Efficient client management is fundamental to all fitness coaches looking to grow their business. We want to give you a hand in choosing the right client management software so we reviewed the most ones in the market, going over hundreds of reviews to bring you our top 5 picks.
Best Online Fitness Coach Software to Boost Your Business
- 🥇 Fitune - Best for Fitness Coaches (Easy appointments, live stream integration, free website & client app included)
- 🥈 Gymdesk - Good if you already have a large and solid client base
- 🥉 Bookee - Good for studio operations
Best Online Management Software for Fitness Coaches
1. 🥇 Fitune - Best online software for coaches
Best management software for Fitness Coaches looking for an all-in-one online management solution.
Features for Personal Trainers:
- Fast & easy website creation (no programming needed)
- Free mobile app for clients
- Automate scheduling and booking
- Online courses, classes, and appointments
- Secure payments
Has Free Trial: Yes, + Free Forever Plan
Transparent Pricing: Yes, $0-$249/month
Requires Demo Call: No
Ideal for Fitness Coaches and Small-Medium Studios: Yes, Fitune’s plans are scalable with your business
Most loved by users:
- Intuitive setup: Fitune is made to be set up in minutes and managed by fitness coaches with no need of technical expertise. Reviews praise the easy website creation system, just sign up and customize with your logo, pictures, and colors to receive bookings and payments from day one. Navigation for clients is also friendly and streamlined. With the recent launch of your own free mobile app they can book and manage their memberships on the go, helping you land more bookings effortlessly.
- Time-saver: Fitune eliminates back and forth messaging and long email chains just to book a class and appointment. With your own interactive calendar clients can make their own bookings, receive access codes, reminders, and live stream links automatically. Fitness coaches and studios no longer have to worry about missed appointments nor overbooked classes.
- CRM and marketing tools: Client management also involves followup after classes, as well as reaching out to ensure a healthy and ongoing relationship. Fitune users have praised the ease to do so with its integrated CRM (Client Relationship Management) and marketing tools. Automated and fully customizable email templates fulfill this job allowing fitness coaches to reach out with news, offers, confirmations, and much more.
- Personalized Customer Service: Fitune’s customer support is one of its most praised features. A team of industry experts offer quick and personalized support for any questions and issues 24/7. Along with a feedback program to guide new feature development we’re there to ensure your fitness business will thrive.
Most hated by users:
- Some Limited Customization: Some users have mentioned that they like the features and functionality Fitune offers but would like larger customization options for their website’s appearance.
- Initial skepticism: Fitune is a relatively new client management software in the market so initial users felt skepticism on the features offered due to a lack of references. However little by little trust has been built thanks to Fitune's community of enthusiastic fitness and wellness experts.
Overall Score: Ideal scheduling software for Fitness Coaches.
Fitune’s Website Builder
Fitune’s Class Calendar
Fitune Class Management
Fitune Service Management & Scheduling
Fitune is the best tool for fitness coaches looking to ease their workload and automate everyday repetitive tasks. It offers an easy and intuitive setup, great customer support, and comprehensive features to manage online and in-person clients. Fitness coaches will appreciate all the time-saving automations Fitune brings to the table and won’t ever want to go back to paper calendars and message chains. Adoption risk is also very low, with the Free Forever plan you can launch your website for free, allowing you to actually work with the platform before committing to a paid plan.
2. Gymdesk - Good for larger studios
Features for Fitness Coaches:
- Scheduling and booking
- Recurring billing
- Attendance tracking
Has Free Trial: 30 days free trial
Transparent Pricing: Yes, $75-$299/month
Requires Demo Call: No
Ideal for Fitness Coaches and Small-Medium Studios: Yes
Most loved by users:
- Ease of Use: Many users have found Gymdesk easy to use. They liked that it didn't take them much effort to get started and made their day to day operations simpler.
- Automatic Billing: Business owners appreciated the automatic billing feature which helps them save time in repetitive billing operations.
- Feature Set: Many reviews mention that Gymdesk has a wide range of features that cover almost everything they need to manage their gym, however a frontend system for clients is still missing.
Most hated by users:
- Learning Curve: Users felt a steep learning curve for Gymdesk’s features with them having to spend quite some time getting used to the software
- Waiver Functionality: Some users mention that the waiver feature, and user info input at the front desk, could be more user-friendly.
- Customization Options: While many liked the software, some wished there were more options for customizing certain features, like the booking system and website design.
Gymdesk offers solid tools for fitness businesses and fitness coaches with an easy to use interface and a wide range of useful features. However its starting prince means one should already have a large and solid client base before committing to the platform. As a front desk system it works very well, however Fitness Coaches might find that these functionalities aren’t as relevant for their work. At the same time its steep learning curve along with limited customization options will hinder any quick development and launch.
3. Bookee - Good if costs aren't an issue
Features for Fitness Coaches:
- Scheduling and booking
- Staff management
- Attendance tracking
Has Free Trial: Yes
Transparent Pricing: Yes, $99-$299/month
Requires Demo Call: No
Ideal for Fitness Coaches and Small-Medium Studios: Best suited for studio operations
Most loved by users:
- User-Friendly Interface: Reviews highlight Bookee for its easy to navigate interface. Scheduling and booking are made easy once you’ve finished integrating it to an external website if you want to create a more appealing experience for your clients.
