Your In-depth Guide to the 15 Best Fitness Software for Creators to Teach Online

Not only has the online fitness scene exploded, but the tools to help fitness content creators monetize their work have also expanded. Whether you are searching for a software simply to lessen the admin or a platform for live streaming, there is a decent number of tools available. We’ve done the research for you and compiled this list to help you choose the best fitness software for your needs. Some of these tools have been around for some time, while others are new to the scene. While we’ve tried to dot the i’s and cross the t’s, it is always best to take advantage of the demo or free trial that most offer. 

The 15 Best Fitness Software for Creators

1. Strydal – best for virtual classes
2. IndiFit – best for virtual classes
3. airsubs – best for  virtual classes
4. Salut – best for virtual classes
5. Playbook – best for selling merch
6. TrueCoach – best for small businesses
7. My PT Hub – best for hybrid businesses
8. Nudge Coach – best for marketing
9. Mindbody – best for marketing 
10. Trainerize – best for hybrid businesses
11. FitSW – best for small businesses
12. PT Distinction – best for small businesses
13. WellnessLiving – best for small businesses
14. Exercise.com – best for marketing
15. Zen Planner – best for selling merch

Your In-depth Guide to the 15 Best Fitness Software for Creators to Teach Online:

1. Strydal

With Strydal you can offer live online classes as well as share a library of high-quality on-demand videos. If you want to use it for teaching online yoga and fitness classes, you can rest assured knowing that your clients’ privacy is protected as your clients won’t be able to hear or see each other. If you need to speak to an individual client, you simply need to tap and you will be able to provide one-to-one feedback while the rest of your class can continue undisturbed. 

Strydal also plans to launch a music integration feature soon. With this feature, you will be able to play your preferred music while teaching, eliminating the need to share playlists with clients. 

If you prefer to create on-demand videos, Strydal also lets you build a video library of unlimited videos in full HD which only paying clients can access. To help your clients find the type of content that they prefer, you can organize your videos into themed selections. 

While user experience is crucial, Strydal does not forget about their own clients – the fitness creators who are using their software to run a business. So, Strydal has made sure to keep its approach to payment straightforward. It is free to sign up and you will only be charged a percentage based on your revenue and a standard 3% transaction processing fee. With regards to payment processing, your clients will be able to pay you by means of various solutions that are managed via Stripe. The software also caters to those who want to pay a membership as well as students who prefer to pay a one-off fee per live session. 

All in all, its interface is clean and intuitive making it easy to use. It is designed with the needs of both students and fitness creators in mind. 

Key features:

• Client privacy shield
• Video collections
• Analytics and insights

2. IndiFit

IndiFit was created with fitness entrepreneurs in mind. If you have already created your own website, it's a great tool to explore to reduce the time spent on admin as you can embed a booking directly into your brand’s website. This way, you can remain in control of your brand and still take advantage of booking software that was created specifically for fitness instructors. 

Getting started is also easy. First, you need to create your own custom profile. After you have brought your brand to life via your profile, you list whether you provide live in-person training, virtual or private classes. You can also offer class packs. 

With Indifit you can host unlimited classes for free. The only thing that you will have to pay is a payment processing fee of 5%. They integrate with Stripe and will send you your payouts by means of a direct deposit on a weekly basis. 

Founded in 2020, IndiFit is still new on the block and it would be interesting to see how the software evolves. Current plans include an IndiFit Pro subscription plan. Once this plan is launched, you will also have the option of paying $29 per month that will include access to premium features. 

Key features:

• Analytics
• Your own digital community
• 24/7 human support for both fitness creators and their clients
• Stripe integration

3. airsubs

Unlike IndiFit, airsubs is not specific to the fitness industry. Instead, it is a software solution that you can use to market, host and receive payments for teaching virtual classes. With it, you will get access to a page with your branding, a schedule with all your classes and your own email list. Whether you prefer to charge per class, offer a subscription or sell packages, you remain in control. 

