Kahunas vs FitBudd: the honest comparison.

Flat-rate simplicity vs a cheap, scaling start.

It is worth being honest from the start: both of these are capable, well-regarded platforms, and the overlap on the core checklist is real. Both give you a client app, a workout builder and exercise library, nutrition tracking, check-ins, in-app messaging, progress tracking, and payments through your own Stripe or PayPal with no commission taken on your client sales. So on raw features they are closer than they look at first glance. The difference is how they price and how they handle the branded app. Kahunas markets three flat tiers with no per-client overage: Essentials at USD 35 for up to 25 clients, Growth at USD 69 for up to 50, and Ultimate at USD 99 for unlimited clients, with the fully branded iOS and Android app reserved for that top Ultimate plan. FitBudd leans the other way, toward a low entry price and per-client scaling: it starts at USD 15 for 2 clients and adds a small fee per additional client, and its signature differentiator is a fully white-labelled standalone app published on your own App Store and Google Play listing on the Super Pro tier. Neither approach is wrong. The right one depends on whether you value a predictable flat price as you grow, or a cheap start with a deeply own-listing app once you commit.

This comparison is built from operational experience working with online coaches over many years, rather than reading spec sheets. If you want the full feature checklist behind these criteria, our online coaching platform guide walks through the entire stack, and the companion piece on the best workout builder software for online coaches goes deeper on the programming side.

Pricing: flat tiers vs low entry plus overage.

The two price very differently. Kahunas keeps it flat with three USD tiers and no per-client overage. Essentials is USD 35 per month for up to 25 clients and includes the iOS and Android apps, custom forms, workout and nutrition plans, and messaging. Growth is USD 69 per month for up to 50 clients and adds lead-generation forms, automations, bulk upload, and a Health Score feature. Ultimate is USD 99 per month for unlimited clients and adds the fully branded iOS and Android app, your own app store listings, and team-member options. Annual billing saves 25 percent on all three tiers, and Kahunas offers a 14-day free trial. The appeal here is predictability: once you are on a tier, adding clients within its cap does not change your bill.

FitBudd starts lower on the headline price and uses per-client overage. Starter is USD 15 per month for 2 clients, then USD 4 per additional client. Pro, its most popular plan, is USD 79 per month for 20 clients, then USD 2 each over 20, and is where branded in-app theming and a branded website begin. Super Pro is USD 149 per month for 20 clients, then USD 2 each, and adds the fully standalone white-label app on your own store listings, with a USD 75 one-time setup fee. There is also a custom Elite tier. FitBudd offers a 30-day free trial with no credit card required and lists yearly plans (Pro's yearly works out to roughly two months free). Because the per-client fee compounds, the math depends heavily on how many clients you have.

The honest takeaway: do the math on your actual client count. FitBudd is cheaper to start and stays inexpensive on a small caseload, but the overage adds up, and the standalone app on Super Pro carries a one-time setup fee plus your own developer accounts. Kahunas costs more to enter but stays flat, so its USD 99 Ultimate tier can be the cheaper home once you have a larger client base paying overage elsewhere. For a different model again, Coachway uses predictable per-client pricing, EUR 69 per month for up to 5 active clients plus EUR 9 per additional active client, with training, nutrition, and check-ins in one and your own Stripe included; you can sanity-check that math against current Coachway pricing.

The feature differences that actually matter.

• Pricing structure. This is the clearest split. Kahunas charges three flat tiers with no per-client overage, so your bill is predictable within each cap and the unlimited Ultimate tier is a fixed USD 99 per month. FitBudd starts lower (USD 15) but charges per additional client, so the cost grows with your client count. If you want a fixed monthly number, Kahunas has the edge; if you want a cheap start, FitBudd does.
• Branded client app. Both reserve the fully branded app for a higher tier, but the path differs. On Kahunas, the branded iOS and Android app with your own App Store and Play Store listings is bundled into Ultimate (USD 99), with nothing extra to set up beyond the tier. On FitBudd, branded in-app theming starts on Pro (USD 79), while the fully standalone own-listing app is on Super Pro (USD 149) and requires a USD 75 one-time setup fee plus your own Apple and Google developer accounts. FitBudd's app is more of a true standalone build; Kahunas bundles it more simply.
• Client caps and scaling. Kahunas caps each tier (25, 50, unlimited) and you move up a tier to grow, with no overage. FitBudd's tiers cover 2 or 20 clients and then charge per extra client. Coaches who dislike surprise overage may prefer Kahunas's flat caps; coaches with small or slowly growing client bases may prefer FitBudd's pay-as-you-grow approach.
• Trial and entry. FitBudd offers a 30-day free trial with no credit card required, which is longer than Kahunas's 14-day trial. If you want more time to evaluate before committing, FitBudd gives you the longer runway. Both let you test the core workflow before paying.
• Payments. Here they are closely matched. Both integrate Stripe and PayPal, both let you keep the client billing relationship, and both take no commission or platform fee on your client payments (standard Stripe and PayPal processor fees still apply on either). Neither has a clear advantage on payments.
• Language. Neither publishes a clear in-app language list. Kahunas presents its marketing site and help center in English and is best described as English-first, with no positive proof either way about in-app localization. FitBudd does not publicly document multi-language UI support, so we make no claim in either direction. If your clients need the app in their own language, confirm that directly with each provider rather than assume it from either site.

Which should you pick?

The decision comes down to a few honest questions: do you want a flat price or a cheap start, how many clients do you have, how important is a fully standalone own-listing app, and how long do you want to test first? Here is the fair way to land it.

• You want predictable, flat pricing with no per-client overage. Kahunas. Its three tiers (USD 35, 69, 99) hold a fixed price within each cap, and Ultimate covers unlimited clients at USD 99 per month.
• You want the cheapest possible start on a small caseload. FitBudd. Starter is USD 15 per month for 2 clients, so a coach with just a few clients pays very little to begin.
• You have a large client base and want one flat bill. Kahunas. Because it has no per-client overage, the unlimited Ultimate tier can be cheaper than paying FitBudd overage on many clients.
• You want a fully standalone app on your own App Store and Google Play listing. Both offer this at the top, but FitBudd makes it the centerpiece on Super Pro (with a USD 75 setup fee and your own developer accounts), while Kahunas bundles a branded iOS and Android app into Ultimate more simply. Pick based on how much you value a true standalone build vs a simpler bundle.
• You want the longest free trial to evaluate. FitBudd, with a 30-day no-card trial, gives you more time than Kahunas's 14-day trial.
• You want training, nutrition, and check-ins in one and a client app in your clients' own language. Neither of these two documents that head-on. Coachway is the honest third option here: training, nutrition, and weekly check-ins in one workflow, 1,100+ recipes and 3,900+ ingredients built in, your own Stripe, and a branded client app localised by native speakers across six languages, not machine-translated.

Still weighing it up? Our walkthrough on choosing an online coaching platform turns this into a step-by-step shortlist, and our Coachway vs Kahunas and Coachway vs FitBudd comparisons go deeper if either of these is on your shortlist next to Coachway.

Frequently asked.