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Manage and Grow Your Fitness Business Better with Exercise.com. Learn more below.
PT Distinction vs Exercise.com. Choose Exercise.com’s All-in-One Fitness Business Management Software. Review our head-to-head PT Distinction software comparison and see for yourself. Get a custom web and smartphone app designed for your brand with additional customization available throughout your custom-built software. Grow your business, turn leads into clients, and increase revenue.
The online training segment of the fitness industry has grown at an incredible rate in the last five years and shows no signs of slowing. Though many in the coaching world once looked upon online training as a here today, gone tomorrow trend, even those who doubted its longevity and impact can now be found on the web extending their reach far beyond the walls of a gym.
With this comes parallel growth of personal training software which has made online training scalable, efficient, and more legitimate compared to the days of spreadsheets, emails, and sketchy payment practices.
Like any type of product on the market, there is a broad spectrum of quality and value in training and gym management software and it’s crucial that a trainer or gym manager select the right platform for their specific needs.
For this review, we’ll compare Exercise.com’s all-in-one coaching and business management software to one of the players on the market, PT Distinction. We’ll break down what they offer and show why Exercise.com is the clear choice to help you manage your fitness business better! Request a demo today to learn more.
PT Distinction Company Overview
PT Distinction was founded in 2013 and is based in the town of Devizes in Wiltshire, England.
It is a web-based platform designed primarily for small businesses with a low volume of customers and provides workout design and delivery, assessments, and online payments.
PT Distinction has earned positive reviews in most outlets, however, with a limited scope compared to true all-in-one platforms like Exercise.com’s platform, many business owners may find it lacks some of the key tools needed to operate their gym or training practice.
PT Distinction Features vs Exercise.com
After being behind the times for several years, PT Distinction revamped its appearance and functionality in 2018 in order to keep pace with cutting edge platforms like Exercise.com. Our clients get the benefits of precisely executed features and top of the line visual design. Let’s see how PT Distinction stacks up!
– Fitness Business Management (FBM)
FBM software is the total package platform that helps you with business operations as well as the training functions of building workouts and delivering assessments. The advantage of FBM software like Exercise.com’s is that users have everything they need in one convenient, unified package.
No more learning multiple inefficient systems that each do only part of the job.
No more confusion and fractured experiences for your clients.
No more wasted time entering the same client data into numerous programs.
Our FBM software adds professionalism to your business and gives you, and your client, fewer hoops to jump through. That means more time and energy to spend on providing effective training and growing your business. Here’s how Exercise.com makes your business operations pain-free:
– Calendars and Booking
Our FBM platform will empower you to track visits, book classes and sessions, engage your clients with recurring appointment reminders via email and text, and provide calendar integration with Google and Apple for easy management.
Our booking platform is ideal for companies with multiple trainers as each can have an independent schedule but viewing and sorting options let you, the boss, see everything going on the facility. Unlike many schedulers, you can even keep trainer availability in addition to sessions.
PT Distinction lacks the full-service booking ability that gyms need to schedule client sessions and classes.
In fact, though you can save appointment reminders for yourself in their calendar, there is no two-way booking feature that adds appointments to your client’s schedule as well as your own. Nor does PT Distinction give the ability to track those sessions as part of a face-to-face training membership.
– Accepting Payments Securely and Easily
Our Fitness Business Management software lets you access all of your payment tools in the same custom-branded web and mobile apps, so you can spend less time tracking down failed charges, taking payments, and managing payment details and have more time for growing your business.
FBM makes it easy to set up packages for your training where clients can pay a one-time or recurring price with cash, check, or credit card. Plus accept direct deposits and allow online purchasing of packages. Plus, access all the financial stats and reports you need to run your business right and stay in the know on the vital signs of your company.
PT Distinction limits users to a single option for onboard payment processing: Paypal. Trainers who’ve already been using Paypal as part of the amateur online training trifecta (Excel, Paypal, and Skype) may like the familiarity, but for people ready to scale their business and operate professionally, this is a step in the wrong direction.