Founded in 2020, it is one of the easiest tools to use. After you sign up, they will help you to post your virtual class schedule, accept payments and to send unique Zoom links to people who signed up by means of email. Then, after you have hosted your fitness class, you receive payment into your bank account or debit card. 

In terms of pricing, there are three paid plans. The cheapest plan (the Pro plan) costs $25 per month and charges a 3% fee on transactions. This is the best option if you sell less than $2,500 per month. For those that sell between $2,500 and $5,00 per month, the Premier plan is the better option. While it is double the price, it charges only 2% for transactions. For those who sell more than $5,000 per month, airsubs recommend that you sign up for the Unlimited plan. This plan will set you back $100 per month, but the service fee is only 1%, in other words a third of the cheapest plan. All three of these plans include live classes, on-demand classes, the ability to offer memberships and embed on your website as well as premium support. 

Key features:

• Your own email list
• Uses Zoom for streaming
• A schedule with your classes

4. Salut

Salut is a mobile app that is specifically aimed at fitness instructors. With the help of the app, fitness instructors can broadcast virtual classes to clients and get paid for their work. All in all, its interface is simple and quick to set up. As you will be live-streaming your videos, you first need to schedule the virtual class in your calendar so that your followers will know when to join. Then, to ensure that those who signed up do not miss the event, a push-to-notification calendar integration has been included. Thanks to this feature, events will automatically be added to the calendars of the attendees. 

Key features:

• Compatibility with Apple and Android

5. Playbook

Fitness creators who are ready to quit playing around and create a business will like what Playbook has to offer. Playbook is simple to use and boasts a clean, intuitive interface. With it, you can create workout programs, tutorials, and classes. You can then create a workout library where you can store and sort your content by category so that it's easy to find. You can also use the app to create and share new content on a weekly basis. While written content such as guides in PDF format is a good place to start, it's best to create video content too. After you have created your video, you can upload it and add a title and description. 

Depending on your business structure, there is potentially one drawback. Playbook does not offer creators the complete freedom to decide on their pricing. Instead, monthly subscriptions start at $15 per month, $39.99 per quarter and $99.99 per year. Creators will then get paid at the end of each month. If you have quarterly and annual subscriptions, you will receive the monthly equivalent for these subscriptions. It is also important to note that while Playbook is free to use, they do take a 20% cut. Considering what an app like Strydal charges, Playbook is definitely not the most affordable option. 

Another possible con is that Playbook does not do a lot of marketing. Instead, creators will have to implement their own digital marketing strategy to grow a decent following. 

Key features:

• Instagram-ready templates for marketing
• Exclusive Spotify-linked playlists
• The ability to link your merch directly in the app
• 24/7 customer support

6. TrueCoach

If you prefer one-on-one personalized coaching over group classes, TrueCoach will help you to grow your business. Founded in 2015, TrueCoach is trusted by more than 20,000 personal trainers and coaches across the globe. You can use it to create self-branded videos in which you demonstrate exercises which will be stored privately.

You can also use it to streamline your communication with your clients thanks to the real-time messaging feature and email notifications. All your messages will be kept safely in one place while the platform will automatically notify you and your clients about upcoming workouts. 

Unlike many of the other tools mentioned in our list, TrueCoach also lets you track and measure your client data. Your clients will be able to upload the data for each workout. This empowers creators to reach more informed choices about the content that they need to create for the next lesson. 

TrueCoach offer three paid plans. The Starter plan ($19 per month) is for fitness creators who have up to five active clients. The Standard plan ($49 per month) is for those with no more than 20 active clients, while the Pro plan ($99 per month) is for instructors with up to 50 active clients. If you have more than 50 clients, you will need to reach out to them for their custom pricing.  

Key features:

• Compatibility with Apple and Android
• Workout builder
• Video exercise library
• Real-time messaging
• Progress tracking
• Nutrition tracking
• Team accounts

7. My PT Hub

My PT Hub is one of the most affordable online platforms for personal trainers, coaches, gym owners, and creators working within the fitness industry. Even though it does not charge (nearly) as much as some of the other fitness software solutions, it still offers a substantial feature list. 

