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Fitness apps have become increasingly popular, offering a convenient way to hit your health and fitness goals. Running apps, cycling apps, and food tracking apps have gained even more traction as the world of technology has made just about everything more and more accessible. Whether you are training for an Ironman, looking to add some muscle but don't want to spend a small fortune on a personal trainer, or simply want a healthy community of like-minded women to stay accountable, there is an app for you.
The Best Workout Apps for Women - Our Top Picks
- Best Overall: Future
- Best At-Home: Sweat
- Best Low-Impact: Alo Moves
- Best for Beginners: MyFitnessPal
- Best for Women Over 50: MapMyWalk
- Best for Strength-Training: NikeTraining Club
- Best Free: JEFIT
- Best for Gym:Train Fitness
In fact, there are so many awesome fitness apps for women out there that it can be hard to figure out which one is the best one for you. Our team of fitness experts here at ACTIVE.com have done all the leg work for you and assessed the best fitness apps for women on the market today. It doesn't matter if you are looking for a free one, an app to specifically use at the gym or in your home, or you are targeting a very specific fitness goal. On this list of the best fitness apps for women we provide you with everything you want to know about the best apps and a comprehensive guide on what to look for as you make your decision.
Why Trust Us?
ACTIVE.com's editorial team relies on the knowledge and experience of fitness and wellness experts including competitive athletes, coaches, physical therapists, nutritionists, and certified trainers. This helps us ensure the products we feature are of the highest standard. Collectively, the team has spent countless hours researching equipment, gear, and recovery tools in order to create the most accurate, authentic content for our readers. Customer satisfaction is also a key part of our review process, which is why we only feature products that are highly rated.
Best Overall Workout App for Women - Future
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- Platforms: Apple iOS
Why We Picked It
Bringing together technology, research-based content, and elite personal trainers, Future has created a virtual training world designed to empower members in their own fitness journey. No matter what your goal is, Future has something for everyone. That is, it has something for anyone who has an iPhone or Apple Watch, which is its only platform at this time.
Future provides one-to-one support with a trainer who designs specific fitness plans based on your goals, schedule, equipment, and ability. You begin the Future journey by answering a series of personal questions which are used to link you up with the best coach for your targeted goals. This expert then creates an individualized plan and you are part of that planning, as well. Users can expect to hop on a Facetime call, get to know their coach, and provide input on the training plan.
But Future offers much more than just a coach and a training plan. With a direct line to chat with coaches and biometrics gleaned from each of your workouts, you work with your coach to not only get through each workout with guided audio-cues and on-screen demos, but to also make weekly adjustments—because Future coaches understand that sometimes life happens and changes need to be made.
What We Like
- Personalized plans
- Continual communication with a coach
- Weekly adjustments based on biometrics
- Workouts based on available equipment
What We Don't Like
- Only works with Apple platform
- Membership is expensive
- Ads on free version
Best At-Home Workout App for Women - Sweat
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- Platforms: Apple and Android
Why We Picked It
Specifically designed for women, the Sweat app is our top pick for the best at-home workout app. Sweat prides itself on offering routines that fit into your life providing workouts that can be done anywhere at any time. They have a large variety of workout types, many of which do not require equipment. Each workout comes with a comprehensive video to explain each move throughout the workout. Track your history, stats, and get real-time reminders with this app, as well.
This program offers a lot of flexibility and is led by expert women in the field. There is an entire section dedicated to pregnancy and post-natal specific workouts. Every program offered has a detailed overview of the program's schedule, equipment, type, and lengths. Sweat has a large community of like-minded women who help to support and motivate one another. Unfortunately, there is not a free version and only a 7-day free trial.
What We Like
- Designed for women
- Variety
- Led by women
- No-equipment programs
- Community
What We Don't Like
- No free version
Best Low-Impact Workout App for Women - Alo Moves
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- Platforms: Via the website on PC or iPhone or iPad app
Why We Picked It
Alo Moves offers thousands of low-impact video classes including yoga, fitness, and meditation available on demand through the online platform. More so than any other fitness apps we have come across, Alo offers a greater variety of low-impact classes specifically geared to help build strength, increase flexibility, relieve stress, or even learn a new skill.
