TidyCal for personal trainers and sports coaches
Who has three sessions left? The software knows.
A setup for an independent trainer: a free assessment, single sessions, a 10-session pack paid up front, and a 6-person small group. Plus a no-show fee, because you will need it.
Free plan with no time limit. No card needed.
TidyCal is the best scheduling app for personal trainers and sports coaches who charge for their time. Clients pay when they book, with packages and subscriptions on the Free plan, and Individual Lifetime is $29 once. Pick Acuity Scheduling if you sell gift certificates or run a waitlist, and Calendly if you run inbound sales on Salesforce or HubSpot.
The setup
Here is how a trainer might run it. "Iron & Oak" is made up. The prices are middle of the road for a private studio; use yours.
| Booking type | Length | Price | Type | What it is for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free assessment | 30 min | Free | Free | Movement check and goals. Ends with a plan and a pack offer. |
| 1:1 training session | 60 min | $80 | Paid | Pay as you go. |
| 10-session pack | 60 min | $70 per session | Package | 10 × $70 = $700. The one you actually want to sell. |
| Small group strength | 45 min | $25 | Group, 6 seats | Saturday 9am. Cheaper per head, more fun. |
Example prices. Charge what you charge.
The 4 best scheduling apps for personal trainers and sports coaches
I make TidyCal, so it's listed first. Each tool below says what it does better than us.
| # | Tool | Best for | Starts at |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | TidyCal Best value | Solo pros who charge for their time | $29 once |
| 2 | Acuity Scheduling | Appointment businesses with intake forms | $20/mo |
| 3 | Calendly | Sales teams on Salesforce or HubSpot | $10/seat/mo |
| 4 | Square Appointments | In-person services already on Square | Free for solo pros |
01
Best value
Best for: solo pros who charge for their time
- Price
- Free plan. Individual Lifetime is $29 once. Pro is $12 a month or $99 a year.
Free plan with paid bookings, packages and subscriptions. $29 once if you want more.
02
Best for: appointment businesses with intake forms
- Price
- No free plan, a 7-day trial. Starter is $20 a month ($16 billed yearly).
Strong intake forms, gift certificates and a waitlist. No free plan, from $20 a month.
03
Best for: sales teams on Salesforce or HubSpot
- Price
- $10 per seat a month on Standard, billed yearly ($12 monthly). The free plan is one event type.
Familiar to clients. The free plan is one event type and payments need Standard at $10 per seat a month.
04
Square Appointments
Best for: in-person services already on Square
- Price
- A free plan for solo professionals. Paid plans on Square's pricing page.
Built for in-person services with Square at the counter. Less suited to online calls.
How a trainer actually uses it
The assessment is free and required. A new client books it from the link in your Instagram bio, and the form asks about goals, injuries and how often they can train.
At the end of the assessment you do not "follow up later." You pull up the 10-session pack on your phone, they pick ten dates right there, and they pay $700 through Stripe before they leave. That is the whole sales process.
The Saturday small group fills the gap between people who can afford $80 a session and people who cannot. It closes itself at 6.
Sell packs, not sessions. Someone who paid for ten sessions shows up for ten sessions. Someone paying per session is always one busy week from quitting.
Settings for trainers
| Setting | What to set | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Hours | 6am to noon, Monday to Saturday | Set your real hours. Nobody books you for 3pm if you are not there. |
| Buffer | 15 minutes | Wipe down, reset, next client. |
| Booking limit | 6 sessions a day (Lifetime and Pro) | Protect your own training and your voice. |
| No-show fee | Full session price (Lifetime and Pro) | The 6am no-show is a trainer tradition. End it. |
| Reminders | 24 hours and 1 hour before (default) | On for every plan. |
Assessment questions
Three questions, all on the free assessment.
- Goal for the next 3 months On: Free assessment
- Any injuries, surgeries or pain I should know about? On: Free assessment
- How often can you train? (1x a week / 2x a week / 3x or more) On: Free assessment
You still do the real screening in person. The form just means you walk in knowing about the bad knee.
Other tools you will use
Subscriptions
Monthly memberships: Stripe bills monthly and the client gets 8 sessions to book each month.
Free planGroup bookings
Team clinics or bootcamps with a fixed number of spots (Lifetime and Pro).
Lifetime and Pro plansRatings and reviews
Clients can rate sessions, and you can show reviews on your booking page.
Free planWhat TidyCal costs
Free, $0
Most of the setup above. Group classes, approvals, cancellation fees, booking limits and automatic video links need a paid plan. Not a trial.
Individual Lifetime, $29 once
Pay one time through AppSumo. Adds group bookings, custom reminders, automatic Zoom and Google Meet links, and 10 calendars.
Pro, $12/mo or $99/yr
All of it, with no TidyCal branding, unlimited calendars and team scheduling with no seat fees.
Stripe and PayPal charge their usual processing fees on paid bookings. On the Free plan, Stripe bookings also carry a 1% TidyCal platform fee. See payment fee details. Compare every plan.
How we checked
Every competitor price comes from that company's own pricing page, read on September 30, 2026, at the billing period shown next to it. Tools with no published price we could verify carry no dollar figure. The ranking is for personal trainers and sports coaches who take bookings and charge for some of them. Nobody paid to be on this list. TidyCal's prices come straight from the plans we sell, so they match what you will pay, and the 1% platform fee on Stripe bookings is the live rate.
Questions personal trainers and sports coaches ask us
Can clients buy a pack of sessions?
Yes. Create a package booking type with the number of sessions and the price per session. The client picks all the dates when they book and pays the total once. Packages are on every plan, including Free.
Can I run small group or team sessions?
Yes, on the Lifetime and Pro plans. Group bookings let several people book the same slot, up to the number of spots you set.
Can I charge a monthly membership?
Yes. A subscription bills the client every month through Stripe and gives them a set number of sessions to book each period. Subscriptions are on every plan.
Can I cap how many sessions I do in a day?
Yes, on the Lifetime and Pro plans. Booking limits cap how many bookings a booking type takes per day, week or month.
Do clients need an app?
No. Clients book from a link in a browser. There is nothing to download, which matters more than you think for a 62-year-old new client.
Can clients book early-morning sessions?
Yes. Set your hours to whatever you actually work, including 6am, and that is all anyone can book.
Keep reading
Copy this setup in about 10 minutes
Make the booking types above, paste your questions in, share the link. Free to start.
Create your free booking pageNo credit card. Upgrade only if you need to.