How to choose online coaching software: the questions that actually separate the platforms

Four kinds of coaching platform

Most "best coaching app" lists rank platforms that do different jobs. Sort by the job first and the shortlist gets short.

The edges blur. TrainHeroic sells both a team calendar and a marketplace. But each platform's own pages make its centre clear, and the centre is what you live with every day.

Questions that separate platforms

What can a set prescription hold? Write your last program out and count the fields. If the builder cannot store each one, the client reads a note and you read a note back. The platforms split cleanly here. Everfit documents rep ranges, RPE and RIR tracking fields, and percent of 1RM loading. Hevy Coach documents rep ranges, an RPE scale, rest timers, and set types. Its pages list no RIR, percentage, or tempo field. Boostcamp's builder has RPE and RIR on every set, percentages, and AMRAP targets. TrainHeroic has rep ranges and weight as a percentage of a working max. Its help centre suggests putting RPE, tempo, and rest in exercise notes. CoachRx lists tempo, reps, sets, and rest. PT Distinction lists sets, reps, time, tempo, rest, and intensity. TeamBuildr lists sets, reps, and percent-based weights off each athlete's max. TrueCoach's exercise description is an open text field. ABC Trainerize targets are text or time. Method stores set type, and reps as exact, range, or AMRAP. Effort is RIR or RPE with half values, stored once and shown as either. Rest, tempo, notes, and supersets are fields. Load can be written as a percentage of another set in the session. There is no percent-of-tested-1RM field.

How does an update reach the client? There are two models. Live sync pushes every edit the moment you make it. Hevy Coach works this way, and Everfit calls its version Live Sync. Publish review holds your edits until you release them. TrueCoach has a Sync program changes toggle, locked while the program is assigned. CoachRx offers a Standard program with optional sync or a Live program that pushes to everyone assigned. In Method, editing a published program does nothing to the client until you publish again. The workspace shows an unpublished changes badge. Publish review lists every change the client will receive before it lands. If training days changed, Method asks you to review the schedule. Live sync is faster. Publish review means you never send half an edit at 11pm.

Check-ins and forms. The question is whether you can write your own questions and put them on a rhythm. TrueCoach has no dedicated form builder. Its help centre suggests building questionnaires in the workout builder. TrainHeroic's readiness survey has five fixed questions that cannot be changed. Hevy Coach and Boostcamp have no check-ins. ABC Trainerize has a check-in form builder, and consultation forms from Pro up. Everfit's forms and questionnaires start at Pro. PT Distinction ships PAR-Q and consent forms clients can sign, plus custom forms. CoachRx has weekly check-in templates and intake forms. TeamBuildr's wellness questionnaires are in every tier. Method check-in templates use your own questions. Question kinds are written answer, yes or no, choice, rating, number, pain or injury, measurement, and photo. You set a rhythm per client and Method sends each one when due. An intake form can ride on the invitation. What to ask in a check-in goes deeper.

Video feedback. Every platform here except Boostcamp lets a client send a video. The difference is what you can do with it. For TrueCoach, ABC Trainerize, Everfit, PT Distinction, TeamBuildr, TrainHeroic, and Hevy Coach, the pages checked describe upload and comment. None describe drawing or timestamped notes. CoachRx coaches reply with Loom recordings. TrainHeroic caps uploads at one minute and deletes them after 30 days. Method form checks let you pause the video, draw on the frame, and leave a note at that timestamp. You send it with a summary and the client can return to it. Either side can start one. A workspace allowance can be unlimited, off, or a limit per week or month, with a per-client override.

Client payments and fees. Fee models vary more than list prices do. TrueCoach Payments has no platform fee and a flat 5% processing fee per transaction. It is available in the US, UK, Canada, and Australia. ABC Trainerize sells Stripe Integrated Payments as a $10 per month add-on. Stripe's transaction fees apply, with 3.15% plus 30 cents given as the example, and no revenue share is stated. Everfit's Payments and Packages add-on starts at $9 per month. Its help centre lists a $9 per month platform fee and $0.30 plus 3.15% per US card transaction. CoachRx includes its Business Suite on every plan. The fee is your country's standard card fees plus 2%, or 4.9% plus $0.30 in the US. TeamBuildr's Payments Portal has no TeamBuildr fee and Stripe's 2.9% plus 30 cents. PT Distinction takes payments through PayPal and Stripe. A platform fee is not described on the pages checked. TrainHeroic asks you to bill one-to-one athletes outside the app. Its Marketplace charges $1 per subscription per month plus card fees on sales you bring. Sales driven by its Marketplace Match carry a 30% fee plus card fees. Hevy Coach, Boostcamp, and Method process no client payments at all. All fees are as published on 2026-09-07.

