Best Fitness and Workout Apps in 2026: What's Free, and What Costs Extra

“Fitness app” covers at least six different jobs: coaching you through a workout, tracking a run or ride, running a short circuit with no equipment, guiding a yoga practice, letting you build your own plan, and getting more out of a gym. One app rarely does all of them well, so we picked one for each. For most, the question that matters is what’s free and what sits behind a subscription or membership. Nike Training Club, our top pick, opens its whole catalog with a free account; where a paywall or membership applies, each section says where the line falls.

Best free workout library: Nike Training Club

Nike Training Club takes the cost question off the table, and we’ve reviewed it in full. Its whole catalog of workouts, multi-week programs and trainer guidance opens with a free Nike Member account, with no trial clock. Sessions cover strength, HIIT, yoga, core, mobility and recovery, from five-minute routines to hour-long conditioning, and you can filter by time, equipment (full gym, dumbbells or bodyweight only) and intensity. Nike Master Trainers lead the sessions on video with spoken form and pacing cues; workouts download for offline use and cast to a TV. The multi-week programs are the standout; Nike says they adjust your workload from your post-session feedback, so they follow your own answers rather than measured performance. It holds 4.3 stars across roughly 360,000 ratings. The trade-offs: it isn’t a rep-and-weight log, so lifters chasing progressive overload will want a second app; HD video uses a lot of storage and battery; and redesigns have sometimes moved saved favorites.

Best for runners and cyclists: Strava

Strava is the most-installed app on this list, at 100M+, with 4.6 stars across roughly 1.2 million ratings. The free version records GPS activities, tracks distance and pace, and posts each workout to a social feed of kudos and comments; athletes often credit the feed, clubs and group challenges with keeping them consistent. Segments are the signature idea: stretches of road or trail where each effort is timed against your past attempts and the community’s. It supports more than 30 activity types and pairs with heart-rate straps, sensors, smartwatches and bike computers. Beacon shares a live-location link with chosen contacts, a reassurance families value on long solo outings. The honest cost: full segment leaderboards, the route builder and longer-term training analysis need a subscription, and some users are frustrated that once-free features moved there. Set privacy zones around your home and workplace before your first public activity, and expect some GPS drift among tall buildings and under dense trees.

Best for a quick no-equipment circuit: 7 Minute Workout

7 Minute Workout keeps things simple: twelve bodyweight exercises, 30 seconds each with 10-second rests, needing only floor space, a wall and a sturdy chair. Voice cues and animated demonstrations carry you between moves without looking at the screen, and frequent travelers describe it as an easy way to stay consistent on business trips. You can adjust the work and rest timers, repeat the circuit for a 14-minute session, add core and abs routines, and export your history to Google Fit. It holds 4.8 stars across roughly 375,000 ratings. The trade-offs: the fixed set of moves can feel repetitive over months unless you adjust the circuit yourself; the 30-second intervals can be a steep start if you haven’t been exercising, though the timers can be shortened; and there’s no progression tracking if your goal is building strength.

Best for yoga at home: Down Dog

Down Dog generates each practice instead of replaying the same video. Choose a length from 5 to 90 minutes, a level from Beginner to Advanced, a focus such as hip openers, core or backbends, plus pace, instructor voice and music, and it assembles a sequence with a warm-up, peak poses and a cool-down, from millions of possible combinations by its own count. Beginner levels introduce foundational postures gradually, and users often praise the separate volume sliders for voice and music. The interface is clean and ad-free, sessions download for offline practice, and one subscription covers Android, iOS, tablet and web. Its 4.9-star average, across roughly 344,000 ratings, is the highest on this list, and long-time users say practice still feels fresh after years of daily sessions. The catches: full session generation requires a paid subscription; downloaded sessions take up storage; and there’s no camera-based pose correction or live feedback.

Best for building your own routine: Sworkit

Sworkit is built around your goal and your time rather than fixed programs: pick strength, weight loss or mobility and a length from 5 to 60 minutes, and it compiles a matching sequence with countdown timers. The library spans HIIT, Tabata, strength, yoga, Tai Chi and Pilates, with over 900 exercises and more than 500 routines by its own count, mostly bodyweight or small equipment. What sets it apart is control: you can build custom interval routines, swap out exercises that don’t suit your joints, follow six-week guided plans, and message certified trainers, which users value for quick form advice. It syncs with Health Connect, Google Fit, Strava and MyFitnessPal, though exports occasionally lag. It holds 4.2 stars across roughly 105,000 ratings. The cost is plain: adult routines need a subscription after a 7-day free trial, and the custom-routine tools are limited on the free tier, so the feature behind this award is largely a paid one. Its youth content for schools, parents and coaches stays free.

Best gym companion for beginners: Planet Fitness

Planet Fitness is built for members of the chain’s clubs, more than 2,700 by the listing’s count, and much of it is about making the gym less intimidating. The Crowd Meter estimates how busy your home club is from real-time check-ins, so you can aim for quieter hours, and users often name it as their favorite feature. Machine Tutorials are QR-coded videos showing how to set up and use the equipment, and beginners regularly say they helped them get past nerves about the weight room. The app also holds your digital keytag and books “Design Your Own Program” sessions with on-site trainers at no extra cost. The basic video library is free for members; the PF+ premium library, over 1,000 videos by the listing’s count, comes with Black Card or as an add-on. It holds 4.6 stars across roughly 93,000 ratings. The trade-offs: there are no live instructor-led classes, advanced lifters may find the machine-focused approach limiting, and cancelling a membership can still require an in-person visit to your home club or a registered letter.

How we chose

Every pick is live on Google Play in Health & Fitness, with at least 3.5 stars and 20,000+ ratings. Our assessments draw on Play Store signals (listing copy, recurring review themes, and the pros, cons and FAQ notes in our app database) plus our full review of Nike Training Club. Marketing figures such as library sizes are attributed to the listings. We left out calorie counters and nutrition trackers (a different job), companion apps for a particular watch or tracker, studio apps that mainly book classes, and step counters that reward walking.

The bottom line

Match the app to the job. Unsure where to start? Install Nike Training Club first: it costs nothing beyond a free account, and its range lets you find out which kind of training you enjoy. Add Strava if you run or ride outdoors; its free tier handles logging and the feed. Keep 7 Minute Workout for travel days with a wall, a chair and seven minutes. If yoga becomes the habit, try Down Dog; to set your own exercises and intervals, try Sworkit. Planet Fitness earns its place once you’ve joined the gym. For any app with a paywall, run the free tier or trial against a real week of training before subscribing, and pay only for the job you’ll keep doing.