You can use it to create unlimited workouts and custom exercises. If you need a break from content creation, you can simply share exercises from the platform’s own database of over 7,500 exercises. 

In addition to workouts, My PT Hub also lets you focus on nutrition. You can create unlimited nutrition plans or individual meal templates for your clients. Using the nutrition plans that you have created, the software will automatically create shopping lists for your clients.  

My PT Hub ranks well amongst those in know and has earned itself a large number of noteworthy reviews online, making it one of the most reviewed fitness software solutions at the time of writing this article. From as little as $20 per month, you can create content to help your following achieve their goals. 

Key features:

• Nutrition plans
• Custom domain
• Client monitoring
• Apple Watch integration
• Custom branding

8. Nudge Coach

If you are running a smaller online business, Nudge Coach can work better than some of the other fitness and personal training tools in this list. Both you and your clients will find it easy to use, especially for communication. 

Fitness creators can use it to set goals and schedule entire programs in advance which can then get delivered automatically. For something more interactive, you can create what the app calls “Cards”. These are similar to emails, but delivered right via the coaching app. 

Key features:

• Tracking
• Secure in-app messages

9. Mindbody

If you are searching for more exposure for your content, the Mindbody app boasts more than 3 million active users, with over 145,000 new users joining on average per month, which means that your target audience will be able to read reviews and join your classes. 

By means of the intuitive on-demand video and live-streaming features, you can make it easy for your clients to access your online library of the fitness content you've created. Though, as a creator, you can’t only focus on creating content. You need the right marketing toolset to ensure that your content is discoverable to new clients as well. 

In addition to listing your business on their own Mindbody app, they will also list your business on Google and Peerfit. Then, with the help of automated, customizable campaigns and messages, such as intro offers and last-minute deals, you can attract new clients. 

Though, one area where it does not perform that well is value for money. Its cheapest plan starts at $159 per month and offers very little. The next plan in their tier is more than double the price, while their Ultimate plan will set you back $699 per month.

10. Trainerize

With Trainerize, you can create on-demand classes, track progress, offer group training and communicate via in-app messaging. It also offers you the ability to offer in-person training, making it a good option if you do not solely want to focus on content creation. In addition to concentrating on fitness, you can also use it to create custom nutrition plans. 

Thanks to the in-app payments, it is also easy to collect payments and create discount codes. You can either offer one-time products or sell recurring products. Moreover, it offers fitness creators the ability to sell products via social media or their own website by means of shareable payment links. 

Key features:

• Automatic failed payment recovery
• The ability to create a custom branded fitness app
• Client notifications
• Automated messaging
• Digital invoicing, reporting and billing

11. FitSW

With FitSW, you can create personalized workouts, save workouts as templates, design meal plans and a lot of other types of content. If you need to take a break from creating content for your clients, its software includes a live class feature. While you can use this feature to teach fitness classes for as many as 200 clients, you can also use it for one-on-one meetings and consultations with individual clients. 

With regards to payment processing, it offers a variety of ways to monetize your work. You can use it to set rates for sessions, create packages, set monthly, quarterly, or annual subscriptions, and receive one-off payments. 

Key features:

• Reminder emails
• Multi-day plans
• Live group classes
• One-on-one virtual sessions
• Task templates
• Food lists
• Demo videos
• Exercise lists

12. PT Distinction

With PT Distinction, you can focus on more than simply fitness. It also concentrates on habit tracking and nutrition tracking. For example, you can use the software to create new habits for your clients quickly which they can then track daily to share their progress. You can either use it as a stand-alone software solution or integrate it as part of your website. While PT Distinction offers a lot more customization, one drawback to keep in mind is that the interface is not that intuitive and the learning curve is relatively steep.

