Looking for a Baseline Alternative?

The “Free” Pricing Model, Decoded

Baseline’s BASE plan is $0/mo on paper. There’s a one-time $250 setup fee, then no recurring subscription. The Plus plan is $99/mo, the Pro plan is $199/mo. Transaction fees are identical across all three: 3.9% + $2.79 per card payment (or 1.8% + $2.49 ACH). Compare that to standard Stripe processing — 2.9% + $0.30 — and the markup is roughly 1% plus $2.49 extra per transaction going straight to Baseline.

One booking, no big deal. Here’s what a single $100 session looks like:

• Stripe direct (what CoachIQ uses): $3.20 in processing fees. You keep $96.80.
• Baseline: $6.69 in transaction fees. You keep $93.31.
• Difference: $3.49 per booking. Roughly double the cost.

Now stretch it across a month of real volume.

Run the math at $30K/month volume

Take a mid-sized facility doing $30,000/month in athlete payments — credit packs, single sessions, recurring memberships, the usual mix. Average transaction around $100, so ~300 transactions/month.

• Baseline transaction fees on $30K/mo: 3.9% × $30K = $1,170, plus $2.79 × 300 = $837. Total: ~$2,007/month, or about $24,000/year.
• Stripe-direct on $30K/mo (CoachIQ): ~$960/month in processing.
• The Baseline markup alone: ~$1,047/month, or ~$12,500/year, on top of standard Stripe processing.

And that’s the math on the “$0/mo” plan. The Pro tier adds another $199/mo on top of the same transaction fees. By the time a coach is doing real volume on Baseline, the fees alone exceed what most flat-rate platforms charge for the entire subscription — and that’s before you account for what’s not bundled (website, automations, programs).

Three Real Coaching Scenarios, Run Through Both Platforms

Pricing only matters in context. Here’s what the math looks like for three real-shaped coaching businesses.

Scenario 1: The basketball coach doing $25K/month in private lessons

A basketball trainer running 1-on-1 sessions and small-group skill work. Roughly 250 sessions a month at $100 each. Mostly credit-pack purchases plus some single bookings.

• On Baseline: 3.9% × $25K = $975, plus $2.79 × 250 = $698. Total ~$1,673/month, or $20,070/year in transaction fees.
• On CoachIQ: Flat monthly subscription + Stripe-standard processing (~$815/mo on this volume).
• Net difference: Roughly $10,000/year that stays in the business instead of disappearing into Baseline’s margin.

Scenario 2: The baseball academy doing $50K/month

A baseball training facility selling 10-session credit packs at $500, weekly group clinics, and a few recurring memberships. Roughly $50K/month in total payments, ~500 transactions.

• On Baseline: 3.9% × $50K = $1,950, plus $2.79 × 500 = $1,395. Total ~$3,345/month, or $40,140/year.
• On Baseline Pro ($199/mo): Same transaction fees plus the subscription. $42,528/year.
• On CoachIQ: Subscription + Stripe-rate processing (~$1,600/mo). The annual all-in is dramatically lower than Baseline at this volume.

For a facility at this volume, the Baseline markup is no longer a rounding error. It’s a coach’s salary.

Scenario 3: The solo soccer coach doing $5K/month

This is where Baseline’s free tier actually starts to make sense — for a while. A solo coach with 30 athletes, $5K/mo in bookings, ~50 transactions, no website, no programs, no automations needed yet.

• On Baseline: $195 (3.9%) + $140 ($2.79 × 50) = ~$335/month in transaction fees, plus the one-time $250 setup fee.
• On CoachIQ: Subscription + Stripe processing. The all-in monthly cost is competitive, and the coach gets a website, athlete portal, automations, and credit packs included.

Honest take: at $5K/mo the absolute dollar gap is smaller. The reason to switch isn’t pure fee math — it’s that Baseline’s entry tier doesn’t include the tools you’ll need by the time you hit $15K/mo. Coaches who start on Baseline because it’s “free” typically hit a wall around 50 athletes, where the fees compound and the feature set runs out at the same time.

