Coach Catalyst vs PTDistinction

Coach Catalyst is extremely easy to use. You have all the tools you need to coach effectively, laid out on a dashboard that is clear, uncluttered, and intuitive to use.

Creating client programs is also very simple. Using the calendar grid or list view, just click on the day you want to add content to and choose from a combination of lessons, habits, messages, or workouts. From the drop-down menu, you can either select from your own content, done-for-you content, or create new content. 

In our experience, PT Distinction has a longer learning curve to get started. It allows for customization, but you cannot build a nutrition program or challenge to assign to clients.

Coach Catalyst offers many different ways to connect and get live support from their customer success team They do multiple calls to onboard coaches and make sure they feel comfortable with the platform. 

PT Distinction has the ability to create habits and track a clients adherence to the habit, but does not have a habit based nutrition program. They do offer the full integration with MyFitnessPal to track macros and calorie intake.  

Habits and accountability are at the very core of Coach Catalyst. You can create programs with single habits, multiple habits, or sequences of habits. Assigning a habit program is easy and Coach Catalyst allows you to make bulk edits at any time. You can also assign bespoke habits to an individual client through their dashboard (journey) or amend content.  

Coach Catalyst begin as a software to deliver programs with lessons and educations to clients.  Giving clients habits is one way to facilitate behavior change, but being able to teach them why they should make those changes is extremely powerful. When they know how to embed habits into their lifestyle and learn how to make those changes sustainable, that is when client see results.

Lessons in Coach Catalyst can contain any information you want - from text and hyperlinks to images and videos. You can use them to share research, blog posts, tips, recipes, motivational quotes...the possibilities are endless. As with all program elements, you can even repeat lessons if you want to help your client to build a specific routine.

PT Distinction as the ability to deliver 'Coaching Content' which are individual PDFs, text, or videos that you can schedule for a client or group of clients.  They also have the ability on a client account to track a habit.  This software does not have the ability to put both of these features together to build a program.  

Both platforms have a workout builder to deliver custom workouts to your clients. Both have large libraries of pre-built exercises and the facility to embed your own videos. You can add notes and descriptions to each exercise and you can also build templates on both that you can copy from client to client. When a client completes their workout, they can share feedback and add notes.

An advantage of the Coach Catalyst library is that the provided videos are animations highlighting the muscle groups being used, which is brand-neutral (rather than videos of another coach). 

Both platforms have real-time messaging and the functionality to send file attachments, images, and videos. Each has an app for clients that sends notifications when the receive a message or have an action that needs to be completed. On both services, you have the ability to send bulk messaging and schedule messages for the future.

Coach Catalyst and PT Distinction have the ability to send video messages, which allows you to give better feedback. 

In Coach Catalyst to keep your inbox organized, you can highlight messages that need to be followed up, or mark messages as done. You can also send audio messages via the coach and client apps.