StrengthLog vs Hevy

StrengthLog vs Hevy, with RIRLift as the third option

StrengthLog is the better free app, Hevy the better buy. For RIR training with the weights worked out for you, RIRLift does it free.

StrengthLog and Hevy, on the things that decide it

• Free tier: StrengthLog

  StrengthLog free logs unlimited workouts, keeps unlimited custom exercises, and lets you build routines and programs with linear progression. Hevy free keeps 4 routines, 7 custom exercises and 3 months of stats.

• Paid tier: Hevy, by a lot

  Hevy Pro is $2.99/month, $23.99/year or $74.99 once. StrengthLog Premium is $16.90/month, $37.90 for 3 months or $109.00/year in the US, with no lifetime.

• Effort logging: Hevy on free

  Hevy logs RPE free. StrengthLog puts RPE, reps in reserve and % of 1RM in Premium. RIRLift logs reps in reserve free, and RPE targets convert (RPE 8 is 2 left).

• Progression: StrengthLog on free

  StrengthLog's free routines can add weight on a linear schedule; double and triple progression are Premium. Hevy's suggestions come from Hevy Trainer, in Pro. RIRLift sets each weight from the set you just logged, free. How it decides.

  

• Platforms and social

  Both run on iPhone, Android, Apple Watch and Wear OS, with friends, a feed and challenges. Hevy adds a web app and comments on workouts.

StrengthLog, Hevy or RIRLift, in two real situations

A coach's spreadsheet written in reps in reserve

An intermediate lifter handed a hypertrophy block where every set reads like "3 × 10, 2 RIR". Free is the budget, and they want the log to understand the target.

App	What it does here	For this lifter
StrengthLog free	Logs the sets and runs linear progression, but RIR logging and double progression are Premium, at $109.00 a year.	Works as a log; the RIR column waits for Premium.
Hevy free	Logs RPE, so 2 RIR goes in as RPE 8. You decide each next weight.	Fine if you convert by hand.
RIRLift	Logs reps in reserve free and sets the next weight from it, on iPhone or Apple Watch.	Fits exactly. iPhone only.

Only one of the three reads "2 RIR" as written without a subscription.

Pull day, curl stuck for three sessions

Chest-supported row for 8–10 and machine preacher curl for 8–12, both at 2 reps left. The curl has sat at 60 lb for three sessions without a new rep, which a log would just keep recording.

Exercise	You logged	Next session	Why
Chest-Supported Row	90 lb, 10 / 10 / 9 reps, 2 left	90 lb × 10	Not every set reached 10, so it holds; the weakest set hit its target of 9, so it aims for 10.
Machine Preacher Curl	60 lb × 10 / 9 / 9, third session with no new rep	Offered: 50 lb × 8	Three sessions without a new rep, so the recap suggests a step back about 10% lighter: 60 × 0.9 = 54 lb, rounded down to the stack's 50 lb, rep target back to 8.

You choose Deload or Not yet on the recap. In StrengthLog or Hevy you'd have to notice the stall yourself.

Plans for a lifter weighing StrengthLog and Hevy

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

  Past a year of lifting, gains have stalled

  For the intermediate in the example whose lifts stopped moving.

  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

• The best workout for biceps, matched to your setup

  Arms lag despite heavy rows and chin-ups

  Heavy rows and chin-ups, with arms that lag, like the stuck curl.

  2× a week · 18 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

• Coming from Hevy: import the CSV

  Export your Hevy workouts as CSV and import them in RIRLift, so your first weights come from your history.

• Coming from StrengthLog: start with Estimate

  RIRLift doesn't import StrengthLog. Lifts you haven't logged here start from a light Estimate, and one max-reps set turns it into a measurement.

• Keep Step back when stuck on

  It's what offered the 50 lb curl. Turn it off if you'd rather push through a stall.

When a different app fits better

• You'll never pay and want programs. StrengthLog.
• You'll pay and want the lowest price, or a lifetime. Hevy Pro, $23.99 a year or $74.99 once.
• You're on Android or Wear OS. StrengthLog or Hevy. RIRLift is iPhone and Apple Watch only.
• You log RPE. Hevy, free. RIRLift logs reps in reserve.

Questions

Read next

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

  Free vs Pro in detail.

• The best Hevy alternatives, ranked

  StrengthLog and five more, ranked.

• The RPE and RIR app where effort sets the weight

  Training by reps in reserve, set up.

• RPE vs RIR

  Converting one to the other.

• How RIRLift picks your next weight

  Where the 50 lb step back came from.

More ways lifters use RIRLift

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

  What Hevy's free tier keeps, what Pro adds for $23.99 a year, and when another app fits better.

• The best Hevy alternatives, ranked

  Seven apps ranked for lifters leaving Hevy: free weights set for you, no routine cap, your history kept.

• 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.

• Lyfta vs Hevy

  Lyfta drops Hevy's routine cap; Hevy has the bigger feed and a lifetime Pro. Row by row.

Every lifter and goal