Fons vs Trio — Honest Comparison for Music Teachers (2026)
Written by the Trio team ·
Fons has been the auto-billing tool for private teachers since 2017, and in June 2026 it became MakeMusic Studio: same product, same price, new name. If you searched for "Fons," this is the product you meant. This page uses the name you know.
This comparison is written by the Trio team, so read it as one vendor's honest account of the other, not a neutral review. Every claim about Fons traces to its own published pages or to verbatim public reviews, cited at the bottom. For the view from a working studio, see Anna Morehart Falk, a violin teacher who runs 25 students on Trio.
Quick verdict
Choose Trio if:
- You want AI to write your lesson notes and answer studio questions, which Fons does not offer
- You object to paying 0.4% of your tuition, plus 1.8% on every bank payment, on top of Stripe's fees
- You want parents to sign in without a password
- You want practice tracking, an engagement dashboard, and a repertoire workflow, not just billing
- You run 10 students or fewer and would rather pay nothing
Choose Fons if:
- Charge-the-card-when-the-lesson-ends billing with automatic late-cancel fees is your number one need
- You sync your books to QuickBooks Online
- You want licensed Suzuki and Disney recordings inside your admin tool
- You want a ten-year track record and a corporate parent behind the product
Both are real reasons. Most solo teachers weigh the first list heavier once they add up the fees.
Pricing
| Plan | Trio | Fons (MakeMusic Studio) |
|---|---|---|
| Free tier | $0 forever, up to 10 students | None; 14-day trial |
| Solo teacher | $5/mo (Pro) | $19.95/mo flat |
| Annual discount | Save 17% ($50/yr Pro, $200/yr Max) | None advertised |
| Additional teachers | $5/mo each | $4.95/mo each |
| Card processing | Stripe's published rate; no added Trio fee | 2.9% + $0.30 |
| Bank payments (ACH) | Stripe's published rate; no added Trio fee | 1.8%, no cap |
| Subscription billing surcharge | None | +0.4% of subscription volume |
On subscription alone, Fons costs about four times Trio Pro. The fees matter more. A solo teacher billing $4,000 a month by card on subscription pays Fons roughly $158 a month once the 0.4% surcharge is included; on Trio Pro with Stripe direct, about $127. That is close to $370 a year, and about half of it is the surcharge, not the subscription. One Fons reviewer put the lived version plainly: "I'm paying about $45 a month plus around $150 in credit card fees."
Fons was running a $9.95/mo promotion when this page was written. Check the live price; the fee schedule does not change with the promo. Trio's pricing is on /pricing.
Feature comparison
| Feature | Trio | Fons (MakeMusic Studio) |
|---|---|---|
| AI | ||
| AI assistant (Ask Trio) | Built in | Not offered |
| AI-generated lesson notes | Built in | Not offered; notes are manual, written after the appointment ends |
| Scheduling | ||
| Private + group lessons | Yes, dedicated group workflows | Yes; group depth not documented |
| Client self-booking link | Yes, embeddable application form | Yes, booking link + Marketplace listing |
| Calendar sync | Google/Apple via subscription feed | Google two-way, iCal one-way |
| Makeup credits with expiration tracking | Yes | Makeup credits; expiration not documented |
| Cancellation and makeup policy engine | Yes | Yes, with automatic late-cancel charges |
| Billing | ||
| Stripe billing, autopay, packages | Yes | Yes, four billing models |
| Partial payments, family billing | Yes | Not documented; reviewers ask for better multi-child support |
| Platform fee on payments | None | 0.4% on subscriptions, 1.8% ACH, +1% international |
| Accounting sync | No | QuickBooks Online |
| Parent experience | ||
| Parent portal login | Passwordless, SMS code | Email + password |
| Mobile experience | Installable PWA, mobile-first | Installable PWA; no store listing |
| Video lesson links | Zoom, Meet, Teams, FaceTime | Zoom only |
| Insights & pedagogy | ||
| Revenue dashboard | Live trend + outstanding balances | Transaction reports and graphs |
| Practice engagement dashboard | Who's practicing, who's gone quiet, flagged automatically | Not offered |
| Repertoire | Assignment workflow, curated global library, per-piece notes | Licensed Suzuki + Disney recordings and sheet music (a listening library, not an assignment tracker) |
| Studio website | Structured public studio page | Marketplace listing; no page builder |
Where Fons still wins
Fons has spent ten years on one problem, getting teachers paid without invoicing, and it shows.
- Billing automation. Per-appointment auto-charge, prepaid packages that renew themselves, tuition subscriptions, and automatic late-cancel enforcement. Reviewers are unanimous: "I no longer have to send invoices, record payments, and bother clients."
