Stay Fit vs Strong App (2026): Which Free Tracker Wins?

Strong has been the default recommendation for serious lifters since roughly 2015, and for good reason — it's fast, it's minimal, and it doesn't try to be a social network. The catch shows up the moment you want a fourth custom routine on the free plan. That's not a bug. It's the business model.

Stay Fit runs the same core workflow with that ceiling removed. Here's where the two actually differ once you get past the marketing copy on each app's landing page.

Price and what you actually get for it

Strong's free tier logs workouts and tracks basic charts, but caps you at 3 saved custom routines. Once you need a fourth — say, a new mesocycle, or a program swap after a deload — you're subscribing. Strong PRO runs $4.99/mo, $29.99/yr, or $99.99 as a one-time lifetime purchase.

Stay Fit doesn't have a PRO tier. There's nothing to unlock.

The one column where Strong wins outright is Apple Watch. If you log sets from your wrist mid-set without pulling out your phone, Strong's watch app is more mature than anything in the free-and-offline category right now, Stay Fit included.

Logging speed: close, but not identical

Strong built its reputation on tap-to-log speed, and it's still fast — pre-filled weight and reps from your last session, minimal screens between "start workout" and "log set." That's the whole appeal.

Stay Fit matches this with previous-session hints built into the guided flow, so you see what you did last time before you decide what to do this time. The difference in practice is small enough that neither app will slow down your session. Where they diverge is what happens after the set: Strong's free charts are basic; Stay Fit's aren't gated at all, so you get weekly, monthly, and longer-period breakdowns from the first workout you log.

Progress tracking without a paywall

This is the actual gap. Strong's free tier gives you the essentials — total volume, basic history — and reserves detailed analytics for PRO. Muscle-balance insights, longer-term charts, and some export options sit behind the subscription.

Stay Fit ships all of it free: a workout streak on the home screen, a year-long activity heatmap, muscle-balance insights pulled straight from your training history, and achievements that unlock as you stay consistent. None of it requires an upgrade prompt.

Goals and body tracking

Strong doesn't really do goal-setting — it's a logger, not a coach. If you want to track a target bodyweight or a weekly frequency goal alongside your lifts, you're either eyeballing it from your workout history or using a second app.

Stay Fit builds this in: log body weight and measurements, store progress photos on-device, and set a goal for weight or weekly training frequency during onboarding. It's not trying to replace a spreadsheet — it's trying to remove the need for one.

Data ownership and offline behavior

Both apps work offline for logging, which matters more than most comparisons give it credit for — gym basements and converted-garage setups don't reliably have signal. The difference is what happens to your data afterward.

Strong's free CSV export covers your basic history. Full backup and more complete export options are part of the PRO tier. Stay Fit exports full JSON or CSV backups for free, and you can share that file to Drive, Files, or any cloud storage you already use — no account, no sync service, no server holding your training history hostage if the app gets discontinued.

Who should actually pick Strong

If you're on Apple Watch and log sets from your wrist without touching your phone, Strong's watch integration is the most mature option in this comparison, full stop. Paying $4.99/mo for that workflow is a reasonable trade if it's genuinely how you train.

Who should pick Stay Fit

Everyone else — specifically, anyone training on Android who wants the full feature set (streaks, goals, measurements, unlimited routines, full analytics) without deciding whether this month's lift log is worth a subscription. That's most people comparing these two apps in the first place.