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pricing

the $1 per client model

Why we priced Trainbase at a flat dollar per client, and threw out the tiers that punish coaches for growing.

Trainbase, the team6 min read

When we started building Trainbase, we studied every corner of the fitness technology landscape. The clearest problem was not a missing feature. It was the business model. Standard coaching software pricing is misaligned with the financial reality of being a coach: it penalises you for growing.

So we built our model on a different principle, and priced Trainbase at one dollar per client per month. This is the thinking behind that number.

the flaw in tiered pricing

Most coaching platforms, including the typical Trainerize alternative or Everfit alternative, use tiered pricing. The structure looks reasonable on the surface: more clients, more value, a higher price. The problem is at the margins. Sign your 16th client on a 15-client tier and your revenue grows by a couple of hundred dollars, but your software bill doubles overnight. Your provider just took a commission on the client you worked to win.

the tier jump
clientstypical tiered plantrainbase
up to 15$30 / mo$15 / mo
16 to 30$60 / mo$16 to $30 / mo
31 to 50$100 / mo$31 to $50 / mo
your 16th client+$30 / mo overnight+$1 / mo
A representative tiered plan for 2026. The cost is flat inside a tier, then jumps at the boundary, so your 16th, 31st, and 51st clients each trigger a step you have to absorb.

a pricing model that makes you hesitate before signing a client is working against the only thing that matters.

software should scale with you, not against you

Our pricing philosophy is one idea: we are your partner in growth, and our success should be a direct, linear function of yours. So we abandoned tiers entirely. Your first client costs a dollar. Your 16th costs a dollar. Your 51st costs a dollar. No cliffs, no penalties, no hesitation, and a cost you can forecast to the dollar whether you coach five people or five hundred.

what you keep, at every size
15 clients
tiered plan
$30 / mo
trainbase
$15 / mo
you keep$15 / mo
per client$1
30 clients
tiered plan
$60 / mo
trainbase
$30 / mo
you keep$30 / mo
per client$1
50 clients
tiered plan
$100 / mo
trainbase
$50 / mo
you keep$50 / mo
per client$1
The same three roster sizes, tiered plan versus a flat dollar per client. The saving is real at 15 and grows as you do.

This structure creates mutual accountability between us and you. We are incentivised to build software that helps you attract and keep clients, because our revenue rises only when your roster does. We grow with you, not by building pricing gates you have to break through.

why $1, deliberately

The figure is not arbitrary. It is simple to understand, impossible to misread, and aggressive enough to challenge the market. It forces us to operate efficiently and to build a product valuable enough to scale to a large number of coaches and their clients.

$1per client, per monththe whole price
0pricing tiersno cliffs to break through
1:1our success to yourswe grow only as you do
100%predictableforecast it to the dollar

We can sustain this because Trainbase is not only a B2B tool. It is a dual-sided platform: the consumer application, where individuals track their own training, nutrition, and wellness, runs a parallel ecosystem that helps carry the infrastructure. That volume is what lets us align our coaching price with your success instead of against it.

a true Trainerize and Everfit alternative

For a coach weighing the options, the difference is structural, not cosmetic. Comparing one tiered platform to another is just choosing which set of cliffs is slightly less punishing. Trainbase changes the relationship between a coach and their software: you stop thinking about the subscription, add clients, deliver your service, and trust the platform is scaling with you affordably and predictably. The mental energy you used to spend managing a plan goes back into coaching.

two models, side by side
tiered softwaretrainbase
cost of your next clienta tier jump+$1 / mo
pricing cliffsat every tiernone
predictable costonly within a tieralways, $1 x clients
penalty for growthyour bill jumpsscales linearly with you
at 50 clientsaround $100 / mo$50 / mo

the future is aligned

This is more than a pricing strategy. It is the logical expression of the whole platform: a unified system where the success of trainers and the progress of clients are interconnected, and the price reflects it. We believe coaches should be rewarded for their growth, not taxed on it. That belief is what a dollar per client is built to keep.

the honest answers

How much does Trainbase actually cost?

One dollar per client per month. Coach twenty people and it is twenty dollars a month. There are no tiers, no setup fee, and no per-feature upsell.

What happens to my bill when I add a client?

It goes up by exactly one dollar. There is no tier to break through and no overnight jump, so signing one more person is never a financial decision.

How can you offer it this cheaply?

Trainbase is dual-sided: a tool for coaches and a consumer app that stands on its own. The consumer side helps carry the infrastructure, so we can price the coaching tools below what a B2B-only competitor can match.

one platform, $1 per client.

Training, nutrition, sleep, and body metrics in one shared system built for the relationship between a coach and the people they train.