MyMusicStaff Review, Pricing, and the Best Alternatives (2025)
If you’ve been researching music class management software, chances are you’ve come across MyMusicStaff (MMS). It’s been a go-to choice for a lot of small studios and private teachers. But what if you’re running a growing academy, or managing multiple disciplines like music, dance, or singing? We’ve spoken to over 60 Australian music teachers and conducted an in-depth analysis ourselves, so you can make the right decision for you.
Some platforms are designed for very large institutions and drown smaller academies in unnecessary complexities. While others offer only certain features, creating bottlenecks for core workflows. Every platform is different, but in this post, we examine MyMusicStaff (MMS) in 2025. See pricing, features, pros & cons, and the best alternatives for music schools, academies, and tutoring centers.
Looking for music school software in 2025? Read this in-depth MyMusicStaff (MMS) review covering pricing, features, pros/cons, and the best alternatives such as Outcoach for growing academies.
TL;DR
What MMS is: A web-based platform for private teachers and small studios. It covers scheduling, invoicing, reminders (email/SMS), a student/parent web portal, a website builder, and two-way calendar sync.
Price: US$14.95/month for one teacher + US$4.95 per additional teacher/admin. 30-day free trial.
Strengths: Simple setup, solid admin tools, website builder included, SMS/email reminders, two-way calendar sync.
Limits to note: No native mobile app; pro-rata at scale often needs manual steps; multi-site control and consolidated reporting are basic.
Who it fits best: Solo teachers and small studios that want low cost and straightforward admin. Sleek design and great drag and drop music lesson scheduling. Saves time and is quite positively reviewed by the community.
If you’re scaling (150–200+ students): Evaluate native mobile engagement, automated pro-rata/makeups at cohort level, outcomes/goal tracking, and multi-site controls. Tools built for larger academies (e.g., Outcoach) may suit better.
What is MyMusicStaff (MMS)?
MyMusicStaff (MMS) is a Canadian class management platform built specifically for private music teachers and small studios. It has become popular in the music industry because it focuses on features that solo instructors and small schools need most. Having started in the last 7-10 years, MMS brings expertise to the music teaching landscape with features and designs that exclusively centre on music. Right from repertoire practices to scheduling and teacher management, it’s a great starter-kit for music teachers and studios alike. It’s even been reviewed as “Perfect for solo studio owners” or “Great for starting a studio!”
One of its strengths is that this platform is offered in multiple languages such as English, French, Japanese, Spanish, Dutch, and German which is beneficial to studios teaching internationally and/or online, allowing them to expand their reach by accommodating different languages without extra effort, making it a very convenient option to take into consideration. With a modern and simple design, MyMusicStaff is a well-rounded music platform for teachers. If you stumbled across this while looking for their login, you can do that here.
Key features:
- Scheduling and Attendance
- Invoicing – one-off and recurring invoice setup
- Website Builder
- Student Management
- Teacher Payroll + Mileage tracking (with expenses)
- Email communication
- Third-party app integration such as Calendar (Google and iCal) sync, Zoom, Zapier,
- Repertoire Tracking
- Share news, Announcements, or Blog articles
- Web-based Student Portal
What Works Well - An In-Depth MyMusicStaff Review:
These features focus on the day-to-day admin that most teachers have to do, helping bring together many workflows in the one screen. While MyMusicStaff is well-suited to independent teachers, the question is whether it can meet the needs of growing music academies with multiple studios, large teaching teams and complex administrative demands? Pros and Cons – Is MyMusicStaff worth it in 2025?
For solo teachers and small studios, MyMusicStaff can be a great solution. At less than $30/month, it provides scheduling, invoicing, and student tracking tools that cover almost everything a small business needs. The website builder can save hundreds of dollars compared to hiring a designer or paying for separate hosting.
The platform is intuitive, even for those who might not particularly like technology or computers. As a former teacher myself, playing around with the music teacher platform was fairly straightforward, particularly the ‘drag and drop’ music lesson scheduling features.
