Coaches, fitness studios, trainers, and creators ask about membership apps constantly. The build is rarely the hard part. Our free honest read asks one question for every membership idea, and it is the one that sinks most of them: "Who makes the content every week once it is live? The app is the easy half."
Key Takeaways
- Ready-made membership and course platforms fit most first versions.
- A custom build makes sense when members need to do something specific to your business, beyond watching and reading.
- Subscription fees, from payment providers or app stores, are a permanent cost to plan for.
- A web app avoids app store commissions and review delays for a first version.
The Typical Hard Parts
The same read lists three for this kind of app:
- Subscriptions, renewals, and failed cards.
- Video hosting and playback on phones.
- Keeping members coming back after month two.
Only the first two are software problems. The third is your content and your community.
Cost Ranges
Using the honest read's bands:
| Version | Includes | Typical cost |
|---|---|---|
| Membership platform | Hosted courses, community, payments | A monthly platform fee plus a share or transaction fee, depending on the platform |
| Simple custom web app | Member login, content library, subscription payments | $3,000 to $12,000, one developer |
| Custom app with your own features | Progress tracking, bookings, coach dashboards, integrations | $15,000 to $45,000, small team |
| Native iPhone and Android apps | Everything above, in the app stores | Adds significant cost and ongoing store fees |
The Fees That Keep Coming
Card payments on the web. Stripe's standard US pricing is 2.9% plus 30 cents per successful card charge, and its Billing product for recurring payments adds 0.7% of billing volume on pay-as-you-go pricing.
Apple App Store. If members subscribe inside an iPhone app, Apple takes a commission. Under the App Store Small Business Program, developers who earned up to $1 million in proceeds the previous calendar year, and who enroll, pay a reduced 15% rate. For auto-renewable subscriptions, the standard rate drops after a subscriber's first year of paid service. The Apple Developer Program costs $99 a year. Rules on linking US users to outside payment pages have been changing through the courts, so check the current terms before planning around them.
Google Play. Registration is a one-time $25 fee. Google has changed its fees for US users: for subscriptions, the fee is now 10% plus a 5% billing fee on your first $1 million a year. Check the page for your situation, because the rules differ by market and by when users installed.
This is why many first versions are web apps. Members pay on your website, the payment fees are lower, and you avoid store reviews on every update. A well-built web app works well on a phone.
A Concrete Version
A strength coach has 200 clients on a monthly plan paid by bank transfer and a folder of workout videos shared by link.
Option A, a membership platform: courses, community, and payments in a week. A good fit if the coach mainly sells video programs.
Option B, custom: the coach wants clients to log each workout, see progress charts, and book monthly check-in calls, and wants the coach dashboard to flag clients who stopped logging. That is specific to how this coach works and keeps clients from drifting away. A web app with subscriptions through a payment provider, workout logging, and a coach view lands in the small-team band.
The coach starts with A for three months to confirm clients will log workouts at all. Most do, so B gets built, and the native app is left for later.
The Honest Counterpoint
A custom membership app does not bring members. If you do not already have an audience, a custom build is usually the wrong first spend. A platform, a payment link, and consistent content will teach you more for far less. Build custom once you have paying members and a clear feature they keep asking for.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need an iPhone app?
Not usually for version one. Add it when members ask for features that need it, like offline video or notifications. See what to leave out of the first version of your app.
How do I handle failed card payments?
Payment providers have automatic retry and reminder features. Turn them on. This is one of the typical hard parts listed above.
Can I move from a platform to custom later?
Yes. Make sure you can export member lists and payment records. See when to move your app off a no-code builder.
What does video hosting cost?
It depends on how many members watch and how much. Use a dedicated video hosting service rather than storing videos yourself.
The Bottom Line
Prove the content and the audience on a platform, then build custom for the feature that keeps members around. Plan for payment and store fees from day one. To check which path fits your idea, try the honest read. When you are ready, our software factory builds at a fixed price.
Roberto Espinoza is CEO of Ruzora, which builds custom software for business owners at a fixed price and places pre-vetted senior LATAM engineers with US teams. Get a free honest read on your idea.
