The Best Fitness Apps of 2023 for Exercise and Health

It used to be if you woke up late and missed your spin or mat Pilates class, you were straight out of luck for fun, motivating fitness classes. And a personal trainer? Yeah, sure, like we could afford that. These days, you can have your own movement regimen in the palm of your hand, thanks to the best fitness apps. These apps are a great fitness equalizer, as you don’t need to be at a certain level to get started. And since you’re doing your own thing, there’s no comparing yourself to—or being intimidated by—other exercisers. The pandemic opened many opportunities for at-home workouts, and the top fitness apps now offer immense libraries of workout videos with huge variety. 

For anyone feeling stuck in their fitness journey, just starting out, or craving a new physical challenge, the best workout program apps like Future, Peloton, Strava, and Sworkit meet you where you’re at, with hundreds (if not thousands) of workouts tailored to your needs. 

Ahead, find out more about the 10 best fitness apps of 2023 for personal training, weight loss, yoga, running, and more. We’ll give you the rundown of each app, the price point, a few pros and cons, and a longer description of what you can expect once you get started. Your new workout routine awaits.

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• Best Overall Fitness App – Future
• Best Fitness App for Live Classes – Peloton Digital
• Best Fitness App for Weight Loss – Noom
• Best HIIT Fitness App – FIIT
• Best Fitness App for Women – Alo Moves
• Best Free Fitness App – Nike Training Club
• Best Fitness App for Running – Strava
• Best Fitness App for Yoga – Asana Rebel
• Best Fitness App for Calorie Counting – MyFitnessPal
• Best Fitness App for Beginners – Sworkit

After you download the Future fitness app from the app store and sign up, you’ll pick a coach based on your workout style, fitness level, and general goals. Once you have your coach, you’ll nail down more detailed, individualized goals. From there, your coach creates a workout plan based on your schedule and goals, including “open goal” workouts like walking, dancing, playing sports, etc. Because all movement is good movement! This is one of the best apps that track workouts, no matter what that workout may look like for you.

You’ll also pair the app with an Apple Watch (if you don’t have one, Future ships one to you) or other smart watch (Future is compatible with the Google Pixel Watch, Samsung Galaxy Watch 4, Samsung Galaxy Watch 5, and Montblanc Summit 3) so your coach can see your heart rate and other metrics and further tailor your training program. The in-app chat functionality makes it easy for them to hold you accountable, and for you to ask any questions or make schedule adjustments. One of the best parts about Future? While you’re working out, you can use the “Record Form” feature so your coach can ensure you’re doing each movement safely and correctly. Following your workout, you have a space to give feedback to your coach. Throughout your time using this fitness app, you’ll receive badges for different achievements, monthly email breakdowns, and, of course, plenty of motivation from your coach.

Peloton took the world by storm for a reason: It’s good. Even if you don’t have a Peloton Bike, Tread, or Row, a Peloton Digital fitness app subscription puts thousands of live and on-demand classes at your fingertips. Whether you feel like running, meditating, rowing, boxing, cycling, or doing pretty much any other workout, there’s a real-time class (and killer instructor) for that. Want a 30-minute workout? Fab, there’s a filter for that, too. There are a handful of other filters based on music, fitness level, instructor, muscle groups trained, and more. If you have Peloton equipment, you’ll be able to see the leaderboard and compete during live classes. If you don’t, you can still earn trophies and sign up for Peloton Challenges for accountability and fun. The Peloton app tracks your progress through a calendar too, and you can toggle reminders if you want an extra nudge to workout. It’s one of the best apps for tracking exercise history, which can be a big motivator.

When it comes to weight loss (and fitness as a whole), there’s no one size fits all approach. Or at least there’s not one that actually works. Noom recognizes that and uses a psychology-backed approach to encourage users to reach their goal weight. It’s also one of the only weight loss apps that’s recognized by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) for offering an effective diabetes prevention program. It takes your metabolism, sleep schedule, stress level, lifestyle, behaviors, and activity level in mind to create a plan that’s just for you. Unlike typical diets, Noom doesn’t cut you off from your favorite foods. After taking an initial quiz, this fitness and health app creates a specific plan based on your answers. Noom offers meal plans, nutrition tips, and a health coach whose job it is to motivate you and make sure your plan is working for your goals. The app tracks your steps and records your daily caloric intake as well.

