Kahunas vs PT Distinction: the honest comparison.

A branded app and simple tiers vs customization and breadth.

It is worth being honest from the start: both of these are capable platforms, and the overlap on the core checklist is real. Both give you a workout builder, a client app, messaging, progress tracking, habit tracking, nutrition tracking, and payments. So on raw features they are closer than they look at first glance. The difference is design intent. Kahunas markets a clean, modern coaching app with simple three-tier pricing, a large food-tracking database, content drip, and a fully branded white-label app on its top tier, aimed at coaches who want a tidy, branded client experience without a steep setup. PT Distinction leans the other way, toward depth and flexibility: an AI program builder, group training, assessments, more meal-planning tooling, and customization that reviewers consistently call one of its biggest strengths. Neither approach is wrong. The right one depends on whether you value a simple, branded app or a deep toolbox to shape exactly how you coach.

This comparison is shaped by years of working alongside online coaches, 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 lower entry plus overage.

Both tools price across three tiers, but they shape the cost curve differently. Kahunas keeps it flat: Essentials is USD 35 per month for up to 25 clients, Growth is USD 69 for up to 50, and Ultimate is USD 99 for unlimited clients, with annual billing advertised at 25 percent off (USD 315, USD 621, and USD 900 per year respectively). The branded app, app-store listings, and team-member options sit on Ultimate; lead-gen forms, automations, bulk upload, and a Health Score feature appear from Growth up. There is a 14-day free trial. Kahunas processes payments through Stripe and PayPal and states it does not charge any commission on your sales.

PT Distinction starts lower and uses per-client overage. Basic is USD 19.90 per month for up to 3 clients, then USD 6 per additional client. Pro is USD 59.90 for up to 25 clients, then USD 2.40 each. Master is USD 89.90 for up to 50 clients, then USD 1.60 each. So a very small caseload can start cheaper on PT Distinction, while a coach with a larger or growing client base may find Kahunas's flat unlimited Ultimate tier easier to predict. PT Distinction offers a 1-month free trial with no commitments, and you can cancel anytime during the trial and pay nothing.

The honest takeaway: do the math on your actual client count. The right answer flips depending on whether you are at 3 clients, 25, or 60-plus, and on whether you prefer a flat tier or paying per head. 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 your own Stripe included; you can sanity-check that math against current Coachway pricing.

The feature differences that actually matter.

• Workout delivery. Kahunas markets a clean workout builder with 1,000+ exercise videos, sets, supersets, circuits, and rest timers. PT Distinction is more flexible, with an AI program builder and deep customization, which is powerful but can take longer to learn. Tidy and quick vs flexible and deep.
• Nutrition. This is where the two diverge most. Kahunas leans on a large food-tracking database (it advertises 1.6 million verified foods, 800,000 barcodes, and 2,400+ restaurant items) with macro and micronutrient tracking. PT Distinction handles day-to-day tracking through a MyFitnessPal integration and photo food diaries, but layers on an AI meal planner, the ability to add your own recipes, and hundreds of example meal plans. If you want a deep tracking database, Kahunas is strong; if you want built-in meal-planning and recipe tooling, PT Distinction does more there.
• Branded client app. Both gate full branding to a higher tier. Kahunas includes a fully branded iOS and Android app with your own App Store and Play Store listings on the Ultimate tier (USD 99 per month); lower tiers ship the standard Kahunas-branded apps. PT Distinction includes your own custom-branded iOS and Android apps on Pro and Master, while Basic gets apps with no custom branding. Budget for the right tier if a branded app is important to you.
• Payments and commission. Neither advertises a commission on your client sales. Kahunas runs payments through Stripe and PayPal and states it does not charge any commission on your sales. PT Distinction supports Stripe and PayPal integrations and you keep the client billing relationship. On both, you connect your own processor; check each provider for any current per-transaction or platform fees.
• Group and assessments. PT Distinction explicitly supports group training, assessments, and habit coaching as part of its broader toolkit, which suits coaches running more than straight 1:1 programs. Kahunas does have group and community features, but it is primarily a 1:1 plus branded-app coaching platform.
• Language. Kahunas's site and help center are presented in English, and PT Distinction is a UK company presented entirely in English. Neither advertises native-language localization or publishes native-language client apps for Nordic or DACH markets, so if you coach clients in their own language, that is a gap to weigh on both.

Which should you pick?

The decision comes down to a few honest questions: do you want simplicity or depth, how central is meal planning to your offer, how big is your client list, and how much does a fully branded app matter? Here is the fair way to land it.

• You want a tidy, modern coaching app with simple pricing. Kahunas. Its three flat tiers, large food-tracking database, and clean app make it easy to get moving, and the 14-day trial makes it easy to test.
• You want deep customization, group training, and an AI program builder. PT Distinction. Its flexibility and breadth are its standout strengths, and the 1-month trial gives you time to explore them.
• Built-in meal planning is central to your offer. PT Distinction adds an AI meal planner, your own recipes, and example plans, while Kahunas leans on a large food-tracking database. Pick based on whether you want to author meal plans inside the tool or mainly track intake against a big food database.
• You want a fully branded app on your own app-store listings. Kahunas bundles a branded iOS and Android app with your own listings on its Ultimate tier; PT Distinction includes custom-branded apps on Pro and Master. Compare the tier cost against your client count to see which is the better deal at your size.
• You have a very small caseload and want the lowest entry price. PT Distinction Basic starts at USD 19.90 per month for up to 3 clients. As you grow, run the per-client overage against Kahunas's flat tiers, and remember Ultimate is unlimited clients at USD 99.
• You want deep built-in meal planning and a client app in your clients' own language. Neither of these two is built for that head-on. Coachway is the honest third option here: training, nutrition, and check-ins in one workflow, 1,100+ recipes and 3,900+ ingredients built in, your own Stripe, and a branded client app checked by native-speaking coaches in Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, Finnish, German and English.

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 PT Distinction comparisons go deeper if either of these is on your shortlist next to Coachway.

Frequently asked.