How to Price Your Personal Training Services: The Calculation Method

Up to date as of 2 October 2026. Contribution rates are the 2026 rates for a liberal activity under the French micro-enterprise scheme and change regularly: check them on service-public.gouv.fr. The example amounts are assumptions to replace with your own.

Many coaches set their price by looking at others. That helps you position yourself, but it is not enough: two coaches charging the same rate can earn very different incomes depending on their expenses, travel and how many sessions they actually bill. Start from your own situation, then check the result against your market. For the wider setup checklist, see our independent personal trainer page.

Step 1: start from your target income

Set the monthly amount you need once contributions, tax and business expenses are paid, and count the weeks you really work (47 with 5 weeks off, before public holidays, sick days and seasonal dips).

Step 2: list contributions and expenses

Under the micro-enterprise scheme, a non-regulated liberal activity (the usual case for a personal trainer) pays 25.6% of collected turnover in social contributions in 2026, plus 0.2% for vocational training and, with the optional flat income tax ("versement libératoire"), 2.2%: about 28% in total. Business expenses are not deductible under this scheme, so list them for the year: liability insurance, local business tax (CFE), equipment, travel, gym slot rental, phone, website, software, training, accountant.

Step 3: estimate truly billable hours

A 35-hour week is not 35 sessions: travel, program design, messages, prospecting, trial sessions, admin and unpaid cancellations all take time. Track your hours worked and sessions billed for a month to know your own ratio.

Step 4: the calculation

Assumptions: target income €1,800 a month (€21,600 a year), expenses €4,200 a year, 28% levies, 47 working weeks.

Required turnover = (income + expenses) ÷ (1 - levy rate) = (21,600 + 4,200) ÷ 0.72 ≈ €35,800 a year.

This is a floor, not a target. Keep in mind the VAT threshold for services (€37,500 of turnover in the previous year, €41,250 in the current year) beyond which the VAT exemption for small businesses ends unless another exemption applies (service-public.gouv.fr).

Step 5: compare with your market and price by format

Note a dozen local prices by format and experience level. Then adjust by format: travel time for home sessions, slot rental for gym sessions, weather cancellations outdoors, no travel online (see online personal training software), and a lower per-person price for duos.

Step 6: session, pack or subscription

• Single session: simple, but unpredictable income.
• Pack: 10 sessions at a slightly lower unit price, with a validity period, a rescheduling rule and pro-rata refunds of unused sessions.
• Monthly subscription: sessions plus between-session support for a fixed fee, the most predictable model. If it renews automatically, French consumer law requires a written reminder between three months and one month before the deadline to refuse renewal.
• Program over a period: a goal over 8 to 12 weeks with sessions, reviews and a program between sessions.

Raising your prices and avoiding mistakes

Apply new prices to new clients right away, and to existing clients at the end of their pack or subscription period, announced in advance. Avoid discounts without a trade-off, never forget the invisible time (messages, programs, travel), and recalculate at least once a year. Then work on how long clients stay: see how to retain clients as a fitness coach.

What about your tools?

Your software is an expense too. I Train With You is free for 1 client, then €3.90, €10.90 or €49.90 excluding VAT per month depending on your number of clients, with no commitment. See pricing.