– Increase Business Efficiency & Revenue
You got into the business because of a love for fitness, not complicated logistical tasks, so it’s crucial to set up the efficient processes that run reliably and don’t need your constant attention. Let Exercise.com handle it!
For your business’s marketing, automate your efforts by connecting to MailChimp, ConstantContact, ConvertKit, Zapier, Google Analytics, & Facebook Pixel
Are you catching the pattern?
- Implement systems that save you time
- Have all your management tools in one software
- Manage your business from anywhere
– Custom-Branded Web & Smartphone Apps
For subscribers to the Pro and Master versions of its software, PT Distinction will provide some basic customization options commonly referred to as skinning; the company takes their default app and places your logo and color on it.
Android users would be able to find the app with your company skin in Google Play, however, your customers using Apple devices will only find “an unbranded container app which then becomes custom branded as soon as logged into for the first time” according to company’s website.
Exercise.com, on the other hand, offers complete custom-branding which far exceeds simple color changes. We fully customize your web and smartphone app to meet your appearance and functionality needs. Your company’s app even displays with your own branding in the App Store and Google Play.
No matter where your clients download the app, they will find it and download it under your company’s name adding greatly to the perception of quality they’re getting with your service. From their perspective, it’s just like you went to the time and expense of hiring a development team and built your app from the ground up. They’ll never see Exercise.com or know we did the heavy lifting.
Additionally, we truly personalize the function of your app beyond just appearance. While most companies, including PT Distinction, have an inflexible platform you have to mold your business to, Exercise.com molds our platform to the unique needs of your business.
“Exercise.com has brought a whole new element to my programming. It has really expanded my capabilities with products and programs. I now offer several different components with programs, including e-books, full video tutorials, and bonus materials — plus the amazing features that come with the app. My programs are really comprehensive now, and I am able to design tons of great tools and provide support all through a single app. Jeff and his team are stellar. I am super jealous of my brand and make quite a few demands, um, suggestions for the app. They are always eager to work with me and go above and beyond to deliver. Truly a gold medal team!”
Grow and manage your fitness business better with Exercise.com
– Workout Creation and Delivery
In PT Distinction, workouts are created in their Program Builder. There is a three-level hierarchy for organizing what you create:
- Program- the overview of the training plan; made up of individual workouts.
- Workout- the collection of exercises done in a single given training session.
- Section- a subset of exercises in a workout that is similar in purpose or complementary to each other.
- Workout- the collection of exercises done in a single given training session.
Each thing you save at any of these levels as a template can be used in the future when you want to duplicate it or add to a future workout. Because designing workouts in PT Distinction feels a bit tedious, they encourage users to invest a lot of time upfront to create and save templates for later use rather than build new programs for each client.
Exercise.com’s workout creator is the most advanced in terms of capability, yet it is intuitive and easy-to-use. Our simple workout plan creator and exercise manager provide flexible solutions to save you time creating workouts. You’ll be able to create highly personalized individual programs as well as general-purpose programs you can sell online and run on autopilot.
Want to really take your brand reputation to the next level? Use our software to build a custom exercise library featuring your own video demonstrations and technique tips. Get clients to identify with your company like never before by maintaining continuity in their user experience and keeping your brand front and center.
– E-Commerce/Point of Sale
PT Distinction software is primarily a workout delivery platform. Its limited capabilities for billing and sales, the things that actually keep your business going, give the impression that E-commerce is an afterthought in its design.
The three major restrictions on PT Distinction users are:
- Limitations on the products and services you can sell online. Only your template programs are available for sale on your site, no personal program design or digital products like Ebooks can be sold.
- Users are limited to using Paypal for processing payments. While the embedded Paypal button will be an improvement over an ugly link, trainers who are ready to invest in FBM software should be looking to step up the professionalism of their business, not keep using the tools from their amateur days.
- There are no financial reports or payment records available within the PT Distinction platform. It may not be the fun side of business management, but legitimate companies with growth in mind always have this data to analyze trends and keep finances above board.
