Method vs Boostcamp for coaches: publishing a program to a library versus coaching one client at a time

The short version of each app

Boostcamp calls itself the free workout app lifters actually use. Lifters pick a program from a library of 11,000+ and follow it in the iOS or Android app. The library includes 130+ coach-designed programs from names such as Geoffrey Schofield and Dr. Eric Helms. Coaches enter the picture as partners. Cody Lefever's profile says he partnered with Boostcamp to launch GZCLP in an app format for free. The site has no coach page, no coach pricing, no coach app, and no way to apply. Any user can build a program on the desktop Program Creator. They can share it by private link or publish it to the community. What happens after that is invisible to the author. Boostcamp Pro, at $14.99 per month for lifters, adds 20+ exclusive coach programs and analytics.

Method is a workout planner and tracker for structured strength and cardio training, with a Coach Workspace for coaches. The coach side is the web app. You build Coach Library programs in the same editor athletes use, with blocks, weeks, sessions, and per-set prescriptions. You invite a client, publish a program to that client, and review every change before it lands. The client follows it in the iPhone app. Completed sets, check-ins, form checks, and messages come back to the workspace. Method has no library, no public publishing, no program sales, and no Android app. Coaching is one to one. The athlete-side comparison is at Method vs Boostcamp.

Side by side

Facts about Boostcamp come from its website, Terms, and store listings on the date shown above. Facts about Method come from the shipped product.

Where Method is stronger

You have clients, and they are yours. You invite a client by link or email. The invitation lists the grants you ask for, from scheduling into their calendar to viewing their trends. The client sees the list and accepts before anything is shared. Each client has a record with Training, Trends, Programs, Check-ins, Form checks, Measurements, and Notes. Notes stay private to the workspace. Boostcamp's pages describe a library and aggregate counts, with no named lifter attached to a coach.

Publishing is a reviewed step to one person. A Coach Library program is published to one client at a time. You set the start date and training days, or the client places the start in the iPhone app. Editing a published program does nothing to the client until you publish again. Publish review lists every change the client will receive before it lands. If the structure or training days changed, Method offers Publish and reschedule. On Boostcamp a program goes to the library or a link, and the author has no further hand on it.

You see what each client did. Every completed workout stores the prescription it started from, so you see partial sessions and deviations per set. Training shows weight, reps, and effort per set plus cardio detail. Trends shows estimated 1RM per exercise over time with the sessions behind each change. The estimate uses the Epley formula with reps in reserve and excludes warm-ups and drop sets. More on this in planned vs completed.

Form checks come back annotated. Either side can start one. You pause the video, draw on the paused frame, leave a note at that timestamp, and repeat. Then you send it with a summary. The client sees the drawings, the notes, and the summary in the app and can return to them. A workspace default sets the allowance, with a per-client override. Boostcamp's pages describe no video from lifter to coach.

Check-ins are built from your own questions. Question kinds include written answer, yes or no, choice, rating, number, and pain or injury. Measurement and photo in a named pose are there too. A Check-in template runs on a rhythm, and Method sends each one when due. A Client intake template is asked once and can ride on the invitation. Submitted check-ins land under Review and you reply beside the answers. See what to ask in a coaching check-in.

Messaging lives in the product. The inbox holds one conversation per client with text, photos, and videos. The client's iPhone gets a push with the sender and the text. Each message is encrypted with a fresh data key. Boostcamp's Terms point coach contact to text messages or SMS outside the platform.

Where Boostcamp is stronger

Reach. This is the reason a coach is on Boostcamp. The library holds 11,000+ programs. The coach directory lists 47 coaches and 413K athletes trained. The PHUL page alone shows 31,689 athletes running it with 521 ratings. A coach who wants a program in front of a large audience gets that here. Method has no library, no public profile, and no way for a stranger to find your program.

It costs a coach nothing. Publishing a program requires no fee. Sharing by private link requires no fee. Building on the desktop Program Creator requires no fee. Method's Coach Workspace is $19.99 per month in USD on the date checked.

