The big debate in every Indian gym founder group: do you let your trainers also work as freelancers through your facility, or do you keep PT in-house only?
After watching the data on 200+ AskFitness gyms running PT marketplaces, here is what I now believe.
The structural case for a marketplace
- Your members already want PT. Most don't take it because of friction (booking, scheduling, payment)
- Your trainers want more income. Most leave because of low ceiling
- A marketplace lowers friction on both sides
Commission split — what works
For your full-time staff trainers running PT in their off-hours: 70% trainer / 30% gym. For freelance trainers using your facility: 60% trainer / 40% gym. For trainers exclusive to your platform: 65% / 35%, with a 90-day non-compete.
What members pay
PT pricing in Indian metros, by tier:
- Tier 1 (Mumbai/Bengaluru/Delhi): ₹1,500-2,500/session
- Tier 2 (Pune/Hyderabad/Chennai): ₹1,000-1,800/session
- Tier 3 (Lucknow/Indore/Kochi): ₹600-1,200/session
The retention story
Members who take 4+ PT sessions in their first 60 days have 2.1× the lifetime value of members who take none. Free PT trials in the first 30 days are the single highest-ROI retention spend we measure.
AskFitness ships with PT marketplace, commission engine, slot bidding, signed waivers per session, and TDS auto-deduction baked in. Your trainers run their own page. You take a cut. Books reconcile automatically.
Tax cleanup
TDS u/s 194J kicks in at ₹30,000 per trainer per year. If your trainers are freelancers, you need to deduct 10% TDS and remit. AskBooks handles this automatically and generates Form 26Q at quarter end.
Run the marketplace cleanly. Pay trainers on time. Take a fair cut. The numbers compound from there.
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