Fitness App Development Services
Off-the-shelf fitness platforms charge per member, per month, on features you didn't ask for and can't change. A gym growing from 500 to 5,000 members doesn't save money on Mindbody. It pays more, for the same rigid product.
RaftLabs builds custom iOS and Android fitness apps for gyms, personal trainers, fitness studios, and wellness brands. Fixed price. Your brand, your logic, your pricing. No per-member fees compounding as you grow.
iOS and Android fitness apps built to your workflow, not a SaaS template
No per-member monthly fees: you own the platform outright
Wearable integrations with Apple Watch, Garmin, and Fitbit via HealthKit and Google Fit
Class booking, member check-in, workout tracking, and nutrition in one app, one brand
Fixed price quote before development starts
Recent outcomes
Mobile app · Fitness platform (US)
Zero per-member SaaS fees
Built iOS and Android workout tracking app with Apple Watch integration, coach programming tools, and in-app purchases. Delivered in 14 weeks.
Community app · EventRaft (IE)
50K users in 6 months
Community platform with group management, event scheduling, and push notifications. Scaled from zero to 50,000 active users in 6 months.
Mobile · 60+ apps shipped
4.9/5 on Clutch
9 years building iOS and Android apps for established businesses. Clients include Nike, Vodafone, Cisco, and Lockheed Martin.
The problem
Gym paying $2 per member per month for a SaaS platform you can't customise?
Fitness brand with 50,000 followers and no owned app to monetise that audience?
Personal trainer managing client programs across three tools because no single platform does everything?
Short answer
RaftLabs builds custom fitness apps for gyms, personal trainers, fitness studios, and wellness brands in the US, UK, Ireland, and Australia. Builds include workout tracking, class booking, gym management, nutrition planning, and wearable integration (Apple Watch, Garmin, Fitbit). Clients include Nike and Vodafone. Projects start at $30,000 and take 10-16 weeks. No per-member SaaS fees.
Key takeaways
Trusted by
A gym opens with 500 members and a SaaS platform that feels affordable. Two years later it's at 2,000 members, paying $2 per member every month, for the exact same rigid product it started with.
Growth didn't earn the gym a better app. It earned the SaaS vendor a bigger invoice.
The platform captured the upside. The gym carried the risk.
A custom app flips that. You pay once to build it, then you own it.
A gym paying $2 per member per month at 2,000 members is spending $48,000 a year on a platform it doesn't own. That number climbs with every new member. The SaaS vendor captures your growth. You capture the product risk.
A custom fitness app is an asset. You own the code. You set the pricing. You add the features your members actually ask for. The per-member fee disappears.
According to Grand View Research, the global fitness app market was valued at $12.12 billion in 2025 and is projected to grow at a 13.4% CAGR through 2033. Gyms and wellness brands that own their platform capture that growth directly, instead of funding a SaaS vendor's expansion.
RaftLabs has shipped 60+ mobile apps across iOS and Android over 9 years, for clients including Nike, Vodafone, T-Mobile, Cisco, and Lockheed Martin, at 4.9/5 on Clutch. Our community platform EventRaft scaled from zero to 50,000 active users in 6 months, so when a fitness app needs group challenges or social features, we've built at that scale.
Everything on the left should already be true for your business. Even one thing on the right, and a custom build isn't the right move yet.
You run a gym, studio, or training business with enough members that per-member SaaS fees are now a real line item.
You already have a membership, class, or coaching model in place: bookings, tiers, or recurring billing.
You want to own the platform and the member relationship, not rent them from Mindbody or Trainerize.
What we build
Fixed price, no overruns
The number in the project brief is the number on the final invoice. Scope changes are priced separately, in writing, before any additional work starts.
You own everything
Source code, App Store accounts, server infrastructure, and all third-party API contracts transfer to you at handover. No vendor lock-in, no ongoing licence fees to us.
The team that scopes it ships it
The people who assess your product in week 1 are the same people shipping it in week 14. No bait-and-switch after the contract is signed.
No per-member fee compounding
SaaS fitness platforms charge per member as you grow. A custom app costs once, then operates at infrastructure cost, and at 2,000 members the saving covers the build cost inside 24 months.
Your business logic, not a template
Mindbody and Trainerize are built for the average gym. Your class waitlist logic, your membership tiers, your coach assignment rules all get built into a custom app from the ground up.
Built for App Store compliance
Fitness apps face specific Apple requirements: HealthKit data disclosure, in-app subscription rules, and privacy nutrition labels. We handle all of it, so there's no last-minute compliance scramble before launch.
Wearable integration on day one
Apple Watch, Garmin, and Fitbit are scoped and built as first-class features, not afterthought add-ons, with HealthKit compliance and data disclosure handled to meet App Store requirements.
Scope locked before we start
We write the product brief, you sign it off, then development starts. Changes after sign-off go through a change request, so your scope and your budget stay under control.
Tell us your membership model, your current tools, and the features your members keep asking for. We'll scope the app and give you a fixed price.
How it works
We map your member workflow, feature priorities, and integration requirements. You leave week 1 with a written product brief and a fixed-price quote. Development starts only after you sign off.
UI design in Figma, approved screen by screen before any code is written. Technical architecture decided and documented: stack, third-party integrations, data model. No surprises in the build.
Working build on TestFlight and Android beta within the first two sprints. Bi-weekly demos. QA runs in parallel with every sprint, not after the build is complete.
App Store and Google Play submission handled by us. We manage review cycles, respond to Apple and Google queries, and deploy to production. Post-launch support included for 8 weeks.