Its cheapest plan costs only $19.90 per month, but only includes 3 online client accounts. For every extra client that you add, you will be charged an extra $6 per client. Depending on the size of your client base, it might make more financial sense if you sign up for its Master plan ($80 per month). While this is their most expensive plan, it includes 50 online client accounts and charges only $1.60 per extra client per month. 

Key features:

• Habit coaching and tracking
• Automated notifications
• Photo food diary
• Tracking

13. WellnessLiving

WellnessLiving is another fitness software solution that boasts an impressive number of reviews. One of its unique features is that while it offers a fitness studio, it also offers more specialized studios that include martial arts, dance and even pole dancing.

Compared to similar tools, it is reasonably priced. Though, it is important to take note that they offer some features as an add-on. So, depending on what you would like to offer, it can become quite expensive quickly. For $59 per month, you get access to its entry Basic plan. If, for example, you would like to add a rewards and loyalty program, you will have to pay an additional $24 per month. 

Key features:

• Dynamic marketing tools
• Personalized postcards
• An SMS feature
• Mobile apps for clients and staff
• Electronic forms
• Advanced reporting

14. Exercise.com

Founded in 2010, Exercise.com is one of the fitness software solutions for creators that has received the most reviews on Capterra. If you want to monetize your work, you can use it to sell single workout plans or workout memberships. You can also use it to offer one-on-one training via your own custom-branded app. One feature that sets it apart from many other tools is that you can use it to conduct personalized assessments. You can then use this data to create workouts automatically.  

Key features:

• Data tracking
• Workout plan creator
• Workout logging

15. Zen Planner

If you want to manage memberships specifically, Zen Planner is the ideal tool and has received noteworthy reviews for being one of the best membership management software solutions. 

According to the Zen Planner’s website, their users have managed to increase their annual revenue growth by as much as 20% after they have started using the Zen Planner Suite. The focus of the software is to redirect your energy to creating content instead of daily tasks. 

In addition to offering all the essential features you need to manage the daily operations of running a business, it also offers a retail management feature. With the help of this feature, you can supplement your income by selling and tracking merch like water bottles, clothing and gift cards. 

Key features:

• A separate app for members and staff
• Attendance tracking
• Online scheduling
• Reporting
• Automated billing
• Integrated website
• Integrated payment processing

Best for Selling Merch

While it is great to generate money by means of teaching virtual classes online, uploading videos or creating customized meal plans, you have only so many hours in a day. If you have a client base with a decent engagement, you can also sell merch to earn an extra stream of income. If this sounds like something you are keen to explore, Playbook and Zen Planner are great choices. 

Best for Hybrid Businesses

If you want the best of both worlds – teaching online and face-to-face training, My PT Hub and Trainerize are the better choices. Both these software solutions’ features can be used for growing your following online as well as in person.

Best for Virtual Classes

If you know that you are not interested in meeting your clients in person and you solely want to devote your attention to teaching online, Strydal, IndiFit, airsubs and Salut are all great choices. While Strydal, IndiFit and Salut focus on the fitness industry specifically, you can use airsubs for teaching other virtual classes. So, if you are not entirely sure if the fitness industry is the best fit yet, you can try airsubs as it will give you the opportunity to try your hand at teaching other skills too. 

Best for Small Businesses

If you already have a number of clients, you might find the pricing of TrueCoach, FitSW and PT Distinction will make more sense. Plus, FitSW has a feature that lets you add multiple trainers which can come in handy if you want to join forces with fellow fitness content creators. 

WellnessLiving is also a good choice for small businesses. As it offers you the ability to create a specific studio, you can identify a specific niche and grow your business from there. 

Best for Marketing

Nudge Coach, Mindbody and Exercise.com all include features to help with marketing to ensure that your content reaches the right audience. For example, Nudge Coach offers a unique Program Card feature that promises to be more engaging than email. On the other hand, if budget is not an issue, Mindbody offers a whole Marketing Suite to help you grow your business.