Boostcamp alternatives

The best Boostcamp alternatives

Ranked for someone leaving Boostcamp who wants a structured plan and the weights decided for them, without paying for auto progression. RIRLift sets every weight from your sets for free, on the iPhone and the Watch; Liftosaur is the pick if you want named programs like GZCLP and 5/3/1 exactly as written.

1. 1. RIRLift

   Best for: A structured plan with every weight decided for you, free, on iPhone and Apple Watch

   Price

   Free; Pro $9.99/month or $79.99/year in the US

   Platforms

   iPhone and Apple Watch

   Where it wins

   • Every set's weight worked out from load, reps and reps in reserve, free
   • Free Apple Watch app with the rest timer and the next weight
   • Coach builds a plan from plain words, previewed before it applies
   • Imports Hevy, Strong and FitNotes history

   Where it falls short

   • No named creator programs or percentage-of-max tables
   • iPhone only; Android is a waitlist
   • Logs RIR, not RPE; no public feed

2. 2. Liftosaur

   Best for: Running named programs like GZCLP and 5/3/1 outside Boostcamp

   Price

   Free to download; $4.99/month, $39.99/year or $99.99 once in the US

   Platforms

   iPhone, Apple Watch, Android, web

   Where it wins

   • Ships GZCLP, 5/3/1, Texas Method, Starting Strength, Strong Curves and more
   • Progression is written into each program, and you can edit the rule
   • Lifetime purchase available

   Where it falls short

   • Far fewer named programs than Boostcamp's 130+
   • The Apple Watch app needs Premium
   • Editing a program means editing its script

3. 3. Alpha Progression

   Best for: A generated hypertrophy plan with set-by-set weight suggestions

   Price

   Free; Pro $12.99/month or $79.99/year in the US

   Platforms

   iPhone, Android

   Where it wins

   • Plan generator from goal, days, session length and equipment
   • Suggests weight and reps before each set, adjusting within the session
   • Logs RIR; periodization and deloads

   Where it falls short

   • Generator, suggestions and charts are all Pro
   • No Apple Watch app

4. 4. MacroFactor Workouts

   Best for: MacroFactor nutrition users who want a generated, adapting program

   Price

   $11.99/month, $47.99/6 months or $71.99/year in the US; $89.99/year with the nutrition app

   Platforms

   iPhone, iPad, Mac, Android

   Where it wins

   • Builds a program from goals, experience and each gym's equipment
   • Adjusts weights and reps from logged RIR after every workout
   • Imports Jeff Nippard programs you own, with his technique videos

   Where it falls short

   • No free tier, only a 7-day trial
   • No Apple Watch app
   • Can't import history from other workout apps

5. 5. Hevy

   Best for: A free logger with a social feed, on Android and Wear OS too

   Price

   Free; Pro $2.99/month, $23.99/year or $74.99 once in the US

   Platforms

   iPhone, Apple Watch, Android, Wear OS, web

   Where it wins

   • Fast logging with previous values shown on every set
   • Feed, follows and copying friends' routines
   • Watch apps on both Apple Watch and Wear OS

   Where it falls short

   • No named-program library; you build routines
   • Free tier: 4 routines, 7 custom exercises, 3 months of charts
   • Its built-in plan, Trainer, is Pro

6. 6. Strong

   Best for: A plain, fast log for a barbell program you already know

   Price

   Free; Pro $4.99/month, $29.99/year or $99.99 once in the US

   Platforms

   iPhone, Apple Watch, Android

   Where it wins

   • Apple Watch app logs with or without the iPhone
   • Warm-up and plate calculators
   • CSV export

   Where it falls short

   • Free tier keeps 3 custom routines
   • Built for logging: you set every working weight

What to check before you switch

• Do you need the named program?

  If the reason you used Boostcamp is a specific plan, like nSuns or Candito, pick an app that ships it. Liftosaur has several. Most trackers, RIRLift included, make you rebuild the days yourself.

• Who picks next week's weight

  A written program adds its jump on schedule. An adaptive app reads your sets. Boostcamp does the second only with Pro; Alpha Progression's suggestions are Pro too; MacroFactor Workouts is paid only. RIRLift's are free.

• Logging from the wrist

  Boostcamp has no watch app. Strong, Hevy and Liftosaur have Apple Watch apps, Hevy also Wear OS, and RIRLift sets the next weight on the Watch.

  

• What the free tier caps

  Hevy's free tier keeps 4 routines, 7 custom exercises and 3 months of charts. Strong's keeps 3 routines. RIRLift's keeps 4 active routines and 2 saved programs, with no limit on workouts.

• Phone platform

  On Android, RIRLift is out: it's iPhone and Apple Watch only, with Android on a waitlist. Liftosaur, Hevy, Strong, Alpha Progression and MacroFactor Workouts all run on Android.

