Free fitness apps 2026: what you really get for free

What to look for in a free app

"Free" means something different for every app. So ask yourself four questions before you download:

• Is the free access permanent, or is it a trial?
• Do you need a card to start it?
• Where exactly is the limit: the number of plans, your history, individual features?
• What does the full version cost, in which currency, and is it charged monthly or for a whole period at once?

That's exactly how we read the five apps below: on their own websites, pricing pages and help pages, in September 2026. Prices in the app stores may differ, and they change often.

Hevy: tracking strength training

Hevy is a training app for iPhone and Android, built for logging at the gym: exercises, sets, weights, records. You can also track workouts on an Apple Watch or a Wear OS watch.

What you get for free:

• Unlimited workout logging, with a rest timer and records
• Your own routines and your own exercises, up to a limit
• Progress charts, body measurements and sharing with friends

The limits:

• At most 4 routines and 7 custom exercises
• Charts only for the last 3 months, body measurements only in part
• Nutrition doesn't appear in Hevy's feature list

Hevy Pro costs US$2.99 a month, US$23.99 a year or a one-off US$74.99 for life. Pro removes the limits and adds the Hevy Trainer. Good for anyone who mainly wants to track sets and weights at the gym.

Yazio: counting calories

Yazio is a calorie counter with a food diary, plus intermittent fasting and a recipe collection.

What you get for free:

• The food diary with calorie counter
• Searching for and logging meals

Only with Pro:

• Logging meals by photo with AI and planning them ahead
• The recipe database with over 3,000 recipes and all fasting plans
• Statistics covering up to two years, activities automatically from Fitbit, Garmin, Polar or Samsung Health
• Yazio without ads

Yazio doesn't give a fixed price for Yazio Pro on its website. You only see it at checkout, in the app or on the website. According to Yazio, the full amount for the chosen term is charged at the start, and paying monthly isn't possible. A trial week is available now and then, and only on the website. Good for anyone who only wants to keep an eye on their nutrition and likes numbers.

MyFitnessPal: logging food and training

MyFitnessPal is one of the best-known calorie counting apps, with a food diary and a training log.

What you get for free:

• Logging food and weight
• Logging training

Only with Premium:

• Barcode scan and meal scan
• Macros with your own goals
• Intermittent fasting, nutrition tips and food comparisons
• An app without ads

MyFitnessPal Premium costs €9.99 a month or €49.99 a year on the German website. If you've never used Premium, you can try it free for seven days. After that the subscription renews automatically, and you have to cancel at least 24 hours before it renews. Good for anyone who wants to log food and training in a well-known app and can live with ads.

Freeletics: training with an AI coach

Freeletics is a training app for workouts at home, outdoors or at the gym, with or without equipment. At its heart is an AI coach that plans your weeks.

What you get for free:

• The app itself
• Lots of workouts, exercises, runs and audio sessions

The limits:

• According to Freeletics, the free access is a "taster"
• You only get the personal training plan, tailored to your equipment and level, with the Coach
• The coach is an AI, not a person

Freeletics gives the price of the Training Coach per week: €3.85 on a three-month term, €1.92 on twelve months. In September 2026, lifetime access cost €299.99. Freeletics connects to Strava and Apple Health. Good for anyone who trains at home or outdoors and wants an AI to plan their week.

Fitiva: food, training and your coach

Fitiva is our app. It brings food, training and progress together with Ava, an AI assistant, and with real coaches you find and book near you.

What you get for free, with no time limit and no credit card:

• Ava, who logs your food from one sentence and answers your questions
• Training set by set with a rest timer, records and a streak
• Weight, body fat and progress photos, water, fasting timer and shopping list
• Supplements with sources from the BfR (German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment) and EFSA, challenges with a leaderboard
• Finding a coach on the map, booking and cancelling up to the start
• One photo scan of your plate a month

The limits:

• Fitiva runs in the browser, it isn't in the App Store yet
• You can't connect watches yet, Strava and Apple Health are coming soon
• At launch, coaches and events are available in Germany, Austria and Switzerland

Fitiva Premium costs €2.99 a month or €28.70 a year at the launch price, incl. VAT. For that you get 30 photo scans a month, workouts in one sentence, Ava's review of your last 30 days up to four times a month, and a training programme and a nutrition plan from Ava every month. You keep the launch price for as long as your subscription runs if you start Premium or the 14 days free by 31 December 2026. New subscriptions from 1 January 2027 cost €4.99 a month or €47.90 a year, incl. VAT.

Good for anyone who wants to track food and training in one place and add a real coach, even just for a few sessions. To be honest: if you only want to count sets and check them on your watch, Hevy is quicker today. If you're looking for a coach nearby, you'll find one with us in the same app.

Free and Premium in detail

Prices at a glance

Always work out the price for a whole year, and before you sign up, check whether the subscription renews automatically and how you cancel.

How to spot subscription traps

• A trial with a card that turns into a paid subscription unless you cancel, without this being clear when you start.
• Free access whose limits you only see after you've entered your data.
• Cancelling only by email or letter instead of with one click.
• An annual subscription as the only option, with no monthly alternative.

In Germany, a provider that lets you take out a subscription on its website must also offer an easily accessible button there labelled "Verträge hier kündigen" (cancel contracts here). That's what § 312k BGB, the German Civil Code, says.

In short

• For pure strength training, Hevy is the strongest free app, with limits on routines and history.
• For counting calories, Yazio and MyFitnessPal offer a lot for free. Scans, your own macro goals and using the app without ads cost extra there.
• Freeletics without the Coach subscription is a taster.
• Fitiva brings food, training and a real coach together in one app, free for good, with Premium at the launch price of €2.99 a month.

Frequently asked questions about free fitness apps

Which fitness app is really free?

You can use all five apps in this comparison without a subscription for good. How much you get for free varies a lot: Hevy and Fitiva let you train and track without limits, while with Freeletics the free access is a taster of the Coach.

Can I track food and training in one free app?

Yes. In its free version, MyFitnessPal logs food, weight and training. Fitiva tracks food and training for free, plus water, fasting and progress, and Ava logs your food from one sentence.

Which app has a real coach?

In this comparison, only Fitiva: you find coaches on the map, book free slots and pay online or on site. Each coach sets their own price. At launch, coaches are available in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

Do I have to give my card for a trial?

Often, yes, including for Fitiva Premium. Check the date by which you have to cancel so that nothing is charged. With Fitiva, that's within the 14 trial days, and you cancel in the app.