Jane Alternative

If you are reading this, you are probably a solo wellness entrepreneur that is facing an important task: choosing an online platform, including creating an online store, that will help you manage your business. There are certain characteristics that you are looking for in such an app, including, but not limited to, a simple application process, self-explanatory user accessibility, and a reasonable price (or even no price at all). There are a variety of different options for apps that you can choose to invest in. Two of these apps – Jane vs Persona. 

For a quick comparison between Jane and Persona, please see the table below:

Persona vs Jane – Features	Jane	Persona
Payment collection and reminders	✅	✅
Scheduling and booking	✅	✅
Client Management	✅	✅
Information is accessible and easy to understand	❌	✅
Full control over your schedule	❌	✅
Real Business Account	❌	✅
Full FDIC Insurence	❌	✅
100% free forever	❌	✅
Expenses Management	❌	✅
Business Visa Card	❌	✅
App not required for the client to book	❌	✅
Automatic tax calculation and savings	❌	✅
No-fee business checking account	❌	✅
Built specifically for self-employed pros	❌	✅

Jane and Persona are both geared towards serving people who work in the wellness industry. However, while both apps may fulfill your needs at the surface level, you need an app that will fulfill your needs in a way that will best serve your business in the long run. At the end of the day, that is the most important thing. 

By the time you finish reading this article, you will strongly consider choosing Persona over Jane to help you accomplish your business management goals. 

Jane vs Persona – Application Process

Jane’s application requires you to put down an initial payment in order to support the collection of payments, a fee can only be paid with VISA or Mastercard. With Persona, there is no application fee. The attractiveness of this Persona feature speaks for itself. We understand that with startup costs and doing all the work on your own, you only want to spend your money when you really have to. 

Additionally, Persona matches you with an account manager as soon as you sign up, free of charge. Shortly after making that initial connection with them, your account manager will guide you step by step through the onboarding process. Following onboarding, you can proceed with your business. 

Both Persona and Jane require you to fill out some personal information before you get started. When filling out your personal information in Jane, there are four steps. In Persona, there is only one. We know that with your busy schedule, time is of the essence and must be saved at any possible chance. Why not start saving time right at the beginning?

Who do they serve? 

Jane and Persona work with fitness, mental, spiritual, financial, and beauty professionals that specialize in areas of wellness. This can include yoga instructors, personal trainers, cosmetologists, and more. Both platforms share a core value of assisting you with the technical, nitty-gritty part of managing your business so you can focus on the exciting parts while providing the best possible care for your clients.

Despite the similarities, Jane is set up in a way that might be more suitable for clinics and larger practices. An example of this can be a yoga studio that hires more than one instructor. Jane’s scheduling and calendar feature highlights when different staff members are working, and what classes they are teaching. This way, the app gives clients the opportunity to book a class based on their personal preferences. Many of the features in the app address the issue of making it easier when managing more than one person. 

If you manage a large clinic or practice, features that make it easier to break down the activities of multiple people can be extremely useful for you! However, If you work for yourself and don’t have any other staff members, you don’t really need this feature. Persona stands apart from other apps of its kind in that it prioritizes the needs of solo practitioners. If you are just starting out, and have yet to acquire the resources that the longer established/bigger practices have, this can be everything that you need. 

Scheduling

Both platforms give your clients the ability to book your services online. By giving you a view of your calendar at a glance, the two apps work so that businesses can avoid double booking, and/or the chance of clients booking a time that doesn’t work with the practitioner’s schedule. 

Jane’s scheduling feature is the same as Persona’s at its core, but with key distinctions. The Jane app has a pre-approved calendar that will fill up when clients book classes and services. 

While its scheduling feature serves the same function, the Persona app is only used by you. Persona makes it easier for you and your clients by creating an online store for you that you can share with them, without requiring them to download an app. 

Respecting your brand 

Jane and Persona understand the relationship between creating your brand and getting new clients. Understanding the importance of this, the two apps allow you to incorporate your own style and aesthetic in different ways. Jane allows you to customize their booking pages so it fits your aesthetic and color scheme. Persona, while it doesn’t allow you to customize any pages, gives you the opportunity to share the link on your personalized website or blog. This way, you are still retaining your individuality and making your services even more accessible to your clients. 

Payment Collecting and Tracking 

As discussed in previous articles comparing Persona to similar platforms (check out the article Mindbody vs. Persona), the Persona app allows you to create invoices, request payments, and view your business visibility through generated analytics. Persona will also give you a breakdown of the clients that come to your classes, and whether they are recurring or not. In addition, Persona allows you to receive your payments quickly, and from anywhere. 

Jane essentially does the same thing. It’s website highlights the following features:

• Customer credit card filing
• Sending invoices and payment request 
• Payments when the appointments are booked
• Financial overview of clients 

Jane also has a feature that creates reports to track billings by each practitioner and to help manage inventory. Of course, if it’s just you, this does not apply. 

Jane and Persona work to manage the technical logistics of managing your payments so that you don’t have to. 

Accessibility 

We understand that you want to start up your business and you want to start it fast. That is why you need to go with a platform that will let you get started seamlessly. If simplicity and ease are what you are looking for, Persona may be the way to go. 

While Jane has the resources, its core features that are highlighted on the website are done so in a way that isn’t straightforward to newcomers. What it sacrifices for aesthetics is simplicity. Persona’s website, on the other hand, is more concise, easier to navigate, and cuts to the chase. 

Additionally, a drawback that exists in the Jane app is that it does not have a messaging platform that you can use if you run into any issues. Persona prides itself on being available for you, maintaining its values of personability, and serving self-employed, solo practitioners like yourself.

Taxes

Persona has a tax automation and optimization feature that helps you do your taxes easily and emphasizes saving you money. It offers the following services:

• Automatically generates your Schedule C/1040
• Tags every deductible expense from your transaction list
• Gives you the chance to save a percentage of any incoming payment 

While Jane has a feature that allows you to track your taxes on equipment items that you may purchase, it does NOT have the specific feature described above.

Provides a Business Visa Card? 

When you sign up for Persona, you are entitled to a virtual credit card that you can use to buy industry-related products and unmatched discounts. Jane does not have this feature. 

How much will you pay?

Jane offers three different subscription plans:

Base Plan: $74 USD/Month 

Insurance Plan: $99 USD/Month 

Corporate Plan: $369 USD/ Month 

Each of Jane’s subscription plans also has a policy where they charge for every additional full-time practitioner in your business.

In summary, Persona and Jane share the following core features:

• Business analytics to show your company’s growth, how often clients come back, etc. 
• Client profiles
• Pre Approved scheduling slots
• Invoice creation and tracking 
• Discounted class packages, while keeping track of how many classes client use 
• Can be used with your personal website/incorporates your brand 
• Email notifications 
• Payment processing
  • Storing credit card information 
  • Clients can pay balances online

While Persona essentially offers the same features that Jane does, there is a core exception: you don’t have to pay for anything. Persona stands apart from similar business management apps in this commitment to being free with no fees whatsoever. It has no monthly fees, overdraft fees, or minimum balance requirements. It has this mentality so the self-employed wellness professionals who do the heavy work can catch a break. 

The Jane app is undoubtedly a great app for certain members in the industry, particularly for those who manage larger practices that have a large number of practitioners. Persona differentiates itself from the long-established platforms by emphasizing how its services are geared toward individual entrepreneurs. If that sounds like you, Persona is the optimal fit.