If you’re a personal trainer shopping for software, you’ve probably noticed that every platform says roughly the same thing: “Manage your clients. Deliver programs. Get paid.”
They’re all telling the truth. They can all do those things. The differences are in how they do them, what they charge, and — here’s the part nobody talks about — what happens when a client’s payment fails and the software stops being able to help you.
We’re Member Solutions. We’ve been handling billing for fitness businesses since 1991. We’re not the right fit for every personal trainer, and we’ll be upfront about that. But after 35 years in this industry, we’ve seen what actually costs trainers money — and it’s usually not a missing feature. It’s lost revenue from payments that never get recovered.
Let’s walk through the major platforms honestly.
What Personal Trainers Actually Need From Software
Before comparing platforms, let’s be clear about what matters and what doesn’t.
What matters:
- Client scheduling — booking sessions without the back-and-forth texting
- Program delivery — sending workouts to clients in a format they’ll actually use
- Payment processing — getting paid reliably, on time, every time
- Client communication — keeping the trainer-client relationship warm between sessions
- Basic business reporting — knowing which clients are active, which are at risk, and what your revenue looks like
What matters less than you think:
- Fancy exercise libraries (your clients want YOUR programming, not stock videos)
- Social features (your clients aren’t training with each other)
- Marketing automation (most trainers grow through referrals, not email funnels)
With that in mind, here are the platforms worth considering.
The Major Platforms
Trainerize
Best for: Trainers who deliver online or hybrid programs and want a polished client-facing app.
Trainerize (now part of ABC Fitness, alongside Glofox) is the most recognized name in personal training software. They’ve built their reputation on the client-facing experience — the app your clients use to follow their workouts, log their nutrition, and message you.
What they do well:
- The client app is polished and well-designed. Clients can watch exercise videos, track workouts, log habits, and message their trainer — all in one place.
- Integration with Mindbody, Stripe, and other platforms means it fits into existing tech stacks.
- The program builder is solid. You can create templates, customize per client, and deliver progressions over weeks or months.
- Nutrition tracking integrates with MyFitnessPal, which some clients love.
Where they fall short:
- Pricing scales with client count. Their solo plans start around $20/month but go up as you add clients. For a trainer with 50+ clients, costs can climb past $100/month.
- Primarily designed for online training. If you’re mainly doing in-person sessions, some features feel unnecessary and the scheduling tools aren’t as strong as dedicated scheduling platforms.
- When a client’s payment fails, the system sends automated notifications. Recovery is on you.
TrueCoach
Best for: In-person and hybrid trainers who want simple, clean program delivery without the clutter.
TrueCoach is the “less is more” option. It focuses on what personal trainers actually do every day — write programs, deliver them to clients, and track compliance. No social feeds, no marketplace, no bloat.
What they do well:
- The program builder is one of the best in the category. Writing and delivering workouts is fast and intuitive. If your core workflow is “write a program, send to client, track their progress,” TrueCoach does that beautifully.
- Clean interface that doesn’t overwhelm you or your clients.
- Messaging built in — clients can send video form checks, you can respond with notes.
- Reasonable pricing starting around $19/month for a small client roster.
Where they fall short:
- Payment processing is basic. TrueCoach can handle client payments, but it’s not a full billing platform. Complex billing scenarios (package bundles, family accounts, corporate wellness) aren’t its strength.
- No scheduling feature built in. You’ll need a separate tool for session booking.
- Marketing and lead management are minimal. TrueCoach is for managing existing clients, not acquiring new ones.
My PT Hub
Best for: Trainers who want an all-in-one at a budget-friendly price point.
My PT Hub positions itself as the affordable alternative. They cover workout programming, client management, scheduling, payments, and nutrition — a broad feature set at a lower price point than many competitors.
What they do well:
- Feature breadth at a competitive price. Plans start around $40-$55/month for full access.
- Workout and nutrition tracking in one platform, so clients don’t need multiple apps.
- Customizable branding — you can white-label the client experience to look like your own app.
- Scheduling and calendar management are built in, unlike some competitors.
Where they fall short:
- The interface is functional but not elegant. It works, but it doesn’t have the polish of Trainerize or TrueCoach.
- Client-facing app experience is good but not great. For trainers whose brand depends on a premium digital feel, it may fall short.
- Payment recovery is the standard model — automated retry, automated notification, then it’s yours to handle.
PTminder
Best for: Trainers who run their PT business like a business — scheduling, invoicing, client management, and reporting in one place.
PTminder is built around the business operations side of personal training. It’s less about workout delivery and more about running your practice — scheduling clients, sending invoices, tracking attendance, and managing your revenue.
What they do well:
- Strong scheduling and calendar management. Booking, reminders, and session tracking are well-built.
- Invoicing and financial reporting are more robust than most PT platforms. You can track revenue by client, by package, by period.
- Client management features that help you see your full client roster, session history, and account status at a glance.
- International pricing and currency support if you work with clients across borders.
Where they fall short:
- Workout delivery is secondary. If you need sophisticated program delivery with exercise video libraries, PTminder isn’t built for that.
- The platform is better suited to in-person training. Online-only trainers may find it less useful.
- Same billing recovery gap. Automated retries and notifications, then manual follow-up.
Everfit
Best for: Online trainers and hybrid coaches who want modern, mobile-first program delivery.
Everfit is a newer entrant targeting the online coaching space. They’ve built a clean, modern platform focused on delivering training programs and maintaining the coach-client relationship remotely.
What they do well:
- Modern, intuitive interface on both the coach and client side.
- Strong habit tracking and accountability features beyond just workouts.
