9 Essential Fitness Apps You Need To Install In 2026
By Aaron MamiitAug. 9, 2026 4:02 pm EST
Staying fit requirea effort, but apps on your devices can able to help you with this journey. Installed on your smartphone or wearable device, apps can deliver different benefits. When combined with gadgets for the gym, you’re already on your way to an environment that’s focused on improving your health and fitness
We’ve identified nine essential fitness app types you should install. These include apps that can give proper guidance for your workouts, suggest exercises that will target specific parts of your body or push you towards certain goals, and analyze your health metrics to show your progress. Some of these apps are completely free, others have features locked behind paywalls, and there are those that require subscriptions to unlock their features.
For each type of fitness app, we’ve provided some examples that you can download on Apple’s App Store or the Google Play Store. They’ve received a solid average score and at least 10,000 ratings from one or both of these platforms, which ensures that they deliver on their promises. We explain our methods for choosing at the end
For easy-to-follow exercise videos
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When you start working out, you might not yet know what types of exercises you should be doing. Apps that provide guided videos will make sure that you’re doing the right thing, and that your efforts will contribute to achieving your fitness goals. However, even if you’ve been habitually working out for a while, such apps will reduce your mental load as you’ll just have to follow the program that you select
One of the premiere examples for this kind of app is Nike Training Club (App Store, Google Play). It contains a collection of exercise videos for both gym and home workouts, and you’ll be able to choose what to focus on, such as strengthening your core, conditioning, and recovery. The best part about this app is that it’s completely free. Just download and start your training, with no monthly fees or special equipment to purchase.
Another popular option is FitOn (App Store, Google Play), which offers workout videos featuring celebrity trainers and celebrities themselves like Gabrielle Union and Julianne Hough. The videos cover multiple fitness categories, and they’re all free to access. However, if you sign up for FitOn Pro, which starts at $29.99 per month, you’ll also be able to enjoy premium features such as unlimited downloads for offline viewing and a collection of healthy recipes
For quick but effective workouts
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There may be instances when you have some free time to get exercise, but not enough to complete a whole program. Fortunately, there are apps that are designed for quick workouts. They’re great for people who are working from home as you can use them during short breaks, and for those who are too busy to go to the gym but can spare a few minutes to stay active
As you can tell from its name, 7 Minute Workout (App Store, Google Play) is an app that offers professionally-designed exercise routines that only last for seven minutes. They may be short, but they’re effective and have video and voice instructions. You can do them anywhere as you don’t need any special equipment. If you sign up for a paid subscription, which starts at $9.99 per month, you’ll receive personal training plans to help you achieve your fitness goals faster
Seven (App Store, Google Play) is another app that follows the seven-minute workout format. You’ll be able to choose a goal between getting fit, losing weight, and getting strong, and the app also gamifies your exercise with daily challenges, achievements, and competition with friends. If you join the 7 Club, which costs $9.99 per month, you’ll unlock custom workout plans that are based on your fitness level, and guidance from certified personal trainers
For race preparation
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Whether you want to do a 5K fun run or a 42-kilometer marathon, there are apps that can help make sure that you’re ready for any race. Some track your progress and provide advice on how to get yourself to the level that you need to cross the finish line
Like Nike Training Club, Nike Run Club (App Store, Google Play) is free. It’s complete for an app that doesn’t require a subscription though, as it collects your running information, tracks your progress, provides training plans, and enables guided runs. You can also earn badges and trophies for setting personal records and reaching streaks, and the app can even tell you which pair of shoes you run the fastest
Runna (App Store, Google Play) is another app that can help you prepare for races. After a free trial that lasts a week, you need to subscribe at either $19.99 per month or $119.99 per year. The app offers customized training programs targeted to the race that you’re running, strength and conditioning routines that are compatible with your running preparation, and even exclusive perks from nutrition and apparel brands
For strength training
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Strength training shouldn’t just be about trying to lift the heaviest weights in the gym. This approach won’t give you the gains that you want, and it’s possibly also unsafe with a risk of injury if you don’t know what you’re doing. You should download an app that can deliver proper guidance and bring analytics into the mix, so that you can build your muscles and improve your metabolism the right way
One such app is Hevy (App Store, Google Play), which functions as a tool for logging and analyzing your strength-focused workouts, while providing exercise videos to show you the proper form. Subscribing to the Hevy Pro plan, which costs $2.99 per month or $23.99 per year, unlocks the creation of unlimited routines and custom exercises, as well as more advanced measurements
Ladder (App Store), meanwhile, has a free seven-day trial so that you can try it out before committing to a monthly fee of $29.99 or an annual fee of $179.99. It’s more expensive than Hevy because this app will give you a structured workout plan that you can follow every day, and updated every week. You can choose the workout style you want, but all of the programs are built for strength training and designed by coaches with video demonstrations and audio instructions
For tracking outdoor workouts
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If you love outdoor exercises such as running or cycling, you want an app that will track your fitness metrics so that you can focus on your route. Going outside for a workout gives you fresh air unlike a gym, and it’s entertaining if you’re on a path where you can enjoy nature or socialize with other runners or cyclists
