Here's the honest version of the free-app market. Video-class apps can afford to be free because Nike is paying for it as marketing. Loggers can afford a free tier because logging costs them almost nothing to run. Anything that builds you a program, adapts your weights, or puts a coach in your ear costs money to make, so it costs money to use. That's why the genuinely free options cluster in two places.
Free, no catch
Nike Training Club
Nike stopped charging for it years ago and never went back. 185-plus trainer-led video workouts, multi-week programs, Apple Watch and Health integration. No personalization, no progression logic, no tracking of your loads.
Skip it if you lift with a barbell and want your numbers tracked. It's a video library, not a logbook.
Caliber
The free version is a real, science-based strength program with logging, which is rare. The paid tiers add group or 1:1 human coaching with nutrition. The free tier is the best-kept secret in the category.
Skip it if you want video-led, follow-along workouts. Caliber is a program, not a class.
Free tiers worth living in
Hevy
The most usable free tier in the category: unlimited workouts, four routines, three months of charts, no ads. The paid tier is the cheapest around and the lifetime price beats three years of anyone else's annual. Social feed if you like that, ignorable if you don't.
Skip it if you want the app to write your program. Hevy Trainer on Pro helps, but it's a template builder, not a coach.
Strong
A notebook, perfected. Two taps per set, no feed, no suggestions, the cleanest CSV export in the business. If your program lives in a spreadsheet or your coach's head, this is the fastest way to record it.
Skip it if you want demos, programming, or any kind of advice. Strong has opinions about nothing.
Jefit
Around since 2010 and it shows, in both directions: the deepest analytics and biggest free exercise library here, wrapped in an interface that feels a decade old. Data people love it.
Skip it if you care how an app looks.
"Free" that means "free trial"
Ladder, Shred, Fitbod (three workouts), Apple Fitness+ (with a new device) and GymAdapt (7 days) all show up in App Store searches for "free workout app" because the download is free. They are not free apps. That's not a criticism, it's just what the word means. If you want to try before you pay, GymAdapt's and Ladder's trials don't take a card up front; Shred's does.
The cheapest way to never pay again
If you're going to log workouts for years, a one-time licence beats every subscription on this page. Hevy Pro is $74.99 for life. Strong Pro is $99.99 for life. Three years of Fitbod is $288. Three years of Ladder is $540. The math isn't close.
Where GymAdapt fits, since we're the ones writing this
We're not free, and we're not going to pretend. GymAdapt is $7.99 a month or $49.99 a year, with a 7-day free trial. What the money buys is the part free apps don't do: a plan built for you, working weights that go up (or back off) based on what you log, video for every movement, and a coach that can cut your session to the time you have. If you just need a notebook, get Hevy and keep your money. If you've been on a notebook for a year and aren't stronger, the plan is the thing you're missing.
Questions people ask
What is the best completely free workout app?
Nike Training Club. It has 185-plus trainer-led video workouts and multi-week programs with no paid tier at all. For strength programs, Caliber's free version is real programming with logging.
Is there a free workout app with no subscription?
Yes. Nike Training Club is free with nothing to buy. Hevy and Strong have free tiers and also sell a one-time lifetime licence ($74.99 and $99.99) if you want the paid features without a subscription.
Is GymAdapt free?
No. GymAdapt has a 7-day free trial that doesn't require a card, then costs $7.99 a month or $49.99 a year.
Which free app tracks weights and reps?
Hevy, Strong and Jefit all log sets, reps and load on their free tiers. Nike Training Club and Apple Fitness+ do not track loads.
When free stops working, this is the next step.
Seven days free, no card. A real plan, real video, targets that move with you.
Get GymAdapt on the App Store → $7.99 a month or $49.99 a year, with a 7-day free trial. iPhone only.