LiftProof vs Hevy: When to Pick Which

We make LiftProof, so read this with the appropriate skepticism. Hevy is the most-installed strength training app in the App Store and earns that position with a free tier most lifters can run a full year on, a social feed that motivates a real subset of lifters, and an exercise library deep enough to log almost anything. We are not going to argue that Hevy is a bad app. The honest framing for this comparison is not "which is better" — both are well-built apps with different design philosophies — but "which one fits how you train."

This comparison uses the same scoring framework we publish on every listicle. The criteria are listed up front, both apps are evaluated against each criterion in plain paragraphs (not numerical scores — see /blog/how-we-write-app-listicles/ for why), and the conclusion is a "pick X if you want Y" framing instead of a winner declaration. Hevy and LiftProof were both installed and used for at least five workouts each on a current iPhone running iOS 18, with Hevy on the current free tier and LiftProof on a development build representative of v1.0 ship.

The six criteria. Program library, RPE handling, Apple Watch coverage, privacy posture, price structure, and onboarding flow. Different lifters weight these differently — a powerlifter running 5/3/1 cares about program library and RPE; a casual lifter logging gym sessions cares about onboarding and free tier depth. We will be explicit about which kind of lifter each criterion serves.

Program library. Hevy ships a "Hevy Coach" program builder and a marketplace of community-built programs. The marketplace is broad and the builder is flexible — you can construct almost any program you want, and the community library covers most named programs in some form. LiftProof ships a curated library of named programs (5/3/1 in multiple template variations, GZCLP, Greyskull LP, Madcow 5×5, Linear Progression, Daily Undulating Periodization, and others) where the progression math is built in and auto-runs against your performance. Hevy gives you more flexibility to build whatever you want. LiftProof gives you less flexibility but the math is correct out of the box and you do not have to verify a community-built 5/3/1 template against the book before running it.

RPE handling. Hevy supports RPE entry as a per-set field, and the data is captured in workout history. RPE-driven autoregulation — using RPE to adjust working weights between sessions or between sets — is not a first-class feature; the lifter does that math externally. LiftProof surfaces RPE as a first-class entry on every working set, surfaces RPE-driven autoregulation cues, and integrates with programs that use RPE for load selection (5/3/1 Forever templates, SBS-style autoregulation). If you log RPE but do nothing with it, Hevy is fine. If you actively use RPE to drive next-set or next-session weights, LiftProof was built around that workflow.

Apple Watch. Hevy has a Watch app that handles rest timer and basic set logging from the wrist. It works. LiftProof builds Watch as a first-class surface — five complications, four widgets, a Live Activity that keeps the active set in view, and a standalone Watch interface that handles a full session if you train without a phone. The honest claim is that LiftProof spent disproportionately more engineering time on Watch than Hevy did, and you can feel it. The honest counter-claim is that for a substantial portion of lifters, the phone is in the rack and the Watch app is overkill. If you train Watch-first or in environments where the phone is awkward (commercial gyms with crowded racks, strongman implements, anywhere the phone gets dropped), this matters. If your phone is always at hand, it does not.

Privacy. Hevy has a user account model, cloud sync, and a social feed — by design, your data lives on Hevy servers and your workouts can be made public to followers. The privacy policy is standard for a social fitness app: data on their servers, used to provide the service, with the usual third-party processors. LiftProof has no user account, no cloud sync at v1.0, no analytics SDK, and no third-party trackers. Your data lives in Core Data on your device and nowhere else. We cannot see it, we cannot sell it, and we cannot subpoena what we do not have. If privacy is a top-three criterion for you, this is the largest delta on this list. If it is not — if you happily accept the social-fitness-app data tradeoff — Hevy is not worse, just different. The full LiftProof privacy stance lives at /blog/why-on-device-only/.