Yoga classes offered include Vinyasa, Ashtanga, Hatha, Restorative, Yin, Yoga for Beginners, Kundalini, Prenatal Yoga in addition to mindfulness classes, Pilates, and core workouts. While you can find HIIT and Cardio classes available, there is an emphasis on lower impact options. Simply use the class finder to sort by style, difficulty, time, and instructor. There is also the option to download classes for times you may not have access to WiFi.
A membership costs just $20 per month or $199 annually for unlimited access. Unfortunately, the app does not keep track of classes taken so this is something you'll have to track on your own. There are a few users reporting that the app can get glitchy but the reviews were overwhelmingly positive.
What We Like
- Low-impact variety
- Affordable
- Option to download classes
- Intuitive navigation
What We Don't Like
- May get glitchy
- Does not track classes
Best Workout App for Beginners - MyFitnessPal
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- Platforms: Windows smartphone; Android smartphone or tablet using Android OS 2.1 or higher; iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad using iOS 7.0 or later
Why We Picked It
Anyone new to the fitness world will appreciate MyFitnessPal. MyFitnessPal is fundamentally based around nutritional intake which is at the core of health and fitness. This is particularly great for beginners as it has all the tools needed to understand which food will best fuel them along their fitness journey.
By recording daily food intake, setting nutritional goals, and connecting with other users, this app offers a convenient way for beginners to get healthy. There are a ton of resources with educational information about nutrition, exercise, and overall wellness.
When it comes to exercise, MyFitnessPal has hundreds of exercises stored in its searchable database. There is also an estimation of caloric expenditure for each activity which is based on user height, weight, and gender. But keep in mind that this is just an estimate and can often be inaccurate. Either way, it gives you a good idea of calories burned which then gets calculated into your daily calorie intake goals.
MyFitnessPal integrates with other fitness apps as well pulling in information from Strava, MapMyRun, RunKeeper, Garmin Connect, Renpho Health, FitBit, and VeSync. If preferred, you can also manually input your exercise. There is both a free and paid version of this app.
What We Like
- Great for beginners
- Integrates with other fitness apps
- Easy to navigate
- Free version offers a lot
- It is more than just fitness tracking
What We Don't Like
- Estimations of calories burned may be inaccurate
- Manually entry can be cumbersome
Read our full MyFitnessPal review
Best Workout App for Women Over 50 - MapMyWalk
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- Platforms: Apple Watch/iOS, Android (GoogleFit and Android Wear). Partner apps - MyFitnessPal, S Health Integration, Importing TCX, GPX, HRM, and FIT files, Garmin Connect, Polar, Suunto
Why We Picked It
MapMyWalk allows women to track, map, and analyze daily walking activity in addition to a bunch of other exercise types including running, cycling, yoga, and strength training. But, as the name suggests, the focus is on walking. Using your phone's GPS, this app uses the distances walked to calculate calories burned and pace. You can also choose from thousands of pre-planned walking routes, create your own route, take part in group challenges, and become an active member of the MapMyWalk social community for accountability and motivation.
This app has both a free and paid version. The paid membership is considered an MVP subscription and offers premium features such as live-tracking, personalized and adaptive training plans, monitoring and analyzing of heart rate zone, and audio coaching updates throughout your walk to stay on track toward hitting a specific goal. MapMyWalk also connects with other apps and wearables including Apple Health, Garmin, and MyFitnessPal which allows you to keep your nutrition and workout data in one place.
The most common issue users run across is inaccurate GPS tracking. Additionally, the user interface is not intuitive and the website itself lacks a home page, so you have to explore a bit to figure it out.
What We Like
- Integration with other apps
- Versatile
- Strong sense of community
- Good for those who prefer to walk
What We Don't Like
- GPS may be inaccurate
- Difficult to navigate the app
Best Strength-Training Workout App for Women - Nike Training Club
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- Platforms: Apple Health, iOS, Android
Why We Picked It
The Nike Training Club offers a solid community of women looking to improve their overall strength with easy-to-follow training plans and on-demand classes. Begin using this free app by answering a series of questions which helps to determine workout goals and the appropriate classes for you. Classes range in style, length, and intensity offering options for yoga, mindfulness, and cardio in addition to strength-training plans.
There are hundreds of on-demand classes to choose from but only 14 different training programs on the app. These plans are more than just workouts—they come with some great information, health tips, and recipes. Unfortunately, these are not personalized training plans so if you are looking for a trainer-led plan, you may be disappointed. However, these progressive workout programs offer a lot of flexibility for you to set your own schedule.
