The best Strong app alternatives in 2026

Strong has earned its reputation. It has been on the App Store for well over a decade, it is fast, minimal, and it never gets in the way of a working set. Its Apple Watch app is one of the best wrist loggers ever made, and plenty of lifters have years of history in it. If Strong does everything you need, keep using it. This page exists for everyone else.

Below is an honest look at the main Strong alternatives: what each one does better than Strong, where each one is weaker, roughly what they cost, and exactly how to move your training history without re-logging a single set.

Why people look for a Strong alternative

Nobody leaves Strong because the logger is bad. The logger is the reason people stayed this long. The reasons people finally switch are almost always structural:

• The 3-routine cap on the free version. Free Strong logs unlimited workouts, but you can only save 3 routines. Run a push/pull/legs split plus anything else and you are already over the limit, which turns Pro into a toll on a pretty basic feature.
• It is a lifting logger, full stop. No runs, no GPS, no nutrition, no body-weight goals beyond a simple measurement log. If you train more than the barbell, Strong is one of two or three apps you juggle.
• Development has slowed. Strong still works, but recent updates have been mostly maintenance and bug fixes while competitors ship programs, social feeds, and AI features. If you are paying a subscription, it is fair to ask what it funds.
• Platform parity. Strong is iOS-first. There is an Android app, but it has historically lagged the iOS version, and there is no real web app for reviewing your training on a big screen.
• Data portability. Strong exports a clean CSV, which is genuinely to its credit. But the export is one-way: Strong itself cannot re-import it. Once you want your history somewhere more capable, the move only goes outward.

None of these are dealbreakers for everyone. A lifter with one routine, an iPhone, and zero interest in cardio can happily use free Strong forever. Everyone else should know what the alternatives look like.

Quick comparison

App	Free tier	Platforms	Best for	Weak spot
JustGains	Everything free during open alpha	iOS, Android, web	All-in-one: lifting, GPS runs, nutrition, AI, social	Newer app, smaller community so far
Strong	Unlimited logging, 3 routines	iOS (best), Android	Minimal, distraction-free logging with a great Watch app	Lifting only, slow development, thin social
Hevy	4 routines, 7 custom exercises	iOS, Android, web	Strong-style logging plus a social feed	Free-tier limits, lifting only
JEFIT	Full logger with ads	iOS, Android, web	Massive exercise database and community plans	Cluttered interface, ads on free
Fitbod	Trial only	iOS, Android	Auto-generated workouts that adapt to recovery	No real free tier, less manual control
FitNotes	Fully free	Android only	Bare-bones offline logging	No sync, no cloud, no iOS

The alternatives in depth

JustGains: the whole-training-life option

JustGains keeps the part of Strong worth keeping: a fast, set-first logger where a working set is a couple of taps, with rest timers, supersets and circuits, plate calculator, warm-up math, and per-exercise history and notes. Then it adds the layers Strong deliberately leaves out. Routines and full multi-week programs you can follow or share. GPS run and walk tracking with routes, replays, segments, and leaderboards. Nutrition logging with recipes, macro goals, and a fasting timer. Goals, daily tasks, and streaks with freezes so one missed day does not torch your record. A social feed with friends, squads, and DMs. And an AI chat that can build a workout around your equipment and schedule, or log your food from a plain sentence. It also connects to ChatGPT and Claude directly, so you can ask an AI assistant about your own training history.

Under the logging sits the analysis Strong Pro charges for, plus some things Strong does not attempt: estimated 1RM tracking on every lift, volume and PR trends, and a muscle fatigue model that estimates how recovered each muscle group is before you train it again. It runs on iOS, Android, and the web with the same account and full sync, so the phone logs the session and the laptop reviews the month.

Honesty section: JustGains is the newest app on this list. It is in open alpha, which is why everything is currently free, and the community is smaller than Strong’s decade-old user base. It does have a native Apple Watch app (tap to log sets with an automatic rest timer, Digital Crown for reps and weight, live heart-rate zones, and phone-free runs with a route trace), though Strong’s Watch app has had a decade of polish. What you get in exchange is an app that ships quickly, covers your entire training week, and imports your complete Strong history so nothing resets.

Hevy: the closest like-for-like swap

If you want Strong with a social feed and better cross-platform support, Hevy is the most direct swap. The logger feels immediately familiar to a Strong user, it runs on iOS, Android, and the web, and following friends’ workouts adds a level of accountability Strong never had. Development is also visibly faster than Strong’s.

The trade-offs are familiar too. The free tier caps you at 4 routines and 7 custom exercises, so the same paywall pressure that pushed you out of Strong exists here, just with slightly higher limits. Hevy Pro runs about $24 per year, which is fair, but it is still a subscription for what remains a lifting-only app: no runs, no nutrition, no goals beyond the gym. If you left Strong because of the routine cap alone, Hevy delays the problem more than it solves it. We wrote a full breakdown in our Hevy alternatives guide.

JEFIT: the database veteran

JEFIT has been around even longer than Strong, and its exercise database is enormous, with community-shared plans for almost any split you can name. The free tier is a genuinely complete logger, which is more than Strong or Hevy offer, with Elite as the paid upgrade (roughly $70 per year, check their listing for current pricing).

