Question 1

What is Zettlor?

Accepted Answer

Zettlor is booking and operations software built for commercial sauna, cold plunge, and wellness businesses. The platform handles online reservations, walk-ins, memberships, credits, gift cards, waivers, point-of-sale, dynamic pricing, and reporting - designed around how bathhouse and sauna facilities actually operate, not retrofitted from spa or salon software.

Question 2

Who is Zettlor for?

Accepted Answer

Zettlor is built for operators running commercial sauna and cold plunge facilities:

- Bathhouses and communal wellness spaces
- Multi-location sauna businesses
- Sauna studios
- Cold plunge and contrast therapy facilities
- Mobile sauna operators
- Sauna Festival operators
- Recovery and wellness centers offering sauna and cold plunge as core services

If your business sells access to heated rooms Zettlor is built for you.

Question 3

How is Zettlor different from general booking software?

Accepted Answer

Most booking platforms treat a sauna session like a haircut: one client, one provider, one time slot. Sauna businesses don't work that way. Sessions are shared or private, capacity is based on the room rather than a staff member, guests rotate between hot and cold, demand shifts with weather and season, and walk-ins are constant.

Zettlor is built around these realities:

Resource-based scheduling - Rooms, barrels, and plunge pools are the bookable units, not staff calendars

Shared and private sessions - Multiple guests can book into the same time slot up to room capacity, or a guest can buy out an entire room

Walk-in queueing and waitlists - Manage live queues, handle walk-ins alongside reservations, and let guests join a waitlist for sold-out sessions

Equal access - A fair-draw system for high-demand sessions, and SMS-verified turn-based progression

Seat and position assignment - Assign fixed seats or numbered positions within a room for spaces that have designated spots

Dynamic pricing - AI-powered demand forecasting that adjusts pricing by time of day, day of week, season, and historical patterns

None of these workflows exist natively in salon, spa, or fitness-class platforms.

Question 4

Is Zettlor available now?

Accepted Answer

Zettlor is actively onboarding operators. Join the waitlist at zettlor.com to get early access. Facilities already on the platform are running shared sessions, private bookings, memberships, multi-room scheduling, and point-of-sale.

Onboarding typically involves connecting your Stripe account, configuring your rooms and session types, setting pricing rules, and importing any existing customer or membership data. The Zettlor team handles setup alongside you - most operators are live within a day.

Question 5

How do guests book a session?

Accepted Answer

Guests visit the operator's booking page, browse available sessions by date and time, choose between shared access or a private buyout, select their preferred room if multiple are available, and pay online. The entire flow - from selection to confirmation - happens in the browser. No app download required.

After booking, guests receive a confirmation via SMS or email. They can also sync the booking to their personal calendar through an iCal feed.

Question 6

Do guests need to create an account?

Accepted Answer

Not in the traditional sense. Zettlor uses passwordless login - guests verify their identity with a one-time code sent via SMS or email. No passwords to create or remember. Once verified, they can access their booking history, credits, memberships, and upcoming reservations at any time.

Question 7

Can guests cancel or reschedule their own bookings?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Guests can cancel or reschedule through dedicated self-service pages without contacting the operator. Cancellation and rescheduling rules are configured by the operator - including cutoff windows, refund policies, and whether cancellations return credit to the guest's wallet or issue a refund to their payment method.

Question 8

What happens if a session is sold out?

Accepted Answer

Guests can join a waitlist for fully booked sessions. If a spot opens up - through a cancellation or a capacity increase - the next guest on the waitlist is notified automatically and given a window to confirm their booking.

For high-demand events or limited-capacity sessions, operators can use Zettlor's lottery system instead. The Queue is a fair-draw system where interested guests enter a pool, and spots are allocated through a randomized draw with optional priority weighting for members or loyal customers. The draw is verified via SMS, and guests progress through the queue in turns.

Question 9

Can guests sync bookings to their personal calendar?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Each guest account includes an iCal feed they can subscribe to in Google Calendar, Apple Calendar, Outlook, or any calendar app that supports iCal. Bookings, cancellations, and reschedules sync automatically.

Question 10

How do gift cards work?

Accepted Answer

Guests can purchase digital gift cards through the platform and send them to anyone via email. Recipients redeem a gift card at checkout by entering the code. Gift card balances are tracked in the recipient's account and can be applied to any booking or store purchase.

Question 11

How do credits work?

Accepted Answer

Zettlor has a credits and wallet system separate from gift cards. Operators can issue credits to guests for any reason - a service recovery, a referral reward, a promotional offer, or a cancellation-to-credit policy. Credits have configurable expiration dates, and guests can view their balance and redemption history in their account. Credits are applied automatically at checkout or can be used selectively.

Question 12

What features does Zettlor include?