The third party integration options were particularly useful as your teaching schedule syncs to your Google or Outlook Calendar – a great feature for music teachers ‘on the go’ or juggling multiple other commitments like your kid’s tennis lessons or meetings from your other job. Teachers were able to generally find their way around the platform and the web portal was working as intended on the laptop for parents. MMS also offer free phone and email support for any customer by matching the studio with a customer representative agent which is a nice touch from the team.
Finally, MMS have recently published a new feature announcement with the arrival of students being able to book into a recurring lesson with a fixed end date. There also seems to be no hidden fees or ‘add-ons’ which allows for hassle-free lesson scheduling and music school invoicing.
This all sounds great, but is there anything I’m missing out on? Well, that really depends on your requirements as a music teacher! After having spoken to over 60 Australian music school teachers, MMS is generally well-regarded, but might not be the most effective tool for music school class management in Australia particularly. Here’s our insights:
What Might Not Work For You - An In-Depth MyMusicStaff Review:
Based on our learnings from how 60+ Australian music schools operate, using MMS ourselves and Capterra reviews, the potential limitations are the following:
- No Mobile App or Parent Engagement: We often hear how busy parents are with their full-time jobs, fulfilling uber duties for their kid’s sports, cooking/cleaning/laundry, you name it. In the modern era, the mobile tends to be everything. There’s causal evidence from K-12 that mobile/text parent communication improves attendance and outcomes; in higher-ed cohorts, mobile apps have been associated with higher engagement and retention. While music academies differ, the actual mechanism (being timely nudges + clear progress) is the same. With automated reminders and an easy view over their child’s homework/learning, it helps keep music education top of mind with any information being found right from their pocket. After all, this happens in schools, so why shouldn’t it happen here?
- No Xero Integration & Invoicing Options: It’s no secret that payments are the lifeblood of any business. If you have over 150+ students, automated bulk invoicing across multiple types of classes per student is a huge time-saver. It’s great that MyMusicStaff do offer calendar-based billing, but in Australia, a large number of music schools often use Xero or Myob for their accounting and bookkeeping. Without a clear integration or sync, reconciling these invoices at scale can quickly become a nightmare. Moreover, mid-term enrolments, makeup classes and dropouts can cause invoicing complications quickly at scale.
- Student Progress Isn’t Tied to Anything: While MMS do offer repertoire tracking and practice logs, we found that it’s not often the headline item due to its simplicity. In music particularly, parents want to see their child learn and improve (especially with all the research tying music education to cognitive development). With only repertoire tracking and practice logs, the entire learning journey often can’t be tracked from start to finish. The first step often are clear goals outlining what the child will be working towards, homework tying their classes to the goals, videos to update progress, and finally exam results along with teacher feedback. Without a mobile app, we’ve seen that adoption of these features tends to be a bit harder as parents simply don’t have the time to login on the laptop to view the documents. This of course, ties back to parent engagement and student retention which is a core value point for music schools.
- Phone Support is Hard Because of Australian Timezones: When it’s our working time, it’s 11pm in Canada or 3am in the UK. Admin is boring and when you’re in the zone, you want answers, fast. It makes it hard having to contact the other side of the world (literally). It’s not just timezones either, but also school term dates, holidays and more which can obviously be a hurdle for Australian music schools seeking lesson-specific help/advice.
MyMusicStaff Pricing and Cost in 2025
MyMusicStaff uses a per-teacher pricing model where you pay US $14.95 per month and an additional $4.95 for each additional teacher or staff member. This pricing is quite reasonable and makes budgeting predictable for music studios. For a music studio with 5 teachers, MMS ends up costing around $40 USD per month being a very reasonable rate. This makes MyMusicStaff one of the most affordable options for private teachers and music studios. However, for academies and music schools with more than 200 students, the lack of customisability may limit some of its overall value as there typically needs to be a greater level of automation and integration. Generally speaking though, the reception has been very positive. Of course, there can never be a ‘one shoe fits all’ model, but MMS does a great job of bringing together core admin (scheduling, invoicing, payroll) for efficient record-keeping and music school class management.
