For most people, a BODi (formerly Beachbody) subscription offers solid value as a home workout platform, but whether it’s worth it depends on what you’re comparing it to and whether you’ll actually use it. At $19 per month for the full library, it’s priced in the middle of the streaming fitness market. The workouts themselves are well-structured and effective for building consistency. The supplements and shakes, on the other hand, are expensive and harder to justify.
What You Get for $19 a Month
The main BODi subscription costs $19 per month after a 7-day free trial. That gives you access to the full library of programs, including popular ones like P90X, Insanity, 21 Day Fix, LIFT4, Morning Meltdown 100, and 80 Day Obsession. If you only want one trainer’s content, BODi also offers smaller subscriptions: $9.99 per month for just P90X content, just Autumn Calabrese’s programs, or just Shaun T’s programs. There’s also a 10-minute workout tier at $10 per month.
The subscription includes structured multi-week programs with calendars telling you exactly which workout to do each day. This is probably the biggest advantage over competitors. You’re not browsing a library of random classes and hoping for the best. You follow a plan with progressive difficulty, rest days built in, and a clear endpoint. For people who struggle with decision fatigue at the gym or with unstructured apps, that framework can be the difference between sticking with it and quitting.
Equipment You’ll Need
You don’t technically need any equipment to start, since several programs are bodyweight-only. But the most popular strength-focused programs, like 21 Day Fix, 80 Day Obsession, and LIFT4, require dumbbells or resistance bands. A yoga mat is essentially necessary for any program. Beyond that, some workouts benefit from a pull-up bar, kettlebells, or a workout bench, but none of these are required to get started.
If you’re coming from a gym membership, you likely already have some of this. If you’re starting from scratch, a set of resistance bands ($15 to $30) and a yoga mat can get you through most programs. Dumbbells are a worthwhile investment if you plan to stick with it, but bands work as a substitute in most cases.
The Nutrition Programs
BODi includes two nutrition frameworks. Portion Fix uses color-coded containers to control portion sizes for different food groups. It’s simple and visual, which works well for people who have never tracked what they eat. The other system, 2B Mindset, takes a different approach: instead of measuring portions, you fill a percentage of your plate with vegetables and prioritize water intake throughout the day. It’s more intuitive and less rigid, focusing on building habits rather than counting.
Neither system is revolutionary. They’re both repackaging well-established nutrition principles (eat more vegetables, control portions, drink water) into a branded format. That said, packaging matters. If having a specific system with clear rules helps you stay consistent, these programs deliver that. You can also ignore them entirely and just use the workouts.
Shakeology and Supplements
This is where the value equation gets shaky. Shakeology, BODi’s flagship meal-replacement shake, costs $129.95 per bag, which works out to roughly $4.33 to $5.41 per serving depending on the size. It contains whey and pea protein along with fruit and vegetable powders like kale, chlorella, goji berry, and pomegranate. A company-funded clinical trial found that Shakeology reduced hunger ratings about 50% more than a calorie-matched comparison shake and led participants over 25 to eat about 180 fewer calories at their next meal.
Those results are modest, and the study was small (41 participants) and short-term. At over $4 per serving, Shakeology costs two to three times more than comparable protein powders from other brands. You can get similar protein content, fiber, and even greens blends for significantly less. The supplements (Energize pre-workout and Recover post-workout) showed some positive results in small studies: Energize improved cycling performance by about 5%, and Recover cut muscle soreness roughly in half and halved recovery time from six days to three. But again, these were tiny studies (13 and 18 participants), and comparable pre-workout and recovery supplements exist at lower price points.
The supplements are entirely optional. Nothing in the workout programs requires them, and BODi coaches sometimes push them aggressively because coaches earn commissions on product sales. This is worth knowing when evaluating recommendations.
How It Compares to Alternatives
At $19 per month, BODi sits between free YouTube workouts and premium platforms. Apple Fitness+ runs $9.99 per month but requires an Apple Watch for full features. Peloton’s app-only tier is $12.99 per month and offers a huge variety of classes but less structured programming. Most gym memberships start around $25 to $50 per month.
BODi’s strongest selling point against all of these is its structured, multi-week programs. Peloton and Apple Fitness+ excel at individual classes, but if you want someone to tell you exactly what to do for 21, 60, or 90 days straight, BODi does that better than almost any competitor. Its weakest point is the lack of live classes and community features that platforms like Peloton have built out more fully.
Who Gets the Most Out of It
BODi works best for people who want to work out at home, prefer following a structured plan, and don’t need a gym’s equipment variety. It’s particularly good for beginners or people returning to fitness after a break, since many programs include modifier tracks for lower intensity. The calendar-based format creates accountability that open-ended workout libraries don’t.
It’s a harder sell if you already have a gym routine you enjoy, if you prefer live class energy, or if you want heavy strength training with barbells and machines. It’s also not ideal if you feel pressured by the supplement upsells or the coach network, which operates as a multi-level marketing structure. You can use the platform without ever engaging with that side of the business, but it’s baked into the ecosystem.
The workouts themselves are genuinely well-designed and have helped a lot of people build lasting exercise habits. The $19 subscription is reasonably priced for what you get. The supplements are overpriced for what they are. If you separate the workout platform from the product sales machine around it, the subscription alone is a solid investment for the right person.