Choosing PT software/tech: Spotlight on Booking systems, CRMs, and Programming software for six figure+

Oct 21, 2022

14 min read

The following is intended to help you come to a decision on the best software to use to systemize your business (if you have a revenue of more than $100,000). We'll go through the types of software that you might be interested in having for your sole trader personal training or small group training studio. And the considerations that you may want to take into account when selecting the software and which software is best based on the considerations that you have. I put them together against each

Fun fact: when I selected personal training software I tested literally 10 of each different types of software. And I was so pleased with myself when I finally selected the exact type of software to a mixed emotion when I realized that because the majority of my clientele is over the age of 40 and therefore have age related sight impairment… As in, a lot of them become more long-sighted. Many of them actually found it difficult to use the apps when training without glasses on… that I paid a lot

Okay, so first things first. You might want to consider if it's about programming or booking. That's not to say that you can't have both, but from what I've found so far, software that does one really well does not seem to do the other really well. So oftentimes you need two distinct pieces of software, if you want to automate those processes in your business with an optional third one (however there is a leader which does bookings, appointments AND automations in one, so you’d just need an exer

Programming:

So let's dive in, shall we? Let's first start talking about PT programming software. Because this is what you're going to need regardless of your whether you're solely online, or whether you're in person, or whether you're a little bit of both. So what I mean by that is the type of software that you need when you're setting programs for your clients. Now, I would say the first thing you must do is ask yourself whether you actually need the piece of software because otherwise you are just kind of

So to create an example of that, if you're somebody who's doing a lot of percentages; so you might be a powerlifter or you're a crossfitter or something like that. I would say that the majority of this software that I'm about to talk about is probably not the best for that because it doesn't automatically do the calculations for you. And you can't bulk change the percentages that you're doing without just writing a note to the client and saying this week do this percentage or just having this wr

Another one is if you're programming for rehabilitation, and you're selecting moves that may not be on a typical database. You're gonna find, especially if you're making a new move for each client, it's going to take you a while to be able to build up the exercises that you require. And even if you do, then you'll have to keep renaming videos in order to attach them so it's another consideration as well. For my rehabilitation clients, I just found that it was not very time conducive or time savi

Some of the things that I was looking for is how quickly it takes you to be able to use the software. And I don't just mean learning how to use it. I mean also your ability to be able to just get going with programming. So for example, in trainercize, when you're getting started out and you want to start programming exercises, they don't automatically have a big database of all the exercises that you need to use in your programming. So for the first few weeks or months, and potentially longer, y

The next thing I got into is for trainercize from a client perspective. It's cool because yeah, it does have the ability to to get your own branded app. And it does have that internal messaging system as well, which is quite nice (just like Train heroic and True coach). But what I did find a bit weird or annoying, if I was to be your client, is the fact that it starts asking a whole bunch of questions to your clients that you may not necessarily be measuring, per se. And these are like a lot of

I did have a nutritionist that I went to see on their app. It asked me how long I was breastfed for by my mom and what type of birth I had as a child. And you know, like whether my mom had any particular sensitivities during pregnancy. And, any complications in pregnancy, stuff like that. It's kind of interesting because that actually never became a factor in any of our conversations. And to me, I kind of thought, is it something that we should be addressing because I've never been asked these q

So that aside, the trainercize app, train heroic and the true coach app, they're quite cool to use as a client. Quite interesting to use as a client as well. What you do find with them is they'll pull forward your spelling mistakes if you've saved a new video inside them. So that can kind of be annoying sometimes. And when you're specifically searching for an exercise that you've already got saved in the database, oftentimes, you have to start typing the first word of what that exercise could be

The other thing to consider with these pieces of software is how much they cost and to bear in mind that they're all charged in American dollars which means the amount you pay could vary each month. But it is a bit of a surprise to be charged 25% more, maybe 33% more when you're not anticipating that, so that's worth bearing in mind. On top of that, the grading of how many clients you have at times may be a juggle, but not because you have specifically too many clients all at once. And furthermo

Remember that if clients are over the age of 40, they're probably going to need to train with their glasses on if they're using the software on their phone, which the majority of them you're anticipating will be, also if you are chit chatting that age group for some reason, and there's the broad generalization a lot of them just really would like it on a piece of paper for them. I don't know about you, but I don't have a printer that probably overtime would work out cheaper to do and on top of t

BOOKING SYSTEMS

Moving on to booking systems there's a very interesting one. I am constantly testing new software and working out ways that they're great and working out. Why is it they're not so great. So I'll give you my top three that I tried and tested and a few reasons to consider why one or another one may be correct for you.

