Which apps actually get private coaches new students?
Most apps sold to private coaches are scheduling tools. They make the students you already have easier to run, which is worth a few dollars a month, but they do not add a single student to your calendar. Of the 9 tools below, 6 only run students you bring yourself.
Getting new students is the hard part, and it is paid for one of three ways: a cut of every lesson (marketplaces), a fee per lead (Thumbtack), or a flat price for a channel you own (your website, Google listing, reviews, and ads). The table sorts the tools that get you students to the top.
| App | Gets you new students? | What a new student costs you | Starting price |
|---|---|---|---|
| CoachGrow (ours) | Yes | $19 a month plus 0.99% of each booking, no cut beyond that | $19/mo after a 7-day free trial |
| CoachUp | Yes | 43% of the first lesson, 6% from lesson 5 | $30 to join; keeps 43% of first session |
| Athletes Untapped | Yes | 20% of every lesson | Coach keeps 80% |
| Thumbtack | Yes | About $20 a lead, booked or not | Free to join; pay per lead |
| Square Appointments | No | None: it only books students you bring | Free plan; Plus $49/month |
| Acuity Scheduling | No | None: it only books students you bring | $16/month billed yearly |
| Calendly | No | None: it only books students you bring | Free plan; $10/month billed yearly |
| Upper Hand | No | None: it only books students you bring | $79/month billed yearly |
| CoachNow | No | None: it helps keep students, not find them | $9.99/month |
| OnForm | No | None: it helps keep students, not find them | $19.99/month |
What does a new student cost you?
This is what one new student who books a weekly lesson costs you over a year, at a typical $50 lesson. Card processing is left out because every option charges it.
Marketplaces are the fastest way to fill an empty calendar and the most expensive way to keep a student, because the cut comes out of every lesson the student ever books. Pay per lead is cheaper per student, but you pay for leads that never book. A channel you own costs the same however many students it brings, so it gets cheaper per student as you grow. Our advice: use a marketplace to fill the first gaps, then move your growth to a channel you own.
| Way to get students | How you pay | Cost of one weekly student for a year |
|---|---|---|
| CoachGrow (ours) | Flat monthly plan plus 0.99% of each booking | About $24 in booking fees, plus $228 a year for all your students; ads extra |
Apps that get you new students
These are the only tools here that add students you did not already have. They charge for it with a cut of each lesson, a fee per lead, or a monthly price, and the student relationship often stays on their platform.
CoachUp: A long-running marketplace where parents find and book private coaches. Joining costs $30, then $9.99 a year. You keep 57% of your rate on the first session with a new athlete, rising to 94% from the fifth session. [1]
Athletes Untapped: A marketplace of background-checked private coaches, mostly with college or pro playing experience. Families book and pay on the site, and bookings split 80/20 with the coach keeping 80%. [2]
Thumbtack: A local services marketplace where you set a lead budget and pay for each request. It is free to join and does not publish lead prices. Coaches tell us lesson leads usually cost about $20, and a lead that never books can still be charged. [3][4]
Scheduling and payment apps
These run the students you already have: booking, payment, and reminders. They are worth a few dollars a month, but none of them brings in a new student.
Square Appointments: Free online booking, reminders, and card payments for one location, and you can tap cards in person. Plus is $49 a month. Card fees on the free plan are 2.6% plus 15 cents in person and 3.3% plus 30 cents online. [5]
Acuity Scheduling: A general booking page with lesson types, packages, intake forms, reminders, and card payments. Starter is $16 a month billed yearly or $20 month to month, with a 7-day free trial. [6]
Calendly: Simple booking links that sync with your calendar. Paid plans start at $10 a month billed yearly and can collect payment at booking. It has no lesson packages. [7]
Upper Hand: Sports business software for lessons, packages, clinics, camps, payments, and a client app. The Start plan for independent coaches is $79 a month billed yearly, and sales are demo-led. [8]
Apps that help you teach
These make lessons better and help keep students: video review, drills, ratings, and progress tracking. They do not find new students, and most do not take bookings or payments.
CoachNow: Video analysis and a private space per student for annotated video, voice notes, and drills. Analyze is $9.99 a month, PRO is $49.99, and Academy at $89.99 adds scheduling and invoicing. 7-day free trial. [9]
OnForm: Video analysis with slow motion, side by side, drawing, and voiceover, shared to your athletes. Coach Basic is $19.99 a month with a 14-day free trial. It replaced Hudl Technique, which was retired in 2021. [10]
Where does CoachGrow fit?
CoachGrow is made by TeachMe.To, which also publishes this guide, so weigh this section with that in mind.
CoachGrow is built for independent private coaches who want more students, not only a calendar. One plan includes a coach website with booking and payments, prepaid lesson packages, listings on Google and other directories, review requests after lessons, Facebook and Instagram ads, and follow-ups with past students. It costs $19 a month after a 7-day free trial, plus 0.99% of each direct booking and card processing. Ad spend is separate and up to you.
It is not a video analysis tool, and it does not run leagues or team rosters. Many private coaches pair it with one of the teaching tools above.
TeachMe.To also runs a lesson marketplace where coaches set their own rate and students pay a booking fee on top.
How should private coaches choose?
Start with booking and payments, because that is where coaches lose money first: no-shows, late payments, and lessons nobody wrote down. Square Appointments is free to try, and Acuity is better if you sell packages.
Add a way to find students only if you have open hours. Marketplaces fill them fastest but keep part of every lesson, so compare what you keep on a repeat student, not only the first one.
Add a video app when your students are paying for improvement they want to see. CoachNow and OnForm both have free trials.
Avoid tools that have shut down. Coach's Eye and Hudl Technique are gone, and Lessons.com and TakeLessons have closed, but older roundups still recommend them.
Sources
- CoachUp. Are there any fees to be a CoachUp coach?. Accessed October 12, 2026.
- Athletes Untapped. Athletes Untapped home page. Accessed October 12, 2026.
- Thumbtack. Thumbtack for pros. Accessed October 12, 2026.
- PipelineOn. How much does Thumbtack charge per lead?. Accessed October 12, 2026.
- Square. Square Appointments pricing. Accessed October 12, 2026.
- Acuity Scheduling. Acuity Scheduling pricing. Accessed October 12, 2026.
- Calendly. Calendly pricing. Accessed October 12, 2026.
- Upper Hand. Upper Hand pricing. Accessed October 12, 2026.
- CoachNow. CoachNow pricing. Accessed October 12, 2026.
- OnForm. . Accessed October 12, 2026.
