Liftosaur vs Hevy

Liftosaur, Hevy and RIRLift, row by row

Hevy for a clean log with friends, Liftosaur for a scripted program progressed for free. RIRLift if you want the progression without the script, on iPhone and Apple Watch.

What decides between Liftosaur and Hevy

• Do you want to write the rules?

  Liftosaur programs are plain text: a line like "Bicep Curl / 3x10 / 12", with linear, double and rep-sum progressions built in and custom logic in Liftoscript. Hevy has none of that: you log, and you decide the next weight.

• Free tiers, shaped differently

  Liftosaur keeps programs, logging, progression and history free and charges for graphs, the plate calculator, the Watch app and the API. Hevy keeps logging and 4 routines free and charges for more routines, full history and Trainer.

• Apple Watch: Hevy free, Liftosaur paid

  Hevy logs sets, runs the rest timer and tracks heart rate on the Watch for free, and also runs on Wear OS. Liftosaur's Watch app needs Premium.

• Friends: Hevy

  Hevy has a feed, follows and gym leaderboards. Liftosaur shares a workout to Instagram or TikTok, or to a public profile.

• Where RIRLift is different

  No script and no rules: it reads the reps you got and how many you had left, adjusts the next set, and offers a step back about 10% lighter when a lift stalls for three sessions. Free on iPhone and Apple Watch; no Android.

  

Liftosaur, Hevy or RIRLift, in a real situation

A Hevy user starting GZCLP

Tom logs three days a week in Hevy's free tier on an iPhone and Apple Watch. He's starting GZCLP and doesn't want to track every stage change and weight jump by hand.

App	What it does here	For this lifter
Hevy	Logs GZCLP fine. The stage changes and jumps stay his to work out; Trainer builds its own program instead, with Pro.	Fits only if he's happy doing the bookkeeping.
Liftosaur	GZCLP is built in and progresses itself, free. Logging on the Watch needs Premium, $39.99/year.	Fits best if he wants GZCLP exactly as written.
RIRLift	Doesn't run GZCLP's stages. It runs rep ranges and sets every weight from his last set, free on the Watch.	Fits if he cares more about the weights moving than about GZCLP's exact rules.

For GZCLP by the letter, Liftosaur. For progression with nothing to configure, RIRLift. Hevy is the log either way.

Tom's bench stalls, with no rule written for it

In RIRLift, bench runs 5–8 reps and lateral raises 10–15. Nothing was scripted; this is what the app did.

Exercise	You logged	Next session	Why
Barbell Bench Press	150 lb, 5 / 5 / 4 reps, third session with no new rep	135 lb × 5 if he taps Deload	A measured stall: 150 × 0.9 = 135 lb, reps back to 5. Not yet keeps him at 150.
Dumbbell Lateral Raise	15 lb, 15 / 15 / 15 reps, 2 left	20 lb × 10	Every set at the top of 10–15: one dumbbell step, reps back to 10.

The step back came from his sets, and he decided whether to take it.

Plans for a three-day lifter

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

  New to lifting, 3 gym days a week

  New to lifting, three gym days, weights that climb on their own.

  3× a week · 44 sets a week · ~50 min

  Add to RIRLift

  Add to RIRLift

  Scan with your iPhone camera to add this plan.

  See the plan

• The best workout routine for the days you can train

  3 days a week: full body

  Three full-body days, the same shape as Tom's week.

  3× a week · 51 sets a week · ~45 min

  Add to RIRLift

  Add to RIRLift

  Scan with your iPhone camera to add this plan.

  See the plan

Make it fit you

• Import from Hevy

  Export your workouts from Hevy and import the file in RIRLift. Weights worked out from it are marked From history.

• Turn RPE into reps in reserve

  RPE 8 is 2 left, RPE 9 is 1. Set the targets once per exercise.

• Pick a pace instead of writing rules

  Steady takes smaller steps, Standard is double progression, Push takes bigger jumps and waits longer before suggesting a step back.

• Set your own step sizes with Pro

  Fine-tune sets the biggest jump within a session and between sessions, and how much a step back takes off.

When a different app fits better

• You want a program's exact rules, or to write your own. Liftosaur.
• You're on Android or Wear OS. Hevy. Liftosaur is on Android too; RIRLift isn't.
• You want a feed and friends' workouts. Hevy.
• You log RPE and want to keep it. Liftosaur or Hevy. RIRLift logs reps in reserve.

Questions

Read next

• Hevy vs Jefit

  Hevy against the deep tracker.

• Jefit alternatives

  Liftosaur and Hevy among seven, ranked.

• GZCLP

  The program in the example.

• Double progression

  The rule RIRLift uses between sessions.

• How RIRLift picks your next weight

  Where the 135 lb step back came from.

• Hevy app review: free vs Pro, and who should pay

  Is Hevy Pro worth it?

• The best Hevy alternatives, ranked

  Liftosaur is one of several.

More ways lifters use RIRLift

• Hevy on Apple Watch, and what RIRLift does differently

  Hevy's Watch app logs sets and rest. RIRLift adds reps in reserve and sets the next weight on the wrist.

• 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.

• The RPE and RIR app where effort sets the weight

  Log reps in reserve on every set, and your effort decides the next set's weight and the next jump.

Every lifter and goal