Stay Fit vs Iron Log: Free Android Gym Log Compared
Stay Fit Team··6 min readIron Log built its whole app around ghost-set progressive overload. Stay Fit matches that with a smart-suggestion banner and adds goals, streaks, and muscle-balance tracking on top.
Iron Log is built entirely around progressive overload. "Ghost sets" show your last session's numbers while you log the current one. Stay Fit matches that with a smart-suggestion banner that proposes the next increment, and adds goals, streaks, and muscle-balance tracking Iron Log doesn't attempt. Both are free forever.
Iron Log has one job and does it on purpose: make progressive overload visible during logging instead of buried in history you'd have to dig for mid-workout. Everything else about the app is intentionally secondary to that.
The core mechanic: ghost sets vs smart suggestions
Iron Log's signature feature is the "ghost set." Your previous session's weight and reps for an exercise appear dimmed in the input field while you log today's set, so you confirm or beat them without leaving the screen. It's a genuinely good piece of UX built around a single decision: did I do more than last time?
Stay Fit's version does something similar but takes it one step further. A smart-suggestion banner in the routine editor doesn't just display your last number. It proposes the next one. Last session's 80kg × 8 becomes a suggested 82.5kg × 8 today, turning the "what should I attempt" decision into something the app helps answer rather than just informs.
| Feature | Stay Fit | Iron Log |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free, no tier above it | Free, no tier above it |
| Previous-session logic | Smart-suggestion banner (proposes next increment) | Ghost sets (displays last numbers) |
| Custom routines | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Workout streak | Yes, with rest/freeze states | No |
| Muscle-balance insights | Yes, offline radar chart | No |
| Body measurements | 9 types | No |
| Goal tracking | Yes | No |
| Data export | JSON / CSV | TXT / CSV / JSON |
| Account required | No | No |
| Platform | Android | Android |
What Iron Log does that Stay Fit doesn't
Iron Log's focus is its strength, not a weakness dressed up as one. Every screen in the app exists to support the log-and-beat-last-time loop. None of the goal-tracking or measurement screens that add navigation depth elsewhere.
If progressive overload logging is the only thing you want an app to do, Iron Log doesn't make you scroll past anything else to get to it. You're between sets, bar loaded, and you just need to know what you hit last week. Ghost sets answer that in one glance.
Where Stay Fit's broader scope pays off
Stay Fit runs the same progressive-overload loop, arguably a step ahead with the suggested-increment banner, and then extends into muscle-balance insights (an offline radar chart built from your training history), a streak with real rest-day handling, body measurements across 9 types, and goal tracking. None of that requires leaving the free tier, because there isn't one to leave.
Choosing based on what you're optimizing for
Your entire reason for using a tracker is "did I beat last time." Iron Log's singular focus means there's genuinely less app to navigate to answer that one question.
You want that same question answered plus a broader picture of your training? Balance across muscle groups, a real streak, body changes over time. Stay Fit covers both without asking you to trade one for the other.
Choose Iron Log if progressive-overload logging is the only feature you want an app to have, with nothing else competing for screen space. Choose Stay Fit if you want that same logic - plus a stronger version of it - alongside streaks, goals, and muscle-balance tracking, still for free.
Frequently asked questions
What's a 'ghost set' in Iron Log?+
Your last session's weight and reps for that exercise appear dimmed in the input field while you log the current set, so you can confirm or beat them without checking history separately.
Does Stay Fit have an equivalent to ghost sets?+
Yes - a smart-suggestion banner that goes a step further by proposing the next increment (80kg × 8 last time suggests 82.5kg × 8 today) rather than just displaying the old number.
Which app is more focused?+
Iron Log, deliberately - it does one thing, progressive-overload logging, and nothing else. Stay Fit covers the same logging plus goals, streaks, and body measurements.
Reader reviews
- D
I ran Iron Log and Stay Fit side by side for three weeks so this was not theoretical. Iron Log still does this: it logs, then stops - no streak, no measurements, no backup I trust. Stay Fit logged the same sets, reps, and weight with no account and no bill. I kept Stay Fit.
- A
Used both in the same gym session. Iron Log interrupted rest with upgrade noise - Stay Fit does the same local log with a real workout flow. Stay Fit's rest timer just counted down. I uninstalled Iron Log in the parking lot. One star off because I still want a bigger exercise demo library.
- F
Dual-app test on the same program. Iron Log is where Android-only is fine, the missing reports are not. Stay Fit finished the workout, saved the session, and never asked for a card. That is the whole review. One star off because I still want a bigger exercise demo library.
- H
Coaching two friends through this. I had them log in Iron Log and Stay Fit. They both hit the same wall: export was clunky compared to JSON/CSV in Stay Fit. Stay Fit did not have a wall. We all stayed on Stay Fit.
- I
I still have Iron Log installed so I can be honest. Opening it reminds me I wanted last-session hints, not a blank set of boxes. Opening Stay Fit reminds me I can just train. Stay Fit is the daily driver now.
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