TrueCoach has earned its reputation as a reliable workout delivery platform. It handles the fundamentals well: building workouts, communicating with clients, and tracking sessions. But as coaching businesses grow, the gaps become harder to ignore. There is no AI to speed up programming, no automation to handle follow-ups, and no advanced workout sections for coaches who programme beyond basic sets and reps. Here is a detailed look at how Athli compares.
TrueCoach Starts at $19/mo. Athli Starts Free.
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TrueCoach's cheapest plan costs $19 per month for up to 5 clients. Athli's Starter plan lets you coach up to 5 clients for free with no credit card required, covering mobile apps, workouts, a training calendar, and messaging. As you grow, Athli's Pro plan (from $20/mo) unlocks advanced features like the AI workout builder, custom exercises, questionnaires, and habit tracking, while optional add-ons give you AI assistance, automations, and payments.
No AI Assistant to Speed Up Your Workflow
TrueCoach requires you to build every programme from scratch. There is no AI assistant to generate workouts, analyse client progress, or answer questions about your roster. Athli offers Lyra, an AI coaching assistant available as an add-on ($25/mo) that understands your clients' history and can produce training plans, meal suggestions, and progress summaries in seconds.
Why this matters: Coaches using AI-assisted programming report saving over 15 hours per week on admin and programme design.
No Automation Flows to Keep Clients Accountable
When a client misses a session on TrueCoach, the only person who notices is you. There are no event-driven automations to send reminders, trigger follow-ups, or adjust workflows based on client activity. With Athli's Automations add-on ($20/mo), you can build multi-step automation flows that fire when clients miss sessions, skip check-ins, or fall behind on habits.
Why this matters: Automations handle follow-ups around the clock so no client slips through the cracks, even when you are not online.
No Automated Onboarding for New Clients
Signing up a new client on TrueCoach means manual setup every time, from creating their profile, assigning programmes, and sending introductory messages yourself. With Athli's Automations add-on ($20/mo), you can automate the entire onboarding flow: welcome sequences, programme assignments, and intake forms all trigger the moment a client joins.
Why this matters: Automated onboarding gives every new client a professional, consistent first experience without adding to your workload.
A Workout Builder Without Advanced Section Types
TrueCoach covers the basics of workout programming but lacks support for AMRAPs, EMOMs, supersets, circuits, and other section types that coaches need for varied programming. On the Pro plan (from $20/mo), Athli's workout builder supports every section type, custom trackable fields, and fully configurable structure so your programmes match exactly how you coach.
What Athli's Workout Builder Supports
Why this matters: Advanced section types let you programme the way you actually coach rather than forcing your methodology into a limited template.
The Verdict
TrueCoach is a solid choice for coaches who only need basic workout delivery. But if you want AI-powered programming, automation flows, advanced workout sections, and automated onboarding, Athli gives you significantly more. The free Starter plan gets you coaching right away, and the Pro plan (from $20/mo) with optional add-ons unlocks everything TrueCoach simply cannot match.