Strava (App Store, Google Play), the best Apple Watch app in the 2025 App Store Awards, records your running sessions and bike rides, and adds you to a community where you can share your achievements. Signing up for a subscription, which costs $11.99 per month or $79.99 per year, will allow you to analyze your workouts, set and track your own goals, and enter challenges with your friends for healthy competition that can provide further motivation for you
Map My Ride (App Store, Google Play), meanwhile, is designed as a cycling app that offers a database of maps and the ability to create your own routes, but it can also be used for running and other outdoor workouts. You’ll also be able to earn badges and track your goals, but with a subscription for $5.99 per month or $29.99 per year, the app goes ad-free, with additional features such as live tracking, voice and audio coaching, and performance insights
For stretching and yoga
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Your fitness goals shouldn’t only focus on building your strength and endurance — flexibility is important too. Stretching and yoga are among the best, and there are apps that will teach you the right way to do them. While you can learn from video tutorials that you can find online, apps with daily routines and customized programs will be more effective in unlocking benefits such as improved mobility and posture
Among these apps is Bend (App Store, Google Play), which offers daily stretching programs for purposes such as maintaining your range of motion, targeting specific muscles and joints, and unwinding before going to bed. Each stretch comes with instructions and illustrations so you can easily follow, and the app also has a dashboard that shows your streaks and tracks your progress. It’s not free though, as after a seven-day trial, you’ll need to pay $13.99 per month or $39.99 per year
If you want to learn yoga, Down Dog Yoga (App Store, Google Play) is one of the more popular apps. At $9.99 per month or $59.99 per year, you’ll be able to access lessons on 10+ styles of yoga, with your choice of difficulty level. The app will give you a routine every day, but you can customize your workouts by choosing the poses that you want to do and selecting the muscle groups that you want to focus on
For workouts designed for women
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While there are fitness goals that men and women can share, there are also differences that require distinct approaches. Fitness apps that are designed for women take into account specific needs, with structured workouts that will help them achieve goals in a more effective manner compared to generic exercises
EvolveYou (App Store, Google Play) is built to support women with their fitness training and nutrition. You can choose from programs depending on your goals and experience, and you’ll receive advice from coaches and track your progress as you tackle the routines. You can also create weekly schedules for your workouts, and earn badges to celebrate your achievements. The app also has pregnancy and post-pregnancy programs, thousands of nutritious recipes, and lessons on cycle syncing and recovery, all for $22.99 per month or $119.99 per year after a seven-day trial.
You can also check out Sweat (App Store, Google Play), which promises challenging programs that will push women to keep pushing their limits. There are programs with with different training styles and difficulty levels to choose from, including for pregnant and postnatal women, with demonstrations to show you the right way of doing them and recommended substitutions if you want to make them easier or harder. The app also has a seven-day trial, and it will cost $24.99 per month or $134.99 per year afterwards.
For analyzing health data
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Apple Health and Google Health are excellent at analyzing data coming from your fitness trackers. However, other apps can collect the information and transform it into actionable insights. Used in combination with the built-in software in your smartphone or smartwatch, these apps will allow you to stay on top of every aspect of your health and fitness
For Apple Watch owners, Bevel (App Store) is a great choice. The free version of the app tracks a comprehensive list of health data, including your strength, sleep, and recovery, but unlocking Bevel Intelligence through a Pro subscription takes it to another level. For $14.99 per month or $99.99 per year, the app will process information into personalized recommendations, including when to train and rest and the factors that are positively or negatively affecting your progress
For beginner and veteran athletes, Athlytic (App Store) could be what you need. The app gathers data from your Apple Watch such as your heart rate, blood oxygen, and sleeping patterns, then provides analysis such as whether you’ve recovered enough to train for the day, and how hard you should go at it. After a seven-day trial, the app will cost $4.99 per month or $29.99 per year
For healthy meal plans
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Improving your fitness will also require you to consider your diet. You don’t need to be an expert in cooking, as there are apps that will help you create healthy meal plans to help you build muscle, improve metabolism, and lose weight faster
Eat This Much (App Store, Google Play) is an easy app to use if you want healthier meals. You just need to enter your diet goals, preferences, budget, and schedule, and it will generate a meal plan for you to follow. You’ll be able to create daily meal plans and track your food while on Eat This Much’s free tier, but on the premium tier, you can make meals plans for the whole week, and even get the ingredients that you need delivered to you with grocery integration. You can try the premium features for free for 14 days, after which you’ll have to pay $5 per month.
Mealime (App Store) is another app for creating meal plans, but it will allow you to search and select recipes that you want to schedule for the week. You can set filters for the recipes to input restrictions and preferences, and the app will then create your grocery list with the option to buy the ingredients online. This is all free, but if you want additional features such as nutritional information and calorie filters for the recipes, you can upgrade to the app’s Pro version for $2.99 per month.
How we chose these essential fitness apps
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For this roundup, we’ve identified different aspects of modern fitness routines, and selected a total of nine types of apps that will help you get better results. Then, for each category, we selected two examples of apps that you can download
Our recommendations for each type of fitness app received at least 10,000 user reviews from either Apple’s App Store, the Google Play Store, or both, with average scores of at least 4.3 stars. Not all of these apps are applicable to everyone, and some of them will require a subscription, but with their high ratings, we think they’re worth it
