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3 TrueCoach alternatives for high-touch coaches

An honest look at Trainerize, Everfit, spreadsheets, and Amenti — real pricing at 20 clients, TrueCoach's 5% payment fee explained, and who should actually switch.

The short version

Stay on TrueCoach if you want simple, no-frills training delivery with a large exercise-video library and don't bill much client volume through TrueCoach Payments. Consider Trainerize if you want a fully branded consumer app and don't mind assembling nutrition and automation from add-ons instead. Consider Everfit if you'd rather hand-pick your own AI and automation add-ons à la carte. Switch to Amenti if you run a high-touch roster and want programming, AI photo nutrition logging, check-ins, and weekly reviews bundled at one flat price — billing stays outside Amenti entirely, so there's no transaction fee to add on top.

The honest matrix

	TrueCoach	Trainerize	Everfit	Amenti
Programming	Clean program builder, 3,000+ exercise videos	Deep exercise/video library; AI Workout Builder on paid tiers	Strong builder; AI Workout Builder (Olly) turns notes or PDFs into a program	AI drafts a plan from intake; you review and approve
Nutrition	Built-in macro/calorie goal tracking (coach sets goals, client logs) — no meal-plan builder; MyFitnessPal integration also available	Basic meal/macro tracking included from Grow ($9/mo) up; the Smart Meal Planner (2,400+ recipes, auto-generated plans) is a $20–45/mo add-on	Food journal & macros included in Pro; unlimited recipes/bulk meal plans are a $33–39/mo add-on	AI photo meal logging included in the base price, every tier
Check-ins / reviews	Manual — no automated review assembly	Check-in forms auto-send and flag no-shows on a schedule; reading answers and writing replies is still manual	Partial via Autoflow add-on: $24–29/mo	Attention inbox + pre-assembled weekly review, included
Client app quality	Mature; custom branded theming on Standard+	Mature, well-reviewed; branded app $169 one-time (Pro), plus $99/yr to Apple if publishing independently	Solid; custom branding on Pro+, group chat on Studio	One app for training, nutrition, and chat together — newer, less battle-tested
Messaging context	In-app messaging	In-app messaging, separate from program/nutrition views	In-app messaging; AI-drafted reply suggestions (Smart Response)	Chat sits next to the client's plan and history in one record
AI assistance	AI Workout Builder blogged about; not listed on their main features or pricing pages	AI Workout Builder (training only — no nutrition or review AI published)	8 named AI tools (assistant, workout builder, nutrition generation, and more) — mostly training- and messaging-focused	One AI layer across plans, nutrition logging, and weekly reviews — always approval-first
Price at 20 clients	$57.99/mo (Standard) + a flat 5% fee on every transaction through TrueCoach Payments (invoice total, refunds included) — that fee alone is $250/mo on $5,000/mo of client billing	$79/mo (Pro 30 — tiers stop at 15 then jump to 30; $71/mo billed annually) + $20–45/mo if nutrition is turned on	$49/mo (Pro, monthly; $41/mo annual) before add-ons — nutrition adds $33–39/mo, automation $24–29/mo	$49/mo flat — nutrition and weekly reviews already included, nothing extra to switch on
Lock-in	Leaving means renegotiating how clients pay you if you're on TrueCoach Payments	Branded-app setup fee is a sunk cost; publishing independently on Apple adds a recurring $99/yr	Add-on stack (automation, meal plans, payments) isn't portable	New platform, short track record — but no billing lock-in; concierge migration in

Pricing verified against each vendor's public pricing page, July 19, 2026. Software prices change — check current rates before deciding on price alone.

Trainerize

Trainerize is the pick if you want a large exercise-video library and a fully branded consumer app for clients — its AI Workout Builder handles training, and basic meal/macro tracking is included from the Grow tier up, though the deeper recipe/meal-plan tools and automation stay bolt-on; check-in forms auto-send and flag no-shows on a schedule, but reading answers and writing replies is still manual. Pricing runs on a client-count slider rather than fixed steps: it stops at a Pro 15 tier, then jumps to Pro 30 at $79/mo month-to-month ($71/mo annual), so a 20-client coach pays for headroom they aren't using yet. Add the Smart Meal Planner ($20–45/mo) for the deeper recipe/meal-plan tools, and budget the $169 one-time branded-app fee plus a recurring $99/yr to Apple if you publish independently. No payment-processing fee like TrueCoach's.

