Future app review
Published November 12, 2026
Future Pro is worth it if accountability is what you're missing: a dedicated coach builds your program, adjusts it weekly from your feedback and reviews form videos you record mid-workout, for $199 a month ($149 a month on a 12-month plan), US only. If you'd rather not pay $150+ a month, RIRLift is the free self-coached option: Coach builds a plan from your history and every weight is set from the set you just did, on iPhone and Apple Watch. What RIRLift can't give you is a person checking in.
Free on iPhone and Apple Watch · No account · Coming to Android: join the waitlist
Future next to the closest alternatives
| Feature | Future | trainwell | RIRLift |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | $199/month; $179, $169 or $149/month on 3, 6 or 12-month plans | $149/month, billed every 3 months | Free; Pro $9.99/month or $79.99/year (better here) |
| Trying it | $50 first month, refunded if you cancel within 30 days | 14-day free trial, card required | Free with no trial and no account (better here) |
| Who writes the program | Your coach, adjusted week to week | Your trainer, updated as you go | You, or Coach from your logged history |
| Form feedback | Record My Form videos for your coach | Form-check videos, live form feedback in guided workouts (better here) | None |
| Accountability | Video calls you book, check-ins and messaging | Unlimited messaging and video calls | None from a person |
| Next weight | Your coach adjusts the plan from what you report | Your trainer adjusts the plan | Set after every set and session from load, reps and reps left (better here) |
| Nutrition | General guidance; no meal plans or macro targets | Guidance and habits; no meal plans | None |
| Watch | Apple Watch Series 4+ or Wear OS 3+, shares heart rate | Apple Watch Series 5+ or Wear OS 3+, motion tracking | Apple Watch logs sets and sets the next weight |
| Where it works | US only | iPhone or Android | iPhone and Apple Watch |
Future is a good coach at a coach's price. trainwell is the cheaper human alternative with more form feedback. RIRLift is for the lifter who wants a plan and every weight set, without a monthly coaching bill.
What to know before you pay for Future
-
What $199 buys
A dedicated coach, a kickoff video call and more when you book them, a program built around your schedule and equipment, weekly adjustments from how each session felt, and in-app messaging. A 12-month plan brings it to $149 a month.
-
Form checks are built in
Tap Record My Form during a set and the video goes to your coach. That's the part an app on its own can't do.
-
It's US only, with a 30-day out
Future Pro needs a US payment method, phone number and App Store account. The first month is $50 and refunded if you cancel within 30 days; after that, partial months aren't.
-
When you stop paying, you program alone
Leave Future and nobody adjusts the plan. Pick an app that does the coach's clipboard work: planning from what you logged and setting each weight.
-
Where RIRLift fits
Coach builds plans from your history, previewed before anything changes, and every set's weight comes from the one before. How it decides.
Future in two real situations
Six months with a Future coach, renewal coming up
Trains four days a week at a gym, consistent now, form is fine. The $199 renewal is the question.
| App | What it does here | For this lifter |
|---|---|---|
| Future, monthly | Keeps the coach, the weekly adjustments and form checks for $199 a month. | Worth it if the check-ins are what keep you going. |
| Future, 12 months | The same coaching for $1,788 up front, $149 a month. | Cheaper, if you know you'll stay a year. |
| trainwell | A 1:1 trainer for $149 a month billed quarterly, with a 14-day free trial. | A cheaper human coach, if you want one. |
| RIRLift | Keeps the four days as routines, plans the next block with Coach and sets every weight. Free. | The fit once you don't need a person watching. |
Pay Future for the person. Once the habit is there, the weight picking can move to an app.
First week on your own, the coach's shoulder day
The same lifter after cancelling. The dumbbell press sits in a 6–10 range at 2 left; the single-leg curl in 8–12, aiming for 10.
| Exercise | You logged | Next session | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Neutral-Grip Dumbbell Shoulder Press | 40 lb, 10 / 10 / 10 reps, 2 left | 45 lb × 6 | Every set at the top of 6–10: one 5 lb step, reps back to 6. |
| Single-Leg Leg Curl | 50 lb, 12 / 11 / 9 reps, 2 left (target 10) | 50 lb × 10 | The weakest set missed its target of 10 but stayed in range. Same weight, same target. |
The jump your coach would have written for the press, and the hold on the curl, were both on the recap.
Plans for training without a coach
-
The best workout routine for the days you can train
4 days a week: upper/lower
Four gym days, like the lifter in the example, on RIRLift's 4 free routines.
4× a week · 68 sets a week · ~40 min
Add to RIRLiftSee the planAdd to RIRLift
Scan with your iPhone camera to add this plan.
-
The best workout for shoulders, for your situation
Full gym, overhead pressing feels fine
Two shoulder days in a full gym.
2× a week · 24 sets a week · ~30 min
Add to RIRLiftSee the planAdd to RIRLift
Scan with your iPhone camera to add this plan.
Make it fit you
-
Rebuild your coach's program
Enter the routines your coach wrote, or ask Coach for a plan around your days and equipment and review it before it applies.
-
Type in the weights you know
RIRLift doesn't import from Future. Set your current weight on each lift yourself; it's marked Yours, and progression carries on from it.
-
Pick Ask first
If you're used to a coach signing off, Ask first keeps next session's weights on the recap until you confirm them.
-
Choose Steady for the first block
Steady takes smaller, surer steps. Switch to Standard once you trust the jumps.
When a different app fits better
- You need someone to keep you showing up. Future, or trainwell for less. RIRLift has no human coach.
- You want your form checked. Future's Record My Form, or trainwell's form checks.
- You're on Android. Future or trainwell. RIRLift is iPhone and Apple Watch only.
Questions
How much does Future cost?
$199 a month, or $179, $169 or $149 a month on 3, 6 or 12-month plans. The first month is $50, refunded if you cancel within 30 days.
Is Future worth it?
If you need accountability and form feedback, yes: it's a real coach who adjusts your plan every week. If you're already consistent, a free app that plans and sets weights covers most of the rest.
Does Future work outside the US?
No. Future Pro needs a US payment method, US phone number and US App Store account.
Does Future include nutrition?
General healthy-eating guidance only. Future coaches don't write meal plans or set calorie or macro targets.
What should I use after leaving Future?
An app that plans from what you log and sets each weight, so you aren't guessing. RIRLift does both free; see the best personal trainer apps for more.
Read next
-
trainwell vs Future
The two human-coach apps, head to head.
-
The best personal trainer apps
Future ranked with the paid and free options.
-
Caliber app review
A free app with a coaching tier.
-
The AI workout planner that keeps planning after day one
How Coach builds and adjusts a plan.
-
How RIRLift picks your next weight
Where the 45 lb press came from.
More ways lifters use RIRLift
-
The AI workout planner that keeps planning after day one
A plan built for your goal, gym and week, with every weight set from what you actually lifted.
-
The progressive overload app that decides your next weight
Next weight and rep target set from your weakest set, corrected between sets, with stalls caught early.
-
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.