What We Like
- Free
- Great community
- Variety of classes
- Holistic approach
What We Don't Like
- Can not customize training plans
- Must download workout plans to phone
SIGN UP FOR FREE: Nike Training Club
Best Free Workout App for Women - JEFIT
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- Platforms: iOS and Android
Why We Picked It
With close to 10 million members across the globe, JEFIT is our pick for the best free workout app. It's no real wonder as to why they are so popular—they offer a killer app that not only is free but comes loaded with a slew of exercises, flexible workout training tools, and in-depth records of fitness metrics. The free version does come with ads.
With the free version, members can access workout plans, most of which are shared and uploaded by other members.You can connect with these members, take part in challenges, and share successes on social media. The workout planning tool is easy to use and helps personalize training plans. Unfortunately, to unlock the actual workout plans developed by experts you will need to pay a subscription.
JEFIT houses over 1,400 exercises with instructions, pro-designed workout plans, training logs, timers to control rest/work time, audio and video instructions, personal goal setting, and workout tracking to monitor progress over time. However, these features do require a paid subscription which is available both monthly and annually.
There really is a lot for members which is a bit of a double-edged sword. The amount of tools and features on the app makes it difficult to navigate.
What We Like
- You get a lot with the free version
- Paid version is still affordable
- In-depth metric tracking
- Large database of workouts
- Customizable plans
- Good community
What We Don't Like
- Interface is not user-friendly
- Hard to navigate
Best Gym Workout App for Women - Train Fitness
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- Platforms: Apple Watch Series 4+
Why We Picked It
Train Fitness is an app that works in conjunction with Apple Watches (series 4+ required) and lends itself to gym use for a variety of reasons, primarily because of its unique automatic exercise detection and rep counting abilities.
Using Artificial Intelligence (AI), this app uses algorithms to identify what specific exercise movement you are performing based on the movement of your wrist. Users must input the weight being used for each exercise and from there the app does the rest. Train Fitness can detect over 82 different exercises and features a manual entry and superset function, as well.
There are a few quirks Apple needs to workout. Misidentification or not even identifying a movement at all are two common issues among users. One other issue identified is that this app automatically defaults to the last weight used and not the last weight for that specific exercise. These nuances can easily be edited but are worth noting.
What We Like
- Hands free
- Super high-tech
- Auto detection and logging
- User interface
- Free
What We Don't Like
- Inaccurate detection of movement
- Uses last weight and not last weight for an exercise
How to Choose the Best Workout Apps for Women for You
The best workout apps are the ones that work best for your personal fitness and health goals. Someone who is training for an ultra-marathon would likely not benefit from the same app as someone planning to strength train in the gym. Knowing your "why" is the very first step to choosing a workout app. There are a couple of other considerations before making your final decision.
Cost
If you do not plan on paying for any kind of membership, you can cross apps that require a subscription off your list. Most apps offer both free and paid membership options and how much you spend on the app does not always equate to how good it is. Some are more of an investment but carry features specific to some fitness goals. Determining your budget is an important step.
Features
Are you looking for on-demand classes? Low-impact workouts? A strong community? GPS tracking? Identify a list of your must-have features in a workout app and use this to guide your search.
Benefits of Workout Apps for Women
Convenient
The convenience factor of workout apps can't be understated. You have constant access which means you can determine when and where you get in a workout or use the app.
Inexpensive or Free
In comparison to hiring a personal trainer or joining a gym, workout apps are fairly inexpensive if they even carry a cost. Given all that you can get in a workout app, the return on investment is noteworthy.
Accountability and Community
Many apps have an associated social network either through the app itself or on platforms such as Facebook. The sense of community not only helps you stay accountable but also keeps you connected and motivated with other like-minded women.
FAQs About Workout Apps for Women
Do workout apps actually work?
Yes, workout apps do work and are a highly effective way to get on track with your fitness goals. They are a convenient and affordable way to train.
How much is a workout app for women?
Costs of workout apps vary. Many are free with others requiring a hefty monthly subscription.
How do I start working out?
Starting to work out can be overwhelming. We recommend a slow and steady approach to ease into a routine that works for you. Set some short-term achievable goals and find a way to stay accountable. Early achievements will help keep you motivated.