TrueCoach vs Trainerize in 2026: Pricing, Add-ons & Real Costs Compared

What each platform does well

TrueCoach is the programming-first pick. The calendar builder, reusable programmes, supersets, circuits, and a large demo library are the product. Nutrition on the pricing page is a MyFitnessPal sync plus custom habits, so a strength coach who already writes lifting blocks and skips meal plans stays inside one tool. Logo, colour, and subdomain branding arrive on Standard, at a 20-client cap, with no separate branding fee.

Trainerize is the broader product, and the broader product stacks add-ons. Grow and Pro include workouts, habits, and basic meal logging. Stripe payments, the Smart Meal Planner, video calls, and logo theming are separate purchases until Studio Plus folds them into one bill and adds a store-listed app. A hybrid gym that books classes and sells session packs gets tools TrueCoach's pricing page does not list.

Read the TrueCoach pricing breakdown and the Trainerize pricing guide for the intermediate brackets. The cost table below uses the figures we re-opened on 7 November 2026.

Real monthly cost at 5, 25, 50, 100, and 200 clients

Standard Stripe card processing fees sit outside every column. TrueCoach's 5% processing fee also sits outside this table, in the payments section below. These sums are software subscriptions. They are not an all-in client-payment total.

Base plan is the cheapest published plan that covers that roster for programming. Full stack adds nutrition, in-app payments, and branding where the vendor publishes them. On TrueCoach, nutrition and payments have no monthly add-on, so the full-stack column adds logo branding. On Trainerize, the full-stack column adds Stripe Integrated Payments, Advanced Nutrition, and the $169 Pro logo fee (or Studio Plus, when that bill is lower).

TrueCoach full-stack maths: Starter ($29.98, 5 clients) has no custom branding. Standard ($69.98, 20 clients) adds the logo, colours, and subdomain. A 5-client coach who wants that branding buys Standard. A 25-client roster passes Standard's cap, so the plan is Pro at $164.98, and branding is already on that plan. Pro also covers 50 clients at the same $164.98. TrueCoach's pricing page tells coaches with more than 50 clients to email support@truecoach.co, and coaches with more than 250 clients to email hello@truecoach.co. We found no published price at 100 or 200 clients.

Trainerize full-stack maths: Pro 5 ($25) + Stripe ($10) + Advanced Nutrition ($20) = $55. Pro 30 ($79) + Stripe ($10) + Advanced Nutrition ($45) = $134. Pro 50 ($135) + $10 + $45 = $190. Pro 100 ($225) + $10 + $45 = $280, so Studio Plus at $275 is the lower published bill and includes the store-listed app. Pro 200 ($250) + $10 + $45 = $305, so Studio Plus at $275 is lower again. Studio Plus is $275 a month for one location and up to 500 coaching clients. The pricing card prices each added location on its own. The $169 figure is the one-time Pro Custom Branded App fee, not a monthly line. We left the $25 Business add-on, the $10 Video Coaching add-on, and FitMetrics (from $6 a client on paid plans) out of this column.

Kahunas tier-gated seat maths (Kahunas is our product): We ran quoteSeats for 5, 25, 50, 100, and 200 seats on monthly billing. The results are $25.00, $62.50, $100.00, $150.00, and $200.00. Workouts, nutrition plans, check-ins, habits, and 0% commission payments come with every seat. Recipes start at 25 seats. Custom branding starts at 200 seats. A coach who wants branding on a smaller roster can buy the 200-seat plan for $200 a month. Annual billing is 20% off: $20, $50, $80, $120, and $160 a month at those five seat counts. Where a higher tier costs the same or less, Kahunas bills the higher tier and keeps the spare seats (13 to 24 seats pay the $62.50 rate for 25 seats).

Three comparisons sit in that table:

1. Programming on the base plan costs less on Trainerize at every roster we could price. Starter is $29.98 against Pro 5 at $25. At 25 clients TrueCoach has already jumped to Pro at $164.98, against Trainerize Pro 30 at $79. At 50 clients the gap is $164.98 against $135.
2. A 50-client coach who skips recipes pays less on TrueCoach Pro than on Trainerize's full stack. $164.98 against $190. That TrueCoach bill includes logo branding and excludes an in-app recipe library. Trainerize's $190 includes Advanced Nutrition and excludes the $169 logo fee.
3. From 100 clients, Trainerize publishes a number and TrueCoach does not. Studio Plus is $275 up to 500 clients, with the add-ons included. TrueCoach's page is a sales email past 50 clients.

