Top 10 Free Fitness Apps for Making Your Life Better

First published May 2019. Rewritten and re-verified 31 August 2026.

Free fitness apps have split into two groups since 2020. One group kept its promise and in one case improved it. The other kept the word free on the store listing while moving the feature you actually wanted behind a subscription.

This list is ranked by one rule: how much the app does at $0. Every entry says plainly what free covers and where the wall is.

The pressure is easy to see in the numbers. Statista Market Insights puts worldwide fitness app revenue at $9.12 billion in 2026, counting paid apps and in-app purchases, and Sensor Tower measured $4.5 billion of health and fitness in-app purchases in 2025, up 13% year on year. That growth comes from somewhere, and mostly it comes from features that used to be free.

How we checked this

Sixteen apps went into this pass: the ten ranked below, three that came off the 2019 version of this list, and three paid-only apps a 2026 reader expects to find here. Every price, cap, star rating and update date below was read on 31 August 2026 from the vendor's own current listing, meaning the App Store in-app purchase list, the Google Play badges, or the vendor's own pricing page. Each entry links the listing it was read from, so you can check any figure against the same source we used.

Free means what a non-paying user keeps permanently. A trial is a purchase decision and is counted separately, which is why three apps sit in their own section at the end. Three apps came off the list against a single criterion: their listings sell a subscription without stating what someone who pays nothing actually gets.

What this is not: we did not install and use sixteen apps for this piece. This is a documentary check of what each vendor currently publishes, which is exactly the thing that goes stale, and it is the part most lists never re-read.

On this page

• 1. Nike Training Club
• 2. Hevy
• 3. Strong
• 4. Home Workout - No Equipment
• 5. Workout for Women
• 6. 30 Day Fitness Challenge
• 7. JEFIT
• 8. Samsung Health
• 9. Strava
• 10. MyFitnessPal
• The list at a glance
• Free tiers that moved, and names that moved
• Paid only: Apple Fitness+, Peloton and Zwift
• Common questions

1. Nike Training Club

The best story in the category, because it moved in your favour. Apple lists it as free with no In-App Purchases section at all, and the Play listing carries neither a contains-ads nor an in-app-purchases badge. There is no premium tier, no trial and no upsell to find.

Everything that used to be subscriber-only is included: studio-style streamed classes, multi-week progressive programs, and Master Trainer guidance. Nike waived the Premium fee in early 2020 and confirmed that July it would stay free for Nike Members for good, and the App Store release notes said the same that August. Six years on it has held. All it asks for is a free Nike Member account.

Two honest limits. Some video-on-demand content is region-restricted, currently to the US, UK, Brazil, Japan, China, France, Germany, Russia, Italy, Spain, Mexico and Korea, and NTC TV is US-only. It holds 4.8 stars across 281K ratings on iOS with an Apple Editors' Choice badge, and 4.3 across 373K reviews on Android with 10M+ downloads, last updated 27 April 2026.

• Type: Fully free
• Free tier: all of it, with a free Nike account
• The cap: none to find, and some video is region-restricted
• Paid from: $0, Nike ships the whole app free
• Checked: 31 August 2026, Play listing

2. Hevy

The best free tier of any workout tracker here. Logging is unlimited on free, which is the thing most trackers meter. The caps, both stated on Hevy's own site, are four routines and seven custom exercises.

Pro runs $2.99 monthly or $23.99 yearly, and there is a $74.99 lifetime option, which is unusual in a category that has settled on subscriptions. Hevy claims 15+ million athletes and 545,000+ combined store ratings at 4.9 on both stores.

• Type: Freemium with feature caps
• Free tier: unlimited workout logging
• The cap: four routines and seven custom exercises
• Paid from: $2.99/month, $23.99/year, or $74.99 once for lifetime
• Checked: 31 August 2026, Hevy pricing

3. Strong

The other serious free logger, and worth comparing directly against Hevy because they cap different things. The developer's own App Store description says the free version saves unlimited workouts, limited to three custom routines. Charts, one-rep-max progression, body measurements and cloud sync sit on PRO.

PRO is $4.99/month or $29.99/year, with a six-month tier at $19.99 and lifetime options also listed.