Accepted Answer

Zettlor covers the full operating stack for a sauna or cold plunge business:

Booking and scheduling - Online reservations for shared and private sessions, private buyouts, resource-based calendar management, walk-in queueing, waitlists, and real-time availability

The Queue (fair-access drawing system) - For high-demand sessions with member priority weighting, SMS verification, and turn-based progression

Memberships, passes, and guest passes - Recurring memberships with configurable access rules, punch passes, day passes, multi-visit packages, and member guest passes (e.g., "bring 2 guests per month")

Credits and wallet - A flexible credits system for promotions, service recovery, referral rewards, and cancellation-to-credit policies, with guest-facing balance tracking

Guest flow and check-in - Digital waivers, check-in management, session tracking, and real-time occupancy visibility

Online store - A customizable storefront where guests browse and purchase memberships, packages, passes, and add-ons

Point-of-sale - Full POS with product categories, inventory management, line items, and sales tracking for retail items like towels, drinks, merchandise, and add-on services

Gift cards - Digital gift cards with purchase, delivery, redemption, and balance tracking

Promo codes - Configurable promotional codes for discounts on bookings, memberships, or store purchases

Dynamic pricing - AI-powered pricing recommendations based on demand forecasting, time of day, day of week, seasonality, weather patterns, and historical booking data

Donation and pay-what-you-wish pricing - Support for suggested-price and minimum-donation options for community sessions or special events

Payments - Integrated payment processing through Stripe, including online checkout, in-person POS via Stripe Terminal, and automatic fee collection

Reporting and analytics - Revenue reporting, booking trends, occupancy data, membership metrics, credit balances, and business performance dashboards

AI briefings - Automated operator briefings that summarize the day's bookings, capacity, notable guests, and key metrics

Automated communications - Booking confirmations, reminders, waitlist notifications, and schedule updates via SMS and email, with customizable messaging

Customer portal - A guest-facing account at /account where customers view reservations, credits, memberships, and booking history

Seat and position assignment - Fixed-seat or numbered-position support for spaces with designated spots

Question 13

What is dynamic pricing and how does it work?

Accepted Answer

Zettlor uses machine learning and demand forecasting to generate pricing recommendations for each session and time slot. The system analyzes historical booking data, seasonal patterns, day-of-week trends, and real-time demand signals to suggest prices that optimize both occupancy and revenue.

Operators retain full control. Every recommendation is a suggestion - you review, approve, and set final prices. The system does not change prices without your input. The goal is to fill off-peak sessions by lowering the barrier and capture fair value during high-demand periods, so you stop leaving revenue on the table during busy stretches and stop running empty rooms during slow ones.

Question 14

What is The Queue?

Accepted Answer

The Queue is Zettlor's fair-access system for high-demand sessions. Instead of a first-come-first-served race that rewards whoever refreshes fastest, guests register during an open window and spots are allocated through a weighted draw. The weighting is based on fairness: the more draws you enter without being selected, the better your odds become in the next one. Everyone starts equal, and the system corrects for bad luck over time. Entries are verified via SMS to prevent duplicates, and selected guests are notified in turn-based order with a window to confirm their spot.

The system uses SMS verification to prevent duplicate entries and manages turn-based progression for guests who are offered a spot. It's designed for the sessions that sell out in seconds - seasonal openings, special events, or limited-capacity rooms.

Question 15

Does Zettlor handle shared and private sauna sessions?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Unlike most booking platforms that only support one-to-one appointments or classes, Zettlor natively supports:

Shared sessions - Multiple guests book into the same time slot up to room capacity. The system tracks available spots in real time and assigns specific seats or positions if the room uses designated spots.

Private sessions - A guest or group books exclusive access to a room for a set duration.

Private buyouts - A guest purchases every spot in a shared session to get the room to themselves, at a configurable buyout price.

Mixed scheduling - Operators can offer shared, private, and buyout options for the same room at different times or price points.

Question 16

Can Zettlor manage multiple rooms and facilities?

Accepted Answer

Yes. The platform supports multi-room scheduling - saunas, cold plunge pools, steam rooms, relaxation areas - within a single location, and multi-location management for operators running more than one facility. Each room or resource has its own capacity settings, seat configuration, availability windows, and pricing rules.

Question 17

Does Zettlor support walk-ins, waitlists, and queueing?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Zettlor handles three distinct capacity scenarios:

Walk-in queueing - Operators manage a live queue for guests who show up without a reservation. The system tracks current occupancy and slots walk-ins as capacity allows, without disrupting existing reservations.

Waitlists - Guests can join a waitlist for fully booked sessions. If a spot opens, the next guest is notified and given a window to confirm. No manual follow-up needed.

The Queue (fair-access draw) - For sessions where demand far exceeds capacity, operators use the lottery system to allocate spots fairly. See "What is The Queue?" above.

