Hevy vs Strong side by side
We checked each app's own website, App Store listing and help center in October 2026. Both apps update often, so treat this as a snapshot and confirm the details in the store before you decide. Prices change by region and over time, so they are left out on purpose.
| Feature | Hevy | Strong |
|---|---|---|
| Platforms | iPhone and Android | iPhone and Android |
| Apple Watch | Yes: log sets, start rest timers, finish a workout, heart rate | Yes: log workouts with or without your iPhone |
| Logging flow | Routines with last session's weights and reps shown next to each exercise; automatic rest timer | Routines and free workouts; auto countdown rest timer, plate calculator and warm-up calculator |
| Free vs paid | Free with no ads; optional Pro subscription | Free account; optional PRO subscription |
| What the free version limits | Number of routines and custom exercises, and how much training history you see | Number of custom routines (workouts themselves are unlimited) |
| Social features | Follow friends, social feed, discovery feed, leaderboards | Share routines and workouts with friends through the share sheet |
| Plans and routines | Routine folders, a routine library of splits and workouts; Hevy Trainer builds a program (Pro) | Build and save your own routines |
| Progress charts | Graphs and PRs per exercise, muscle distribution, sets per muscle group per week | Volume and 1RM graphs, PRs, estimated one-rep max; advanced charts in PRO |
| Export and import | Export workout data from settings; imports Strong CSV files | Export all data as CSV |
| Other integrations | Apple Health, Strava | Apple Health for body measurements |
The short version: on the core job of logging sets, the two are closer than their fans suggest. The real differences are the social layer, how the free versions are limited and what each Pro plan adds.
Logging a workout: how each app feels
Logging speed matters more than any feature list, because you do it between sets with your heart rate up. Both apps let you start from a saved routine, tick off sets and let a rest timer run while you recover. Our workout tracker app checklist covers what else to test.
Hevy puts last session's weights and reps for every exercise right in the logging screen, so you can see what to beat without leaving the workout. The rest timer starts automatically after a set, and the Apple Watch app lets you log and start timers from your wrist.
Strong leans on small tools that save time under the bar: a plate calculator for heavy sets, a warm-up calculator that suggests your ramp-up weights and an auto countdown timer for rest. Its Watch app can log a full workout without the phone nearby, which is handy if you leave your phone in the locker.
With a routine you built yourself, both apps show you the history and leave the next weight to you. Hevy Trainer in Pro is the exception, since it builds a program for you. If deciding is the part you struggle with, read our guide to progressive overload or follow a program with built-in rules such as 5/3/1.
Is Hevy free? Is Strong free?
Both apps are free to download and usable without paying. Each one has a paid tier, and the limits sit in different places.
- Hevy free has no ads. According to Hevy's help center, the free version caps the number of routines and custom exercises and shows a limited window of training history. Hevy Pro removes those caps and adds Hevy Trainer, which builds a program for you.
- Strong free saves unlimited workouts but limits you to three custom routines, per its App Store listing. Strong PRO removes the routine cap and adds advanced charts such as best sets and max 1RM over time.
- If you run a simple push pull legs split, three routines may be all you need, so test the free version before paying for either.
Who should pick Hevy, who should pick Strong
| You are... | Better fit | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Training with friends or an online community | Hevy | Feed, follows and leaderboards |
| Wanting a quiet log with no feed | Strong | Minimal by design, sharing only when you choose |
| Running several routines on the free version | Test both | Both limit routines in the free version, Hevy slightly less tightly |
| Wanting a ready-made program inside the app | Hevy | Routine library and Hevy Trainer in Pro |
| Loading heavy barbell sets | Strong | Plate and warm-up calculators built in |
| Working with a personal trainer | Hevy | Hevy Coach lets a trainer assign workouts |
| Switching from Strong later | Either | Hevy imports Strong CSV files, and Strong exports CSV |
If you are still unsure, our broader guide to the best workout app sorts apps by how they plan your training, not just by how they log it. If you want an app that writes each session for you instead, see the Fitbod alternatives.
Where Gripp is different
Gripp is the iPhone app behind this site. It is not out yet, so it is not in the table above. It sits closer to Strong than to Hevy in spirit, with no social feed, but it is built around a question neither logger answers for you: what should I lift today?
- It tells you the next weight and reps. Gripp uses double progression: "last time 7 reps at 105 kg (231 lb), today go for 8." Hit the top of your rep range in every set and the weight goes up.
- Strength rating per muscle group. Your lifts are rated against people of your age and bodyweight, like the bench press strength standards on this site, but for each muscle group.
- Estimated 1RM per exercise with a chart over time, using the same math as our 1RM calculator.
- An AI coach that suggests, you decide. It knows your plan and recent training, answers questions, and can propose a plan change such as swapping an exercise. Nothing changes until you tap Approve. It can be wrong and it is not a doctor.
What Gripp leaves out: a social feed, calorie tracking and a program marketplace. If those matter, Hevy or another app on our Hevy alternatives and Strong app alternatives pages may suit you better.
Gripp is coming soon to iPhone
A lifting log that tells you what to lift next and rates your strength per muscle group. Join the waitlist to hear when it launches.
Join the waitlist
Social features and Hevy Coach
This is the clearest difference. Hevy is built to be social: you follow friends and family, see their workouts in a feed, compare stats and climb leaderboards. If seeing your training partner's PR makes you train harder, Hevy gives you that.
Strong keeps sharing simple. You can send a routine or a finished workout to a friend, but there is no feed. Some lifters see that as a gap, others as the point.
Hevy Coach is a separate product for personal trainers: software to build and assign programs to clients, who then do the assigned workouts and chat with their trainer in the Hevy app. It is not an AI coach. If you work with a human trainer who uses it, that alone may decide the question for you.