- 01What to Look for in a Fitness Tracking App
- 021. Strong — Best for Gym Workouts and Weightlifting
- 032. Strava — Best for Running, Cycling, and Outdoor Workouts
- 043. Nike Training Club — Best Free Guided Workouts
- 054. MyFitnessPal — Best for Tracking Both Food and Exercise
- 065. Hevy — Best Free Gym Tracker with Social Features
- 076. Fitbod — Best for Adaptive, Personalised Gym Plans
- 087. Apple Fitness+ — Best if You Have an Apple Watch
- 09Frequently Asked Questions
Your iPhone is already the most capable fitness device in your pocket — you just need the right apps to make it work properly. Whether you’re tracking home workouts, logging gym sessions, or just trying to close those Activity rings consistently, these apps are the ones actually worth installing in 2026.
Short Answer: The best all-round fitness tracking app for iPhone is Strong for gym workouts and Nike Training Club for guided sessions. For running, Strava is the clear leader. If you want one app that does everything, MyFitnessPal covers food, exercise, and progress tracking together.
What to Look for in a Fitness Tracking App
Before downloading anything, it’s worth knowing what actually matters in a fitness app. The best ones share a few things: they sync with Apple Health automatically, they’re easy to log workouts in quickly (not buried in menus), and they don’t lock useful features behind expensive subscriptions. All seven apps below are tested against those criteria.
1. Strong — Best for Gym Workouts and Weightlifting
If you lift weights or follow a structured gym programme, Strong is the best logging app available for iPhone. You can build custom workout routines, log sets and reps with one tap, and track your personal records over time. The interface is clean and fast — you can log a set in under three seconds between exercises.
Strong syncs with Apple Health, supports supersets, and has a built-in rest timer. The free version covers most people’s needs. The paid plan adds unlimited custom routines and detailed analytics, but the free tier is genuinely usable without it.
- Best for: Weightlifting, gym programmes, tracking PRs
- Syncs with Apple Health: Yes
- Free version: Yes, functional
2. Strava — Best for Running, Cycling, and Outdoor Workouts
Strava is the standard for tracking runs and rides — not just because of its GPS accuracy, but because of the social layer that keeps people consistent. Segments, leaderboards, clubs, and kudos from other athletes make it more motivating than a basic run tracker.
The free tier tracks GPS, distance, pace, and elevation. The paid subscription adds heart rate zone analysis, route planning, and detailed performance data. For runners who just want to log their miles and see them on a map, free Strava is more than enough.
- Best for: Running, cycling, hiking, any GPS-tracked activity
- Syncs with Apple Health: Yes
- Free version: Yes, excellent for most users
3. Nike Training Club — Best Free Guided Workouts
Nike Training Club is completely free and has hundreds of guided workouts — from 15-minute bodyweight sessions to 45-minute HIIT programmes. Each workout has video demonstrations, audio coaching, and difficulty levels. It’s ideal for people who want to follow along rather than build their own programme from scratch.
The app works well for home workouts where you don’t need equipment. You can filter by duration, difficulty, and muscle group. It syncs with Apple Health and integrates with your Apple Watch.
- Best for: Guided home and gym workouts, beginners
- Syncs with Apple Health: Yes
- Free version: Fully free — no paywall
4. MyFitnessPal — Best for Tracking Both Food and Exercise
If you want one app for everything — calories, macros, workouts, and progress — MyFitnessPal is the most complete option. Its food database is enormous (over 14 million foods), barcode scanning works reliably for UK and US products, and you can log workouts alongside your nutrition in the same place.
The free tier gives you the food diary and basic calorie tracking. Premium adds macro goals, meal planning, and detailed workout analytics. Many people stick with free and find it more than sufficient.
- Best for: Calorie and nutrition tracking alongside exercise
- Syncs with Apple Health: Yes
- Free version: Yes, covers the core use case
Quick tip:
Connect all your fitness apps to Apple Health → this creates one central record of all your workouts → you can then view everything in the Health app or export it later
5. Hevy — Best Free Gym Tracker with Social Features
Hevy is a newer alternative to Strong that has picked up a strong following. It’s free, tracks weight training with a clean interface, and has a social feed where you can see friends’ workouts. If you want the gym tracking features of Strong but prefer a more social experience — and don’t want to pay — Hevy is worth trying.
- Best for: Gym workouts, social accountability
- Syncs with Apple Health: Yes
- Free version: Yes, generous free tier
6. Fitbod — Best for Adaptive, Personalised Gym Plans
Fitbod generates workout plans automatically based on what you’ve done recently, your available equipment, and which muscle groups need recovery time. Each session is different and adapts as your strength improves. It’s the app for people who want a smart programme without a personal trainer.
The free version gives you a limited number of generated workouts. The subscription unlocks unlimited AI-generated sessions and full exercise analytics.
- Best for: People who want a personalised gym programme without a trainer
- Syncs with Apple Health: Yes
- Free version: Limited free tier; subscription required for full use
7. Apple Fitness+ — Best if You Have an Apple Watch
If you have an Apple Watch, Fitness+ is worth trying. It’s Apple’s own subscription service with guided workout videos — yoga, HIIT, strength, cycling, dance, and more — that use your real-time heart rate from the Watch on screen during the session. The integration is seamless in a way third-party apps can’t quite match.
Fitness+ costs £9.99/month or is included in Apple One. There’s no free tier, but if you’re already in the Apple ecosystem and have the Watch, it’s the most polished option available.
- Best for: Apple Watch users who want guided workout videos
- Syncs with Apple Health: Built-in
- Free version: No — subscription only (included in Apple One)
Which app should you pick?
- ✅ Gym / weightlifting → Strong or Hevy
- ✅ Running or cycling → Strava
- ✅ Guided workouts (free) → Nike Training Club
- ✅ Food + exercise together → MyFitnessPal
- ✅ Personalised gym plans → Fitbod
- ✅ Apple Watch users → Apple Fitness+
Frequently Asked Questions
Do these apps work with Apple Health?
Yes — all seven apps on this list sync with Apple Health. This means your workouts, steps, heart rate, and calories feed into the Health app automatically. You don’t need to log anything twice.
Which fitness app is best for beginners?
Nike Training Club is the best starting point. It’s free, has guided video workouts at beginner level, and you don’t need any equipment. Once you know what type of training you prefer, you can move to a more specialist app.
Is Apple Fitness+ worth the money?
If you have an Apple Watch and work out regularly, yes. The heart-rate-on-screen feature during workouts is genuinely useful and the content quality is high. If you don’t have an Apple Watch, it’s much less compelling — the core feature doesn’t work without it.
Can I use multiple fitness apps at once?
Yes, and many people do. A common setup is Strava for running, Strong for gym sessions, and MyFitnessPal for nutrition — all syncing to Apple Health as the central record.
The best fitness app is ultimately the one you actually open every day. Start with one and build the habit before adding more — a simple app you use consistently beats a sophisticated one you check once a week.