The cost of that completeness is the experience. The free tier is ad-supported, and the interface carries fifteen years of accumulated menus, so logging a set mid-workout feels slower than in Strong. Lifters coming from Strong usually notice that speed difference within one session. JEFIT suits people who want maximum library depth and plan variety, and who do not mind clutter. If that sounds like you, see our JEFIT alternatives guide for the full picture.

Fitbod: the opposite philosophy

Fitbod is less a Strong alternative than Strong’s opposite. Strong assumes you know your program and stays out of the way; Fitbod generates each workout for you, adapting to the equipment you have and the muscles it thinks are recovered. For a lifter who never wants to plan, that is a real feature.

The catch is control and cost. There is no meaningful free tier, just a short trial, and the subscription runs around $80 per year. Lifters who follow structured programs tend to end up fighting the algorithm, editing its choices every session, which defeats the point. Fitbod suits beginners and equipment-limited travelers far better than it suits someone who left Strong because they like running their own program. More in our Fitbod alternatives guide.

FitNotes: the free minimalist (Android only)

FitNotes deserves a mention because it answers one specific question perfectly: what if I want a Strong-style logger on Android, completely free, forever? It is a fast, offline, no-account tracker with a loyal following, funded by an optional one-time supporter donation.

The limits are structural. It is Android only, there is no cloud sync (backups are manual files you manage yourself), no iOS or web version, no social features, and development is a one-person effort. If your phone dies with no recent backup, so does your history. It is a great notebook for one person on one device, and nothing more, by design.

Strong vs JustGains, feature by feature

Since most people reading this are deciding between staying on Strong and moving to JustGains, here is the direct comparison:

Feature	Strong	JustGains
Set-by-set logging	Excellent, minimal, fast	Excellent, with supersets, circuits, and rest timers
Routines and programs	3 routines free, unlimited with Pro; no multi-week programs	Unlimited routines plus full programs you can follow or share
Cardio and GPS	None	GPS runs and walks with routes, replays, segments, and leaderboards
Nutrition	None	Food logging, recipes, macro goals, fasting timer
AI	None	AI chat that builds workouts and logs food, plus ChatGPT and Claude integration
Analysis	Charts and records, advanced charts behind Pro	Estimated 1RM, volume and PR trends, muscle fatigue and recovery model, all free
Social	Thin: share links, no feed	Feed, squads, friends, DMs
Apple Watch	Yes, one of the best	Yes: set logging, rest timer, heart-rate zones, phone-free runs
Platforms	iOS (strongest), Android	iOS, Android, and web with full sync
Price	Free with 3-routine cap; Pro around $4 to $5 per month or a lifetime purchase	Everything free during open alpha
Import / export	CSV export only, cannot re-import	Imports Strong, Hevy, Fitbod, StrengthLog, and Caliber CSVs; your data stays exportable

On Strong Pro pricing: the exact numbers vary by region and have changed over time. Recent listings show a monthly subscription around $4 to $5 and a one-time lifetime purchase in the $80 to $100 range, so treat those as approximate and check the App Store or Play Store listing for the current price.

And to be equally straight about the other column: JustGains is newer and the community is smaller. If a decade of track record outweighs runs, nutrition, AI, and a free tier without caps, staying on Strong is a defensible choice.

How to move your Strong history to JustGains

Strong makes this easy because its CSV export is complete and clean. The whole move takes about five minutes:

1. Export from Strong. On iOS, open Settings and tap Export Strong Data. On Android, open Settings and tap Export Data. Strong generates a CSV of your entire workout history and offers the share sheet: save it to Files, iCloud Drive, or Google Drive.
2. Do not open the file in a spreadsheet app first. Excel and Numbers can silently rewrite date formats and separators. Just save the raw CSV as exported.
3. Upload it to the importer. Go to justgains.com/import-your-workouts, create a free account if you have not already, and upload the CSV. You can preview exactly what will be imported before anything is written.
4. Review your history. Every workout, exercise, set, rep, weight, and note comes across. JustGains rebuilds your PRs, estimated 1RM curves, and volume charts from the raw sets, so your progress graphs continue instead of resetting to zero.

One honest caveat on any CSV migration, from any app to any app: exercise names are matched automatically, and the importer maps Strong’s catalog to the JustGains exercise library. Custom exercises with unusual names may need a quick confirmation during import so they land on the right movement. The sets, reps, weights, and notes themselves always come through.

The honest bottom line

Strong is a great notebook with a great Watch app, and if 3 routines cover your training and lifting is all you track, the free version plus an iPhone is genuinely hard to beat. Keep it and enjoy it.

If you are paying for Pro mainly to unlock routine slots, if you keep wishing your logger also understood your runs, your food, and your friends, or if you want your training on Android and the web without compromise, that is exactly the gap JustGains is built to fill: one app for everything you train, free during open alpha, with your entire Strong history along for the ride. Your data stays portable either way. That is the founding principle, and it is why the importer exists in the first place.