Claybench vs Kiln Fire
Everything your studio bills for.Plus the pottery underneath it.
Kiln Fire manages the business of a member studio — classes, memberships, firing fees. Claybench does all of that, and also knows what’s in the kiln: production plans, drying physics, glaze records, live controller data, and a storefront your members can sell through.
Feature for feature
| Claybench | Kiln Fire | |
|---|---|---|
| Class scheduling + online booking | ✓ | ✓ |
| Recurring memberships (Stripe billing) | ✓ | ✓ |
| Member agreements / waivers | ✓ | ✓ |
| Wheel + workstation reservations | ✓ | ✓ |
| Member firing-fee tabs | ✓ | ✓ |
| Supply sales to members | ✓ | ✓ |
| Kiln-shelf pickup notifications | ✓ | ✓ |
| Private events + deposits | ✓ | ✓ |
| Gift cards | ✓ | ✓ |
| Session check-in + attendance reporting | ✓ | — |
| Per-instructor calendars + reporting | ✓ | — |
| Live kiln-controller readings (Genesis/Skutt push) | ✓ | status only |
| Production planning (drying, cones, shrinkage) | ✓ | — |
| Storefront — sell finished work online, 0% fee | ✓ | — |
| Studio store — supplies + gift cards online | ✓ | — |
| In-person POS (Stripe Terminal) | ✓ | — |
| Door-access integration (Kisi) | — | ✓ |
Comparison reflects publicly documented Kiln Fire features as of mid-2026 — check kilnfire.com for their current list.
The pricing difference
Claybench’s Studio plan is $49/month flat. Online class bookings carry a flat 3% booking fee paid by the student (or absorb it for clean student pricing) — beyond card processing, every seat is yours. Firing fees, supply tabs, and membership billing settle to your own Stripe account.
And because every plan contains the one below it, the same subscription includes the production planner and the storefront — tools your members and instructors use as potters, not just as customers.
When Kiln Fire is the better fit
Honest answer: if keyless door access is central to how your studio runs, Kiln Fire’s Kisi integration is real and we don’t have one yet. If that’s not your constraint, the comparison above is the comparison.