- Robust program templates that save time for trainers running similar programs across multiple clients.
- Competitive pricing with a free tier for getting started.
Where they fall short:
- Newer platform with a smaller user base. Less proven track record than established players.
- In-person scheduling and billing features are limited compared to dedicated studio management platforms.
- Payment recovery follows the standard automated model.
Mindbody
Best for: PT businesses operating within a larger studio that already uses Mindbody, or trainers who want marketplace visibility.
Mindbody isn’t primarily personal training software — it’s a studio management platform that includes PT features. (For a broader look at how Mindbody compares to other gym management platforms, see our membership management software comparison.) But if you’re running your PT business inside a gym or studio that uses Mindbody, it’s worth knowing what it offers.
What they do well:
- The Mindbody marketplace gives you discovery. Potential clients in your area can find you through the consumer app, which is a genuine acquisition channel.
- Scheduling and booking are enterprise-grade. Multi-trainer, multi-location, multi-service — it can handle complex setups.
- Integration with the broader studio management ecosystem if your PT business is part of a larger operation.
Where they fall short:
- Expensive. $159-$349+/month for plans that include personal training features. Overkill for a solo trainer.
- Complexity is real. The learning curve is steep, and you’re paying for features you may never use.
- Workout delivery is not a strength. For programming and client-facing workout experiences, dedicated PT platforms are better.
The Payment Problem Nobody Talks About
Here’s where we stop being neutral and start being honest about the pattern we’ve seen across 35 years of billing for fitness businesses.
Every platform listed above can process a payment when things go right. Client has a valid card on file. Card gets charged. Money lands in your account. Done.
The question is: what happens when a client’s card declines?
Credit cards expire. Banks flag recurring charges. Clients switch accounts and forget to update their billing info. Life happens.
For a personal trainer with 30 recurring clients at $200/month, that’s $6,000 in monthly revenue. If 5% of payments fail in a given month — and that’s a typical rate — that’s $300 in payments that need to be recovered. Over a year, that’s $3,600.
On every platform above, the recovery process is the same: the software retries the payment a couple of times. If that doesn’t work, it sends the client an automated email or push notification asking them to update their payment method. If the client doesn’t respond — and many don’t, because they’re busy, not because they want to stop training — the revenue sits there unrecovered.
Now it’s on you. You have to text your client about their billing. You have to have a money conversation with someone you’re also coaching through their fitness goals. That relationship shift is awkward, and most trainers avoid it.
So the payment goes unrecovered. The client drifts. You lose both the revenue and the client — not because they wanted to leave, but because nobody handled the payment issue quickly and professionally.
This is the problem we built our company around.
A Different Model: Software + a Billing Team
At Member Solutions, our platform handles the software side — scheduling, member management, payment processing, reporting. But when a payment fails, our billing team takes over.
They contact the client’s bank. They track down updated card information. If there’s a chargeback, they dispute it on your behalf. If the client needs to be contacted about their account, it’s done professionally by a trained billing specialist — not by you, in between training sessions.
This isn’t an add-on feature. It’s included in the standard membership billing service at $99/month (annual) or $199/month (monthly) with 2.9% transaction fees. No setup fees. Cancel anytime.
We’re honest about what we’re not: We don’t have Trainerize’s workout delivery app. We don’t have TrueCoach’s program builder. We don’t have Mindbody’s marketplace. If your primary need is delivering sophisticated training programs through a polished client app, we’re not the best choice.
What we are: The option for trainers and PT businesses that want the billing handled — not just tracked. For trainers who don’t want to text clients about failed payments. For PT businesses where recurring revenue actually needs to recur, and someone needs to make sure it does.
How to Choose
If you’re a solo online trainer:
Your primary need is program delivery and client communication. Trainerize or TrueCoach will serve you well. Your billing is probably simple enough that the automated tools are sufficient, especially if you have fewer than 30 clients.
If you’re a solo in-person trainer:
Scheduling is your core need, alongside basic billing. PTminder or My PT Hub gives you the operational tools without overcomplicating things.
If you’re running a PT business with 30+ recurring clients:
This is where billing starts to matter. At 30+ clients, you’re likely losing $2,000-$4,000/year to unrecovered failed payments. You need either the time and willingness to chase those payments yourself — or a billing team that handles it for you.
If you’re running a PT business inside a studio:
Mindbody makes sense if the studio already uses it. Otherwise, a dedicated PT platform alongside a separate billing service may give you better results for lower cost.
If you run a PT business and you’re tired of chasing payments:
Talk to our team. We’ll tell you honestly whether our model makes sense for your setup. If it doesn’t, we’ll say so — we’re not in the business of signing up trainers who’d be better served by Trainerize.
The Bottom Line
Personal training software has gotten good. Really good. The days of managing clients through spreadsheets and text messages are over — any of the platforms listed above will improve your operations.
But the software can only do what software does: automate, track, notify. When the automation doesn’t work — when the payment doesn’t go through and the notification doesn’t get a response — someone has to pick up where the software stops.
For most solo trainers with small client rosters, that someone is you, and it’s manageable.
For trainers running a real business with 30, 50, 100+ recurring clients, that gap between “software notified” and “payment recovered” is where thousands of dollars in annual revenue disappear.
Choose your software based on how you deliver training. Choose your billing solution based on how you want to get paid — and what happens when the payment doesn’t go through. If you’re also figuring out how to package and price your services, our guide on selling personal training packages covers the positioning side of it.
For more on what full-service billing looks like for fitness businesses, or to see our transparent pricing, those pages lay it out straight.