Where you land in the price range depends on scope, not negotiation:
What it costs
One main use case or a full gym platform, the number in the project brief is the number on the final invoice. Scope changes are priced and agreed separately.
Fixed price, based on scope. 10-16 weeks to live. Source code ownership and App Store and Google Play deployment included.
Off-the-shelf platforms charge per member, per month, for a product you don't own. A custom app built for $45,000 pays back in under two years, then operates at infrastructure cost only.
Fixed price
The number in the project brief is the number on the final invoice. Scope changes are priced and agreed in writing before any additional work starts.
Ownership
Source code, App Store accounts, and all third-party API contracts transfer to you at handover. No vendor lock-in, no ongoing licence fees to us.
Mobile App Development
iOS and Android app development across industries and use cases.
SaaS Application Development
Custom SaaS platforms when a mobile app needs a web admin layer.
Loyalty Program Development
Points, rewards, and retention mechanics for fitness brands.
IoT Development
Wearable and connected device integration beyond HealthKit and Google Fit.
Fitness and Wellness Industry
RaftLabs delivery track record in fitness, wellness, and sport.
What clients say
Three-year average engagement. Founders and operators describing the work in their own words. No marketing varnish.
IrelandIncredibly simple and easy to use app. Exactly what we were looking for.
01 / 06
Tell us what's broken. Within one business day you get a straight take on cost, timeline, and the right first step. No deck, no pressure.
Stay on topic
Proof
Pause reduces mindless app opens by 40% without blocking or timers
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Read moreWe build six main types. Workout tracking apps: structured programming, exercise libraries with video demos, sets and reps logging, progress charts, and coach-to-client assignment. Gym management apps: class scheduling, member booking, digital check-in, membership tiers, and automated payment processing. Personal training apps: client onboarding, weekly program delivery, progress photos, messaging, and habit tracking. Nutrition and meal planning apps: macro tracking, food databases, meal plan builder, and hydration logging. Corporate wellness apps: step challenges, team leaderboards, wellbeing check-ins, and HR dashboard reporting. Wearable-connected apps: Apple Watch, Garmin, and Fitbit integration via HealthKit and Google Fit, pulling heart rate, sleep, activity, and workout data into your platform. Most builds combine two or three of these areas into a single product.
Three reasons. First, cost structure: Mindbody charges per location and per booking type; Trainerize charges per client per month. A gym with 1,000 members paying $2 per month pays $24,000 per year for a platform it doesn't own and can't modify. A custom app built for $45,000 pays back in under two years and then operates at infrastructure cost only. Second, differentiation: a generic SaaS app means your members see a product identical to your competitor's. A custom app is your brand, your onboarding flow, your community features. Third, features: Mindbody will not build the specific class waitlist logic, the coach-to-client messaging format, or the loyalty reward integration your business needs. You either adapt your business to the tool or build the tool to fit your business.
Mobile platforms: iOS (Swift, React Native) and Android (Kotlin, React Native). Wearables: Apple Watch via HealthKit, Google Fit for Android, Garmin Connect IQ, and Fitbit Web API. Payment processing: Stripe, Braintree, and Apple Pay / Google Pay. Push notifications: Firebase Cloud Messaging and Apple Push Notification Service. Video hosting: Mux and Vimeo for exercise demo libraries and coach-uploaded content. Booking systems: calendar-based class and appointment scheduling built custom, or integrated with existing systems via API. CRM integration: HubSpot and Salesforce for gym operators who manage leads and renewals separately from the member app. The exact stack is confirmed in the project brief so you know every vendor dependency before development starts.
A focused single-platform build (one main feature set, either workout tracking or class booking, iOS only) typically takes 10-14 weeks. A dual-platform iOS and Android build with two to three integrated feature areas (e.g. class booking + workout tracking + wearable integration) typically takes 16-22 weeks. A full-platform build with gym management, member portal, coach tools, and custom integrations typically takes 24-32 weeks. Timeline depends primarily on the number of integrated features and the complexity of third-party integrations. Scope is locked and timeline is committed in the project brief before development starts. App Store and Google Play submission time (typically 1-3 days for Android, 1-7 days for iOS) is built into the delivery schedule.
A focused MVP, one main use case on one platform (e.g. personal trainer client programming app for iOS), typically runs $30,000-$55,000. A dual-platform build with class booking, workout tracking, and a coach dashboard typically runs $55,000-$100,000. A full gym management platform with member portal, admin dashboard, payment processing, and wearable integration typically runs $100,000-$160,000. The cost model is fixed price: the number agreed in the project brief is the number on the final invoice, scope changes are priced and agreed separately. All builds include source code ownership and deployment to the App Store and Google Play. The fixed price is agreed at the end of week-one discovery after the full feature scope has been mapped.
Yes. App Store (Apple) and Google Play (Android) submission, metadata, screenshots, and review management are included in every mobile build. We handle the technical requirements, privacy policy formatting, app review submissions, and rejection responses if Apple or Google raises a query. For fitness apps specifically, we account for HealthKit data usage disclosures (required by Apple for any app accessing health or fitness data), in-app purchase compliance, and subscription billing rules. Post-launch, we provide the first two rounds of App Store update submissions as part of the project warranty period. We budget for one Apple review cycle in the project timeline, and handle any reviewer queries directly so the launch date isn't delayed by admin.
Work with us
We scope Fitness App Development in 30 minutes. You walk away with a clear cost, timeline, and approach. No commitment required.