Price structure. Hevy has a generous free tier you can run a full strength program on, with Hevy Pro at roughly $5–8 per month adding extra analytics, advanced exercise filtering, and certain program-builder features. LiftProof has a smaller free tier (core program library, set execution, Ledger, basic progress) and a paid tier at $9.99 per month or $79.99 per year that unlocks the full program catalog, advanced progress analytics, advanced PR tracking, and the Apple Watch features. Hevy is cheaper if you can stay on the free tier or want Pro for a similar feature delta. LiftProof is more expensive and the paid tier is more of the product. If you are sensitive to monthly cost and the free tier of either app is enough, Hevy wins on price. If the paid features matter, the dollar delta is in the noise relative to whether the app fits your training.

Onboarding. Hevy onboarding gets you to your first logged set in under two minutes. The app reveals its depth gradually. LiftProof onboarding is longer — you pick a program, set your starting working weights or test maxes, and the app walks you through a couple of preference choices before your first session. The tradeoff: LiftProof onboarding produces a tailored first workout (the right program with the right starting numbers) at the cost of more upfront friction. Hevy onboarding produces a generic empty log you can fill however you want at the benefit of zero friction. If you know what program you want to run and want the app to start it correctly, LiftProof onboarding earns its time. If you want to log whatever feels right today, Hevy onboarding is closer to the right shape.

Pick Hevy if you want a flexible workout tracker with a deep free tier, a strong social/feed component, and the ability to log whatever exercises you feel like on a given day without a program telling you what to do. Pick Hevy if your motivation is partly social — you train better when you can see what your friends are doing and they can see what you are doing. Pick Hevy if you already build your own programming and need the app to be a fast, flexible log rather than a coach. Pick Hevy if you are price-sensitive and the free tier covers what you need. Pick Hevy if the privacy tradeoff (data on their servers, standard social-fitness-app data practices) does not weigh against you.

Pick LiftProof if you run named strength programs (5/3/1, GZCLP, Linear Progression, etc.) and want the app to handle the progression math automatically. Pick LiftProof if you use RPE as more than a logging field — if RPE actually drives your next-set or next-session weights. Pick LiftProof if Apple Watch is central to how you train. Pick LiftProof if privacy is a top-three criterion — no account, no cloud, no analytics SDK. Pick LiftProof if you want a paid tier that is more of the product rather than a price-discrimination upgrade, and the $9.99/mo dollar delta is acceptable to you. Pick LiftProof if you would rather have a narrower, more opinionated app that does fewer things very well than a broader, more flexible app that does many things capably.

Side-by-side decision aid. If your training is fixed-program and structured, LiftProof. If your training is freestyle and exploratory, Hevy. If you log RPE and use it to drive load decisions, LiftProof. If you log RPE only as a data field, either. If Apple Watch is your primary in-gym surface, LiftProof. If your phone is always at hand, either. If privacy is a top-three criterion, LiftProof. If it is not, either. If you need a $0/month tier indefinitely, Hevy. If a paid app at $79.99/year is acceptable for a tool you use daily, either.

A reasonable lifter could run Hevy for a year and be served well. A reasonable lifter could run LiftProof for a year and be served well. The bad outcome is forcing one app to be the other one — running freestyle training in LiftProof (the program structure goes unused) or running a strict 5/3/1 mesocycle in Hevy without rebuilding the progression math externally (the autoregulation goes missing). Pick the app that fits how you actually train, not the one that fits how you wish you trained.

Cross-links. The full LiftProof v1.0 launch essay lives at /blog/v1-launch-announcement/. The honest list of what LiftProof v1.0 is missing lives at /blog/whats-missing-from-liftproof-v1/. The methodology behind every listicle we publish lives at /blog/how-we-write-app-listicles/. Comparable rankings live at https://gethealthycalculators.com/blog/best-ios-lifting-apps-2026/, https://gethealthycalculators.com/blog/best-five-three-one-trackers/, and https://gethealthycalculators.com/blog/best-rpe-trackers-powerlifting/ — each one back-links here. If you want to talk about the comparison, jonathan@liftproof.app reaches a human.