• Type: Freemium with feature caps
• Free tier: unlimited saved workouts
• The cap: three custom routines, with charts, one-rep-max progression, body measurements and cloud sync on PRO
• Paid from: $4.99/month, $29.99/year, or $19.99 for six months
• Checked: 31 August 2026, Strong pricing

4. Home Workout - No Equipment

Still made by Leap Fitness Group, still free, and much bigger than it was: 100M+ downloads and 4.9 stars from 4.01M reviews, last updated 18 August 2026. The 500+ exercise library, the workout tracker, weight-loss tracking, reminders and video form guides are all listed features.

What changed since 2019 is the business model around them. Play now labels it contains ads and in-app purchases, where 2019 offered only a one-off ad removal. Apple's listing shows Premium Monthly at $9.99 and Premium Yearly at $39.99. The scope widened too, past bodyweight training into HIIT, Pilates, stretching, posture and height programs. On iOS it appears as Home Workout - No Equipments under a related entity, Leap Health Fitness Limited.

• Type: Free core, ad-supported
• Free tier: the 500+ exercise library, the tracker and video form guides
• The cap: advertising
• Paid from: $9.99/month or $39.99/year
• Checked: 31 August 2026, Play listing

5. Workout for Women

This one changed its name, and the old name is now a trap. The app this list has always meant is Leap Fitness Group's, package women.workout.female.fitness, which is now titled Workout for Women: Fitness App, with 100M+ downloads and 4.9 stars from 837K reviews, last updated 17 August 2026.

The string Female Fitness - Women Workout today belongs to a different and much smaller app from another developer. If you search the old name you will probably land on the wrong one, so search the new name or match the package.

Free to install and ad-supported, and the iOS sibling listing states there are no locked features. Subscriptions on iOS run $3.99 weekly, $12.99 monthly, $24.99 quarterly and $29.99 annually.

• Type: Free core, ad-supported
• Free tier: the workout programs, with the iOS listing stating there are no locked features
• The cap: advertising
• Paid from: $3.99/week, $12.99/month, $24.99/quarter or $29.99/year
• Checked: 31 August 2026, Play listing

6. 30 Day Fitness Challenge

Also renamed: the Workout at Home suffix is gone, so the 2019 name no longer matches a store search. Leap Fitness Group, 10M+ downloads, 4.8 stars from 550K reviews, last updated 24 June 2026, and it still syncs burned calories to Google Fit. On iOS it appears as 30 Day Fitness at Home.

The clearest signal that the programs stay free is the pricing itself: the iOS listing sells a one-time Remove the Ads purchase at $4.99 alongside its subscriptions, which only makes sense if ads rather than content are what you are paying to escape. Subscriptions there run from $9.99 monthly to $59.99 yearly.

• Type: Free core, ad-supported
• Free tier: the 30-day programs, with calorie sync to Google Fit
• The cap: advertising, removable once for $4.99
• Paid from: $4.99 once to remove ads, or subscriptions from $9.99/month to $59.99/year
• Checked: 31 August 2026, Play listing

7. JEFIT

Independent, no acquisition, and the homepage cites 20M+ downloads. The free tier is called Basic and it is a working gym app at $0: free and custom routines, the 1,400+ exercise library with guided instructions, exercise logging and history, and community access.

Elite adds professionally designed plans, advanced analytics and training reports, the smartwatch app, video exercise demonstrations and ad-free use, at $12.99/month or $69.99/year. So on free you see ads, and you get still-image or text guidance where Elite gives video.

• Type: Free core, ad-supported
• Free tier: free and custom routines, the 1,400+ exercise library, logging, history and community
• The cap: advertising, plus still-image or text guidance where Elite gives video
• Paid from: $12.99/month or $69.99/year for Elite
• Checked: 31 August 2026, Play listing

8. Samsung Health

Free, with no ads and no in-app-purchase badge, and the core tracking stays that way: steps, activity, sleep and sleep coaching, food logging, heart rate, cycle tracking and medication.

