Trainerize vs Kahunas: Which Is Better in 2026?

If you are picking an online coaching platform, you have probably narrowed it down to Trainerize and Kahunas. Both are serious players, but they serve different kinds of coaches. This guide compares them fairly, category by category, with real pricing (as of June 2026) and an honest winner in each area. At the end we also show a third option that may make more sense for coaches in Bosnia, Croatia, Serbia and Montenegro.

Overview: Trainerize and Kahunas at a glance

Trainerize

Trainerize (trainerize.com) is a Canadian platform based in Vancouver, acquired by ABC Fitness in September 2020. They claim over 400,000 coaches. It is a mature, feature-rich tool that scales from solo coaches to studios and gyms. Its biggest strength is training: a builder with supersets, circuits and percentage-of-1RM progression, plus an AI Workout Builder included from the Grow plan up.

The weak spot? Reddit users (r/personaltraining) and GetApp reviews (4.6 out of 5, around 694 reviews) describe load lag, slow videos and occasional broken chat or sync. Many say quality declined after the ABC acquisition. Pricing has increased twice in 20 months (July 2024 and March 16, 2026, with the official FAQ citing AI investment as the reason).

Kahunas

Kahunas (kahunas.io) is built by Kahunas FZE, based in Sharjah, UAE, and founded by Mark Fox around 2020. It is bootstrapped and focused on online coaches who want their own branded app and a strong client-accountability system (custom check-in forms, habit tracking, progress photo overlay). Coach-side support is consistently praised - Trustpilot 4.8 out of 5 (over 400 reviews), Capterra 4.9 out of 5 (around 60 reviews).

The weak spot? The client app sits at around 3 stars (App Store UK 3.2 out of 5 across 137 reviews; Google Play around 3.0 across 210 reviews), with reviews citing crashes and mid-workout data loss. The nutrition module is the weakest of the group (food-data complaints, no MyFitnessPal or Cronometer integration). There is no calendar or session booking - it is an online-only tool.

Side-by-side at a glance

Category by category: the detailed breakdown

1. Pricing and hidden costs

The pricing models are completely different. Trainerize charges by client count: Free (1), Grow $10 (2), Pro 5 at $25, Pro 15 at $50, Pro 30 at $79, up to Pro 200 at $250 and Studio Plus at $275/mo per location (annual roughly 10% lower). The catch is the add-ons: Advanced Nutrition $20 or $45/mo, Stripe payments enablement $10/mo, Video Coaching $10/mo, Business add-on $25/mo. A realistic full solo setup lands around $175-200/mo.

Kahunas is simpler: Essentials $35/mo (25 clients), Growth $69 (50), Ultimate $99 (unlimited clients plus a branded iOS and Android app with its own app store listing, no setup fee - the cheapest branded-app deal on the market), annual 25% off. Fewer add-ons, but the 14-day trial auto-converts to paid.

One thing often overlooked: both bill in dollars. For a coach who collects payments in convertible marks, euros or dinars, that means constant exposure to exchange-rate swings and conversion fees on every monthly charge, which adds up over a year.

Winner: a tie. Trainerize is cheaper if you have few clients and skip the add-ons; Kahunas is more transparent and better value once you pass 25-30 clients.

2. Workout builder

Trainerize clearly leads here. Supersets, circuits, percentage-of-1RM progression, a huge exercise video library and an AI Workout Builder included from Grow. For coaches who run serious periodized programming, it is hard to beat. The Kahunas builder is functional but simpler, with limited tempo, RIR and superset options, which suits coaches focused on habits and consistency rather than deep periodization.

Winner: Trainerize.

3. Nutrition

Neither is great, but in different ways. Trainerize has a decent module, but it is paid separately ($20 to $45/mo), has a 1400-kcal minimum for meal plans and a clunky MyFitnessPal sync. Kahunas includes nutrition, but users complain about poor food data, the inability to build and save meals, and no MyFitnessPal or Cronometer integration at all.

Winner: Trainerize, narrowly, because it at least offers a more functional module, even if it costs extra.

4. Client app experience

This matters because your clients use the app every day. Trainerize's app (GetApp 4.6 out of 5) is feature-rich, but users report load lag and occasional crashes. The Kahunas client app sits at around 3 stars (App Store UK 3.2, Google Play around 3.0), with reviews citing crashes and mid-workout data loss, plus unreliable Apple Health sync and no Apple Watch app.

Winner: Trainerize.

5. Business tools

Kahunas stands out with lead-gen funnels, automations and a strong check-in and accountability system (custom forms, habit tracking, progress photo overlay). Trainerize offers a broader ecosystem (scaling to studios, business add-on, video coaching), but each comes as a separate add-on. Note that Kahunas has no calendar or session booking, so a hybrid model with in-person sessions needs a separate tool. On billing, Kahunas takes no commission while Trainerize charges $10/mo just to enable Stripe, but neither records cash or bank-transfer payments, a common scenario in our region.

Winner: Kahunas for solo online coaches who want simplicity; Trainerize for those growing toward a studio.

6. Support and contracts

Kahunas coach-side support is consistently praised (Trustpilot 4.8 out of 5 across 400+ reviews). But read the terms carefully: cancellation requires 48 hours or more notice before renewal, otherwise you owe the full next term, with no refund, under UAE law and Dubai courts. Trainerize only offers live support from the Pro plan up, and has billing and cancellation complaints on Trustpilot.

Winner: Kahunas for support quality, but be aware of the strict cancellation terms.