Another perspective is to also consider the opportunity costs which are often the unseen costs to your business by not considering the alternatives. By only focusing on admin, we still ignore one of the industry’s biggest problems: student retention and engagement. We even wrote an article on this with the Victorian Music Teaching Association. Did you know that saving just 3 students a year could keep up to $5000+ back in your business if each student pays ~$1700 a year?
Why Does Music Education Matter?
As music teachers, we especially know Research shows that music student performance:
- Sharper thinking → Boosts memory, focus, and executive skills
- Confidence & connection → Builds resilience and self-expression
- Better performance → Math and Word reading; improves patterns recognition and problem-solving
For academies, this would imply that tracking progress and showing parents visible results isn’t just about features, it’s the retention strategy that reinforces the educational value of class.
MyMusicStaff Alternatives
Outcoach is an Australian music teacher platform built for growing music schools. While providing very similar admin features as MyMusicStaff (detailed feature analysis below), Outcoach aims to encapsulate the full learning journey and increase parent engagement:
1. Mobile App → Research Backed for effectiveness. Access anywhere, anytime:
Parents can see their schedule, child’s progress, communication and homework on the go. For busy families juggling multiple activities, the convenience can be the difference between being enrolled and dropping out.
2. World-First AI Coaching → Award Winning & Innovation Backed:
Outcoach has recently introduced a new ChatGPT Style Assistant that’s able to provide core insights such as enrolment rates, attendance, invoice information and goals. Ask general questions or specific advice based on online curriculums. In the coming months, this AI assistant will even be able to perform key workflows like booking makeup classes, sending messages and handle scheduling conflicts. ‘Voice-to-Text’ has also been introduced to simply speak into goals or homework to create them. It uses AI to pick up on music-specific terminology and cut out irrelevant information.
3. OTunes → AI based AMEB Aural Training:
Outcoach has also introduced a new platform to help music schools and studios learn the AMEB curriculum via aural training. These multiple choice question and answers are generated using AI (so there’s no limited question bank) with bars and audio files easily visible. With the introduction of Otunes, music teaching in Australia is revolutionised completely
4. Goal Breakdown and Visual Progress Tracker → Clear tasks, more efficient practice:
Students are given more focused tasks rather than vague “practice more” reminders. This promotes more efficient practice and encourages students. Parents know exactly what their child is working on, track milestones, and feel confident that their investment is paying off.
5. In-app messaging→ Faster parent communication
Instead of relying on email (which parents often miss or ignore), messages and notifications arrive directly in the app. Parents are far more likely to read and respond quickly.
6. Multi-studio management→ Simple operations, less confusion
For larger academies, the ability to organise and control multiple studios under one account reduces confusion and keeps operation intact. It ties back to all the reports having correct information per centre, giving you actionable insights.
Outcoach Pricing in 2025
Outcoach is priced at roughly $1.00-$1.50 per student per month depending on if you pay annually or monthly. Over time, a school with 200 students retaining a conservative 20% over 3 years, can result in $80 000 (assuming each student pays $2000 a year for music lessons) kept back in the business due to the student retention benefits. This value means that Outcoach has paid for itself 10-20x over by focusing on parent engagement.
Outcoach also offers a 30 day free trial, so once you know that the platform meets your needs, save money by going annual because chances are you’re not rethinking your software needs every month.
- Starter: $1.00 / Student / Month
- Premium: $1.50 / Student / Month
MyMusicStaff vs Outcoach: 2025 Comparison of Pricing & Features
Cheaper (30 day free trial)Other Alternatives for Music Schools in 2025
- Udio:
Udio is a class management software which is easy to navigate with a clean interface. It has heavily customisable software with strong scheduling and payment tools to fit different workflows. Udio is best suited for studios that value flexibility and a modern user experience.
