Best Strength Training Apps (UK, 2026)

Strength apps have quietly become one of the most crowded corners of the app store. Some are simple loggers that stay out of your way. Some try to build every session for you. A few connect you with a real coach. The trouble is that most round-ups either rank everything against one narrow idea of good, or quietly push whichever app is paying. This one does not. Below is a fair look at the leading strength training apps in the UK for 2026, what each is genuinely good at, roughly what it costs, and the catch to keep in mind before you commit.

Prices below are rough guides, accurate at the time of writing, and worth checking in each app before you subscribe.

What should a good strength app actually do?

Before comparing names, it helps to know what you are buying. Most strength apps fall into one of a few buckets, and the best choice depends entirely on which job you want done.

• Loggers. You bring the plan, the app records your sets, reps and weights and shows your progress over time. Fast, clean, no hand-holding.
• Plan builders. The app generates sessions for you based on your goals, equipment and history, so you rarely stare at an empty screen wondering what to do.
• Programme libraries. You pick a ready-made plan written by a coach or a well-known method, then simply follow and log it.
• Human coaching. A qualified coach writes and adjusts your programme, and you message them for feedback. The most personal option, and usually the priciest.

Two other things matter for a lot of people: whether the app syncs with your watch and other tools, and whether it handles anything beyond the gym. Most pure strength apps do neither well, which becomes a real problem the moment your training includes running or HIIT. We will come back to that.

Which apps are best for simple, fast logging?

If you already know what you want to lift and just need a tidy way to track it, Hevy and Strong are the two names that come up most, and for good reason. Both are stable, well designed and quick to log a set mid-rest.

Hevy has built a strong following on the back of a genuinely useful free tier, which covers routine building, progress tracking and volume analytics, with limits on the number of saved routines and how far back your history goes. Hevy Pro lifts those limits and adds deeper analytics for around £3 a month at the time of writing, which is one of the better-value paid tiers around. The trade-off is honesty about what it is: a logger, not a coach. It will not write your programme or adjust your loads for you.

Strong takes an even more minimalist line. The interface is stripped back to the essentials of logging sets and watching numbers climb, with no social feed and no recommendations. The free plan caps how many custom routines you can save, and Strong Pro, at around £5 a month at the time of writing, unlocks custom exercises, watch sync and richer analytics. If you value calm simplicity over features, it is a lovely tool. If you want the app to do any of the thinking, it is not built for that.

Which apps build the plan for you?

If deciding what to do each session is the part you dread, a plan builder earns its keep. Fitbod is the best known here. It generates a workout before you start based on your goals, your available equipment and your recent training, which makes it a favourite for people who travel or switch between gyms. That intelligence sits behind a subscription of around £13 to £16 a month at the time of writing, cheaper if you pay for a year up front, and the planning happens session by session rather than truly live during your workout.

JEFIT is the more data-heavy option. Its free tier is generous, with a large exercise library, unlimited logging and community routines, funded by ads. The paid Elite tier, at around £10 a month at the time of writing, removes the ads, adds advanced analytics and unlocks features that generate sessions for you. If you love charts, tonnage and tracking every measurement, JEFIT gives you more numbers to pore over than almost anything else. The catch is that all that depth can feel like a lot when you just want to train.

Is there a genuinely good free option?

Yes, and Boostcamp is the standout. It gives away a large library of ready-made programmes, including many well-known strength and powerlifting plans, alongside a proper workout tracker, plate calculator and automatic personal records, all for free. For a beginner who wants to follow a proven plan without paying a penny, it is hard to beat. There is a Pro tier for extra coach programmes and deeper analytics, but the free version does the core job well. The catch is that you are following someone else's template rather than getting a plan shaped around you, and there is no coach to ask when life gets in the way.

What if you want a real human coach?

Caliber sits at the coaching end of the market. It offers structured training built from a large exercise library, with a free plan to get started and paid plans that layer in more support. Its lighter paid tier starts from around £6 a month billed annually at the time of writing, while full one-to-one coaching with a dedicated trainer costs far more, often more than £100 a month depending on the level you choose. If you want a qualified person writing and adjusting your programme, that is the price of admission, and for some people it is worth every penny. For most casual lifters, the top tiers are more than they need.

How do the leading strength apps compare?

Here is the short version, side by side. Prices are rough monthly guides at the time of writing and are worth double-checking in each app.

Prices and features change, so check each app for current details. Accurate at the time of writing.

Where does Edge fit in?

Every app above is built around one thing: the barbell. That is exactly right if lifting is all you do. But plenty of people strength train and run, or strength train and do HIIT, and that is where single-discipline apps start to strain. You end up logging lifts in one app, tracking runs in another, and trying to balance the two in your head so you are not smashing legs the day before a hard interval session.

Edge is built for exactly that person. It treats running, strength and HIIT as one plan rather than three separate hobbies, which is its main difference from a pure logging app. You answer a few questions, and a fully personalised plan across running, strength, HIIT and mobility is ready in 15 minutes. Because it is one programme, your lifting and your running are balanced against each other, not competing for the same tired legs. It syncs with Strava, Garmin, Apple Health and Coros, so your sessions land in the tools you already use, and there is a real coach you can message anytime if something needs to change.

Edge is free to start, with Edge Pro from £19.99 a month and a free 7-day trial if you want the full personalised plan and coaching. It is not the right pick if you only ever lift and want the leanest possible logger. It is the standout if you want strength and running or HIIT handled together, by one plan, with a human in your corner. More than 18,000+ members already train this way.

So how do I actually choose?

Match the app to the job. If you have a plan and just want to log it cleanly, Hevy or Strong will serve you well and cost little. If you want the app to decide the session, look at Fitbod or JEFIT, or grab a ready-made plan free from Boostcamp. If you want a qualified human writing your programme, Caliber is the natural home, budget permitting. And if your training is bigger than the barbell, if you run or do HIIT alongside your lifting, Edge pulls it all into one plan so nothing pulls against anything else.

Most of these apps let you start for free, so try one or two for a couple of weeks before you pay. The best strength app is simply the one you will still be opening in three months.

This article is general guidance, not medical advice. If you are new to exercise, returning from injury, pregnant, or managing a health condition, speak to your GP before starting, and see a physio for any niggle that does not settle.