The correction is recent. On 10 November 2025 Samsung added iFIT guided workouts, and Samsung's own newsroom states users get one on-demand video per category per month at no cost across seven categories, being HIIT, Pilates, yoga, strength, recovery, barre and mindfulness, with $9.99/month or $99.99/year unlocking hundreds. Several of the newer metrics, including Running Coach, Antioxidant Index, Vascular Load and Bedtime Guidance, need a recent Galaxy Watch or Galaxy Ring, which is a hardware cost even though the software is free.

Worth saying plainly: it has 1B+ downloads and was last updated 24 July 2026, but the rating has fallen to 3.2 stars across 1.58M reviews. Recommend it for tracking, and go in knowing that.

• Type: Free core
• Free tier: all core tracking, plus one iFIT video per category per month across seven categories
• The cap: one iFIT video per category per month, and several newer metrics need a recent Galaxy Watch or Galaxy Ring
• Paid from: $9.99/month or $99.99/year
• Checked: 31 August 2026, Play listing

9. Strava

Strava carries the most important correction in this category, because the free tier survives while the features people recommended it for moved.

Strava's own comparison leaves three things on the free side: recording your activities, the community, and safety features. Behind the subscription now: segment leaderboards, challenges, routes and route recommendations, offline maps, route drawing, training history in one place, advanced workout analysis, custom goals, relative effort across activities, and Fitness Score over time. Segment leaderboards were the reason many people installed it.

There is also a Strava and Runna bundle at $12.50/month billed $149.99/year, which is the structured-coaching option in this category. Individual pricing currently shows a promotional $2.50/month billed $29.99/year, with students at $1.25/month billed $14.99/year, both with a 30-day trial.

• Type: Freemium with feature caps
• Free tier: activity recording, the community and the safety features
• The cap: segment leaderboards, challenges, routes, offline maps, route drawing, training history, advanced analysis, custom goals, relative effort and Fitness Score are all on subscription
• Paid from: $2.50/month billed $29.99/year on a promotional rate, students $1.25/month billed $14.99/year
• Checked: 31 August 2026, Play listing

10. MyFitnessPal

Still a strong free food log: a 20.5M+ item database, exercise logging, calorie and macro totals, goals, progress and device syncing.

The correction matters because it removes the single most common reason this app got recommended in 2019. Barcode scanning moved behind Premium on 1 October 2022, announced that August. Also Premium now: meal scan, voice logging, multi-day logging, custom macro goals, the intermittent fasting tracker, progress reports, priority support and ad-free use, so the free tier carries heavy advertising.

Premium is $79.99/year or $19.99/month, and Premium+ is $99.99/year or $24.99/month with a meal planner, 1,500+ recipes and grocery lists. On ownership: Under Armour bought it for $475M in February 2015 and sold it to Francisco Partners on 30 October 2020 for $345M.

• Type: Free core, ad-supported
• Free tier: manual logging against the 20.5M+ item database, exercise logging, calorie and macro totals, goals and device syncing
• The cap: barcode scanning, meal scan, voice logging, multi-day logging, custom macro goals, the fasting tracker and progress reports are Premium, and free carries heavy advertising
• Paid from: $19.99/month or $79.99/year, with Premium+ at $24.99/month or $99.99/year
• Checked: 31 August 2026, Play listing

The list at a glance

Prices in USD, read on 31 August 2026 from each vendor's own App Store, Google Play or pricing page. 30 Day Fitness also sells a one-off $4.99 ad removal. Strava's figure is a promotional rate rather than its standard price.

Free tiers that moved, and names that moved

Three apps from the original list are gone from it.

Fitness & Bodybuilding now reads as subscription copy end to end, and nothing on the listing states what a non-paying user keeps. This post promises free, so it comes out until someone can confirm what works at $0.

Pro Gym Workout is now Pro Gym Workout - AI Trainer, and the AI plan generator it markets itself on sits behind the premium unlock. A free level exists, with pre-set routines and ads. Hevy and Strong cover the same need with clearer terms.

Lose Weight in 30 Days is now Lose Weight - Weight Loss App, and it duplicates the 30-day slot. The developer confirms the 30-day plans are free, and reviewers report ad-gating on some exercises. Keeping the Leap challenge app gives you the same thing with better-documented terms.