Plans, trials, and the 21-client jump

TrueCoach has no permanent free tier. New accounts start on a 14-day trial with no card. The pricing page publishes three monthly rates, and the same cards carry these annual equivalents:

The Starter card labels annual billing as 1 month free. Standard's annual total is $57.99 times 12 = $695.88, against $69.98 times 12 = $839.76, a saving of $143.88. $143.88 / $69.98 = 2.06 months, rounded to two decimals. Pro's annual total is $136.99 times 12 = $1,643.88, against $164.98 times 12 = $1,979.76, a saving of $335.88. $335.88 / $164.98 = 2.04 months, rounded to two decimals. The 21st active client moves you from Standard at $69.98 to Pro at $164.98, a $95 step ($164.98 minus $69.98) until you fill the 50-client cap.

Trainerize keeps a permanent Free plan for 1 coaching client, and a 30-day trial with unlimited clients and no card. The pricing-page FAQ says add-ons are excluded from that trial. On 7 November 2026 the monthly toggle showed:

The page badges annual billing as save 10%. With annual selected, the cards we opened showed Grow at $9, Pro 5 at $23, and Studio Plus at $248 a month. Paid plans also include Basic client seats for people who book or buy without workouts, meals, or chat. The comparison table on the pricing page lists 15 Basic seats on Grow, Pro 5, and Pro 15, and unlimited Basic seats from Pro 30. The FAQ on the same page says paid plans include unlimited Basic clients. Use the comparison table until Trainerize confirms which line is current.

A December 2024 TrueCoach help article says you can add coaches to a team account at no extra cost. The live pricing page does not publish a trainer-seat cap, so confirm that with TrueCoach before you hire. The plan cards list Zapier automations on Standard and Pro. The feature table on the same pricing page marks Zapier as exclusive to Pro. Confirm which line is live before you buy Standard for Zapier.

Programming workflow

TrueCoach's program and workout builder is a free-form calendar. You write sets, reps, tempo, and rest, and the exercise description is an open field, so a percentage or an RPE note goes in that text rather than in a separate calculated column we could confirm. The help centre documents supersets, circuits, EMOMs, and AMRAPs, plus keyboard shortcuts that build a workout without the mouse. Programmes are reusable: you assign one programme to several clients and start each client on a chosen day. Clients can move a workout on their own calendar.

The demo library size is inconsistent on TrueCoach's own pages. The plan cards and the program-builder page list 3,000+ videos. The feature table on the same pricing page lists 3,500+. A 2022 help article still says the account includes Central Athlete's library of 1,200+ movements. Treat 3,000+ and 3,500+ as the two figures TrueCoach publishes in 2026, and ignore the 2022 help count. You can upload your own videos. The pricing page also lists in-app messaging with photos, video, and GIFs, and comments on a specific exercise.

Trainerize organises programming around Master Programs and client calendars. Grow adds an AI Workout Builder, custom client programmes, and an on-demand library with no extra add-on. Pro adds custom exercise videos, groups, and leaderboard or threshold challenges. A cohort can share one Master Program. A 1-to-1 client can take a copy you then edit. That breadth is the trade: Trainerize's pricing page also lists appointments, classes, and session packs, so the programming screen sits next to studio tools.

Nutrition depth

TrueCoach's pricing page describes nutrition as the MyFitnessPal integration plus custom habits. Coaches set calorie and macro goals. The page does not list an in-app food database, a barcode scanner, or a recipe library. If your clients already log in MyFitnessPal, that sync is the published path. If you prescribe meals inside the coaching app, TrueCoach has no add-on to buy. See our nutrition coaching apps comparison for platforms that do.

Trainerize includes basic nutrition on Grow and Pro: in-app meal logging, barcode scanning, macro goals, PDF meal plans, and MyFitnessPal or Fitbit sync. The Advanced Nutrition add-on adds the Smart Meal Planner (up to 7 days), client meal swaps, grocery lists, and custom recipes. The price is $20/month on Grow, Pro 5, and Pro 15, and $45/month from Pro 30 to Pro 200. Studio includes it. The recipe count disagrees across Trainerize's own pages: the pricing card lists 2,400+ recipes, and the Advanced Nutrition help article lists 1,000+. We cite both. Confirm the live library before you buy the add-on for its recipe count.

Kahunas includes meal plans, a food database of over 1.5 million foods, and a barcode scanner on every paid seat (nutrition). Recipe books start at 25 seats (recipes). That is our product, and the 25-seat gate is a real limit for a 5-client coach who wants recipes on day one.