Perhaps you traded your gym membership for an at-home routine a few years ago and you’re looking for something to zhuzh it up. Enter: FIIT, which takes everything you loved about group fitness classes, plus some personal training know-how into one accessible (albeit pricey) and fun app. Like many top fitness apps on this list, you can filter personal training-esque programs based on your goals (like toning muscle and building strength). With FIIT, you can also switch up your training sessions with studio-style classes like HIIT and Pilates. The app is also compatible with fitness trackers like Apple Watches and Fitbits. By connecting, you can receive rewards through “FIIT points” based on your effort and heart rate. The app takes a few notes from competitors and has a leaderboard and opportunities to join semi-private classes with your friends (a popular feature). 

What started with predominantly yoga classes has transformed into a holistic wellness app, with on-demand strength, barre, cardio, core, mindfulness, and yoga classes at your fingertips. Alo Moves combines a breadth of yoga and mindfulness knowledge with newer modalities, plus scenic backdrops and a range of difficulty levels, all of which make it a quite popular option for anyone looking to try something new. Yoga and guided meditations are still at the center of Alo Moves, with a variety of different flows available (like Vinyasa, Kundalini, Hatha, and even kids’ yoga) to increase flexibility, recenter, and build strength. One reason Alo is our top pick for women is its prenatal yoga classes and the variety of exercise routines that range from intense to gentle movements, which is especially helpful for women going through menopause or PMS.

Toggle between fitness, yoga, mindfulness, intentions, and skills (say, inversions or specific yoga poses), and then filter by difficulty and intensity level to find the workout that suits you on any given day. You’ll also find series and programs to opt into, like 7-Day Energy Healing or 7-Day Pilates Retreat, which can add accountability and have a set intention and focus.

Nike Training Club is one of the best workout apps simply because it’s free. And if we want a healthy society, a cutting-edge app that’s free of charge is certainly one way to move the needle in the right direction. The app’s library of on-demand workouts is extensive, whether you feel like picking up a set of heavy dumbbells or doing a high-intensity interval training circuit. You can also opt into fun programs geared towards women’s health, family workouts, and fitness for beginners. You might spot a celeb, too. (Certified Hot Girl Megan Thee Stallion has a boot camp series on NTC.) Once you start working out with Nike Training Club, the fitness app suggests workouts for you to try based on your experience and workout history.

A leader in the fitness app space since 2009, Strava is beloved by runners, cyclists, and those with a penchant for outdoor sports or triathlons. If you want to stay a free user, you can track your workouts, receive some post-workout metrics (but in-depth analysis is only available to paid members), and have access to the rich community that the app is known for through the “following” feed.

This is one of the best fitness apps that track workouts; if you’ve got a competitive streak, track your runs and bike rides with Strava, because it will rank you among other Strava users on the leaderboard. The app is easy to use, is compatible with Apple Watches and Android smartwatches, and offers a breadth of advanced features for its paid subscribers (like routes, goal-setting, training plans for marathons and other competitions, personal heat maps, and more). Overall, it’s an excellent tool for runners especially, and can give you an encouraging online community that might be just as good as an IRL running club.

For beginner and intermediate yogis, Asana Rebel is a solid yoga app to keep you committed to your practice. Upon subscribing, you set goals for fitness, nutrition, and even sleep. With this fitness app, each day you’ll receive daily workouts and routines tailored to those goals. Choose from quick, 5-minute workouts to longer flows depending on your schedule. All of Asana Rebel’s workouts are bodyweight, which might discourage users who like weight training, but it makes this an excellent option for people who are often on-the-go or don’t have an extensive home gym. They’re all yoga-inspired, too, with an emphasis on slow, controlled movements, breathing, and improving muscle tone. You’ll find workout videos for meditation and mindfulness, too, and there’s an entire section devoted to discovering new healthy recipes. This fitness and health app tracks your progress and can be paired with your Apple Watch for even more metrics based on your heart rate.

