Trainers mostly sell sessions and packages paid online in advance, so the online card rate is what counts. Studios with classes need group booking, which not every scheduler has.
The example
A solo personal trainer
- 1staff
- 100bookings a month
- $60average price
- 70%paid online
15% pay by card at the appointment, the rest cash or other. 1 reminder text per booking, 1 new clients a month from booking apps. This is an illustration, not a statistic about the trade: put your own numbers in.
Spread at this volume: $175 to $214 a month, a difference of $471 a year.
Cheapest all-in for trainers
YouCanBookMe · Free
- Plan$0
- Card processing$167.85
- Text reminders$7
Card fees estimated with Stripe's standard rate. Vendor list prices checked 4 October 2026.
9 systems ranked
Partial estimates: some costs aren't published
These fit your must-haves, but at least one fee isn't public, so the real total is higher than shown. They're kept out of the ranking above.
What matters for personal trainers and fitness studios
Online card rate
Most of a trainer's money arrives online. Square Free charges 3.3% + 30¢ online versus 2.9% + 30¢ on Plus.
Packages and classes
Acuity Standard, Mindbody and Picktime handle packages or classes; basic schedulers may not.
Marketplace fees
Mindbody's app takes 20% of a new client's first purchase, capped at $30.
Questions from personal trainers and fitness studios
What is the cheapest booking software for personal trainers and fitness studios?
At my example (a solo personal trainer: 100 bookings a month at $60), the cheapest all-in is YouCanBookMe on Free at about $175 a month, including card fees. Third is Setmore at $180. Change the numbers to match your business; the order changes with volume and how clients pay.
How much of the cost is card processing for personal trainers and fitness studios?
For the cheapest option at this volume, card fees are about 96% of the monthly total. 85% of bookings in the example are paid by card.
Which booking systems are built for personal trainers and fitness studios?
13 of the systems I track list personal trainers and fitness studios among the businesses they target: Calendly, Acuity Scheduling, YouCanBookMe, Square Appointments, Setmore, SimplyBook.me, Picktime, Appointy, Vagaro, Fresha, Mindbody, Wix Bookings, HoneyBook.
SalonsBarbersSpas & massageTherapistsClinicsTutorsConsultants
No forms, no sales funnel
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