Exercise.com opens up all the options for increasing your revenue with multiple streams. Our software offers simple and secure payment processing for one-time transactions, recurring memberships, and your digital products like Ebooks. You can set your service to push out new workouts and plans automatically when clients make a purchase so you can make money without lifting a finger.
Here are some of the ways fitness pros are using Exercise.com to rapidly grow their business online:
- Train celebrities
- Train athletes like Jordan Spieth – AMPD Performance – sells single workout plans and delivers custom programming.
- Train NBA pros like James Harden – PJF Performance – sells single workout plans and delivers automated monthly programming.
- Barbell Physio offers a database of workout plans on a monthly recurring membership.
Exercise.com also offers the full range of business reports you need to operate effectively and professionally. Keep track of revenue, member stats, and financial projections. Our software is designed for fitness pros who optimize their business as well as their training.
– Performance Assessments
PT Distinction features several built-in movement screenings, endurance tests, and strength tests. Additionally, you can create custom assessments more specific to your specialty or your clientele. Each assessment can be added manually to a client’s calendar or set to occur automatically on a future date.
Likewise, Exercise.com’s FBM software includes preset assessments as well as the ability to customize them and deliver them automatically.
So what’s the difference between PT Distinction and Exercise.com’s Performance Health Software? With Exercise.com you can:
- Provide automated workout recommendations- our software can use your clients’ questionnaire responses and performance data to automatically pair them with the right program for their needs. Even clients you never meet can have a custom experience that moves them toward their specific goals.
- Improve client engagement and retention- People often have short memories, so a client assessment in tandem with our powerful smart performance tracking empowers you to show clients where they have improved. Happy clients who can see their successes are clients that stick with you for the long haul.
- Ensure clients’ long-term progress with actionable data- Performance and measurement data is only as good as your ability to put it into action in training. Our software lets you assign future recurring assessments to stay on top of client progress and make smart adjustments to programming.
PT Distinction Pricing
Like most training software platforms, PT Distinction works on a tiered pricing model where cost increases based on your number of clients and offers certain features exclusively to its higher-paying users.
The company offers a free 1-month trial at any level but be careful: unlike most other software trials that come with no strings attached, PT Distinction will require you to actually sign up and submit payment information for automatic billing on the trial end date.
Novice tier- the barest form of the software, this only includes service for 3 clients and offers no app customization or website integration.
Pro tier- the company describes this as their most popular level. With Pro, users can manage up to 25 clients and get PT Distinction’s basic customizations. Beginning at this level, users can also embed the sales platform into their own website to sell packages via Paypal.
Master tier- this level features the lowest cost-per-client but at only 50 clients included, does not provide the scalable solution that successful online training businesses need. Like the Pro tier, basic customization and integration are available.
What’s missing?
Even at the highest price, PT Distinction does not support multiple trainers/staff members which can be a severe impediment for ambitious companies with a focus on growth.
Exercise.com never limits your access to features or charges you more each month as your business grows. When you use our FBM software, you get the full package of capabilities and no restrictions on number of clients or coaches. It painlessly scales up as you grow, you don’t even have to think about it.
Additional Competitors
PT Distinction’s closest competitors share most of the same functions and limitations. None offer all you need when it comes to billing, schedule management, or tracking company metrics.
To fulfill those needs in addition to creating and delivering workouts, consider an all-in-one Fitness Business Management platform that integrates everything and saves you from the cost and inconvenience of using multiple products for the different operations you need.
The Bottom Line: Pros and Cons
Choosing the right software to run your business can mean the difference between success and failure, but it doesn’t have to be a hard choice. Exercise.com is miles ahead of the competition when you consider everything it takes to optimize your business and run smoothly.
– PT Distinction Cons
PT Distinction offers the basic features you expect and can find in most software on the market but nothing stands out to separate it from the pack.
With certain key functions missing, like full customization and e-commerce and automation features, PT Distinction is not the tool for serious professionals who are ready to step up their business and make an impact on the industry.
PT Distinction’s position is somewhere in the middle ground between the hobbyist or Insta-trainer and the real industry professional.