Payments and the 5% fee

Standard Stripe card processing fees are excluded from every column in the table below. The figures are the platform percentage above Stripe's published US domestic card rate of 2.9% + $0.30, on clients paying $200/month. This table is not an all-in payment total.

On one $200 charge, standard US Stripe is $5.80 + $0.30 = $6.10. TrueCoach's 5% on that charge is $10.00. The gap is $3.90 a client. Five clients are $19.50. The yearly figures are that monthly gap times 12. Trainerize and Kahunas add no percentage above Stripe, so those columns are $0. Trainerize's $10 monthly Stripe add-on sits in the software table, not here.

TrueCoach's Payouts article states three rules. Processing includes a 5% fee. The fee applies to money you collect and to money you refund. Payments are available to coaches in the US, UK, Australia, and Canada. The pricing-page FAQ says "Are there any extra fees? Nope." The Payouts article is the one that names the 5%. You can bill outside TrueCoach, in your own Stripe or PayPal account, and skip that 5%. You then lose the in-app recurring checkout.

Trainerize charges $10/month for Stripe Integrated Payments on Grow and Pro, and includes it on Studio. The Stripe help article also says the $25/month Business add-on includes those payments. The pricing-page Business card says the add-on gives access to the Stripe add-on. We priced the full stack with the $10 Stripe line, not with Business plus Stripe. Checkout accepts credit cards and Visa or Mastercard debit cards. Apple Pay, Google Pay, bank transfer, and buy-now-pay-later methods are excluded. The countries article lists 44 countries. A marketing bullet on the Stripe add-on page says 45+ countries. Use 44 until that article changes.

Kahunas charges $0 platform commission and no payments add-on. You connect your own Stripe or PayPal account. Stripe's 2.9% + $0.30 US domestic rate, or PayPal's rate, still applies. Payments cover 17 currencies (payments).

Branding and the client app

TrueCoach's custom-branded app, on Standard and Pro, is theming inside the TrueCoach app. You upload a logo, pick a colour scheme, and set a subdomain. Clients still find the app under TrueCoach's name in the store. Starter leaves that theming out. There is no published TrueCoach plan for a separate App Store listing under your business name.

Trainerize splits branding into two products. The Pro Custom Branded App is a $169 one-time fee on an active Pro plan. It puts your logo and colours on the Trainerize app. Grow and Free cannot buy it. Studio Plus ($275/month) and Studio Max ($380/month) include a Studio branded app with its own App Store listing. The fees article says you enrol in the Apple Developer Program as an organisation, and Apple charges $99 a year. The same article says you do not create a Google developer account for the Android app, because ABC Trainerize hosts that listing.

A store listing does a few things a shared app does not. People can search your business name in the App Store and Google Play, and the install comes from the store. Before we built Kahunas 2.0, we published over 10,000 white-label coaching apps to the App Store and Google Play, so we know that store presence well. The running cost we could verify is the Studio plan plus Apple's $99 a year.

Kahunas installs from your link in three taps: open the link, tap Share, tap Add to Home Screen. The icon opens full screen, with push notifications and offline workout, meal, and check-in logging. Logo, colours, a custom domain, and menu personalisation unlock together at 200 seats ($200/month, or $160/month billed annually), with no Apple Developer fee. A coach under 200 seats who wants that branding buys the 200-seat plan. Read the white-label fitness app guide for the three delivery models side by side.

On the daily log, TrueCoach's client app is a workout calendar with messaging (photos, video, GIFs) and comments on exercises. Trainerize's client app also covers appointments, classes, and video calls once you add Video Coaching at $10/month (50 call hours and 100 streaming hours on Grow and Pro).

Wearables follow the same split. TrueCoach Standard and Pro list Apple, Garmin, WHOOP, and Oura on the pricing page. Trainerize's pricing-page integration list names Garmin, Withings, Fitbit, and MyFitnessPal, plus Mindbody and ABC Glofox on Studio. That page does not name Apple Health, Oura, or WHOOP.

Where Kahunas fits (our product, with the limits)

Disclosure: Kahunas is our product.

Kahunas fits an online coach who wants workouts, nutrition, check-ins, and payments on one per-seat bill from $15/month (3 seats at $5.00 a seat). The rate steps down to $2.50 at 25 seats, $2.00 at 50, $1.50 at 100, $1.00 at 200, and $0.50 at 1,000. Every seat includes the workout builder (1,700+ videos), nutrition plans (over 1.5 million foods and a barcode scanner), supplement plans, check-ins, habits, wearables, Labs, cycle tracking, and 0% commission on your Stripe and PayPal accounts. At 25 seats you add recipes and automations. At 50 seats you add Crew, exercise analysis, a screen recorder, and team seats. At 100 seats you add communities, education, and challenges. At 200 seats you add the branded app and a custom domain.