- Booking Flexibility: Users mention Bookee’s flexibility when it comes to services, group classes, private appointments, and events can be set up in its calendar. Businesses with several trainers of fitness coaches with their own studios might appreciate this functionality.
- Task Management: Specific tasks can be assigned to staff members to ensure streamlining day to day processes in gyms, dance studios, and other fitness businesses where lots of trainers teach different classes.
Most hated by users:
- Additional costs: Bookee charges an extra $89/month if you want a mobile app for your clients, website building is an additional service that can cost you over $1000 plus a lengthy development period.
- Customization Limitations: Some of Bookee’s users report difficulties to customize waiting lists and reports, which makes it difficult for them to organize the most sought after classes and gather insights on business performance to guide their decisions.
- Glitches and Bugs: Users report crashes on Bookee’s app as well as slow loading times during high business hours. Although solving these issues is easy, just restart the app or wait a bit, the frustrating experience can result in loss of bookings for fitness coaches and studios alike.
Bookee stands out for its studio management features, including payroll, staff tasks, and bookkeeping. However disruption of daily operations is a dealbreaker for many fitness coaches. Its high website development costs result in a cumbersome experience for coaches and studios without the extra cash to spend or the lack of time and expertise to set everything up themselves. Bookee is a functional software with valuable staff and accounting functions best suited for large businesses that don’t mind the additional costs or have a team of experienced staff to deal with technical issues.
4. Acuity
Features for Fitness Coaches:
- Scheduling
- Membership management
- Reporting and analytics
Has Free Trial: Yes, for a limited time
Transparent Pricing: Yes, $16-$49/month
Requires Demo Call: No
Ideal for Fitness Coaches and Small-Medium Studios: Yes
Most loved by users:
- Easy to Use: Although the initial set up can be time consuming according to some users, once finished, managing schedules and booking becomes straightforward. Fitness coaches might appreciate this ease of use once they’ve overcome the initial hurdle.
- Ample Customization:Unlike other platforms in the market Acuity is a general purpose scheduling and management system. This means it includes ample features for customization according to your business needs. While customization can take a long time, users like the flexibility it provides.
- Integrations: Acuity handles integrations with platforms like Zoom and Google Calendar, and several payment processors pretty well. This provides flexibility of use for any business type.
Most hated by users:
- Complex setup: A highly customizable platform comes with its drawbacks. Setting up the system has been reported to take from a few hours to an entire week depending on the complexity of your calendar and diversity of classes offered. If you need to add integrations, the setup can take even longer.
- Unsatisfactory Support: Several users have reported a decline in Acuity’s customer support in the last few years, with long waiting times and sometimes receiving generic responses that aren’t helpful for their specific needs.
- Cluttered Interface: New users report a complex and overwhelming interface. This steep learning curve is a challenge for all users, especially for those with little experience or technical know how.
Acuity has flexible customization options, along with solid integrations. Although its initial setup can be daunting, businesses lacking a software alternative specialized in their industry can set up a solid system through it. When it comes to fitness coaches there are alternatives that streamline this process and that provide an all-in-one solution like Fitune. Acuity is a solid choice for niche businesses looking for an online system, however specialized tools are the way to go for coaches looking for ease of use.
5. Glofox
Features for Fitness Coaches:
- Scheduling
- Membership management
- Attendance tracking
Has Free Trial: No
Transparent Pricing: No
Requires Demo Call: Yes
Ideal for Fitness Coaches and Small-Medium Studios: No, Glofox focuses on large gyms and studios
Most loved by users:
- Easy navigation: Glofox’s tools for booking and membership management have been praised by users as easy to navigate and use.
- Membership management: Another highlight made by some users is the database capability and attendance tracking functions. These facilitate day to day operations for large businesses.
- Mobile App: The flexibility of being able to make payments and manage memberships on the go is one of Glofox’s users favorite features. Although pricing isn’t available on their website, for an additional cost this functionality has been deemed as worth it by some large gyms.
Most hated by users:
- Additional Website Costs: Glofox works as a booking and backend management system. If you want a website that attracts customers you’ll need to pay for it or develop it yourself. This increases set up costs and time highly.
- Customization Limitations: Customization has been described as limited and rigid by some users. Thus the web portal your clients will end up interacting with can result generic when compared to other platforms.
- Undisclosed Pricing: You’ll need to go through a Demo call to get an exact pricing for Glofox. However trainers report a low amount of features for the price. This means for small businesses and personal trainers working alone the software costs can become prohibitive.
Glofox offers a solid backend system and front desk management especially appreciated by gym chains and larger businesses. For fitness coaches and smaller studios the setup time, additional costs for a mobile app, as well as their own website development means Glofox isn’t a viable solution. Other software like Fitune provide more features at a lower starting price point so unless you’re running a large business you might want to review other options than Glofox.
Conclusions for the 5 Best Online Fitness Coach Software to Boost Your Business
There are lots of client and business management software available. Even among those specialized in the fitness industry Fitune stands out as the best option for fitness coaches looking to boost their business. Its time-saving integrations, quick setup, and almost non existent learning curve translate into a quick launch that can bring your business more sales and bookings. Its video on demand, free mobile app, event organization, and course creation, among many other features, offer you new ways to reach out to clients to increase your revenue. Despite some minor customization limitations, Fitune is the best solution for fitness coaches who value efficiency at an affordable price.
Ready to try Fitune? Start now for free or book a demo to learn how to grow you fitness business.