Platforms. Lifters run Boostcamp on iPhone, iPad, Apple Vision, and Android, on iOS 15.1 or later. Method clients need an iPhone on iOS 26 or later. Boostcamp's home FAQ says there is no Apple Watch app, and its features page says there is one.

A prescription model built for lifters. Every set takes RPE 5 to 10 or RIR. Programs carry percentages, AMRAP targets, training-max waves, and a deload schedule the app understands. Auto-progression loads next session's weights when the lifter hits their reps. It adjusts down when they miss. A coach can list suggested exercise alternatives, and coach sets cannot be deleted by the lifter. Method has RIR or RPE with half values and load relative to another set. It has no percent of a tested 1RM and no auto-progression.

Lifter analytics. Lifters get PRs by rep range, volume, and reps, e1RM curves, weekly Sunday reports, and a year-end Wrapped. Pro adds a Strength Score based on IPF DOTS and a per-muscle volume heatmap. Method shows a coach estimated 1RM over time and the sets behind it, and nothing like a score.

Maturity. On the date checked the App Store showed a 4.8 rating across about 10K ratings. Google Play showed 4.7 across 13K reviews with 500K+ downloads. Method's coaching is launching now.

Pricing, read carefully

Boostcamp has no coach pricing, because it has no coach plan. The site has no coach page, and the sitemap shows no coach pricing or coach sign-up page. Publishing a program, sharing it by link, and building on the desktop are free. Lifters pay $0. Boostcamp Pro is $14.99 per month or $59.99 per year in USD on the date checked. The annual plan has a 7-day trial. The 20+ exclusive coach programs sit inside that subscription. Whether Boostcamp pays those coaches, and how much, is not stated on the pages checked. The Terms prohibit users from selling or commercially exploiting platform content. Selling your own program to lifters through Boostcamp is not described anywhere.

Method sells one plan. The Coach Workspace is $19.99 per month in USD on the date checked. It includes 5 clients and 1 workspace member, the owner. Each further client is $2.00 per month and each further member is $9.99 per month. Annual billing charges 10 months for 12, so the base is $199.90 per year. The 14-day trial covers the workspace, the program library, and your own training. Client invitations, client management, and messaging start with the first payment. Clients use their own Method account, free or Pro. Programs you publish do not count toward their free programming weeks. See the pricing page.

A worked example, with one coach on monthly billing and no extra members.

Five clients cost $19.99 per month on Method and $0 on Boostcamp. Fifteen clients cost $39.99 on Method and $0 on Boostcamp. Thirty clients cost $69.99 on Method and $0 on Boostcamp. Boostcamp also pays the coach $0 on the pages checked. It gives the coach no roster, no per-client data, and no channel to those lifters. Method's price buys the roster, the review loop, form checks, check-ins, and messaging. It buys no audience.

Who should pick which

Pick Boostcamp if you want your program in the hands of as many lifters as possible at no cost. Pick it if you write in RPE, RIR, percentages, and AMRAP and want the app to load the weights. Pick it if your lifters are on Android or iPad. Pick it if the coaching happens over text or in person and Boostcamp is the logger they already use.

Pick Method if you coach named clients and want to see what they did. Choose it for a publish step that shows the client's changes first. Choose it for form checks with drawings and timestamped notes. Choose it for check-ins built from your own questions and one inbox per client. Read Method for coaches and the coaching docs before you start a trial. If you are weighing a logger that does have a coach side, see Method vs Hevy Coach. If a team platform with a marketplace is on your list, see Method vs TrainHeroic.

What Method does not do

Method has no program library, no public program page, no private-link sharing, and no community. A stranger cannot find or save your program. It has no program sales, no payouts, and no client payments, invoicing, or subscriptions. It has no auto-progression and no percent-of-1RM prescription, and it does not generate programs. It has no Android app for coaches or clients, no iPad app, and no coach app on any phone. It has no lifter-facing score, heatmap, weekly report, or year-end summary. Coaching is one to one, with no group programs, group chat, or broadcast. Coach exports are none today.