Best Online Personal Trainers

Forge Fitness is designed for those who want personalized advice that can be executed at home, on the road, or in the gym. Plans include nutritional guides, one-on-one coaching calls, and unlimited text messages with your coach.

Forge Fitness is a great option for beginners or those who do not have access to a gym. It is less expensive than other personalized online training programs and offers many of the same features, including video sessions and unlimited in-app messaging. We also liked that they have a registered dietitian on staff, which is important if you have special dietary restrictions or health concerns like diabetes or heart disease. The dietitian will ensure that you have an appropriate meal plan for your needs. 

The workouts are tailored to your fitness level and are designed to work with your home equipment. Only have a pair of dumbbells and a band for now? No problem; your trainer will develop a program that works. All programs are run through an app and include video demonstrations and in-app messaging. 

Forge Fitness programs start at $125/month and go up from there based on how many coaching calls you have with your trainer. All plans include the same personalized workouts, as well as a basic nutrition plan, although more specialized nutrition plans may be purchased. You can enroll at any time, and video chats are scheduled once, twice, or four times a month, depending on your program. You can message your trainer anytime through the Forge app for free. 

Every Forge coach or dietitian is fully certified and licensed through the National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM), American Council on Exercise (ACE), or the National Exercise and Sports Trainers Association (NESTA). You can cancel your program anytime with 10 days’ notice, but they do not offer a money-back guarantee.

Girls Gone Strong focuses specifically on women’s fitness. It offers a variety of customizable plans based on women’s bodies and capabilities, paired with trainer accountability check-ins. We like their focus on nutrition, rather than diets and thinness.

Girls Gone Strong (GGS) uses GGS teaching principles to develop extensive personalized programs for their clients. A long-term commitment is encouraged, and programs start at $1,999/year if enrolled during pre-sale, but monthly packages start at $199/month. Programs include strength training and cardio workouts, mindset coaching, and nutrition guidance. It doesn’t offer meal plans but rather focuses on teaching you the skills to make nutritious food choices. There is also a heavy emphasis on building a healthy lifestyle and practicing good habits. 

Molly Galbraith, certified strength and conditioning specialist and co-founder of Girls Gone Strong, leads the online training program. Its trainers have completed the GGS women’s coaching specialist certification and are taught how to address common issues that many women encounter while working out. They have open enrollment twice a year, and the website states that spots are limited. They do not offer virtual sessions and focus solely on online programming and communication through their app. Lastly, the company offers a money-back guarantee if you complete the 12-month program and are not satisfied with your results.

YouTube yoga star Adriene Mishler’s Find What Feels Good (FWFG) app offers more than 900 hours of yoga instruction suitable for all experience levels. Guest teachers, guided meditations, and other modalities such as Pilates and strength training add value. 

Yoga With Adriene, led by Adriene Mishler, is one of the most popular yoga channels on YouTube, and for a good reason. Her relatable persona and come-as-you-are routines invite yogis to "find what feels good." That motto has evolved into an app that includes a huge database of yoga routines by both Mishler and guest teachers. 

While there is no one-on-one coaching in the Find What Feels Good program, there is guidance. Users can follow the monthly 30-day yoga plans, search by the physical symptom they want to work on, or connect to the FWFG community for inspiration. Subscriber-only content includes yoga for kids, guided meditations, pilates, and practices focused on strength building. 

Find What Feels Good is perfect for someone interested in taking their practice a step beyond the free content available on YouTube and who wants to have access to guest teachers that align with Mishler’s patented brand of accessible practice. With a low monthly fee, the app offers value without a major commitment. 

When you’re first starting out, accountability is key. Future uses a connected app to monitor your progress and fine-tune your program as you improve. 

If you need a little more than just a suggested workout routine, Future is the solution. After signing up and matching with a coach through a Facetime call, your coach will not only design a weekly workout plan based on your favorite activities and goals but will track your progress through the Future app, which connects to your Apple Watch health tracking capabilities. 

Not only does the surveillance provide the ultimate accountability, but it also allows your trainer to see what’s working and what isn’t. As your endurance and skill increase, trainers can change the plan to suit you. You’ll have access to daily check-ins with your trainer too, so if you have questions or need modifications, you can make those in real-time. 

There are two drawbacks to Future–one is the platform. Future is only available to Apple users since it utilizes iOS and the Apple Watch to track and connect. It also doesn’t offer any nutritional advice, so users may have to consult with a dietician if they need help with healthy eating. 

Trainerize isn’t a personal training business, but a third-party app that many individual trainers or small businesses pay to use. You can search for trainers by specialty, location, online availability, and more.

Trainerize is different from the other companies mentioned as it does not employ trainers but rather serves as a third-party app connecting trainers to clients. Users can search the Trainerize database for a trainer that fits their goals and personality. Once they connect, trainers can invite users to log into the Trainerize app.

The app itself is very user-friendly and allows the trainer to upload your workouts to your calendar, provide exercise demonstration videos, and view photos and body stats, and it gives you the option to log your workouts and message your trainer at any time. 

You can also sync the app with other health apps like MyFitnessPal and Apple Watch, so all your data is in one place for your trainer to see. Pricing is dependent on who you hire and can range from free challenges to $500/month specialized programs. The app has the option for in-app video calls and the ability to run group coaching programs. 

Unfortunately, trainers are not vetted before joining Trainerize; there is no guarantee that you are hiring someone as qualified as you believe them to be. It is important to do your research, check their social media, read their website, and look for honest reviews. Many highly qualified fitness professionals on Trainerize can give you the personalized help and support you need, but the online fitness industry has been diluted with fitness “experts” with no reputable certification, so make sure you know who you are hiring. 

If you are looking to support a personal trainer in your town, you can search by zip code and seek out virtual services from local small businesses.

The Transform app offers a low-cost solution for customizable plans led by recognizable trainers. If you’re self-motivated but need instruction, the Transform app is ideal.

Brought to you by the extreme transformation duo Chris and Heidi Powell, the Transform App is an inexpensive online training program. Their app, which is available in the App Store and Google Play, allows you to customize your workout plan, and choose your meal plan and offers an easy-to-use interface to help you reach your goals. 

You can choose your type of workout (home, gym, dance, or cross-training) and set your calorie and meal plan preferences. The workouts are easy to follow, user-friendly, and have a built-in timer and the ability to track your stats after each workout.

The app also has a nutrition feature where you can track your food and view macros and calories for the day. You can plan your meals for the week from their recipes database and put together a weekly grocery shopping list. The app subscription is $14.99/month, with discounts for purchasing longer terms. Unlike the other programs, this does not include access to a coach, virtual sessions, or in-app messaging. 

If you simply need a great plan to follow, have some experience with exercise, and do not need someone checking in on you, then this app is a good fit. The meal planning feature is also helpful, with a database of more than 500 recipes, weekly meal plans, and the ability to create grocery lists and track macros. 

Chris and Heidi Powell are celebrity trainers with great personalities, making their workout demonstration videos the best we have seen.