– Exercise.com Pros
Our software is the all-in-one solution for your business management needs. From building web and smartphone apps with your brand in mind, to seamless integrations, performance health assessments, nutrition tracking, workout creation, management, and delivery, and a world-class dev team at your disposal, Exercise.com has you covered.
Most software companies make you fit your business to what they offer but our development team works with you to create software centered around your business. If you need custom features, easy integration, and engaging performance health software, contact us today for a demo.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Who are you guys, anyway?
The team at Exercise.com solves a major problem — how to grow your business without wasting time and losing money. We work with the real, confident decision makers — the best of the best — like James Harrison (Steelers great), Don Saladino, D1 Training, Fairchild Sports Performance, and Freestyle Connection — and offer our all-in-one fitness business software to simplify managing your business. The team at Exercise.com solves a major problem — how to grow your business without wasting time and losing money. We work with the real, confident decision makers — the best of the best — like Steelers great James Harrison, Don Saladino, D1 Training, Fairchild Sports Performance, and Freestyle Connection — and offer our all-in-one fitness business software to simplify managing your business.
What sets you apart from your competitors?
We turbocharge your business with our all-in-one fitness business software that’s custom branded for your business.• Efficiently schedule, view, and manage all appointments and classes — including by trainer, location, and service — with easy options for scheduling recurring events and availability.• Save time creating workouts with our simple workout plan creator and exercise manager and built-in integrations, tools, and more.• Sell your training three ways – group subscriptions, individualized training, and single workout plans – to increase revenue inside and outside your training walls.• Take clients through your custom assessments to automatically deliver personalized workouts based on the data important to their success.
Why not pay for custom development?
So many things could go wrong when building custom-branded apps. It’s also expensive, takes years to develop, and requires trust with your developers. We have a proven track record delivering apps for top trainers around the world and remove the risks present when doing it on your own.
What if I’m not technical?
You don’t need to be. Our dev team will build your custom-branded apps and take care of all the technical stuff so you can focus on what you do best.
What if I don’t have a following?
Engaging the followers you have is paramount because you can instantly convert engaged followers into paying clients with your all-in-one fitness business software.
Is it hard to set up?
No, it’s very easy. All you need to do is follow our success team’s proven process. We will deliver your custom-branded, all-in-one fitness business software, and you can do what you do best!
What if I wait to implement this solution?
If you wait, you will leave a lot of opportunity on the table to save time as you scale and manage your business with all-in-one software to engage and retain your clients. Whether you’re looking to bill customers on a recurring basis, single session, or package basis, do it all with a fully integrated, secure platform that can support in-person and online payments. This is a high-quality problem to solve. You shouldn’t wait to solve it.
What exactly do I get?
You get all-in-one fitness business software that does everything you need. No more having one software solution for doing personal training, another for booking and scheduling, something else for client assessments, and yet another pricey subscription for marketing and client communication. And then there are custom-branded iOS & Android apps. If you’re tired of paying too much for too many moving parts, stop the hacks and demo the Exercise.com all-in-one fitness business software today. This all-in-one fitness business software will save you time running your business, handle everything in one place, provide endless opportunities to engage and retain your clients, and allow you to sell workout plans.
Will this really work for me?
Yes. We have a proven track record with fitness professionals like Ashley Borden, Just-Train, PJF Performance, Madeline Moves, and Fit Thrive. Our all-in-one fitness business software will allow you to grow your business as much as you want.
What are the next steps?
The next step is simple. Click “Get a Price” anywhere on this page and schedule a call with one of our team members.
Will this integrate with my other software?
Our software integrates with a variety of other software including Zapier, Stripe, YouTube, Vimeo, MailChimp, MyFitnessPal, ConvertKit, and more.
What if I don’t have the budget?
This is an all-in-one fitness business software that allows you to grow your business as much as you’d like. You should strike while the iron is hot by investing in a workout platform that will help you scale your business, earn more revenue, retain and engage your clients, and save you time running your business.