Platform Overview
A high-level tour of GRADR for anyone new to it: what the software does, who uses each part, and how the pieces fit together. If you already know your way around, skip ahead to Getting Started.
What GRADR is
GRADR is a gym management platform built for Brazilian jiu-jitsu academies. It runs the whole gym from one place: your student roster, class schedule, attendance, belt grading, curriculum, billing, instructor payroll, retail sales, and messaging. Gyms that also teach other disciplines (Muay Thai, wrestling, yoga) can track those members alongside their BJJ students.
You run GRADR from a browser. There is nothing to install on a computer, and it also works as a home-screen app on a phone or tablet (see Putting GRADR on your phone).
Who uses it
Your gym has one GRADR account, and different people see different parts of it.
| Surface | Who uses it | What they do there |
|---|---|---|
| Owner portal | You, the gym owner | Everything in this help center: students, schedule, grading, billing, payroll, reports, and settings. |
| Instructor portal | Your coaches | See their schedule, record attendance, plan lessons, claim open shifts, and view their pay. Coaches are added and invited from Instructors. |
| Student portal | Your members, or a parent for kids | Check attendance and belt progress, read published lessons, view the schedule, and book classes when you allow it. Configured under Settings → Student Portal. |
| Kiosk | Whoever is running the class | A tablet check-in screen opened at the start of each class. See Kiosk. |
| Public booking page | Prospective students | Book a free trial class at gradrjj.com/book/your-slug. Set up in Lead Flow. |
| Tablet sign-up | Walk-in prospects | Enter their details, sign the waiver, and pay on a gym tablet. Staged from Tablet Intake. |
How a student moves through GRADR
Most of the owner portal exists to support one journey: a stranger becomes a member, trains, and progresses. Each stage feeds the next.
- Lead. Someone books a trial on your public booking page, or you add them by hand. They appear in Leads with their booking, waiver, and referral source.
- Sign-up. They join. You add them in Students, convert them from the lead, or let them sign themselves up on a tablet.
- Membership and billing. You assign a membership tier. GRADR then charges them by card through Stripe, or tracks their cash payments; see Payments.
- Classes. They train in classes from your Schedule, booking online if you enable it, and check in on the Kiosk.
- Attendance. Every check-in is recorded. You can review or correct it in Past Sessions.
- Progress. Attendance counts toward your belt requirements. When a student qualifies, you promote them in a Grading session, and milestones earn Badges.
- Staying in touch. Messages reach them by email or text, and Retention Alerts flag anyone who has stopped showing up.
Behind that journey, your coaches teach the classes, managed through Instructors, Shifts, and Payroll. Reports show you how the business is doing.
A tour of the owner portal
The sidebar in GRADR, and in this help center, groups the portal into the areas below.
Dashboard
- Dashboard — your home base: today's classes, alerts that need attention, retention flags, and revenue at a glance. The setup checklist for new gyms lives here too.
People
- Students — your active roster. Profiles hold contact details, membership, attendance, belt progression, notes, and portal access.
- Disciplines & Non-BJJ Members — track members who train something other than BJJ, and keep them out of belt grading.
- Tablet Intake — self-service sign-up on a gym tablet or by link.
- Leads — every prospect, from first contact to conversion.
- Lead Flow — the public trial booking page and the automated emails around it.
- Messages — email and text campaigns to students, instructors, or leads.
- Instructors — your coaching staff, their belt rank, qualifications, and pay rates.
Classes
- Schedule — the weekly class template, instructor assignments, and gym closures.
- Kiosk — the mat-side check-in screen for each class.
- Past Sessions — the editable archive of every class that has run.
Grading
- Grading — run promotion sessions and keep a history of every belt and stripe awarded.
- Belt Requirements — the class counts, time gates, and curriculum rules that decide who is eligible.
- Badges — milestone and achievement badges shown on student profiles and in the student portal.
Curriculum
The curriculum tools nest inside each other. Areas are positions such as Guard or Mount. Systems are technique sequences within an Area. Lessons are individual technique tutorials. Blocks rotate your classes through Areas week by week, and Intro Programs give beginners a fixed lesson sequence.
Operations
- Shifts — instructor shift requests, swaps, and unavailability.
- Payroll — weekly instructor pay, calculated from assigned classes and paid via PayPal or recorded manually.
- Reports — growth, attendance, and financial analytics.
Point of Sale
- Point of Sale — a cash and card register for gis, rashguards, drop-ins, and privates. It is separate from membership billing.
Settings
Settings configures how everything above behaves. The ones most new owners need first are Gym Profile, Payments, Membership Tiers, and Bookings. The rest cover email templates, belt requirements, retention alerts, class tags, and the student and instructor portals.
Where to go next
- Getting Started — the built-in help inside GRADR and how to install it on your phone.
- New Gym Setup — a guided walkthrough of the first-time setup checklist.
- Tutorials — step-by-step guides for common tasks.
- FAQ — answers to common questions, organized by topic.