Hevy vs Strong vs Fitbod: choose the job before the app

Which workflow does each app emphasize?

Hevy also lists training assistance, so reducing the comparison to “manual versus AI” would be misleading. Look at the current tools, then decide how much control you want over exercise selection and progression. A generated plan still needs to fit your equipment and constraints.

What needs to work during a workout?

Use a session you recognize. Enter the exercises, record a completed set, change the next weight and replace a movement when the equipment is occupied. Review what the app carries forward. It matters whether last session’s values are useful context or something you keep correcting.

Check units and exercise identity. A dumbbell entry may use weight per hand or total load depending on how you record it. Two names may describe the same movement, or hide a meaningful difference. Keep your convention consistent. A bigger number in the history means little when the convention changed.

Then end the session and reopen it. Can you fix a mistaken entry? Can you distinguish planned sets from completed sets? Does the summary make sense without remembering the workout? These are practical checks, not advanced features.

Do this before importing or recreating a long program. The app that looks best in a progress screenshot may not be the one you want to operate while resting between sets.

Do you want to follow a plan or have one generated?

A reusable routine helps when you already know the sequence. Your task is recording what happened and preserving enough history to make the next session understandable. A generated plan addresses a different gap: choosing a session from your preferences and available equipment.

Neither choice removes responsibility for deciding whether an exercise suits you. A plan generator cannot observe every constraint you have not supplied. Treat substitutions and scheduling controls as core parts of the evaluation, not optional polish.

For an established program, test whether the app lets you keep its structure without unnecessary rewriting. For generated sessions, inspect why a change appeared and whether you can adjust it. If you cannot explain the next session well enough to follow it, automation has not solved the planning problem.

Will social features help you return to training?

Hevy documents a feed, shared routines and workout comparisons. Those can be a reason to choose it. They can also be irrelevant to someone who wants a private notebook.

Do not confuse accountability with needing an audience. Decide whether seeing other people’s sessions makes your own plan easier to follow. If it mainly encourages program hopping, a quieter workflow may fit better.

Check Hevy’s privacy controls before sharing workout photos or notes. The relevant question is what appears to other users, not simply whether the app has a privacy setting somewhere.

How do the subscriptions compare?

Fitbod lists $95.99 per year or $15.99 per month in USD, with regional and platform variation. Its lifetime offer is promotional rather than a continuously available plan. Fitbod subscription documentation.

Hevy documents monthly, annual and lifetime options through its subscription flow. Strong documents recurring and lifetime options in its terms. Use the amount shown at checkout for those products; an old comparison price may not match your store or offer.

A lifetime plan needs a break-even calculation against the annual price you can actually buy, plus a realistic estimate of how long you will keep using the app. It is not a guarantee that the service, device support or feature set will stay unchanged.

If your missing context is outside the gym, read why strength varies week to week. Moodwell can hold workouts beside meals and mood, but that is a different benefit from a specific social community or a preferred training algorithm.