Question 18

Does Zettlor handle waivers?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Digital waivers are built into the guest check-in flow. Guests can sign waivers before arrival (during online booking) or at check-in. Signed waivers are stored and associated with the guest record for compliance and recordkeeping.

Question 19

Does Zettlor include point-of-sale for retail?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Zettlor includes a full POS system for selling physical goods and add-on services alongside bookings. Operators can set up product categories, manage inventory, track sales by item, and process transactions at the counter via Stripe Terminal or at checkout online.

Common POS items for sauna businesses include towels, robes, drinks, snacks, skincare products, essential oils, and branded merchandise. POS sales are included in Zettlor's reporting and analytics alongside booking revenue.

Question 20

What is the online store?

Accepted Answer

Every Zettlor operator gets a customizable storefront where guests can browse and purchase memberships, session packages, punch passes, gift cards, and add-on items. The store is accessible at a dedicated URL and can serve as the primary entry point for new guest purchases. Operators control what's listed, how it's displayed, and what pricing or promo codes apply.

Question 21

Can operators offer promo codes and discounts?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Zettlor has a promo code system where operators create codes with configurable rules - percentage or fixed-amount discounts, expiration dates, usage limits, and restrictions by product or session type. Guests enter promo codes at checkout.

Question 22

Can operators offer donation-based or pay-what-you-wish pricing?

Accepted Answer

Yes. The pricing engine supports suggested-price and minimum-donation configurations. Operators can set a suggested amount with the option for guests to pay more or less (above a minimum), which works well for community sessions, charity events, or introductory offerings.

Question 23

Can I customize the booking page design?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Operators can configure multiple booking page variants with different layouts, branding, and session groupings. This is useful for operators who want different landing experiences for different audiences - for example, a general booking page and a separate page for member-only sessions or special events.

Question 24

How much does Zettlor cost?

Accepted Answer

Zettlor charges a service fee per transaction processed through the platform. This fee is a percentage of the transaction amount and is disclosed during signup. Standard Stripe payment processing fees apply on top of the Zettlor service fee.

There are no long-term contracts, no setup fees, and no hidden charges. Subscriptions renew monthly and can be canceled with 30 days notice. Contact ops@zettlor.com for current pricing details.

Question 25

How does payment processing work?

Accepted Answer

All payments are processed through Stripe. Operators connect a Stripe account during onboarding. When a guest books and pays, the platform processes the payment, deducts the applicable fees, and remits the balance to the operator's bank account.

Accepted methods include credit and debit cards, mobile wallets (Apple Pay, Google Pay), and contactless tap-to-pay. For in-person transactions, Zettlor integrates with Stripe Terminal for countertop and handheld POS hardware.

Question 26

Can I use Zettlor if I already have a Stripe account?

Accepted Answer

Yes. You can connect an existing Stripe account or create a new one during setup.

Question 27

How are cancellations and refunds handled?

Accepted Answer

Operators define their own cancellation and refund policies within the platform. Options include:

Full refund if canceled before a cutoff window (e.g., 24 hours before the session)

Partial refund or no refund for late cancellations

Account balance credit

No-show policies that charge the full amount or a penalty fee

Guests can cancel or reschedule through self-service pages. The system enforces the operator's policy automatically - no manual processing required.

Question 28

Can I switch to Zettlor from my current booking system?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Zettlor has a full migration pipeline for operators switching from platforms like Acuity, Momence, Mindbody, or other booking systems. The migration process includes:

Customer data import - Guest profiles, contact information, and booking history, with automatic deduplication to merge duplicate records

Membership and balance reconciliation - Active memberships, remaining pass balances, and credits are mapped and transferred so guests don't lose what they've paid for

Product mapping - Your existing session types, packages, and pricing are mapped to Zettlor's configuration

The Zettlor team handles the migration alongside you. The goal is zero disruption - your guests should be able to book on Zettlor without losing their history, balances, or upcoming reservations.

Question 29

What does onboarding involve?

Accepted Answer

Onboarding covers four steps:

1. Connect Stripe - Link your existing Stripe account or create a new one
2. Configure your spaces - Set up rooms, session types (shared, private, buyout), capacity, seat assignments, and availability windows
3. Set pricing and policies - Configure base pricing, dynamic pricing rules, cancellation policies, promo codes, and membership tiers
4. Import data - If migrating from another system, import customer records, balances, and product configurations

The Zettlor team works with you through setup. Most operators are live and accepting bookings within hours.

Question 30

Does Zettlor support team access and staff roles?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Operators can invite team members and assign role-based permissions. Staff accounts can be scoped to specific capabilities - for example, front-desk staff might manage check-ins and POS while a manager has access to reporting, pricing, and settings. Each team member logs in with their own credentials.

Question 31

Can I customize the notifications Zettlor sends to guests?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Operators can configure the content and timing of automated SMS and email messages, including booking confirmations, reminders, waitlist notifications, cancellation confirmations, and membership updates. You control the messaging - Zettlor sends it on your behalf.

