Best Expert-Tested Workout Apps and Services for 2026

The full membership, Les Mills+ premium, gives you access to all classes and starts at $9.99 per month. All of the workouts can be done from home, and for most of them, you’ll only need one set of dumbbells. The app has loads of on-demand classes you can try, including yoga, Barre, and mobility, as well as different challenges to join to keep you motivated. Once you’ve chosen your program, you check in once a month to keep track of your progress.

HIT, Yoga, Bodyweight Burn, no matter how you get after it, NTC is ready with your first workout.
Then you get to cool down and go again without swapping apps.
OK, so maintaining a workout schedule can be tough, but devising a beginner workout plan with no experience to speak of can be an even bigger challenge.
Discover new features designed to help you lock in and level up your workouts.
Knowing my week is already planned allows me to stay focused and on track with my fitness goals.
Otherwise, you’re limited to the on-demand library (which, in our opinion, isn’t a horrible alternative).

New, exclusive programs made to move you

It’s easy to schedule a workout for later with workout scheduling — and with the casting feature, you choose where and how it happens, on your phone or casted to the big screen. Because when you want to make some life changes or form better habits, small ‘nudges’ and flexibility can get you there. Evolve your approach to holistic wellness with insights and advice made simple. Clear, practical guidance on mindset, movement, nutrition, recovery, and sleep. Workout with friends, stay motivated, get inspired – our community is what separates Strava from the rest. Down Dog, as you can expect, only requires a simple yoga mat for practices.

BetterMe: Best Pilates Fitness & Wellness App

Practical considerations also played a role in our evaluation. We looked at cost, whether content can be downloaded for offline use, and how frequently new classes or programs are added. These factors help ensure that apps remain flexible, up to date, and convenient for users with busy schedules. By combining expert analysis with real-world feedback, we identified platforms that are both enjoyable and effective for achieving fitness goals. Shred also offers full-length studio classes in yoga, boxing, HIIT, and more. “It creates running workouts with interval variations based on the time I want to exercise—great for mixing up my routine.”

Coaching & Wellness: Expand What Health Means

Do you work out at home, at the gym, outside or a mix of all three? If you like to run outdoors, for example, you’d likely want an app that offers location tracking. Similarly, when looking into a specific app, figure out whether its classes require you to have certain equipment on-hand, like dumbbells or a yoga mat. Think about what goals you’re trying to achieve when using the app. Do you just want to get moving more often, or are there specific fitness milestones you want to hit (like running a certain speed or lifting a certain amount of weight)? Some apps let you personalize your goals or even connect with a personal trainer to help you meet them.

Just like pretty much anything in the fitness space — exercise bikes, treadmills, even dumbbells — personal training apps come with a wide range of costs. The personal training app options here range from $10 to $200 a month, and some apps even offer limited versions that are completely free. That means your yearly personal training costs can range from $0 to $120 to $2,400, depending on your wants and needs. Here’s a breakdown of the cost per month for each of the personal training apps on our list. One downside, though, is that when you’re doing one of the virtual personal training plans, you don’t necessarily get a 4- or 12-week program to follow on your own when you’re not working out with your trainer.

Strength

You can get it to add weight every x times you complete the reps or deload if you fail x times. All information is stored locally on your device, though the app does include some ads. Nonetheless, it’s a secure, no-frills tool for keeping a personal health log.

Best Personal Training App for Variety: FlexIt

As a fitness- and nutrition-focused app, 8fit allows you to first enter an objective and measure your current fitness level; then it gives you a customized plan to get from point A to B. The workouts, which can be tackled at home sans fancy equipment, are relatively short (15 to 20 minutes) but vary in focus—from endurance training and HIIT to strength training and bodyweight exercises. The beauty of virtual personal training is that you can do it wherever you want, including at home or in a gym.

Fiit’s group classes are completely free to join, and you only need a membership to tackle standalone is madmuscles legit sessions. There are plenty of training styles, from yoga and treadmill workouts, to spin classes and strength training routines. Yes, there are fully free apps and platforms, and many paid apps have free tiers with limited features.

So, we recommend using separate apps for cardio and strength – for instance, Hevy with Strava. Hevy, Strava, and Nike Training Club have great free versions, so consider starting with them based on your workout style and primary goals. You can always get a premium subscription or look for another app to satisfy a specific need. Centr allows you to complete one-off workouts recommended by them. However, the app doesn’t offer the option to log improvised sessions or cardio/sports activities.

Personal Training App FAQs

These added conveniences cost $15 per month (or $80 per year), making the premium version a fairly affordable option. For those with a few years of lifting experience under their weightlifting belt, Matt says there’s no shortage of training options. “I focus on training for hypertrophy first, and strength second, but there are tons of programs for all sorts of goals,” he says.

Plan workouts, access elite plans, use personalized metrics, and connect with a supportive community

He’s a big fan of the Eric Helms’ Intermediate Bodybuilding program, as well as the Reddit Dumbbell-Only PPL split. So if you’re looking for a way to improve your fitness with a plan, here are some great choices for the best workout apps for men. We considered specific wants or needs that men may have for their workout apps; however, none of these apps are truly gender-specific and can help anyone make progress in the gym. The Nike Training Club app will make your fitness habits stick with quicker options, goal-setting tools, and new content daily. Strengthen your mindset and your muscles with free guidance from your favorite trainers, athletes, and wellness experts.

Which workout app is best for strength training?

StretchIt can generate a variety of mobility and flexibility programs based on goals, your preferred length (traditionally a bit longer than one month), weekly frequency, and session duration. Create and log your workouts with Hevy and track your progress. The focus is on traditional strength/gym workouts, but you can also log home/travel sessions, cardio, sports, HIIT, and more.

Fitness Goals

These days the digital world is very much a part of our existence, and for all of the negatives that come with that, there are also potentially useful tools that are available to those in the pursuit of fitness. As the ways we approach exercise have shifted in the face of changing technology, having a digital training partner has become more commonplace. Whether you’re exercising at home, or on the road, the best workout apps have become one of the most versatile fitness tools out there. NTC offers workouts for various fitness goals, including bodyweight, Pilates, yoga, HIIT, and some sessions with weights. Intuitive in-app features, clear metric monitoring and world class instructors are just some of the perks of being a Fiit member.