Free personal trainer app: what "free" really includes in 2026

What does "free" really include in a coaching app?

"Free" in a coaching app is almost always a limit on clients, a time-limited trial or a free tier for the client side. Check four things before you build your business on it:

1. Client cap. A free plan that stops at a few clients is a trial in practice.
2. Branding. Some vendors charge extra for a custom branded app.
3. Payments. Check whether collecting client payments is built in, an add-on or charged as a commission.
4. Nutrition. Meal plans and food logging are sometimes a paid add-on.

Also ask what happens when the free period ends. Some accounts turn read-only, some move to a limited plan, and some start charging. Pick the one whose ending you can live with.

Which coaching apps have a free plan or free trial today?

Only a few coaching apps list a permanent free plan, and the cap is small. The table shows what each vendor's own pricing page lists. Facts for PT Distinction, My PT Hub and Kahunas were checked on 17 Oct 2026; facts for Everfit, Trainerize, TrueCoach and Exly were checked on 16 Oct 2026.

Two notes on reading it. My PT Hub's page says the account moves to its Free plan after the trial, so read that plan's limits on its page. Exly's Starter has no upfront fee, but its page lists a 10% commission on sales, 6% on Pro and 3% on Premium.

Is Trainerize free?

The Trainerize facts on Trainaq's comparison page cover its paid Pro plans: Pro 15 at $50 a month for up to 15 clients, Pro 50 at $135 and Pro 200 at $250, billed monthly, before add-ons and taxes, per Trainerize's pricing page, checked 16 Oct 2026. For its current free options, read its pricing page directly.

Where does Trainaq fit?

Trainaq does not offer a free coach plan. Every plan starts with a free trial and no card is needed. After the trial, you choose a plan, and the pricing page lists plans, client limits and features. The client side is free: clients download the free Trainaq client app and join through your invite link.

On price, Trainaq costs less than the three apps it is compared with at the client counts compared. At 10, 50 and 200 active clients, billed monthly, it costs less than Trainerize and Everfit. At 10 and 50 clients it costs less than TrueCoach, which lists no price above 50 clients. Those pages show every figure with its date.

What do you pay for once your client list grows?

Once you outgrow a free plan, you pay by client count, by commission or by add-on, and the way a vendor prices matters more than the entry price. Here is how the dated pages price growth.

Two things to notice:

• Add-ons change the real price. Everfit's and Trainerize's pages list paid add-ons, including payments and nutrition options. Add them to your comparison if you need them.
• Branding costs extra at some vendors. My PT Hub's page lists a custom branded app at $95 one-time and a white label app at $145 a month on Premium.

Trainaq's plans differ by active clients, coach accounts and features. Archived clients do not count towards your limit. The pricing page has the exact numbers, so this post does not repeat them.

A quick way to compare for your own business

1. Count your active clients today and the number you expect in 12 months.
2. Write down the features you need on day one: workouts, meal plans, payments, booking.
3. For each vendor, find the cheapest plan that covers your 12-month client count, then add the add-ons you need.
4. Check what happens when the trial ends.
5. Run the free trial with two real clients before you move everyone.

The client capacity calculator in the free tools section helps with step 1.

Is a consumer workout app a free alternative to a coaching app?

No. Consumer workout apps are built for individuals who train alone, while a coaching app is built for a coach who runs clients. The difference decides whether free is enough.

• Consumer workout apps give a person ready-made workouts or tracking. They have no way for you to assign a plan, see a client's food log, take payments or chat with each client in one place.
• Coaching apps give you a coach side and a client side: you build or assign the plan, the client logs, and you review progress.

If you coach paying clients, you need the second kind. A free consumer app can be a supplement for a client's own tracking, but it does not replace your coaching records.

What does a coaching app give you that a free tool does not?

Trainaq is two apps: Trainaq Coach for you and the free Trainaq client app for your clients. The coach app keeps clients, plans, progress and payments in one place instead of WhatsApp, spreadsheets and PDFs. It runs on iPhone, Android and the web.

Here is what a coach and a client get:

A few features are worth singling out:

• AI food photo logging is on every plan. A client takes a photo of a meal, AI lists each food with an estimated weight, Trainaq matches it to its food library for calories and macros, and the client checks it before logging. You see it in the client's food log. Read more on the AI food photos page.
• AI drafts of workouts, multi-week programs and weekly meal plans are on the web dashboard. Nothing reaches a client until you review and assign it.
• Habit tracking lets you give each client daily habits such as water, steps or sleep, and you see adherence over 7 and 28 days.
• Automated reminders go out before sessions and classes, on check-in days, for habits and before memberships end, and quiet hours are respected.
• Payments in India run by UPI, card and netbanking with GST invoices, and cash and part payments are tracked as dues.

For the client side, see the Trainaq client app page.

Which free tools help without a subscription?

Free tools cover the thinking work: calculations, forms and tracking. They do not replace delivery, but they cost nothing and make a good starting point.

• Calculators. Trainaq's free tools include TDEE, macro, protein, one-rep max, heart rate zone and a personal training price calculator.
• Templates. The guides and templates section has a client intake form, a weekly check-in form, a diet chart template and a packages and pricing guide.
• A spreadsheet. A shared sheet with one tab per client works for a handful of clients: date, session, weight, notes. It stops working when you add payments, reminders and food logs.
• A messaging app. Fine for chat. The risk is that plans, photos and payments get buried in the thread.

When you spend more than a few minutes a week copying data between these, a coaching app starts to pay for itself.

FAQs