Question 32

Can I embed Zettlor's booking on my own website?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Zettlor provides an embeddable booking widget that operators can add to their existing website using an iframe. The widget inherits your booking page configuration and session availability, so guests can book directly from your site without being redirected. Embed settings are configurable in the operator dashboard.

Question 33

Does Zettlor have an API?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Zettlor provides developer access for operators who need custom integrations. API settings and credentials are available in the operator dashboard. Contact ops@zettlor.com for documentation and integration support.

Question 34

Does Zettlor send AI-powered briefings?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Zettlor's briefing agent generates daily operator briefings that summarize the day's bookings, expected occupancy, notable guest arrivals (members, first-timers, VIPs), and key business metrics. Briefings are delivered automatically so operators start each day with a clear picture of what's ahead.

Question 35

I run a mobile sauna. Can I use Zettlor?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Zettlor supports mobile sauna operators. You can manage bookings, accept payments, and track sessions regardless of whether your sauna is at a fixed location or rotates between sites. The platform is web-based and works on any device.

Question 36

Does Zettlor work for contrast therapy and recovery centers?

Accepted Answer

Yes. If your facility offers sauna sessions, cold plunge, ice baths, or contrast therapy as bookable services, Zettlor manages the scheduling, guest flow, and payments for all of them. Each service type and resource - hot room, cold plunge pool, steam room, infrared cabin - can be configured independently with its own capacity, pricing, and availability.

Question 37

How does Zettlor handle memberships?

Accepted Answer

Operators create membership tiers with customizable access rules. Examples:

Unlimited shared sessions per month

A set number of private bookings per month

Priority access or early booking windows during peak hours

Guest passes - members can bring a set number of guests per month (e.g., "2 guest passes included")

Members sign up and manage their membership through the platform. Billing is automatic. Members can view their status, remaining benefits, and booking history in the customer portal.

Question 38

What technology does Zettlor run on?

Accepted Answer

Zettlor is a web-based platform - nothing to install. Operators and guests access it through a browser on desktop, tablet, or mobile. The platform uses server-side rendering for fast page loads and is hosted on cloud infrastructure with a global CDN for reliability and speed.

Question 39

Is my data secure?

Accepted Answer

Zettlor implements administrative, technical, and physical safeguards to protect business and guest data. Payment processing is handled by Stripe, which is PCI-DSS compliant. Zettlor does not store raw credit card numbers. All connections use HTTPS encryption. For full details, see the [Privacy Policy](/privacy).

Question 40

Can I export my data if I leave Zettlor?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Upon termination, you can request a copy of your business data within 30 days. Zettlor provides the export in a commonly used format within 60 days of the request.

Question 41

How do I get support?

Accepted Answer

Contact the Zettlor team at ops@zettlor.com for any questions, technical issues, or onboarding help.

Question 42

How does Zettlor compare to Fresha or Mangomint?

Accepted Answer

Mangomint and Fresha are general-purpose spa and salon platforms built around one-on-one appointments - haircuts, massages, facials. Sauna and cold plunge businesses operate differently: sessions are often shared, capacity is resource-based, guest flow involves rotation between rooms, and demand is driven by weather and season rather than stylist availability.

Zettlor is purpose-built for this model. Key differences: native shared and private session support, private buyout pricing, resource-based scheduling, walk-in queueing, waitlists, a lottery system for high-demand sessions, AI-powered dynamic pricing, a credits and wallet system, and an integrated POS for retail - all in a platform that doesn't require you to work around class schedules or appointment slots.

Question 43

How does Zettlor compare to Momence or Mindbody?

Accepted Answer

Momence and Mindbody are built for class-based fitness studios - yoga, pilates, cycling. Their scheduling model assumes instructor-led classes with fixed start times and per-class pricing. Sauna businesses typically offer continuous or rolling session times with capacity-based access, which doesn't fit into a class schedule.

Zettlor handles the workflows sauna operators actually need: room-based capacity management, shared vs. private vs. buyout session types, walk-in queueing, waitlists, fair-access drawings for high-demand sessions, and demand-based dynamic pricing.

Question 44

How does Zettlor compare to EasyWeek or Wunderbook?

Accepted Answer

EasyWeek is a general appointment booking platform that includes a sauna marketing page but uses a standard appointment model underneath. Wunderbook positions itself as sauna-specific but focuses on basic booking without dynamic pricing, POS, credits, or advanced capacity tools.

Zettlor goes deeper: AI-driven demand forecasting and revenue optimization, native shared/private/buyout session types, lottery-based access for high-demand sessions, a credits and wallet system, a full POS for retail, an embeddable booking widget, migration tools for platform switching, and an integrated operations stack covering payments, memberships, waivers, guest flow, promo codes, and reporting.

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