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The best gym log apps for Apple Watch

Seven trackers with a watch app, sorted by the one question that matters at the rack: what can the watch do when your phone isn't there?

Disclosure first: I make Gym Log+, one of the apps on this page. I've built it since 2013 and I train with it, so I'm not neutral. What I can offer instead is a list where the ranking rule is stated up front, every competitor claim comes from that app's own public App Store listing, and the apps that beat mine on something say so in their own entry.

The rule: a watch app is one of three things.

Standalone — it holds your routines and your log, and runs a whole workout with the iPhone at home. Companion — it mirrors the phone and needs it nearby. Paywalled — the watch app exists, but behind a subscription. This list is sorted by that, then by what the free tier gives you.

How I checked

  • Standalone or companion? Taken from each listing's own words. "Live sync", "mirrors your phone" and "companion" mean companion. If a listing doesn't say the watch runs without the phone, I don't claim it does.
  • Is the watch free? Some apps gate the watch behind their paid tier. That changes the answer for anyone who isn't subscribing.
  • What it does on the wrist: starting a routine, logging sets, rest timers, heart rate, and whether you can finish the workout there.

Competitor details are my reading of each listing as of October 2026. Listings change; check the live page before you decide, and if I've got something wrong, write to support@gymlogplus.com and I'll fix it.

Standalone — the watch runs the workout

Two apps in this set are built so the watch has its own copy of your plan and its own log. If you want to leave the phone in the locker, start here.

1. Gym Log+

My app, and the reason this list exists: the watch logs a complete workout by itself, and the whole watch app is free.

The watch keeps its own copy of your routines and your log. Start a routine on the wrist, log every set, run rest timers, record heart rate and Activity ring credit, and finish the workout there; it reconciles with the iPhone afterwards. The whole exercise library is on the wrist, so an exercise you didn't plan can be added mid-workout. Complications and a Smart Stack card carry the rest timer and your program's next day. No account anywhere — data syncs through your own private iCloud.

Pick it if you want the phone out of the workout entirely, you don't want an account, or you'd rather pay once ($79.99 lifetime) than subscribe. Skip it if you train on Android as well, or you want a social feed — it has neither, on purpose.

2. SmartGym

The other watch-first logger — built around the wrist from the start, and the app most often named in the same breath as "Apple Watch" and "lifting".

SmartGym's watch app is designed to run workouts on its own, with routines, set logging and rest timers on the wrist, and it has had years of Apple Watch attention. It is the app I'd point a watch-first lifter to if they tried mine and wanted a different feel.

Pick it if you want a watch-native logger with a long track record. Check the subscription terms on the listing; the free tier and what it includes are the thing to read before you commit.

Companion — the watch mirrors the phone

These are good apps whose watch half is a remote control: it shows what the phone is doing and logs to it. Fine if your phone is in your pocket; not what you want if it's in a locker.

3. Strong

The simplest set row in the category, with a rebuilt watch app that syncs live to the phone.

Strong's listing positions the watch as a companion for logging during a workout, kept in sync with the iPhone. If Strong is already your logger, the watch app is a solid reason not to switch. If you're choosing today and the watch is the point, read its entry as "excellent phone app, companion watch".

Pick it if you want the logger everyone knows, or you need Android too. Our full comparison →

4. Hevy

The best free tier in the category and the one real social feed; the watch is a live-sync companion.

Hevy's watch app logs sets while the phone keeps the session, with live sync between the two. Its strengths are elsewhere: the free tier, the feed, Hevy Trainer on the paid plan, and a fast release cadence.

Pick it if social accountability keeps you training, or you want the most app for free. Our full comparison →

5. Gymaholic

The widest device spread — iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV, Vision — with a watch app alongside.

Gymaholic ships on more Apple platforms than anyone here and has a watch app, plus Siri and Shortcuts to start and stop a workout by voice. Whether the watch runs a workout without the phone is not something its listing states plainly, so I list it as a companion; check before buying if that's your need.

Pick it if you want one log across every Apple screen you own, or the 3D exercise guide.

6. Fitbod

Generated workouts rather than a log you write, with a watch app for following them.

Fitbod builds each session for you from your equipment and recovery, and the watch app is for working through that plan with the phone in range. There is no free tier, and no iPad app.

Pick it if you want the app to decide what you do today. Skip it if you write your own programs — that's not what it's for.

Paywalled — the watch exists, on the paid tier

7. JEFIT

A huge exercise database and a long history; the watch app is an Elite feature.

JEFIT's watch app is listed under its Elite subscription, so a free user doesn't get it. If you're paying anyway, it's there; if the watch is the reason you're shopping, that's the first thing to know.

Pick it if you want the database and the Elite plan's adaptive suggestions, and the watch is a bonus rather than the point.

No watch app at all

Two trackers people ask about don't ship one, as of October 2026: Strive ("Gym log - Strive", whose FAQ says no Apple Watch or Wear OS app) and Boostcamp. Both are good at other things — Strive's free tier has no routine cap, Boostcamp is a program library — but if you're reading this page, they're not the answer.

What "standalone" looks like

Gym Log+ on Apple Watch logging a set with the rest timer, no iPhone involved
Gym Log+ mid-workout on the wrist — the phone isn't part of this screen.

Details of what the watch app does on its own, and what stays on the iPhone: Gym Log+ on Apple Watch →

Try the standalone one

Free to install, the watch app included. If it isn't for you, export is free too.

Download on the App Store