Where Baseline Genuinely Works

Worth saying out loud: Baseline isn’t a scam. The platform works. The 4.9-star rating is real. And for a specific kind of coach, the free tier is genuinely the right call.

Baseline makes sense if you’re:

• Doing under $5K/mo in bookings and not ready to commit any monthly subscription
• Primarily coaching baseball or softball, where Baseline has the deepest sport-specific feature set
• Comfortable building your own website elsewhere or skipping one entirely
• Not yet running structured programs, video analysis, or automated athlete onboarding

For that profile, paying transaction fees on a low base is reasonable. The “free” tier earns its keep when the volume is genuinely low.

The honest pitch is this: do the math at your actual volume. Take last month’s payment total, multiply by 3.9%, add $2.79 per transaction. That’s what Baseline costs you. Compare it to a flat-rate subscription with Stripe-standard processing. If you’re past $10K/mo, the spread starts to matter. Past $25K/mo, it’s significant. Past $50K/mo, it’s absurd.

CoachIQ: Built for Coaches and Training Facilities Past the Hobby Stage

CoachIQ was built from day one for sports coaches running session-based businesses. Athletes, sessions, credits, schedulers — that’s the vocabulary of the product because that’s how the work actually happens. Not appointments. Not customers. Not booking pages.

What flat-rate pricing changes

When transaction fees aren’t the platform’s revenue model, the platform doesn’t get more expensive as you grow. A coach doing $50K/mo pays the same subscription as a coach doing $15K/mo. The 3.9% + $2.79 model punishes growth — every additional booking costs you more in fees than the last one. Flat-rate doesn’t.

What’s included that Baseline doesn’t bundle

• Website builder, included. Custom domain, page builder, SEO settings, blog. About 95% of CoachIQ coaches use it. With Baseline, you’re plugging another tool in.
• Credit packs as a first-class feature. Athletes buy a pack (e.g., 10 sessions for $400), spend credits to book, you get paid upfront. Reduces no-shows because athletes have skin in the game.
• Automations engine. Trigger-based workflows for welcome sequences, no-show follow-ups, post-purchase credit issuance, waiver collection. Set once, runs forever.
• Programs and video analysis. Build structured training programs, deliver video feedback with annotation, monetize on-demand content with paywalls. Useful when an athlete wants more than live sessions.
• Athlete portal as a real product surface. Branded mobile experience where athletes book, pay, message, and access programs. Not a checkout flow with a logo on it.
• Inbox with in-app messaging, SMS, and announcements. Stop running athlete communication through Instagram DMs.

What Baseline does that CoachIQ doesn’t

Fair acknowledgments: Baseline has recruiting URL features for athletes that are useful in baseball/softball recruiting workflows. If college recruiting profiles are central to your business, that’s a Baseline-specific feature CoachIQ doesn’t replicate one-for-one. Baseline also has a $0 entry point that CoachIQ doesn’t — every CoachIQ plan is a paid subscription.

If you’re a baseball-focused coach who runs recruiting profiles as a core service offering and you’re below $5K/mo, Baseline may genuinely be the better fit today. The question is what happens when you grow.

Side-by-Side: CoachIQ vs Baseline

Annual cost figures assume $100 average transaction. Your math will vary slightly with mix — recurring subscriptions hit the percentage hardest, single low-dollar bookings get crushed by the $2.79 flat component.

Who Should Switch to CoachIQ from Baseline

CoachIQ is the right move if you’re:

• Doing more than $10K/mo in payments and watching the transaction fees pile up
• Hitting the wall at 50+ athletes where Baseline’s feature set starts to run out
• Coaching outside baseball/softball and not getting much from Baseline’s sport-specific recruiting features
• Tired of paying for a website tool, an automation tool, and Baseline transaction fees as three separate line items
• Selling credit packs or session bundles and want them as a first-class feature, not a workaround
• Running multi-coach operations where staff permissions, shared athlete data, and per-coach schedulers actually matter

Who Should Stay on Baseline

Honest version. Stay on Baseline if you’re:

• Under $5K/mo in payments and the math genuinely favors $0/mo + transaction fees
• A baseball or softball coach where the recruiting URL feature is core to your offering
• Truly fine without an integrated website, automations, or programs — and don’t expect to need them soon

If that’s you, Baseline is doing its job. Don’t switch for the sake of switching.

