Apple Fitness+ vs Peloton: which is better for strength?

Apple Fitness+, Peloton and RIRLift side by side

Peloton has more strength content and logs weights in Strength+; Fitness+ costs less. RIRLift is the free pick for the lifting itself, with every weight set for you.

Fitness+ and Peloton, point by point

• Price

  Apple Fitness+ is $9.99/month or $79.99/year, shared with up to five family members. Peloton App One is $15.99/month or $159/year; App+ is $28.99/month or $289/year and adds unlimited cardio-equipment classes and Strength+.

• Strength classes

  Fitness+ has Strength among 12 workout types, 5 to 45 minutes, with or without equipment, plus Custom Plans. Peloton has thousands of classes from 5 to 90 minutes across 15+ types, live and on demand. More in Apple Fitness+ for strength training.

• Logging your weights

  Fitness+ is classes: you follow the trainer and pick your own dumbbells. Peloton Strength+ logs weights and reps, from the Watch too, and suggests when to lift heavier. More in Peloton Strength+ on Apple Watch.

• Devices

  Fitness+ needs only an iPhone; it also runs on iPad and Apple TV, and the Watch adds heart rate and rings. Peloton runs on iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, Apple Watch and Android.

• Where RIRLift is different

  No classes. You run a plan, log weight, reps and reps in reserve on the Watch, and the next weight is set after every set. Free, and it works next to either subscription.

  

Classes plus lifting, in a real week

Pays for a class app, wants the dumbbells to get heavier

Three classes a week for six months, the same pair of dumbbells the whole time. You want to get stronger, not just sweat.

App	What it does here	For this lifter
Apple Fitness+	Strength classes and Custom Plans for $9.99/month. You follow the trainer's weights.	Keep it for the classes; the loads stay your guess.
Peloton App One	Unlimited strength classes, live and on demand, for $15.99/month.	More strength classes, same follow-along model.
Peloton Strength+	Self-paced strength workouts that log weights and reps and suggest when to lift heavier. Included with App+.	Yes, if you're staying with Peloton.
RIRLift	The two-day plan below, free. Every next weight is set from your last set, logged from the Watch.	Yes, alongside either subscription or instead of one.

Keep the classes you enjoy. Put the lifting where the weight moves.

Two classes, two lifting days at the gym

Strength B of the two-day plan below, between your class days. Gym dumbbells go up in 5 lb steps.

Exercise	You logged	Next session	Why
Romanian Deadlift	135 lb, 8 / 8 / 8 reps, 2 left	140 lb × 5	Every set at the top of 5–8: one 5 lb step, reps back to 5.
Seated Cable Row	100 lb, 9 / 8 / 8 reps, 2 left	100 lb × 9	The weakest set hit today's target of 8, not the top of 6–10. Same weight, one more rep.
Dumbbell Shoulder Press	Set 1: 30 lb × 6, 5 left (planned 2)	Set 2: 30 lb × 6	11 reps to failure against a planned 8 works out to 30 × 40 ÷ 37 ≈ 32 lb. The dumbbells jump 5 lb, so it holds at 30.

Every number came from a set you just did, rounded to dumbbells you own.

Plans to run next to classes

• The best workout for women, for your week

  2 days, alongside classes or running

  Two gym days built to sit alongside classes; Strength B is the example.

  2× a week · 23 sets a week · ~40 min

  Add to RIRLift

  Add to RIRLift

  Scan with your iPhone camera to add this plan.

  See the plan

• An Apple Watch workout plan for lifting, from 2 to 4 days a week

  4 short days at home, 30 minutes

  Four 30-minute days at home instead, logged from the Watch.

  4× a week · 38 sets a week · ~20 min

  Add to RIRLift

  Add to RIRLift

  Scan with your iPhone camera to add this plan.

  See the plan

Make it fit you

• List your gym's equipment

  Pick what your gym has. Every weight is rounded to a jump that equipment makes, and a weight it can't load holds until a full step is earned.

• Keep both in Apple Health

  Your RIRLift sessions save to Apple Health as strength training, next to your class workouts.

• Log from the Watch

  Log each set, run the rest timer and see the next weight on your wrist.

When a different app fits better

• You want classes, live or on demand. Peloton or Fitness+. RIRLift has no classes or interval timers.
• You're on Android. Peloton. Fitness+ is Apple-only, and RIRLift's Android version is a waitlist.
• You want the cheapest class app for the family. Fitness+, at $9.99/month shared with up to five people.

Questions

Read next

• Is Apple Fitness+ strength training enough to get stronger?

  Is Fitness+ enough to get stronger?

• Peloton Strength+ on Apple Watch, compared with RIRLift

  Strength+ on the wrist, compared.

• Best workout apps for Apple Watch

  More options for the wrist.

• How RIRLift picks your next weight

  Why the press held at 30 lb.

More ways lifters use RIRLift

• Is Apple Fitness+ strength training enough to get stronger?

  Keep your Fitness+ classes and add two logged days where the Watch sets the next weight.

• Peloton Strength+ on Apple Watch, compared with RIRLift

  Strength+ coaches you through each workout. RIRLift sets the next weight on your wrist after every set.

• Nike Training Club on Apple Watch, and where your weights go

  NTC's Watch app steps you through classes. RIRLift logs the weight you lift and sets the next one.

• The workout app for home that plans around what you own

  Bare floor, a pull-up bar, bands or one kettlebell: a plan for your gear that gets harder as you do.

Every lifter and goal