Posted by: yanz@123457 | April 9, 2026 | The 11 Best Free Workout Apps Tested by Experts 2026

I used to practice yoga several times a week at a studio on my road, but since that closed, I’d been looking for a way to get back into it. Live-streamed classes are a great way to feel part of the community (and support your favorite teachers), but they’re not always convenient. That last point is particularly relevant, as Apple Fitness+ is a great option if you’re looking to exercise for happiness. Sure, there might be times you want to work on a specific skill or muscle area, but sometimes you just want to feel good and boost your wellbeing. There are equipment filters, beginner-friendly and advanced sessions, yoga classes, meditations, and a meal planner to support your recovery and wellbeing.

Innovative apps that leverage AI tools to learn and improve your weight training routines also prove that they’re at the forefront of fitness this year, ushering in a new wave of optimized exercise. This app is geared towards strength training enthusiasts and offers straightforward workouts with step-by-step instructions. At $4.99 per month or $59.99 yearly, Flex is one of the most affordable long-term commitments you can make to your fitness. Because of the innovative features at an affordable price, we would consider Flex our top pick for the best workout app for men this year.

These use basic weights to challenge upper and lower body strength, core strength, balance, and agility, so it’s perfect for a full-body workout. Best Workout apps generate valuable data on user behavior, preferences, and fitness goals. With AI and machine learning in health apps, startups can use this data to offer personalized fitness recommendations, track progress, and adjust workouts based on individual needs. This not only improves the user experience but also increases retention rates and user satisfaction. The monthly price is incredibly reasonable for all the content it delivers. The right workout app should act like a personal trainer in your pocket.

Best Workout Apps for Every Fitness Goal, According to Personal Trainers

Grokker also connects with Fitbit, Garmin, and Google Fit, so you can track your progress and see how your workouts contribute to your overall health and wellness journey. If you’ve been in the fitness game for a while, you’ll know that Peloton bikes and treadmills changed the game for at-home workouts. For those who invest in Peloton’s home equipment, the company brings live classes to your living room.

You’ll get to plan all your workouts with details for reps and sets, and see a quick demonstration of each exercise. As woman&home’s digital health editor, I’ve tested loads of the best workout apps over the years, including favourites like Peloton, Apple Fitness+, and Les Mills. Whether you’re looking to build a workout app from scratch or improve an existing one, Comfygen has the expertise to bring your vision to life. Our solutions are scalable, feature-rich, and designed to engage users while maximizing your return on investment. This app has more than 45 different exercises and 5 workout programs to get your kettlebell on.

adidas Training — Free With a Premium Subscription Option

If you’re going to be training in your garage gym, you’ll want to carefully consider what sort of home gym equipment may be required for the app you’re considering. Many apps have minimal requirements, and are designed to work with only your bodyweight and some light dumbbells. To earn 3 out of 5 stars, an app should have programs you can join that give you a structured workout schedule, but they are not coached programs or group programs (you just follow it on your own terms). Maybe you get push notifications, or there’s a feature where you can integrate the workout app with your online calendar, but no human support or interaction.

Resistance Bands Workouts by Fitify

Workouts are very gradual, consisting of light jogging intervals to prepare beginners in completing their first five-kilometer challenge. Whether you’re a fitness newbie or a veteran, Skimble‘s Workout Trainer has the answer. It sends you reminders, notifications, and updated reports on your various stats. Choose from over 3400 classes and commit to monthly challenges to take you to the next grade.

Evaluating Fitness Apps

Getting set up on Zwift is easy with the dedicated smart bike, Zwift Ride. With Club Peloton, you’ll earn points for showing up — not for how fast or strong you are — and move up levels ranging from Bronze to Legend. Find community with Peloton trustpilot Official Teams where you can connect with others, share milestones, and stay motivated with people who move like you do. Apps and technologies with gameplay elements will continue to drive innovation in the digital fitness sphere. But with warmer seasonal average temperatures hitting the globe, many more workout enthusiasts are taking to the streets, trails, or parks for outdoor workouts.

MapMyRun — Free With a Premium Subscription Option

If you enjoy the sessions and programs, you’ll find it easier to make them part of your routine and progress towards your targets. For instance, if you like intense, high-energy classes, then the Peloton app might suit you. Not every workout app can be the best, but some can still be great and worth your time.

Coaching

All these core competencies combined makes it the best exercise workout app in the market. SWEAT’s app is clean and easy to navigate, with the ability to save workouts for later and browse ‘On Demand’ workouts from other trainers outside of your plan. This allows you to follow workouts without your phone, displaying exercises, reps, timers, and haptic alerts for section changes. Metrics such as active heart rate, calories, steps, and distance are tracked, too, and demo videos are also available on the watch, though trainer audio is not.

What’s the best free workout app?

These “newbie” gains are often attributed to neurological adaptations1, which means your brain and body are coordinating to stimulate certain muscle groups and perform new movements. Our team is a group of experienced lifters, and everyone who tested the Future app has been blown away by the level of coaching, ease of use, and overall value. You can read all the details of our experience in our Future app review. Speaking of the gym, you can filter your programs by equipment needs. This could be a detriment to those trying to utilize their new set of best adjustable dumbbells from the comforts of their small apartment. “It’s not the same as having a personal trainer right there along with you, but overall I knew what I needed to do.

I tested it again, this time using the Runkeeper app on my Apple Watch. Outdoor mode also offered more of the metrics I would expect from an app called Runkeeper, so if you mostly run outside (or have an Apple Watch), it can work well. So even though the indoor tracking feature needs improvement, Runkeeper can be a solid option. If you’re new to running, the dynamic goal-setting experience is worth a little bit of frustration. The iFIT app is an excellent choice for beginners who want to focus on cardio training.

best free workout app

Best Free Workout App: Nike Training Club

  • Overall, Amanda rates Nike Training Club a 5-out-of-5-star rating for both getting started and ease of use.
  • I love all the data it provides, and there are so many great programs to choose from within the workout library.
  • From the heads of research and development, to the sales and customer support staff, we pride ourselves on having capable, reliable people working for us.
  • Lindsay tested the Caliber Pro membership, which gave Lindsay access to group programming and coaching.
  • Want to lose weight or tone up your muscles but have no idea where to start?
  • Yes, that’s all you need per day to see visible results with these science-backed routines.

And to be honest, this style of personal training kind of forces you to be held even more accountable because the trainer can really see what you’re doing all the time and check in with you regularly. If you’re not doing a trainer-led video, there are exercise tutorials that also come with step-by-step breakdowns on how to do a certain exercise. This depends on your goals and how consistent you are with a workout routine.

You can look at Hevy’s and other user’s workouts for inspiration, if you’re not sure what to do that day. If you’re looking for guided workouts, ClassPass can be used in two ways. The first, and more well-known aspect of ClassPass, is that you can search for and participate in local fitness classes—HIIT, boot camp, kettlebell classes, plus salon appointments. This requires a paid subscription plan, where you get a monthly amount of credits to use towards dropping into a class. You get  28 free credits for your first month of ClassPass for anyone looking for deals.

best free workout app

Community-engaged fitness app

However, it offsets this with affordable group coaching and a free forever plan. She also notes the app syncs with the Apple Watch but not apps like Garmin, Fitbit, or Strava, and she found it a bit frustrating to manually enter workout data later. The Shred app is an AI-powered virtual trainer that can be used to customize workouts in your home or commercial gym. From the inspiring Robin Arzon to the hilarious Cody Rigsby and feel-good Alex Toussaint, there is an instructor to fit nearly every workout vibe.