Two Boostcamp lifters, two different switches

Wants to log from the Apple Watch

Runs a 3-day squat, bench and deadlift program from Boostcamp's library at a busy commercial gym. Bought an Apple Watch to leave the phone in the locker, and found Boostcamp has no watch app.

App	What it does here	For this lifter
Liftosaur	Runs the same named programs and adjusts weights by each program's written rules. Its Apple Watch app needs Premium.	Closest swap if the program itself matters most.
Strong	Logs the program from the Watch with or without the iPhone; you type the weights the program calls for.	Good if you know the program by heart and just want a log.
Hevy	Starts a saved routine on the Watch and syncs live with the phone; the weights are yours to choose.	Good if you want a feed and might move to Android.
RIRLift	Logs load, reps and reps in reserve on the Watch and sets the next weight there after every set, free.	Good if you want the wrist to tell you the weight, not just record it.

All four log from the wrist, Liftosaur with Premium; RIRLift is the one that works out the next weight from how many reps you had left.

A stalled press and a bad set, in RIRLift

Former Boostcamp user, three months into an upper/lower plan in RIRLift. The close-grip bench (6–10) has been stuck for three sessions; the belt squat targets 10 reps with 2 left, in a 10–15 range.

Exercise	You logged	Next session	Why
Close-Grip Bench Press	205 lb, 8 / 7 / 7 reps, third session with no new rep	180 lb × 6, if you accept	Three sessions without a new rep, so the recap offers a step back about 10% lighter: 205 × 0.9 = 184.5 lb, rounded down to 180 lb, reps back to 6. Nothing changes until you tap Deload.
Belt Squat	Set 2: 180 lb × 8, 1 left	Set 3: 170 lb × 10	Below the 10–15 range, so it comes down: 9 reps to failure against a planned 12, 180 × 38 ÷ 41 ≈ 167 lb, but one set only drops a small step, so 170 lb.

The stall was caught from your sets, not from a deload week on a calendar.

Plans in RIRLift for a Boostcamp switcher

• Strength training workouts to run on your Apple Watch

  Barbell strength: squat, bench, deadlift, 3 days

  Squat, bench and deadlift three days a week, run from the Watch: the lifter in the first example.

  3× a week · 29 sets a week · ~40 min

  Add to RIRLift

  Add to RIRLift

  Scan with your iPhone camera to add this plan.

  See the plan

• The best workout plan for muscle gain, for where you are now

  Past a year of lifting, gains have stalled

  Four days of upper/lower for someone who finished their programs and stopped growing.

  4× a week · 76 sets a week · ~50 min

  Add to RIRLift

  Add to RIRLift

  Scan with your iPhone camera to add this plan.

  See the plan

Make it fit you

• Rebuild the program's days

  Copy the exercises, sets and rep ranges into routines, or write the program on a computer in the web planner and import it. Skip the percentages; the weights come from your sets.

• Start each lift from a real number

  Type the weight you were using, marked Yours, or let RIRLift start light and ask for a max-reps set. Either way the next set is worked out from what you did.

• Convert RPE to RIR

  RPE 8 is 2 reps left, RPE 9 is 1. Set them once per exercise.

• Choose Ask first

  With Ask first, next session's weights wait on the recap until you confirm them.

When a different app fits better

• You'd miss Boostcamp's catalogue. Stay on Boostcamp; Pro adds auto progression to any of its programs for $59.99/year.
• You're on Android. Liftosaur or Hevy. RIRLift isn't on Android yet.
• You track food in MacroFactor. MacroFactor Workouts, as part of the $89.99/year bundle.

Questions

Read next

• Boostcamp review

  What Boostcamp's free and Pro tiers include.

• MacroFactor Workouts review

  The paid, generated-program option in depth.

• How RIRLift picks your next weight

  The rules behind the 165 lb belt squat.

• Best workout apps for Apple Watch

  If the Watch is why you're leaving.

• Free workout tracker apps

  Free tiers compared.

• The best Hevy alternatives, ranked

  If you're leaving Hevy rather than Boostcamp.

More ways lifters use RIRLift

• Boostcamp review

  Boostcamp's coach programs, what Pro adds, what it costs, and when another app fits better.

• Boostcamp vs Hevy

  Boostcamp runs a written program; Hevy logs your own. Where each wins, and where RIRLift fits.

• A workout app you can train on for years without a subscription

  Unlimited workouts, weights set for you and Apple Watch, free with no trial countdown, account or ads.

• The progressive overload app that decides on your wrist

  Next set corrected on Apple Watch; next session's weights decided there when you finish, phone or not.

Every lifter and goal