- QuickBooks Online sync for clients, payments, and deposits. Trio has no accounting integration.
- A licensed recording library. Official Suzuki and Disney recordings with interactive sheet music, inside the same app, via the MakeMusic and Alfred catalog. No other studio tool has this.
- Track record and backing. $97 million in instructor payouts, 2.6 million lessons booked, a 4.9 Capterra rating across 96 reviews, and a corporate parent (MakeMusic, of SmartMusic and Finale).
- Done-for-you migration into Fons and a public Marketplace that can send you leads.
If two or more of those describe your studio, Fons is a sound choice.
Where Trio wins
AI, which Fons does not have. Nothing on the Fons site, help center, or blog mentions AI, and notes can only be typed after a lesson ends. Trio turns what a teacher types or dictates into a parent-ready note in seconds, and Ask Trio answers "who owes money" or "who missed last week" without a report.
No platform fee on top of Stripe. Fons adds 0.4% to every subscription payment and charges 1.8% on ACH with no cap, where Stripe's own ACH rate is 0.8% capped at $5. Trio adds nothing on top of Stripe's published rate; the studio's own Stripe account is charged, and that is the whole bill.
A third of the price, or free. $5/mo against $19.95, an annual discount Fons does not offer, and a free tier Fons does not have. A Fons reviewer asked for "a more affordable option for sole proprietors with zero employees." That option exists; it is Trio Free.
No passwords for parents. Fons parents create a password, and its help center leads with "Troubleshoot Login Issues / Reset Password." Trio parents tap a text code.
Less to learn. The most common Fons complaint across seven years of reviews is the learning curve: "Some features aren't 100% intuitive" (2025), "no batch actions… clunky and time consuming" (2022), "bulky to navigate at first" (2019). Trio was built in 2026 for the phone a teacher actually holds between students.
More than billing. Fons is scheduling and payments. Trio adds a practice engagement dashboard that flags who has gone quiet, a revenue dashboard with live trends and outstanding balances, an assignment-based repertoire workflow, and a public studio page. Fons has none of the four.
Any video platform. Fons attaches Zoom links only. Trio attaches Zoom, Google Meet, Teams, or FaceTime.
Try it before you decide
Trio's free tier is the real product for up to 10 students, with no card and no clock (online card payments start at Pro, $5/mo). Put your real schedule in, invite a few families, and run one billing cycle. Then compare the bill against what the same month would have cost on Fons's fee schedule.
Moving from Fons is team-assisted today; sign up free and Trio's team will walk you through it. A self-serve import tool is in development.
FAQ
Is Fons the same as MakeMusic Studio?
Yes. MakeMusic acquired Fons in January 2023 and renamed it MakeMusic Studio on June 21, 2026. Same product, team, login, and price; only the name and web address changed.
How much does Fons cost compared to Trio?
Fons is $19.95/mo flat, plus $4.95/mo per extra teacher, with no free tier and no annual plan. Trio is free for up to 10 students, $5/mo for Pro, $20/mo for Max, and 17% off on annual plans.
What payment fees does Fons charge?
2.9% + $0.30 per card charge, 1.8% on ACH bank payments with no cap, 1% extra on international cards, and an additional 0.4% of all subscription-billed volume. Trio adds no fee of its own; the studio pays Stripe's published rate on its own Stripe account.
Does Fons have a mobile app?
Not in the App Store or Google Play. Fons is a web app you add to your phone's home screen, the same installable-PWA model Trio uses.
Does Fons have AI lesson notes or an AI assistant?
No. Nothing on the Fons/MakeMusic Studio site, help center, or blog mentions AI. Notes are written by hand and can only be added after an appointment ends. Trio has both AI lesson notes and the Ask Trio assistant.
What does Fons do that Trio doesn't?
Automatic charge-after-the-lesson billing with four billing models, QuickBooks Online sync, a licensed Suzuki and Disney recording library inside the app, and a public Marketplace listing for inbound leads.
Do parents need a password with Fons?
Yes, email and password, and the first article in the Fons help center is about login and password resets. Trio parents sign in with a one-time SMS code and never set a password.
About this comparison
Trio's team wrote this page, and Trio is the platform being compared, so it is one side's honest account, not an independent review. Facts about Fons / MakeMusic Studio were verified on 2026-09-04 against the sources below; if you find one that has changed, tell us and we will correct it.
Sources: MakeMusic Studio pricing, cost and fees help article, rebrand announcement, MakeMusic acquisition press release, Stripe pricing, all fetched 2026-09-04; Capterra reviews and Software Advice reviews, fetched 2026-09-04. Reviewer quotes are verbatim from these public aggregations, used under fair-use comparison reporting.