The short answer
A dedicated coaching platform costs roughly $30–$60 a month for one trainer. That is the number most people quote, and it understates what coaching actually costs you, because almost nobody runs one tool. Add nutrition tracking, somewhere to keep exercise videos and intake forms, and a way to talk to clients, and the working total lands near $65 a month — about $780 a year.
Two costs sit outside that figure and are worth more than the subscription: the percentage some platforms take of what your clients pay you, and the hours you spend moving information between tools that do not talk to each other.
What coaches actually pay for
These are categories rather than named products, and the figures are typical rather than any one company's list price — rivals change pricing without telling anyone, and a page quoting a stale number is worse than one that doesn't quote it. Check current prices before you commit.
| What it does | The job | Typical cost |
|---|---|---|
| Coaching platform | Programs, roster, client app | $40/mo |
| Nutrition app | Macros, meal plans, food database | $15/mo |
| Cloud storage | Exercise demos, intake forms | $10/mo |
| Spreadsheets | Templates, progress tracking | Free* |
| Messaging app | Check-ins and form videos | Free* |
| Typical total | $65/mo |
* Free to install, not free to run. A spreadsheet and a group chat cost nothing and work perfectly well up to a handful of clients. What they cost you is time and attention: every extra tab is a client detail living somewhere your coaching app cannot see, and every Monday spent rebuilding the same programme is an hour you could have billed.
The cost nobody quotes
If a platform processes your clients' payments, read that section of the pricing page carefully. Charges are commonly 1–3% on top of the card fee, and coaching marketplaces — the ones that send you leads — take considerably more, sometimes a fifth or more of the session price, for as long as that client stays with you.
Run the numbers on your own book rather than on the headline. A coach billing $3,000 a month who gives away 3% is paying $90 a month in commission — more than the subscription that felt like the expensive part. On a marketplace taking 20%, the same coach pays $600.
What ApexGym costs
$20 a month, or $200 a year (2 months free — $16.67 a month, saving $40 a year against monthly billing). That is one payment, and it is the only one: we do not process what your clients pay you, hold your money, or take a percentage of it.
It covers every job in the table above:
- Programme builder with 4,880+ exercises and 2,600+ animated demos
- AI nutrition and meal-plan generation
- Unlimited clients and programmes — no per-client pricing
- Per-client progress tracking and dashboards
- Real-time messaging with your clients
- A free companion app for every client you coach
7 days free on monthly and 14 on annual. We save a card to start the trial but charge nothing that day, and email you before the first charge. Cancel in two taps any time before it converts and you pay nothing; if you are charged and change your mind, the first payment is refundable in full for 14 days.
See the full pricing breakdown or read how the app works.
Related
- What should a personal trainer charge? — the other side of the ledger: the capacity maths and the four pricing models.
- How to program for multiple clients at once — what the tooling above is actually for.
- How to get more personal training clients — filling the roster that pays for it.
- All coaching guides — the full set.
Common questions
How much does personal training software cost per month?
Most coaching platforms sit between $30 and $60 a month, and few coaches run only one tool — adding nutrition tracking, file storage and a scheduling or messaging app takes the typical working stack to roughly $65 a month. ApexGym is $20 a month for all of it, or $200 a year.
Is there free software for personal trainers?
There are free tiers, and they are usually capped at three to five clients or strip out the things that make the software worth having — programme templates, progress history, branded client apps. A spreadsheet and a group chat are genuinely free and work fine up to a handful of clients; the cost there is your time, not money.
Do coaching platforms take a percentage of what I earn?
Many do, if you take client payments through them — commonly 1–3% on top of card-processing fees, and some marketplaces take far more in exchange for sending you leads. ApexGym takes 0%. You bill your clients however you already do and keep all of it; the only payment we process is your own subscription.
Is coaching software worth it for a trainer with only a few clients?
It depends on what your time is worth. The break-even is straightforward: if the software saves you two hours a month and you charge $50 an hour, anything under $100 a month pays for itself. Below about five clients most coaches manage fine on a spreadsheet. Above ten, rebuilding the same programme by hand each week costs more than the subscription.
Can I cancel coaching software if it doesn't work out?
With ApexGym, yes — in two taps from the Billing tab, with no fee and no minimum term. There is a 7-day free trial (14 on annual), and your first payment is refundable in full for 14 days. Check this before you buy anything: annual contracts with no exit are common in this category.
Still weighing it up?
Ask before you pay — we answer within 48 hours, and “is this right for me?” is a fine question to send.
Talk to us first
Hello World Technologies LLC
30 N Gould St, Ste N, Sheridan, WY 82801, United States
support-fitness@helloworldtech.com
We reply to every message within 48 hours. Real people read all of it.