Trusted by Private Coaches Across Every Sport

750+ coaches and training facilities run their training business on CoachIQ — basketball, baseball, soccer, football, tennis, volleyball, swim, lacrosse, and more. From solo coaches to multi-location academies.

For real coach interviews and case studies, see our customer stories.

How to Switch from Baseline to CoachIQ

The migration is simpler than most coaches expect. Most are operational on CoachIQ inside a day.

• Pull your athlete list from Baseline. Export contacts, booking history, and outstanding credit balances to CSV.
• Create your CoachIQ account. Set up your business profile, connect Stripe, configure your subdomain or custom domain.
• Import athletes. Upload the CSV. Tag athletes by sport, group, or program if you want. CoachIQ support can help if the export is messy.
• Recreate credit balances. For athletes with unused credits on Baseline, manually issue equivalent credits in CoachIQ so nobody loses sessions in the move.
• Build your schedulers. Recreate your session types — 1-on-1, small group, clinics — with pricing, capacity, and booking rules. Most coaches finish this in 30 minutes.
• Launch your website. Use the CoachIQ website builder to publish a real site connected directly to your schedulers and credit pack products.
• Notify athletes. Send a single message — through Baseline, email, or SMS — pointing athletes to your new booking link. Set a switch-over date.
• Cancel Baseline. Once your athletes are booking and paying through CoachIQ, close the old account. Stripe payouts continue working through your existing Stripe account; you don’t need to re-onboard with payment processors.

If you’re processing real volume, every month you stay on Baseline is real money. The migration cost is one afternoon. The fee savings start the next booking.

Frequently Asked Questions About Baseline Alternatives

How much does Baseline really cost?

Three subscription tiers: BASE ($0/mo with a $250 one-time setup fee), Plus ($99/mo), and Pro ($199/mo). Transaction fees are the same on all three: 3.9% + $2.79 per card payment. That’s about 70% above standard Stripe rates, and it adds up fast — a facility doing $30K/mo with ~300 transactions pays roughly $2,000/mo in Baseline fees alone, or about $24,000/year.

Is CoachIQ cheaper than Baseline?

For most coaches doing more than $10K/mo in payments, yes — significantly. CoachIQ uses a flat-rate subscription model with Stripe-standard payment processing (2.9% + $0.30). At $30K/mo volume, CoachIQ’s all-in cost is typically $10,000+ per year less than Baseline. Below $5K/mo, Baseline’s free tier may come out ahead on raw cost — though factor in the $250 setup fee and the missing tooling you’ll likely need by $15K/mo. Run your own numbers; the breakeven depends on your volume and average transaction size.

Why do coaches leave Baseline?

The most common reasons: transaction fees compounding past $10K/mo of volume, hitting feature limits at 50+ athletes (programs, automations, real website tooling), and wanting flat-rate pricing that doesn’t punish growth. Coaches outside baseball/softball also tend to outgrow Baseline faster because the platform’s deepest sport-specific features are concentrated there.

Does CoachIQ work for baseball coaches who use Baseline today?

Yes. CoachIQ is used by baseball facilities and academies of every size. The one feature gap to be honest about is recruiting-profile URLs — Baseline has a baseball-specific recruiting feature that CoachIQ doesn’t replicate one-for-one. If recruiting profiles are core to your service offering, evaluate carefully. If they’re a nice-to-have, CoachIQ’s broader platform usually wins on the trade.

How long does the switch take?

Most coaches are operational on CoachIQ within a day. CSV import for athletes takes 30–60 minutes, scheduler setup takes another 30 minutes, and the website builder is live within an afternoon. The trickiest piece is recreating outstanding credit balances for athletes mid-pack, which CoachIQ support can help with directly.

What’s the catch with CoachIQ’s pricing?

No transaction-fee markup. Payment processing runs at Stripe’s standard rate. Current pricing is published at coachiq.io/pricing — no annual lock-in, no hidden setup fees.