TL;DR
The best booking software for personal trainers charges a flat monthly fee with zero commission per booking. At £50/session and 10 new clients per month, a platform charging 20–42% commission costs £100–£210/month vs. £29/month on Nextro. Annual saving: up to £2,172 — kept in your business.
Why commission platforms don't work for personal trainers
PT clients build a relationship with their trainer over months or years. A client who achieves results with a specific trainer doesn't want to switch — they want to keep working with the same person. Commission platforms exploit this by positioning themselves as the gateway to new clients, then continuing to take a fee even as the relationship becomes established.
The deeper problem: most PT-specific platforms (Mindbody, Vagaro, Acuity at the lower end) charge monthly fees on top of per-session fees, add card processing charges on top of that, and still don't provide a clean direct-booking page your clients can share. You end up paying for software complexity you don't need.
Commission and fee cost breakdown for personal trainers
Scenario: average 1:1 session at £50, 10 new clients per month.
| Platform | Commission | Per session | Monthly (10 new) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fresha | 20% | £10.00 | £100/mo |
| Treatwell | ~42% eff. | £21.00 | £210/mo |
| Nextro | 0% | £0 | £29/mo flat |
Annual saving over a 42% commission platform: £2,172 back in your business. At £50/session, that's 43 sessions per year you'd have worked purely to cover the platform fee.
What PTs actually need from booking software
Personal trainer booking software needs to do four things: show your availability, let clients pick and pay for a session type (1:1, small group, assessment, etc.), send a confirmation, and remind them before. Most PT-specific platforms charge heavily for features most trainers never use — programme delivery, body composition tracking, habit builders — while charging per-booking fees on top.
If you run face-to-face sessions and want to stop managing bookings by text, a direct booking page with upfront payment is all you need. Nextro covers this for £29/month flat with no per-session charge regardless of volume.
Session packs and recurring clients
Many PTs sell session blocks — 5 or 10 sessions purchased upfront at a slight discount. Nextro supports credit packs: clients pay upfront and redeem sessions as they book. You receive the income in advance, the client is committed to attending, and no-show risk drops substantially for pre-paid sessions.
Get started with Nextro
Booking and payments for service businesses. £29/month flat fee — keep your booking revenue.