The third option: Trainera

Both Trainerize and Kahunas share the same weakness: both are USD-only, English-first, and neither supports Bosnian, Croatian or Serbian or tracks payments via bank transfer or cash, the reality of working with clients in our region. And the parts where they compete with each other (workout builder, branded app, accountability, support) Trainera matches or beats, then adds everything they leave out. Trainera (trainera.fit) is a platform for personal trainers, online coaches and gyms or studios. It runs on web, iOS and Android and includes everything in one price, with no add-ons.

Everything included, no add-ons

Trainera covers client management, a workout builder with a drag-and-drop calendar and a video exercise library (supersets, circuits, progression, color-coded folders), nutrition plans with a meal library and per-meal macros, real-time chat, and progress tracking. AI training-plan, nutrition and single-workout generation, AI food-photo analysis, barcode scanning (OpenFoodFacts), AI shopping lists and weekly AI insights are all included, unlike Trainerize's Advanced Nutrition at $20-$45/mo. Nutrition is a real module with global USDA food-data sync and recipes, not the weakest on the market. You also get video form-review (clients submit a lift, you check their technique), live video calls and voice messages in chat, and Calendly-style appointment booking with two-way Google and Outlook calendar sync, all in the base price.

Payments the way clients actually pay

Trainera supports Stripe (card), PayPal, bank transfer (with a request, approve and decline flow) and cash tracking, with no fee just to enable payments and no geographic limit. You can run subscriptions or one-time coaching invoices and offer free enrollment. Kahunas takes no commission but is USD-only, and Trainerize charges $10/mo just to switch Stripe on. Neither tracks cash or transfer, which is decisive in markets where most clients pay that way.

A full gym and studio module

This is where Trainera pulls clearly ahead of Kahunas, which has no calendar or booking at all. A gym is its own entity that owns multiple trainers and members, with membership tiers and expiry, a 5-digit member number for check-in, membership packages with flexible billing cycles, group training slots and reservations with capacity limits, staff roles with email invitations, equipment inventory, working hours and holidays, gym transactions, and gym-to-trainer and gym-to-client chat. Each gym gets its own white-label theme and custom domain. If you run a hybrid or studio model, you do not need a second tool.

Omnichannel messaging, mobile and gamification

Beyond in-app chat with attachments and read receipts, Trainera is omnichannel: connect WhatsApp Business, Facebook Messenger and Viber so external contacts land in one inbox. On mobile it goes well past the Kahunas client app (which has no Apple Watch app and sits at around 3 stars), with a native Apple Watch app, iOS Live Activities on the lock screen and Dynamic Island, an Android foreground service for background workout tracking, push notifications and home-screen widgets. Kahunas built its name on accountability, and Trainera answers with a deeper layer: XP and levels, 40+ achievements across 9 categories, streaks (workout, progressive-overload, protein, calorie and water logging) and weight milestones like a 100 kg Club, with in-app toasts that keep clients showing up.

Your own brand, and getting found

Trainera ships a true white-label native app under your own brand (or your gym's), so your clients download an app with your name and logo, not just a web page. On top of that, every trainer gets a public branded web page (custom domain on higher tiers), a listing in the trainers marketplace, and a per-trainer SEO blog engine to publish content that ranks. You can sell programs through a built-in storefront, collect reviews and testimonials, and reward word of mouth with a referral program. Kahunas has lead-gen funnels, but neither rival has a true marketplace that sends you new clients.

Local language and pricing

The interface is in 21 languages, including Bosnian, Croatian and Serbian, with local support. Pricing is local, not in dollars. In the US it is $19.99/$49.99/$99; in Bosnia Starter starts at 19.99 KM/mo (10 clients), Pro 44.99 KM (30), Business 84.99 KM (100); HR and ME are in EUR, RS in RSD. There is also a free plan.

Where Trainera concedes

To keep this fair, one honest limit. On wearables, a competitor deep in the Garmin or native Apple-Watch ecosystem may reach a tracker or two Trainera does not yet (Garmin is on the roadmap, coming soon). Trainera already syncs the six trackers most clients wear: Apple Health, Google Health Connect, Fitbit, Polar, Google Fit and Huawei Health. On the branded-app question there is nothing to concede: Trainera includes a full white-label native app under your own brand, with a program storefront, custom domain and per-gym theming, and offers REST API access on request. Everywhere else - price, all-inclusiveness, the gym module, payments, language and currency, marketplace and AI - Trainera wins.

If you want to compare directly, see Trainera vs Trainerize and Trainera vs Kahunas.

All three options side by side

Recommendation by use case

• Training is everything, you run periodization and use wearables? Trainerize.
• Want a simple, affordable check-in and accountability flow with praised coach-side support? Kahunas.
• Working in BS/HR/SR/ME, or running a gym, and want local pricing, your language, everything included and cash payment tracking? Trainera.

Conclusion

Trainerize leads on workout-builder depth and wearables, Kahunas on cheap branded-app value and praised support, but each is a single narrow strength, and both bill in dollars, speak only English and leave you to handle cash payments on your own. Trainera matches the programming, tracking and accountability trainers use day to day, then adds local pricing, everything included with no add-ons, full nutrition and AI, flexible Stripe, PayPal, bank and cash payments, a full gym and studio module, omnichannel messaging, a white-label native app under your own brand, an Apple Watch app, 21 languages and a marketplace that brings you new clients, gaps neither rival closes. For almost every coach it is the clear best choice. Try it free and compare for yourself.

Related reading

• Trainerize vs TrueCoach: Which Is Better in 2026?
• Trainera vs Future: Honest 2026 Comparison
• Trainera vs Kahunas: Honest 2026 Comparison
• Trainera vs Playbook: Honest 2026 Comparison
• Trainera vs Trainerize: Honest 2026 Comparison