Limits to weigh before you switch:

• No permanent free plan. TrueCoach's trial is 14 days and then a paid plan. Trainerize keeps 1 client free after a 30-day trial. Kahunas starts from $15/month after a 14-day trial, with a 3-month money-back guarantee.
• Tier gates. Recipes and automations start at 25 seats ($62.50). Communities, Education, and Challenges start at 100 seats ($150). Logo and colour branding start at 200 seats ($200). You can buy a higher tier early. You cannot unlock branding on a 5-seat bill.
• No gym front desk. Kahunas does not sell turnstile check-ins, class-pack POS hardware, or a Mindbody sync. A studio that lives in ABC Glofox should price Trainerize Studio before it prices Kahunas.
• Smaller stock video library, later branding. TrueCoach publishes 3,000+ or 3,500+ demo videos and puts logo theming on Standard at $69.98. Kahunas publishes 1,700+ videos and unlocks full branding at 200 seats. Both let you upload your own videos.

Compare more options in the Trainerize alternatives guide. Test check-ins, meal plans, and the workout builder on a 14-day Kahunas trial.

FAQ

Is TrueCoach cheaper than Trainerize in 2026?

On the base plan, Trainerize costs less at the rosters both vendors publish. Pro 5 is $25 against TrueCoach Starter at $29.98. Pro 30 is $79 against TrueCoach Pro at $164.98 once you pass 20 clients. Pro 50 is $135 against the same $164.98 Pro plan. Once you add Stripe and Advanced Nutrition, Trainerize is $55 at 5 clients and $134 at 25. TrueCoach's matching full stack, which adds logo branding and no nutrition product, is $69.98 at 5 clients and $164.98 at 25, before the 5% card fee. At 50 clients, TrueCoach Pro at $164.98 is less than Trainerize's $190 full stack, and that TrueCoach plan has no in-app recipe library. Past 50 clients TrueCoach is a custom quote, and Trainerize Studio Plus is $275 up to 500 clients.

Does TrueCoach have a meal planner?

TrueCoach's pricing page describes nutrition as a MyFitnessPal sync, calorie and macro goals, and custom habits. It does not list an in-app recipe library, a barcode scanner, or a meal-plan add-on. Trainerize includes barcode logging on paid plans and sells Advanced Nutrition at $20 or $45 a month for a Smart Meal Planner of up to 7 days.

Does TrueCoach take 5% of client payments?

Yes, if you run cards through TrueCoach. The Payouts help article says processing includes a 5% fee, that the fee applies to refunds as well as collections, and that the feature is limited to coaches in the US, UK, Australia, and Canada. On five clients paying $200, that fee is $50 a month, against $30.50 at Stripe's US domestic rate of 2.9% + $0.30, a gap of $19.50. Trainerize charges a $10 monthly add-on on Grow and Pro and no extra percentage above Stripe. You can bill outside either app.

Can you get your own App Store app on TrueCoach or Trainerize?

TrueCoach's custom branding, on Standard and Pro, is a logo, colours, and a subdomain inside the TrueCoach app. Trainerize's $169 Pro add-on is the same kind of theming inside the Trainerize app. A listing under your own name in the App Store comes with Trainerize Studio Plus at $275 a month, plus Apple's $99 a year developer programme. Trainerize hosts the Android listing, so that article says you do not open a separate Google developer account.

How does Everfit compare with TrueCoach on price?

Our Everfit pricing and Everfit vs Trainerize posts, checked on 5 November 2026, put Everfit Starter at $0 for up to 5 clients and Everfit Pro 5 at $19 a month. TrueCoach has no permanent free tier, and Starter is $29.98 for 5 clients. We did not re-open Everfit's pricing page for this article. Use those posts for the Everfit add-on stack, and this page for the TrueCoach and Trainerize figures checked on 7 November 2026.

Sources

Checked 7 November 2026:

• truecoach.co/pricing and truecoach.co/features/program-workout-builder
• truecoach.co/features/custom-branded-fitness-app
• TrueCoach Help Center: Payouts, The Workout Builder Basics, and TrueCoach Pricing (team-coach note, December 2024)
• trainerize.com/pricing
• ABC Trainerize Help Center: Stripe Integrated Payments, Advanced Nutrition Coaching, Custom Branded App Fees and Pricing, and Stripe available countries
• stripe.com/pricing (US domestic cards, 2.9% + $0.30)
• kahunas.io/pricing