Everfit

Everfit's free Starter plan (up to 5 clients, core workout/tracking/messaging) is the most generous free tier in the category, and Pro is competitively priced at $49/mo month-to-month ($41/mo annual) for up to 20 clients — with food journal and macro tracking already included, unlike TrueCoach's goals-only approach. Everfit has also built out a broad AI suite: an assistant (Olly) that answers questions about any client, an AI Workout Builder that turns notes or PDFs into a program, AI-generated nutrition plans, and AI-drafted message replies, among others. The paid add-ons (unlimited recipes and bulk meal plans at $33–39/mo, Autoflow automation at $24–29/mo, in-app payments at $8–9/mo) stack on top if you want the full suite — turn everything on and $49/mo becomes closer to $110–130/mo. A fair pick if you'd rather hand-pick which pieces you pay for.

Spreadsheets + WhatsApp

This is where most independent coaches start, and it's not a bad place to start — zero software cost, full control, no platform risk, and no payment-processing fee to think about since billing happens however you already invoice. The real cost shows up as your roster grows: check-ins live in one place, programs in another, nutrition gets eyeballed manually in a chat thread, and nothing surfaces who actually needs your attention this week. It scales your hours, not your capacity. If you're reading a page like this one because TrueCoach's fee changes bit into your margin, there's a decent chance you're already past the point where a spreadsheet-and-chat stack would be faster than software either.

Where Amenti fits

Amenti is built for independent coaches and small teams running high-touch, premium coaching — a few clients on the free plan up to a full roster on Studio — where you write the programs and the relationship is the product. Every AI draft is approval-first: nothing reaches a client without you reviewing it. It is not the right fit yet for coaches whose main need is a huge stock exercise-video library, anyone who needs wearable (Apple Health, Whoop, Garmin) or calendar sync right now, or anyone who wants built-in client payment collection on day one — invoicing still happens however you already do it, so there's no processing fee to weigh either way.

See the full workflow, gaps included, on the 3-minute tour, or compare Trainerize alternatives if that's the platform you're weighing instead.

FAQ

Is there a truly free TrueCoach alternative?

Yes, two: Everfit's Starter plan is free for up to 5 clients (core workout builder, tracking, and messaging — automation, meal plans, and payments are separate paid add-ons), and Amenti's Free plan covers up to 3 clients with AI nutrition logging included. TrueCoach itself has no free tier.

What's the cheapest way to replace TrueCoach for a small roster?

For 5 clients or fewer: Everfit's free Starter plan costs nothing. For up to 20 clients wanting nutrition and check-ins bundled instead of stacked as add-ons: Amenti is a flat $49/mo — billing stays outside Amenti, so there's no transaction fee added on top the way there is with TrueCoach Payments.

Does TrueCoach really charge a 5% fee on client payments?

Yes — TrueCoach Payments (built on Stripe) charges a flat 5% fee per transaction, calculated on the invoice total including tax, effective January 7, 2026. The fee also applies to refunds. There's no extra software charge for the payments feature itself, but every transaction that runs through it carries the 5% — at $5,000/mo of client billing, that's $250/mo, more than the Standard plan's own $57.99/mo subscription price. It's only available for US, UK, Australia, and Canada-based coaches; if you don't route billing through TrueCoach, the subscription price is straightforward.

Is Trainerize cheaper than TrueCoach?

At the subscription level they're in a similar range — TrueCoach is $57.99/mo for 20 clients, Trainerize is around $79/mo for the same headcount since its tiers stop at 15 then jump to 30. Trainerize has no payment-processing fee of its own, so if you bill a meaningful volume through TrueCoach Payments, Trainerize (or a platform with no transaction fee) can come out cheaper overall despite the higher sticker price.

Does Amenti have built-in nutrition tracking like TrueCoach?

Amenti goes further: TrueCoach lets clients log against coach-set macro/calorie goals natively (no meal-plan builder), while Amenti includes AI photo meal logging in the base price on every tier — the client photographs a meal and it's logged automatically, no manual entry or separate MyFitnessPal connection needed.

Can I move my existing clients and history from TrueCoach to Amenti?

The founding cohort includes concierge migration: send over your TrueCoach exports, program templates, or spreadsheets and Amenti sets up your roster, programs, and history — no manual re-entry on your end.

Amenti makes this comparison; we've kept the competitor strengths honest and dated the pricing above. Last verified July 19, 2026. See the full Amenti pricing.

Founding coach cohort · limited seats

3 months free. Set up for you in 24 hours.

Apply for a founding spot and send us the spreadsheets and PDFs you use today. Within a day, your clients, programs, meal plans, and schedule are live in Amenti — you don't move a thing yourself.

Best fit

Independent coaches and online trainers with 5–40 active clients, currently juggling WhatsApp, spreadsheets, and PDFs.

What happens next

Apply below and tell us how you run things today.
If it's a fit, we do a 15-minute call and you send us your files.
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