- iClass Pro:
iClassPro is a cloud based management software used in sports and activity-based academies like gymnastics, cheer, dance, and swimming . It helps you simplify your admin tasks with features such as class management, attendance tracking, automated emailing, texting messages, and online payments. - Jackrabbit Music:
Jackrabbit Music is a management system which handles scheduling, billing, attendance, and progress tracking in one platform. It offers a parent portal so families can view schedules, pay bills, and track progress. - Opus1:
Opus1 is a modern class management platform for music and performing arts schools. It streamlines scheduling, enrollment, billing, and communication (Email and SMS). It allows families to self-book lessons and sends automated reminders to parents. - Omnify:
Omnify is another music school class management software which streamlines booking, subscriptions, CRM, payments, and scheduling. It supports management of multiple-locations while ensuring smooth operations.
Conclusion- Is MyMusicStaff Right for You?
MyMusicStaff is a reliable and affordable option for solo teachers and small studios. It covers the basic admin tasks such as scheduling, invoicing, expense tracking, and even a website builder making it a strong fit if you need straightforward admin support with low cost.
However, for growing academies that need more than just admin tools, you might be better off with platforms such as Outcoach which delivers a retention-first solution with built-in engagement tools designed for scale.
When evaluating the best platform for your academy, consider these key questions:
- Do you only need basic scheduling and invoicing, or do you need tools that help retain students long term?
- Are you interested in innovation and seeing how the future of music teaching can change with technology?
- Will your studio stay small, or do you plan to scale across locations and/or disciplines?
- Do your parents and students lean towards mobile-first communication instead of relying on email?
- Is your student progress and engagement a central part of how you run your music school?
If your answers to the above questions lean more towards growth, engagement, and retention, then Outcoach might be a good choice too!
Instead of just keeping your admin organised, Outcoach helps deliver results families can see, improve retention rates, and simplify communication all in one platform.
FAQs: MyMusicStaff (MMS) vs Outcoach (2025)
Does MyMusicStaff have a mobile app?
MyMusicStaff is web-based. Parents and students use a browser (you can add a shortcut to the home screen). Outcoach offers a native mobile app for parents, teachers, and students.
How does MyMusicStaff billing work?
MyMusicStaff uses calendar-based billing: schedule lessons, then generate invoices for a date range (month/term). You can bulk-create/email invoices or use auto-invoicing. For mid-term joins/withdrawals or holidays added after scheduling, expect some setup or manual steps rather than a one-click cohort-wide re-prorate.
Can I bill per term and handle public holidays?
Yes. Add Blocked Dates (public holidays/closures) before scheduling so skipped lessons aren’t billed, then run invoices for the term date range.
Can I do calendar-based billing for 150+ students in bulk?
Yes. Bulk/auto invoicing uses the calendar to pull each family’s charges for the date range. The cleaner your calendar, the smoother the run.
Does MyMusicStaff integrate with Xero or MYOB?
MyMusicStaff lists Stripe and PayPal for online payments. It does not advertise native Xero/MYOB sync; most schools export data for bookkeeping. Outcoach offers Xero integration and AU-friendly workflows.
Which languages does MyMusicStaff support?
English, French, Japanese, Spanish, Dutch, and German.
Does MyMusicStaff support two-way calendar sync?
Yes—Google/Apple/Outlook. (Edits are managed in MMS; mobile device calendar views are typically one-way.)
Can families self-book lessons in MyMusicStaff?
Yes—via the Student/Parent web portal. Outcoach also supports self-service bookings inside its mobile app.
Does MyMusicStaff support practice logs and repertoire?
Yes. MMS includes practice logs and repertoire. Adoption varies by studio. Outcoach adds goal hierarchies, levels, feedback reports, and parent-side mobile nudges to lift engagement.
How does communication work?
MyMusicStaff supports email/SMS and portal messages. Outcoach adds in-app messaging and automated mobile reminders to reduce missed comms.
What about multi-location control and consolidated reporting?
MyMusicStaff lets you add locations/rooms and run reports. Outcoach is built for multi-site schools and provides consolidated controls and outcomes dashboards across locations.
Who is MyMusicStaff best for?
Solo teachers and small studios that want simple admin, low cost, and a built-in website builder.
Who is Outcoach best for?
Schools with ~150–200+ students, multi-discipline programs, and multiple locations—where parent engagement, cohort automation (make-ups/pro-rata), mobile-first comms, and Xero integration matter.