Every personal trainer starts on a platform. Trainerize, TrueCoach, MyPTHub, one of the dozen that look the same. They’re cheap to start, quick to set up, and they do the job when you’ve got a handful of clients.
Then you grow. And somewhere past 30 or 40 paying clients, the thing that got you started quietly turns into the thing holding you back. The bill climbs with every client. Features you assumed were included turn out to be paid add-ons. Your clients download an app with someone else’s name on it. And the smartwatch experience your gym clients actually want is a notification, not a workout.
So let’s compare the three big incumbents honestly, then look at when building your own app makes more sense than renting one.
Want the cost side first? The Trainerize cost auditor works out what your current platform really costs once fees and admin are in.
The three incumbents, quickly
Trainerize is the market default. Big feature set, big user base, decent app. Pricing scales by client count: the published plans run from around $9/month (about £7) for 2 clients up to $248/month (about £195) for a Studio location.
TrueCoach is the strength-and-conditioning favourite. Clean, fast, programming-first. Three tiers: $26.34/month for 5 clients, $57.99 for 20, and $136.99 (about £108) for 50.
MyPTHub leans on unlimited clients. Per its listing, the Starter is $22.50/month for 3 clients, Premium is $52/month for unlimited, and Ultimate is $195/month.
All three are competent. None of them are built for a trainer who wants to own their brand and their software.
The pricing reality nobody quotes
The sticker price is never the real price. On Trainerize, the headline figure doesn’t include the bits most trainers end up needing. Nutrition coaching is a $20 to $45/month add-on. Video coaching is another $10. Taking payments through the app is a $10/month add-on plus Stripe’s processing cut. A branded app carries a setup fee on top.
Stack those and a “$120/month” plan is really $165+ before you’ve taken a penny. TrueCoach keeps it simpler but still climbs steeply as your roster grows, and MyPTHub’s unlimited-client pitch only matters once you’ve got the clients to fill it.
The pattern across all three: the more successful you get, the more you pay, forever, for software you’ll never own.
Where all three hit the same wall
The specific prices differ. The ceiling is the same.
Per-client pricing taxes your growth. Every new client either costs more directly or pushes you toward the next tier. You’re being charged for succeeding.
The branding is theirs. Your clients open a Trainerize or TrueCoach app, not yours. You can add a logo, but the layout, the flow, and the limits belong to the platform. When you’re building a name, that’s equity leaking to someone else’s product.
The watch is an afterthought. Trainerize, TrueCoach, and MyPTHub all ship notification-style watch companions. Glance at the next set, tick it off, reach for the phone for anything real. None were designed to run the session from the wrist, which is exactly what gym clients want. More on that in the wrist-first wedge.
You’re still juggling bolt-ons. A booking tool, WhatsApp for accountability, a spreadsheet for the gaps. The platform you pay for doesn’t cover the whole job, so you prop it up with three more tools.
What “custom” actually means
A custom app isn’t a fancier Trainerize. It’s your own software, built around how you train, that you own outright.
Concretely, that’s our PT Core tier at £14,500: a branded native client app for iOS and Android, a workout builder, AI form coaching, and proper progress tracking, live in around 8 weeks. PT Pro at £21,500 adds the native Apple Watch and Wear OS companion that drives the workout from the wrist. After launch, running costs sit at roughly £150 to £400 a month, with no per-client fee. The full picture is on the custom software for personal trainers page.
The difference isn’t features for features’ sake. It’s that the app is yours: your brand on every screen and every wrist, your own App Store listing, your client data, and a flat cost that doesn’t punish you for growing.
The honest comparison: when to stay, when to switch
Renting a platform wins on two things, and they’re real: you can start today, and there’s no upfront cost. If you’ve got 10 clients and you’re finding your feet, stay on Trainerize. Building your own app would be daft.
A custom app wins on per-client economics, branding, the watch experience, and ownership. Those matter once you’re past the early stage and building something that’s meant to last.
The crossover is usually somewhere north of 30 active clients, or the moment you decide the brand is the business. Below that, rent. Above it, the maths and the brand both start pointing the same way.
Run your own numbers
The only comparison that matters is yours. Plug your client count, your platform fee, and your bolt-on hours into the Trainerize cost auditor and it’ll show your true annual cost, the payback period on a build, and your 3-year net position. If you want to see where the gym floor caps your income regardless of platform, the PT calendar ceiling calculator does that.
The platforms are a fine place to start. They’re just not where a growing PT business is meant to end up.
Related reads
- 5 signs you’ve outgrown Trainerize, TrueCoach, and MyPTHub. The specific signals it’s time to stop renting.
- The wrist-first wedge: why your PT business needs a custom Apple Watch experience. Why the watch is the gap incumbents can’t close.
- The Trainerize alternative. What a custom app replaces, side by side, with a money-back prototype.
Wondering where your numbers land? Book a free audit. We’ll cost your current setup and show you what owning your app would look like.