Two renames to watch, because they break store searches: Female Fitness - Women Workout is now Workout for Women, and that old string now belongs to a different developer's app. 30 Day Fitness Challenge - Workout at Home dropped its suffix.

Paid only: Apple Fitness+, Peloton and Zwift

Three apps a 2026 reader expects to see, listed here so the free promise above stays intact.

Apple Fitness+, $9.99/month, with three months free only on purchase of an eligible device for new subscribers. It now runs on iPhone 8 or later without requiring an Apple Watch, which is a real change from launch.

Peloton App, App One at $15.99/month and App+ at $28.99/month or $289.00/year, with a 30-day trial that requires a card. No permanent free tier.

Zwift, $19.99/month or $199.99/year, with a 14-day trial for new users. The 25 km per month allowance that lapsed accounts used to keep ended on 1 August 2025. Running-only accounts are still free, which is the one genuinely free path left in it.

Common questions

Which fitness app is completely free with no in-app purchases? Nike Training Club. Apple lists it with no In-App Purchases section at all, and the Play listing carries neither a contains-ads nor an in-app-purchases badge. It is the only app on this list where that is true.

What is the best free workout logger? Hevy and Strong, and they cap different things. Hevy gives unlimited logging with four routines and seven custom exercises; Strong gives unlimited saved workouts with three custom routines, and keeps charts, one-rep-max progression and cloud sync on PRO. Pick by which cap you would hit first.

Is the MyFitnessPal barcode scanner still free? It moved behind Premium on 1 October 2022, announced that August. Manual logging against the 20.5M+ item database is still free.

What did Strava move behind its subscription? Segment leaderboards, challenges, routes and route recommendations, offline maps, route drawing, training history in one place, advanced workout analysis, custom goals, relative effort and Fitness Score over time. Activity recording, the community and the safety features stay free.

Does Samsung Health cost anything? The core is free with no ads: steps, activity, sleep and sleep coaching, food logging, heart rate, cycle tracking and medication. Since 10 November 2025 it also gives one on-demand iFIT video per category per month across seven categories, with $9.99/month or $99.99/year unlocking hundreds.

Is Zwift free? Running-only accounts are free. Cycling is $19.99/month or $199.99/year with a 14-day trial, and the 25 km per month allowance that lapsed accounts used to keep ended on 1 August 2025.

Which of these apps show ads on the free tier? Home Workout, Workout for Women, 30 Day Fitness Challenge, JEFIT and MyFitnessPal. 30 Day Fitness sells a one-off $4.99 removal. Nike Training Club and Samsung Health carry no advertising.

What building one of these actually costs

We built Stepler, the Swedish fitness app, end to end. It has passed 10M+ downloads, launched as the #1 fitness app in Sweden in February 2020, and today has millions of users across 12 markets, with brand partners including Nike, New Balance, adidas, Samsung, IKEA, H&M and Disney+. Three things from that build explain most of what you just read.

Scale breaks the database before it breaks anything else. At 10M+ downloads the platform hit MongoDB limits, and MongoDB's core team came in and validated the optimization work that followed. Fitness apps write constantly: every step sync, every logged set, every completed session. The read path looks fine in testing and the write path is what falls over.

A free tier is an architecture decision before it is a pricing decision. Every gate in the table above is something an engineer had to build. Strava metering segment leaderboards, MyFitnessPal moving barcode scanning, Samsung allowing one iFIT video per category per month: each of those needs entitlement checks in the right places, a state model that knows what you have used this month, and a graceful path when you hit the wall. Get it wrong and you either give away the margin or take the store rating hit, and the reviews above show how quickly that lands.

Retention and brand work sit on the platform, not on top of it. Stepler's points redeem against real partner brands, which means inventory, fraud handling and reconciliation, all of it live while people are walking. That is a payments and ledger problem wearing a fitness app's interface.

If you are building in this category rather than choosing an app, that is the work we do.

Conclusion

One app on this list has no in-app purchases at all, and it is the one from the largest company on it. Nike Training Club gives away what most of this category charges for, which says more about why Nike ships an app than about the economics of fitness software.

For everyone else, free in 2026 means a working core with a clearly marked edge. That is a fair deal when the edge is stated. Read the cap before you build a habit on top of it.