excel exports with full per-number rosters.
We built this because every recital season at our own studio used to start with a backstage panic call.
4. Month-to-month, no annual lock-in.
Studio Director typically requires an annual commitment. Presently is month-to-month. If we stop earning your business, you stop paying us.
Side-by-side
Not a checkmark table. Real differences, in prose.
Pricing
Roughly $30–80/month depending on student count. Payment processing fees on top. Annual contracts typical.
$49, $99, or $149/month based on student count, auto-upgraded. No payment markup. No setup fees. Month-to-month.
User experience
Dated interface that requires training. Workable once your team learns it.
Modern web app. New admins productive in an hour.
Recital and event tools
Event tracking and basic lineup. Adequate but not built around recital season.
Drag-to-reorder lineup, back-to-back warnings, multi-show events, intermissions, PDF/Excel exports, missing-classes audit.
Support model
Phone and ticket support. You'll typically reach a support rep first.
Email and chat. I read every message personally. Not 24/7, but you're talking to a fellow studio owner.
What switching actually looks like
Migrating studio software is real work. Here's how we'd handle it:
A 30-minute call.
Not a sales demo. What's working in Studio Director, what's broken, what scares you about switching.
Migration during a quiet stretch.
Not during recital, not during enrollment. Usually late summer or mid-winter. I run the data import personally.
Parallel run before cutover.
Keep Studio Director available read-only for 30 days while Presently is primary. We fix anything missing before the full switch.
Extended trial if you need it.
Standard trial is 30 days. I'll extend it on a case-by-case basis. Nobody should be racing a clock.
Questions worth asking
Should I just stay on Studio Director?
If your team knows it well, families don't complain about the portal, and you're not bleeding money on payment fees, yes. Switching is real work; don't do it for novelty.
Can you import my Studio Director data?
Yes. Families, students, classes, enrollments, and ledger history. I clean up the CSV they export and run the import personally. Free, part of onboarding.
How small is your company?
Small. My wife and I run a dance studio; I'm the developer. Real, mature product — but you're not buying from a 100-person company. Advantage: I ship features fast. Trade-off: if I'm on vacation, response time slips. Eyes-open decision.
What if it doesn't work out?
Month-to-month, cancel anytime. Clean data export. The only thing you lose is the migration effort. I'd rather earn your business than trap you.
Want to talk it through?
The best next step isn't signing up — it's a 30-minute call with me to see if Presently actually fits. Two studio owners comparing notes.