Best Hevy alternatives

For a notebook without the feed, Strong. For a target on every set of your own plan, Alpha Progression, or Beatweek if you want your Hevy history to come with you. For a coach’s program, Boostcamp. For no planning at all, Fitbod. For rules you write, Liftosaur.

Hevy is a good app, and for many people the right move is to stay. It is cheaper than most of the alternatives below (Pro is about $2.99 a month, $23.99 a year or $74.99 lifetime), it runs on iPhone, Android, the web, Apple Watch and Wear OS. People look elsewhere for a few specific reasons: the free limits of 4 routines, 7 custom exercises and stats that look back 3 months; the social feed, which some people do not want; and guidance, since Hevy only suggests weights inside its Pro Hevy Trainer programs, not on routines you write. We make Beatweek, one of the options below.

Strong

The closest like-for-like swap. Strong is a notebook with no feed: you can send a workout or template as a link, and that is the social layer. Its Apple Watch app logs with or without the iPhone, with a rest timer on the Digital Crown, RPE and heart rate. The trade-offs: the free tier allows 3 routines against Hevy’s 4, the plate and warm-up calculators are in PRO (about $4.99 a month or $29.99 a year), there is no Wear OS or web app, and Strong cannot import your Hevy CSV. Full comparison: Hevy vs Strong.

Alpha Progression

If what you miss in Hevy is being told the number, Alpha Progression gives a weight, rep and RIR target for each set of your plan, from your history and what you have done so far today, and it can add periodization and deloads. Logging, plans and CSV export are free with no account; the recommendations are Pro at about $12.99 a month or $79.99 a year. There is no watch app yet, and no import, so your Hevy history stays behind.

Boostcamp

Boostcamp swaps the feed for a library of more than 130 coach-designed programs whose progressions, periodization and deloads are built in, and most of them are free with the full tracker. Pro, about $14.99 a month or $59.99 a year, adds exclusive programs and a personalized plan generator. There is no watch app, and Boostcamp lists its social side as program sharing rather than a feed. It is the best free option here if you want someone else’s proven program.

Liftosaur

Liftosaur is for people who read a program and think in rules. Built-in linear, double and rep-sum progressions cover most programs, and Liftoscript, its text language, covers the rest. It runs on iPhone, Android, the web and Apple Watch, and built-in programs are free to follow. Premium is about $4.99 a month, $39.99 a year or $99.99 lifetime.

Fitbod

Fitbod is the furthest from Hevy: it picks the exercises, sets, reps and weight for each workout from your goal, equipment, muscle recovery and logged history. If you are tired of writing routines at all, that is the appeal. There is no free tier (about $15.99 a month or $95.99 a year), its watch apps are companions that save through the phone, and we found no import from other apps.

Beatweek

Beatweek keeps Hevy’s kind of fast set logging and adds a target on every exercise of your own routine: add weight, add a rep, hold, or deload, with a one-line reason. It imports a Hevy CSV in one step for free, including set types and RPE, and exports in the same layout, so leaving again is just as easy. Logging, history, the Wear OS app and export are free; Pro runs the engine on every exercise. What you give up: there is no feed, followers or shared routines; the iPhone and Apple Watch apps are in beta; and it is a young app with a small program library. See Beatweek vs Hevy and the 60-second import.

How to take your Hevy history with you

1. In Hevy: Profile, Settings, Export & Import Data, Export Data, Export Workouts. You get a CSV with one row per set.
2. Keep that file even if your new app cannot read it; it opens in any spreadsheet.
3. If the new app imports it (Beatweek does), open the file with it. Otherwise your history starts fresh, and the CSV is your archive.

Who should pick what

• You like Hevy and only hit the routine cap: Hevy Pro is cheaper than most alternatives. Stay.
• You want the same notebook without a feed, on Apple Watch: Strong.
• You want a number for every set of your own plan: Alpha Progression, or Beatweek if you want your history imported and a Wear OS app, and can accept a beta.
• You want a coach’s program for free: Boostcamp.
• You want to write the rules: Liftosaur.
• You want no planning at all: Fitbod.

More lists: progressive overload apps, Wear OS gym trackers and Strong alternatives.