What must your clients install? TrueCoach, ABC Trainerize, Everfit, PT Distinction, CoachRx, TeamBuildr, and TrainHeroic each have a client app on iOS and Android. ABC Trainerize's branded Pro app shares Apple's listing and shows the name Fitness App on iOS. Hevy Coach clients use the regular Hevy app, where a Coach tab appears after they accept. Boostcamp lifters follow programs inside the consumer Boostcamp app. Method clients use the Method iPhone app on iOS 26 or later, with their own free or Pro account. Programs you publish do not count against a client's free programming weeks.

Wearables and Android. Every platform here except Method has an Android client app. Apple Watch client apps are listed for ABC Trainerize, Everfit, PT Distinction, and Hevy. Everfit and Hevy also list Wear OS. TrueCoach's App Store listing shows no Watch support, and TeamBuildr has no watchOS app. TrainHeroic and CoachRx do not state Watch support on the pages checked. Boostcamp's pages disagree about a Watch companion. Wearable data is a separate question. TrueCoach pulls Garmin, Fitbit, Oura, Google Fit, Polar, Apple Health, and WHOOP from Standard up. ABC Trainerize lists Apple Health, Google Health Connect, Garmin, Fitbit, and Withings from Grow up. Everfit lists Apple Health, Google Fit, Fitbit, Garmin, and Oura. CoachRx lists Apple Health, WHOOP, Oura, Garmin, and Fitbit through Terra. Method's Watch app records the athlete's own cardio and has no coach features. Method has no Garmin, Fitbit, Oura, or Whoop integration.

Team seats. If you will ever add a second coach, read the seat line before the price line. TrueCoach, PT Distinction, and TeamBuildr add coaches at no extra charge and bill by client count. Everfit adds teammates at no charge, with team management from Pro up. Hevy Coach's Coaching Teams are included. CoachRx sets no limit on coaches and states no per-seat price. ABC Trainerize includes unlimited trainers on Grow, then one to five seats across the Pro tiers. TrainHeroic charges $9.99 per month per assistant coach. Method charges $9.99 per month per additional workspace member. Each client's visibility is set to Only me or Everyone in this Workspace.

Pricing shape. Four shapes appear. A free tier that grows into paid tiers. Client bands. A base price plus a per-client charge. And add-ons that stack on top. Here is what 15 clients cost on each platform, monthly billing, USD, on 2026-09-07.

Method's annual billing charges 10 months for 12 on every line, including extra clients. Trials on the date checked run 14 days on TrueCoach, CoachRx, TrainHeroic, and Method. They run 30 days on ABC Trainerize, Everfit, and Hevy Coach, and one month on PT Distinction. TeamBuildr offers a trial with no stated length. Method's trial covers the workspace and program library. Client invitations and messaging start with the first payment. The pricing page has the current numbers.

Where Method fits

Method is for the coach who writes detailed programs for a small roster. Each client logs every set against the exact prescription. The coach side runs on the web. The client side is the Method iPhone app. Clients grant what you see, from scheduling training into their calendar to their full history and body measurements. Every completed workout keeps the prescription it started from, so you see partial sessions and deviations. Trends show estimated 1RM per exercise with the sessions behind each change.

Be clear about what it does not do. Method processes no client payments and has no invoicing, packages, or subscriptions for your clients. It has no nutrition, macros, meal plans, habits, steps, or sleep tracking. There is no Android app for coaches or clients, and no iPad app. Coaching is one to one, with no groups, group programs, group chat, or broadcast messages. There is no marketplace and no program sales. Method does not generate programs and has no AI. There is no custom-branded app, no client booking, and no Garmin, Fitbit, Oura, or Whoop sync. If any of those is a must-have, pick an all-in-one platform, and it is fine to say so.

If your list is programming depth, reviewed publishing, and marked-up form checks, Method for coaches covers the workspace. The comparisons with TrueCoach, ABC Trainerize, Everfit, and Hevy Coach go through the specifics.

Run the shortlist

Take your most detailed program and check the builder can hold every field in it. Write down the business features you cannot run without, and let that cut the list. Then trial two platforms with one real client each. Every platform here offers a trial or a free tier, so the cost of finding out is your time.