While some apps offer nutritional guidance, many of the options aren’t very detailed. If you want to key in your nutrition – whether that’s understanding macros, paying more attention to caloric intake, or something similar – we suggest MyFitnessPal. To get started with MyFitnessPal, you take a quiz about your goals (options include: lose weight, maintain weight, gain muscle, manage stress, and more) and what results you want to achieve based on that goal. You then enter your current activity level and other demographic metrics, and it calculates a caloric recommendation.

The most useful and notable feature of MyFitnessPal is the meal diary page, where you can log what you’ve eaten and how much. If you pay for premium, you can also track macros, carbs, and “heart healthy” in addition to calories. Free users of this nutrition and fitness app have access to a detailed breakdown of their day, meal plans, workouts, nutrition plans, and walking plans to help you meet your caloric and fitness goals.

So, you’re new to the whole fitness thing. Or, maybe, you took a long break after switching careers, starting a family, or managing an injury. Wherever you are on your health journey, Sworkit will meet you there with its library of more than 500 bodyweight workouts (and more with weights and other equipment). Start by inputting your fitness goals, and Sworkit will give you a personalized workout calendar, because, as we know, fitness is not a one-size-fits-all approach.

This fitness app is ideal for beginners and busy people because you can filter workouts based on length (starting at just 5 minutes) and use the popular “Ask a Trainer” feature to chat 1-on-1 with a certified personal trainer. You can pick from sections of workouts, like “rehabilitation” for recovery days, resistance band workouts, yoga workouts, and more. Another cool feature? On the days where you’re not sure what kind of workout you want, you can build a custom one using the vast amount of exercises available within the fitness app. As you move through each day’s workout, a trainer explains how to do each move, with notes on proper form and alignment. There’s a reason this app is top-rated for American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) standards.

How to Find the Best Fitness App for You

Unlike purchasing a gym membership, choosing the best fitness app is determined by your specific needs and goals. Whether you’re seeking to improve your endurance, build strength, lose weight, or figure out a nutrition plan that works for you, there are a few factors to consider before getting started.

Personal Fitness Goals: Before choosing an exercise app, it’s important to factor in your goals. What are you looking to gain from your fitness app experience? How often do you want to train? What’s your fitness level? Do you want a personal trainer or live classes?  Do you need more guidance with nutrition or fitness? Questions like these will help you figure out which route to take, and will help you find an app that will work with your lifestyle for the long haul.

Cost: Sure, personal fitness is essential to your well-being, but it shouldn’t come at the expense of your budget. Most apps have a free version or, at the very least, a free trial so you can try it before committing to a membership or subscription. We recommend checking out your finances and seeing what amount makes sense for you to invest in your wellness. And remember: Just because it’s expensive, doesn’t mean it’s worth it. You can still gain serious strength and endurance with a low-cost—or totally free—app.

Intensity: The intensity you prefer your workouts to be is another good thing to look for when searching for fitness apps. If you usually opt for lower-impact workouts like Pilates, barre, and yoga, you probably won’t want a HIIT app. And if you love the rush you get from a cardio class, or you’re dying to throw around some heavy weights, then a yoga-centric app isn’t the one for you. Many apps have filters within their workouts based on intensity, so that can be helpful if you’re feeling high-energy one day and in need of restorative mobility work the next.

Community: If you thrive in a collaborative workplace, love big social gatherings, and crave a group fitness atmosphere, a community is going to be a key factor in which fitness app you choose. Apps for tracking exercise with leaderboards, chatrooms, Facebook groups, and “friending” opportunities are your best bet at finding fellow exercisers who will motivate you to stick to a challenging and rewarding health plan.