What it can include
- Class timetable and booking
- Members see this week's classes, coaches and spaces left, and book or cancel in a couple of taps within your cancellation rules.
- Waitlists that fill themselves
- When someone cancels, the next person on the waitlist can be offered the place automatically, with a notification if they have opted in.
- Membership and class packs
- Show the member's plan, remaining credits, renewal date and payment status, pulled from your membership system where it offers an API.
- Check-in
- A personal QR code or one-tap check-in at the front desk, so attendance is recorded without paper registers.
- Coach and programme profiles
- Introduce your instructors and explain each class type, intensity level and what to bring, so newcomers know what to expect.
- Progress and personal bests
- Simple logging of workouts, personal bests or challenge results, kept deliberately light so members actually use it.
- Timetable changes and reminders
- Notify members about cancelled or moved classes and remind them before a session they have booked.
- Onboarding for new members
- Intro offers, a waiver or health questionnaire, and a 'your first class' guide that reduces no-shows from first-timers.
Who this is for
This page is for independent fitness businesses: boutique studios (yoga, Pilates, spin, HIIT, barre), CrossFit-style boxes, martial arts clubs, climbing walls, small gyms and personal trainers running group sessions. You probably already have a website with a timetable, a booking or membership system, and a group of regulars who book every week.
What you may not have is a place on your members' home screens. Many studios rely on a generic booking platform's app, which lists you alongside other businesses and puts their brand first. A custom app puts your timetable, your coaches and your community in front of members, in your own colours, with only your classes in it.
An app is not right for every studio. If you run a handful of sessions a week and members book by message, a well-built mobile website may be enough. We will say so if that is the case.
What a fitness app typically includes
The features above are a menu, not a package. Most studios start with the core loop — see the timetable, book, get reminded, check in — and add more once members are using it.
Booking, waitlists and cancellations
Class booking is the reason members open the app. The details matter: how far ahead people can book, how late they can cancel without losing a credit, how many spaces are held back, and what happens when a place frees up. These rules usually already exist in your booking system. The app should respect them rather than invent new ones.
Memberships and credits
Members want to know what they have left: credits in their pack, the renewal date of their membership, whether a payment failed. If your membership platform exposes this through an API, the app can show it live. If not, we can design a simpler version or a separate backend, and explain the trade-off.
Keeping members engaged
Retention in fitness tends to come from habit and community rather than gimmicks. Practical features help: reminders before a booked class, a monthly attendance summary, studio challenges, and timely notices when a class changes. We avoid flooding people with messages — notifications that are not useful are the fastest way to get them switched off.
Progress tracking (optional)
Some studios want members to log weights, times or benchmark workouts. This can be valuable for strength and conditioning gyms, less so for a yoga studio. We keep it simple and optional. Connecting to Apple Health or Health Connect on Android is possible but adds scope, permissions and privacy considerations, so we only include it when there is a clear reason.
How the free app preview works for a fitness business
Before you commit to anything, we can create a personalised, interactive concept of your app from your existing website:
- You share your website address using the request form (or we may have prepared a concept for you already).
- We review your public content — class types, timetable, coaches, prices, location and branding.
- We design a concept tailored to a fitness business: a home screen with today's classes, a booking flow, a membership screen and a check-in code, using your name and colours.
- A person reviews it before it is sent.
- You receive a private link and can open it on your phone or desktop. We email you when it is ready.
The preview is a concept that runs in the browser. It is not on the App Store, and bookings in it are simulated. It is there so you can see the idea with your own content and decide whether to go further — no obligation and no payment details.
Process and what affects cost
If you would like to proceed, we agree the scope together, then provide a written quote. Production apps are built with React Native, Expo and TypeScript, giving you one codebase for iPhone and Android.
Custom apps start from €1,499 (indicative starting price). What moves the price:
- Integration with your booking or membership system — depends on whether it has a usable API and what it exposes.
- Your own backend — if there is no system to connect to, we need to build one for classes, members and bookings.
- Accounts and authentication — member log-in, password reset, linking existing members.
- Payments — selling packs or memberships through a payment provider.
- Notifications — reminders, waitlist offers and studio announcements.
- Extra features — on-demand video, progress tracking, health data, multiple locations.
- Maintenance — keeping the app compatible with new iOS and Android versions over time.
Honest limitations
- Store approval is Apple's and Google's decision. We build to their guidelines and prepare the submission, but we cannot guarantee approval or timing.
- Notifications need opt-in. Members choose whether to allow them, and some will not.
- Integrations depend on your provider. Some fitness platforms offer good APIs; others limit access or charge extra for it. We check this early.
- Digital content has different payment rules. Selling on-demand video in the app may require Apple and Google's in-app purchase systems, which take a commission.
- An app needs ongoing care. New operating system versions and API changes mean occasional updates.
Next step
The quickest way to judge whether an app suits your studio is to see one. Request your free preview and we will send you a private link to an interactive concept built around your classes.
Frequently asked questions
Can the app work with the booking or membership software we already use?
Often, yes, but it depends on your provider. If it offers a documented API and your plan allows access, the app can read the timetable and create bookings in that system. If it doesn't, we will tell you during scoping and discuss alternatives, such as a lightweight backend we build for you.
Can members pay for memberships inside the app?
Payments for in-person services such as gym memberships and classes are normally taken through a regular payment provider rather than Apple or Google in-app purchase. Digital content consumed inside the app, such as on-demand workout videos, may fall under in-app purchase rules. We check the current store guidelines for your specific case.
Will members receive push notifications automatically?
No. Members have to allow notifications on their device. iPhones always ask, and recent Android versions ask too. A good app explains why notifications are useful (class changes, waitlist offers) before asking, and keeps them relevant.
Is the free preview a working app?
It is an interactive concept that runs in a browser and looks and feels like your app, using your studio's name, branding and classes from your website. Bookings and payments in the preview are simulated. It is there to help you decide whether an app is worth building.
What does a fitness app cost?
Custom apps start from €1,499 (indicative starting price). A timetable-and-booking app connected to an existing system costs less than one with its own membership backend, payments, video content and progress tracking. You get a written quote once the scope is agreed.
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Last updated 16 October 2026