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Inside the digital transformation of Planet Fitness: Turning vision into a high-impact member experience

Coherent Solutions became a deeply embedded partner with Planet Fitness, working side-by-side with their product and IT leaders to translate their ‘Judgement Free Zone’ ethos into a connected digital experience. 

Top 3

in the health and fitness category for free fitness apps

+150%

unique mobile application

+15%

release velocity in first 6 months engagement

Industry:

FITNESS

Services:

PRODUCT DESIGN & USER EXPERIENCE

MOBILE APPS

QUALITY ASSURANCE

DIGITAL PRODUCT ENGINEERING

The vision was ambitious: create a connected fitness ecosystem that extends the in-club experience into every member’s daily life, uniting technology, personalization, and community to inspire healthier, happier living at scale.


By integrating real-time heart rate feedback, seamless class and service booking, personalized training plans, and on-demand digital content, we helped Planet Fitness deliver a mobile platform that feels less like an app and more like a trusted fitness companion.

The result is a next-generation fitness experience: accessible anywhere, deeply personal, and designed to strengthen the bond between members and the Planet Fitness brand, creating significant enterprise value.

With AI-powered coaching on the horizon, Planet Fitness and Coherent Solutions are setting a new standard for how digital innovation can transform not only fitness journeys, but entire communities. 

At a glance

  • Client: Planet Fitness is the one of the largest and fastest-growing fitness franchises in the U.S., with millions of members and hundreds of club locations.

  • Industry: Health, fitness, and wellness

  • Challenge: Build a unified, digital fitness experience that delivers live heart rate feedback, personalized content, and seamless service booking, while integrating fragmented systems and streamlining staff workflows.

  • Solution: A mobile-enabled, multi-platform ecosystem that bridges in-club and at-home workouts, featuring real-time workout tracking, integrated class registration, e-commerce, CRM-driven personalization, and live/on-demand training content.

  • Outcome: Achieved 150% growth in unique app installs (Apr–Nov 2020), +15% release velocity in first 6 months, and a Top 3 ranking in free Health & Fitness apps in the Apple App Store and Google Play.

  • Coherent’s role: Partnered with Planet Fitness to deliver a unified digital fitness ecosystem that enhanced member engagement and accelerated product innovation.
     

Client overview

Planet Fitness is a nationally recognized health and wellness leader, one of the largest and fastest-growing fitness franchises in the United States. With a presence in hundreds of cities and millions of active members, their mission is simple yet powerful: to make fitness accessible, affordable, and enjoyable for everyone, regardless of experience level or lifestyle.

Built on the belief that fitness should be welcoming and inclusive, the brand has cultivated a loyal community by breaking down barriers to exercise with no judgment, no elitism, just supportive environments where anyone can pursue their health goals. Their clubs combine cutting-edge equipment, expert coaching, and an energetic atmosphere designed to motivate and inspire. 

 

 

The challenge: From fragmented experience to seamless connection

Planet Fitness needed more than just an app: they needed a transformation partner who could unify fragmented systems, streamline staff workflows, and build a scalable platform. Coherent Solutions was engaged end-to-end: from mapping user frustrations, to architecting the technical backbone, to designing engaging user journeys.

But reality posed serious obstacles. The member experience was fragmented: registration, class booking, and ordering operated on separate platforms that didn’t communicate with each other. Staff were stuck managing tedious manual workflows, which impacted system scalability and flexibility, and as a result, growth. Without integration between CRM and e-commerce, personalized upselling was guesswork instead of a data-driven opportunity.

Our approach: Building the future step-by-step

 

Together with Planet Fitness, we ran workshops with members and staff, mapped frustrations into clear goals, and turned those into actionable product roadmaps. Our embedded team grew to 50+ Coherent specialists spanning mobile development, web, data, UX, QA, and DevOps, integrated directly with Planet Fitness’ leadership to co-own delivery. Through agile sprints, we continuously refined user flows, while also driving the complex back-end integrations that made a seamless experience possible. 

 

 

The solution: Your personal fitness assistant, everywhere you go

New features and capabilities were enabled by Coherent Solutions’ work on system integrations, biometric data pipelines, and CRM-driven personalization. From heart rate monitoring to live content delivery, our teams ensured every feature was scalable, secure, and member-first.

The result was more than a fitness app. It was a digital fitness companion that:

  • Gives members real-time heart rate feedback, turning workouts into interactive, data-driven experiences, improving loyalty and retention.

  • Streamlines class registration and service ordering with effortless in-app flows, driving new revenue streams.

  • Delivers access to live and on-demand content, empowering members to train on their own terms and encouraging stickiness with the Planet Fitness brand.

  • Creates personalized training plans powered by member preferences and workout history.

  • Enable smart CRM-driven recommendations to enhance engagement, growing revenue.

This made the mobile app a central part of how members plan, track, and stay engaged with their fitness goals on the go.

 

The impact: Transforming engagement and business outcomes

Through Coherent’s integration of fragmented systems, optimization of mobile performance, and agile delivery approach, Planet Fitness achieved:

  • 150% growth in unique mobile users in just seven months.

  • A 15% increase in development velocity over its first six months, accelerating feature delivery and innovation.

  • The category’s first-ever fitness app with live heart rate feedback, creating new levels of member motivation and satisfaction.

  • Streamlined staff workflows, freeing up time to focus on member support instead of manual tasks.

  • New revenue streams through data-driven upselling, fueled by personalized recommendations.

Most importantly, the platform laid the foundation for the next frontier of AI-driven personalization that will make workouts smarter, adaptive, and deeply engaging in real time.

 

What’s next: AI-driven personalization and advanced analytics

Together, Planet Fitness and Coherent Solutions are now shaping what’s next: AI-driven personalization and advanced analytics. Coherent’s role spans cloud-driven integrations, data engineering, and predictive modeling, ensuring that every workout adapts to members in real time. 

 
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