Stay Fit vs Plates: Which Offline Logger Is Better?
Stay Fit Team··6 min readBoth are free, ad-free, and offline. Plates stays deliberately minimal; Stay Fit adds goals, streaks, and measurements on top of the same core logging.
Stay Fit and Plates are both free, ad-free, and fully offline. Plates stays deliberately minimal: sets, reps, weight, and nothing else. Stay Fit covers the same core logging and adds goals, streaks, body measurements, and progress photos on top, still for free.
Plates is built around a specific idea: a workout logger doesn't need calorie tracking, a social feed, or a dashboard full of charts to be useful. It does sets, reps, weight, and progressive overload tracking, and stops there on purpose. That's not cut corners. That's the design goal.
Price and scope
Both apps are free at every tier, with no ads and no account required. The real difference isn't price. It's scope. Plates' entire feature surface is logging and basic progression tracking. Stay Fit covers that same ground and extends into goals, streaks, and body tracking.
| Feature | Stay Fit | Plates |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free, no ads | Free, no ads |
| Custom routines | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Progressive overload hints | Smart-suggestion banner | Previous-session display |
| Workout streak | Yes, with rest/freeze states | No |
| Body measurements | 9 types | No |
| Progress photos | Yes | No |
| Goal tracking | Yes | No |
| Calorie tracking | No | No |
| Social features | No | No |
| Data export | JSON / CSV | Yes |
| Account required | No | No |
What Plates does that Stay Fit doesn't
Honestly, not much feature-wise. Plates' entire pitch is being smaller. Fewer screens, a narrower feature set, a UI that never asks you to consider something you didn't come for. If minimalism itself is the feature you want, Plates delivers that more purely than an app with more tabs on it, Stay Fit included.
Some lifters want an app that gets out of the way completely. Open it, log 3x5 bench, close it. Plates respects that instinct in a way fuller apps can't quite match, even when the extra features are free.
Where Stay Fit adds more without adding cost
Stay Fit's logging flow is comparably fast to Plates' for the basic case. Log a set, move to the next. The difference shows up once you want something beyond that single set: a streak that survives a planned rest day, body measurements across 9 types, progress photos, and goal tracking for weight or weekly frequency.
Plates doesn't attempt any of that by design. Stay Fit includes all of it without adding a paywall anywhere in the process.
Choosing based on what you actually want
You've tried fuller-featured trackers before and found yourself only ever using the logging screen. Plates matches that behavior directly. There's no unused surface area to navigate around.
You think you might eventually want to track a weight goal or take progress photos without switching apps later? Stay Fit covers both cases from day one at the same $0 price.
Pick Plates if the smallest possible app, with nothing extra, is genuinely what you want. Pick Stay Fit if you want that same fast logging experience with room to track goals, streaks, and body changes later without switching to a different app.
Frequently asked questions
What does Plates do that Stay Fit doesn't?+
Honestly, not much feature-wise. Plates' selling point is being smaller and more focused, not doing something Stay Fit lacks.
Is Stay Fit as fast to use as Plates for basic logging?+
Yes - the core log-a-set flow is comparably quick in both. Stay Fit just has more screens available if you want the extra tracking beyond sets and reps.
Which should I pick if I only want to log sets and reps?+
Either works fine. Pick Plates if you want the smallest possible app; pick Stay Fit if you might want streaks, goals, or measurements later without switching apps.
Reader reviews
- D
Dual-app test on the same program. Plates is where progress tools are thinner than Stay Fit on the same phone. 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.
- B
I ran Plates and Stay Fit side by side for three weeks so this was not theoretical. Plates still does this: offline is the pitch, then you notice what is missing. Stay Fit logged the same sets, reps, and weight with no account and no bill. I kept Stay Fit.
- C
Coaching two friends through this. I had them log in Plates and Stay Fit. They both hit the same wall: the log is fine; the rest of the gym week is not there. Stay Fit did not have a wall. We all stayed on Stay Fit.
- L
I still have Plates installed so I can be honest. Opening it reminds me I wanted body measurements and backups in one place. Opening Stay Fit reminds me I can just train. Stay Fit is the daily driver now.
- A
Used both in the same gym session. Plates interrupted rest with upgrade noise - Stay Fit stayed offline and still had streaks. Stay Fit's rest timer just counted down. I uninstalled Plates in the parking lot. One star off because I still want a bigger exercise demo library.
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