Almost nobody in this industry publishes their prices, which is why you are reading an article instead of a price page. So here is the straight answer, including what we charge.
The short version: online training in 2026 runs anywhere from about $10 a month to over $1,000. That range sounds useless until you understand what actually separates the tiers, and it is not the workouts. It is how much of a real coach’s time you are buying.
The four tiers, and what each one really is
| What you are buying | Typical 2026 price | What you actually get |
|---|---|---|
| Fitness app | $10 to $50 per month | Auto-generated or pre-built workouts, tracking, no human involved |
| Template program | $30 to $100 per month | A plan somebody wrote once and sells to everyone, light customization |
| Online coaching | $100 to $300 per month | A real coach, custom programming, check-ins and messaging, usually async |
| Premium 1-on-1 coaching | $400 to $1,000+ per month | A coach with a small client list, live calls, nutrition coaching, fast responses |
Those figures come from 2026 industry pricing guides, and they line up with what we see in the market. For reference, in-person training is usually priced per session rather than monthly, commonly $40 to $120 an hour depending on the city and the trainer.
The important thing is that all four tiers hand you a workout. A well-built app will give you a perfectly reasonable training program for $20 a month. If a program is all you need, buy the app and stop reading.
Why the gap is so big
Because you are paying for attention, and attention does not scale.
A company selling a $20 app can have 100,000 users because software serves all of them at once. A coach who writes your program, reads your logs, notices you skipped Thursday two weeks running, adjusts your calories, and gets on a call with you every week can carry maybe 20 to 30 clients before the quality drops. That math is the entire price difference.
So when you compare two online coaches and one is half the price, the useful question is not “why is that one expensive?” It is “how many clients does the cheaper one have, and how much of a real person am I getting?”
What we charge, and what it includes
Our online coaching starts at $127 a week, billed every four weeks, so about $508 per billing cycle. Your exact price depends on how much support you want.
That puts us in the premium tier, and here is what sits behind it:
- A program written for you by your coach, not generated, in an app on your phone
- A live 1-on-1 video call with your coach every week to review the week and adjust the plan
- A check-in from your coach every day
- Messaging with your coach whenever you need it, with replies within 24 hours and usually much faster
- A nutrition plan built around the food you actually eat
- Progress tracking that your coach reviews, not just logs
No contract. We ask you to plan on 90 days because that is how long real change takes, but you can stop anytime.
I am not going to pretend that is cheap, and I am not going to pretend the $20 app is a scam. They are different products for different problems.
How to tell which tier you need
Buy an app if: you already know how to train, you just want structure, and your track record of following a plan on your own is good.
Buy a template program if: you have a specific goal that a proven plan covers, like a first half marathon or a beginner strength program, and you do not need anyone to adapt it.
Buy online coaching if: you have tried apps and quit, or your schedule and nutrition are the actual problem rather than the exercises, or you need somebody expecting to hear from you.
Buy in-person training if: you want hands-on coaching while you lift, or you know that an appointment with a human is the only thing that gets you out the door.
That last one is worth saying out loud even though we sell online coaching. Some people need the room and the appointment. If that is you, look for a studio near you instead, and if you happen to be in Chicago, ours is in Lakeview and the first session is free.
Five questions that reveal what you are actually paying for
Ask these before you pay anyone, including us.
- Who writes my program, a person or software? With AI in everything now, this is the question of the year. Ask it directly and see how fast the answer comes.
- How many clients does my coach have? You will not always get a straight answer, but the reaction tells you plenty.
- Do I ever talk to my coach live, or is it all messaging? Text is cheap to provide. A scheduled call is not.
- Is nutrition included, and what does “included” mean? A macro target emailed to you is not a nutrition plan.
- What are the terms? Month to month, or locked in? Any decent coach will tell you plainly.
If the answers are vague, the price is the least of your problems.
Is $400 a month a lot for a personal trainer?
People search this exact question, so here is a real answer.
$400 a month is roughly $13 a day. Compared to a gym membership it is a lot. Compared to two coached sessions a week at most studios it is about the same or less. Compared to what people spend on food delivery without thinking about it, it is usually less than that too.
The better question is what you are getting for it and whether you will use it. $400 a month for a coach who replies to you twice a month is expensive. $200 a month for something you follow for a year and that changes how you eat is cheap. Price only means something next to the result, and the result depends almost entirely on whether you stay with it.
What I would avoid is buying the cheapest thing available after you have already quit three cheap things. That is not saving money, it is paying repeatedly for the same disappointment.
Costs that are easy to miss
The headline price is usually not the whole number, so check for these before you commit.
Equipment. Some programs assume a fully equipped gym. If you are training at home you may need dumbbells or bands. Ask what the program requires before you sign up, not after.
A gym membership on top. Online coaching does not include a place to train. If the program needs a squat rack and you do not have one, add your membership to the real cost.
App or platform fees. Most coaches include this. Some do not. Ask.
Supplements. If a coaching program pushes its own supplement line, treat that as part of the price, and treat the recommendation with suspicion.
Paying up front for months you have not used. Discounts for prepaying six or twelve months are common. They are only a discount if you actually stay, and the people who need coaching most are often the people least sure they will.
For what it is worth, everything in our program is included in the weekly price, and the only thing you might need to add is access to a gym if your plan calls for equipment you do not have at home.
Is online worth it compared to in-person?
Different math, not better or worse.
Two in-person sessions a week at $40 to $120 an hour runs $320 to $960 a month, and the coaching stops when the hour ends. Premium online coaching in the same price range covers seven days a week instead of two hours, but nobody is standing next to you fixing your form in the moment.
If you want the detailed in-person breakdown, we published what personal training actually costs in Chicago, including our own session rates.
The honest summary: in-person wins on technique and on showing up. Online wins on cost per hour of attention, on flexibility, and on covering the other 165 hours of your week. Plenty of people end up doing both.
What to do with this
Decide which tier your problem actually needs before you shop on price. Somebody who quits every app they download does not need a cheaper app. Somebody who just wants a structured program does not need a $500 a month coach.
If you think coaching is the tier you need, book a free coaching call. We will talk through your goals, your schedule and what you are working with, and tell you honestly whether this is worth your money. Sometimes the answer is no, and we will say so.