Now the absolute leader for me at the moment is Wellness Living. The reason being, they just have such superb features. I recently had a demo off it and they've got a reward system that you can have for your clients. So they come to more classes to get more points, they write more reviews to get more points, all of the things that you want them to do. You can give them like points to be rewarded for which then you can decide what the points can be used for sort of thing. There's a few different

On top of that. It is worth checking the expense of the booking systems as well, because there's a big discrepancy in what they offer versus what they charge. So I have in the past had a few pieces of software that claim to be able to do you know text messaging, emailing and do automatic client nurturing systems and that sort of thing. Then I later found out that I would be charged per email per each automatic process that was occurring. Now that might not sound too bad. But if you have a databa

What I can tell you is the software that I've been using Wellness Living actually has the automations and emails built into it. So it wasn't extra for those things. It didn't charge me for email. It didn't charge me per automatic process that occurred on top of the email. So I thought that was quite advantageous because it was all firing in one software. It wasn't like one just say would be down for the day and the other one wouldn't you just kind of knew where it was all in one place. So that a

Now there is the ability to do that in this other piece of software called push press. So push press is very cool. It works very well for small groups. And classes. It does have the ability to do appointments like personal training appointments, but that part is not user led. It's staff led. So that's pretty annoying. It gives you that particular bit. On top of that pushpress press does the automations but it's an extra piece of software and that extra piece of software is something ridiculous l

I didn't look at mind body and whilst a lot of people know how to use mind body so that makes it worthwhile from a user perspective because they already had the app on their phone. If you are a small unknown studio, it's probably quite good because if you've got a solid intro offer, you'll be sort of advertising and presented in front of people that are just using the app which is a great way to be discovered. But that being a strength is also a weakness. People might be going on to mind body to

But for me, the way I look at it is if there's a piece of software that is constantly advertising to users, it generally means it's a free piece of software. So in terms of your customer user experience, when they're getting advertised to all the time by another fitness facility. To them, they're thinking about all the apps that you can get a free version off. It's just that they send you adverts all the time. So to me, it's not suggesting to your clientele that you're paying bucks each month to

So it's worthwhile like chopping around each year and doing a bit of an audit on what you're using, what you're not using and what would do the best for you.

BONUS: CRM for newsletters and nurturing clients

The final piece of software I think you should look at for your gym would be a CRM. This is probably worthwhile if you're training more than 10 clients. And it's definitely the place that you should be storing all of the contact details of people for sending out your monthly newsletter. You can send out any special offers that you have going on, special announcements or maybe you've got some events or special guests coming in. This is the opportunity to be really organized because how you presen

Automations & Course Software

Now, here’s where things start to get exciting—because if you want to scale without burning yourself out, automation is your best friend. One tool I adore for this is Manychat. It’s like having a little assistant who never sleeps. I use it to automate lead follow-ups, send reminders, and even run mini funnels on Instagram, Tik Tok and Facebook—all with a conversational tone that doesn’t feel robotic. Clients love the instant responses, and I love the reduced admin. (That link gets you 30% off yo

For those of you who are ready to offer online courses or digital programs (think: nutrition coaching, at-home workouts, or even onboarding sequences), I can’t recommend my Learning Management Software enough. It’s not just a landing page—it handles upsells, email tagging, affiliate tracking, and integrates seamlessly with all your existing systems. What I love most is how easy it is to get paid and how it keeps my offers tidy and professional. Plus, it’s a one-time fee—so you’re not paying anot

You have any top tips for the software that you use? Do you think that I've missed any software that you think is the best? Let me know. I'd love to hear from you.

Legal disclaimer:

P.s. I don't have affiliate links for each of the things I've linked you to, (just one of them), I'm just a satisfied user. If I do get a lot of traction for these free articles I write, Ill ask specifically for that so that I can make more helpful segments like this!