Coachy

Coachy is a German-language course and membership platform for coaches, consultants, experts and companies, built around a branded members' area where courses, training programs, downloads and coaching material sit behind a login. Its home page calls it "Die einzige Software, die du brauchst" (the only software you need) and promises that you can set up your own members' area intuitively and professionally without technical knowledge. The site serves two audiences: coaches, who sell online courses, memberships, online training programs, download products and coaching, and companies, who use it for employee training, onboarding and blended learning. According to the company's blog, Coachy was founded by Dennis Spohr and Lisa Évoluer, and the site lists customer support in German and English.

Building courses and members' areas

The home page sets out the process in three steps: create the members' area, upload videos and content, and start selling. Content goes straight onto Coachy's servers in the EU. Courses are divided into chapters and lessons, and a time-based release control lets you set exactly when a given piece of content opens automatically, so participants move through a course step by step, and different coaching groups can run on different start dates. From the Deluxe package, chapters can also be opened by hand for individual members, which the FAQ suggests for coaches who look after participants personally, and content can be released one-to-one so you decide who sees which item and when.

Beyond video, Coachy handles audio, so lessons can be consumed like a podcast, and you can upload recordings of live calls or webinars to keep them available afterward. IFrames let you embed your own content, such as survey or calendar tools. Tests and certificates check that material has been understood and issue a certificate for each successful completion. The company's blog also lists protected video hosting from 25 GB, a live-stream function, and tracking through Facebook, Google Analytics or Google Tag Manager.

Member management covers adding members by hand, importing CSV files and creating free access. Staff accounts let a team share the administration of the members' area, statistics show which content your buyers are most interested in, and tagging marks when someone finishes a video or item so you can send targeted emails for follow-up products or coaching. A support form gives members one channel for questions. For community, you link your Facebook or Slack group (the blog adds Telegram), and comments can be switched on under content so questions are answered where every member can see them.

Members can install an app of your members' area on an iPhone or Android phone, and you can upload your own app icon and choose the app's name so it carries your brand. The design of the area, including colors, fonts and logo, is configurable, and from the Deluxe package you can connect your own domain.

Selling, payments and marketing

Coachy is not a payment provider itself. It connects directly to Digistore24 and CopeCart, and from the Deluxe package to Zapier, through which, the FAQ says, you can attach other providers such as Shopify, WooCommerce or PayPal. When someone buys through one of these, access to the course is granted automatically. You can also create members yourself and grant access by hand, which the FAQ notes lets you sell on your own invoice and skip a payment provider's fees. The blog's comparison table puts Coachy's own fees at none, with fees arising only when you sell through a provider such as Digistore24, and it describes Coachy as platform-independent, free to connect almost anything rather than forcing its own tools on you.

For email marketing, the FAQ names direct connections to Mailchimp, Klick-Tipp, Quentn, ActiveCampaign, Brevo, GetResponse, 4leads and CleverReach, with others such as Mailerlite, and CRM systems such as HubSpot, reachable through Zapier. Contacts added in the members' area can be passed on to those systems automatically, and the blog puts the reach of the Zapier connection at more than 2,000 other integrations.

From the Deluxe package there is a Landingpage-Builder 2.0 that assembles pages from building blocks, starting from one of numerous templates or a blank page, with templates for online congresses among them. A free access option lets prospects sign up through a form on your landing page, after which they are created as members automatically, get access to the freebie and receive their login by email; upselling settings then show them your paid products. The FAQ says you do not strictly need your own website, since landing pages and the members' area itself can serve as the shop window, though an existing site can stay your sales platform. The blog also lists a free generator for the legal notice and privacy policy.

Coachy for companies

The company side of the site groups its use cases as employee training, online training programs, employee onboarding and blended learning. The blog says large companies use the tool as well, and that because Coachy concentrates on developing the members' area, it also works for online congresses or as an onboarding tool for new employees. For a training team, the useful pieces are the ones above: CSV import and manual member creation, scheduled release for groups that start on different dates, tests and certificates, statistics on what people engage with, and staff accounts for the people who run the area.

Data protection, pricing and reviews

Data protection is a headline point. The home page promises "DSGVO-konform & EU-Hosting" (GDPR-compliant, EU hosting), and the coaches page says content uploaded directly to Coachy is stored "100% DSGVO-konform auf Servern in Europa" (100% GDPR-compliant on servers in Europe). Access is protected by "2-Faktor-Authentifizierung" (a second login factor) and a cap on the number of logged-in devices, and coaches can sign a data processing agreement (AV-Vertrag). The FAQ says there is no limit on storage or on the number of members within the company's fair use policy.

Coachy sells packages, with Deluxe named as the tier that adds Zapier, landing pages, a custom domain, tests and exams, and manual chapter release. The company's blog comparison lists Coachy from 27 euros a month with a 30-day free trial, and the site's main call to action is "Kostenlos testen" (try for free).

The FAQ also covers courses for the ZPP (Zentrale Prüfstelle Prävention). Asked whether you can create courses "die von der ZPP (Zentrale Prüfstelle Prävention) genehmigt werden", it answers yes: the tests and exams needed for the required learning checks are available from Coachy Deluxe, Coachy can issue certificates automatically when a participant passes, and the support team helps with further questions.

The home page cites over 500 positive reviews, and the site's rating widget shows 4,8 from 299 reviews. Calvin Hollywood says he built the whole members' area himself despite having no talent for it: "Es ist wirklich total einfach" (it really is totally easy). Andrea Ballschuh says she expected the technology to put her off, but Coachy is "so einfach und selbsterklärend" (so simple and self-explanatory) that she uploads all her content herself. Felix Thönnessen describes an academy that has become the heart of his content and one of the tools his team uses every day. A trustpilot.com review quoted on the blog, by Maria Arbeiter, says "Der Support ist 1a" (the support is first-rate), that she gets answers to her individual problem rather than a stock reply, and that the platform is "total selbsterklärend" (totally self-explanatory), with explainer videos to help when she got stuck.

Who it suits

Coachy suits German-speaking coaches, consultants, trainers and experts who want their own branded members' area for courses, memberships, coaching material and downloads, and who sell, or plan to sell, through Digistore24 or CopeCart, or want to keep their existing email tool. Scheduling for groups that start at different times, one-to-one release of content and recordings of live calls fit a coach running group programs, and the tests and certificates the FAQ ties to ZPP courses fit trainers working in prevention. Companies get a straightforward tool for employee training and onboarding with data kept on EU servers.

It is a narrower fit where checkout, invoicing and email are wanted inside one product, because Coachy deliberately leaves payments and email to connected tools. Its own blog is also candid that tools of this kind do not replace a complex LMS of the sort universities run, and it points anyone who needs SCORM toward a dedicated learning management system. Several of the more useful features, Zapier, landing pages, a custom domain, tests and exams among them, start at the Deluxe package, so it is worth choosing the package with those in mind.