The best workout logging app is the one that records a set in the fewest taps for the way you train and lets you take the history with you when you leave. Everything else — charts, badges, feeds — sits on top of that. This page names five criteria, explains what each one is testing, and puts three apps in one table under the same rules. One of them is ours: Zyra builds Zyra Workouts and MacroDiet; the criteria below apply to us too. Zyra Workouts is in development and not yet on the App Store, so its column is read from its source code, not from a listing, and its gaps are named.
Five criteria for a logger
1. Time per set. The whole product is the set-entry row. Count the taps from "I just racked the bar" to "logged": weight, reps, an effort mark, done. A keypad designed for chalked thumbs beats a general text field; pre-filled targets from your last session beat typing the same 100 × 5 three times.
2. Set types and the details of a real session. Warm-ups that should not count as working volume; drop sets that belong to a parent set; failure sets; left and right sides on unilateral work; partial reps; supersets; a rest timer that knows each exercise has a different default. If your training has these shapes and the app cannot record them, you will stop recording them.
3. Plate math that knows your gym. "102.5 kg" is only useful if it becomes "20 + 20 + 1.25 a side on a 20 kg bar" — and only correct if your gym actually has 1.25 kg plates. Inventory-aware plate math is rarer than it should be; the plate calculator on this site shows what it looks like.
4. How the app suggests the next load. A logger becomes a coach the moment it fills in next week's targets. The question is whether the rule is visible: what counts as "beat the target", by how much the load moves, and what happens after a miss. A rule you can read is one you can disagree with. The 1RM calculator on this site shows the estimate side of that math; the app-side rule is described below.
5. Data ownership. Export in an open format, offline operation, and whether an account is required to start. Years of training history is worth more than the app that holds it.
How the criteria play out
Apps in alphabetical order. Competitor cells come from each company's public page or listing opened on the date above; anything not verifiable is left blank rather than guessed.
| Criterion | Hevy | Strong | Zyra Workouts (ours, in development) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Set types | "Mark Warmup, Drop, and Failure Sets"3 | RPE per set; supersets / grouped exercises2 | Standard, warm-up, drop, myo, failure; left/right sides; partial reps; RIR per set; supersets |
| Rest timer | "Automatic Rest Timers"3 | "Built in Auto Countdown Timer"2 | Rest timer with presets and per-exercise defaults (60–180 s) |
| Plate math | Not stated on the pages opened | "Plate Calculator" and "Warm Up Calculator"2 | Plate math against your own plate inventory and bar (10 / 15 / 20 kg), with named gym profiles |
| Next-load suggestion | "Calculate One Rep Max", personal records3 | Not stated on the pages opened | Smart Progression: progress / hold / back-off from the last working sets against the rep range and RIR target |
| Routines / programs | "Advanced Routine Planner"; save other athletes' routines3 | Free tier limited to 3 custom routines; unlimited with PRO2 | Programs and templates; freestyle sessions |
| Watch / platforms | iOS, Android, Apple Watch, Wear OS, web app3 | iPhone, Android, Apple Watch1 | iOS, in development; not yet on the App Store |
| Social | "Follow Other Athletes", "Like and Comment on Workouts"3 | Workout sharing1 | None by design |
| Export / health | Not stated on the pages opened | CSV export; Apple Health2 | CSV export, one row per set; Apple Health read-only |
| Offline / account | Not stated on the pages opened | "Strong Accounts are Free Forever"1 | Works fully offline; no account required; optional account for backup |
| Import from other apps | Not stated on the pages opened | Not stated on the pages opened | Not built; CSV import from Strong and Hevy is on the design list |
| Price | Free to download; Pro tier exists, price not verifiable at write time | Free; PRO $4.99/mo, $29.99/yr, $99.99 lifetime on the US listing2 | Not set; nothing to buy yet |
Where Zyra Workouts will stand — and its current status
Status first. Zyra Workouts is in development and not yet on the App Store. Every cell in its column is something that exists in the code today, not a promise: set types, sides and partials are in the set model; the plate math resolves against a stored plate inventory and bar weight; Smart Progression is a deterministic engine that reads your last working sets; CSV export writes one row per set with the set type labelled; the app stores everything on the device and works without an account. Screens may change before release.
Where it should score. On set types and session detail it is built for lifters who run drop sets, myo-reps, unilateral work and partials. On plate math it is the only one of the three whose public material describes inventory-aware loading — the warm-up set builder on this site rounds every row to plates you actually own for the same reason. On progression, the rule is readable: if your last working sets beat the ceiling (the midpoint of the rep range plus your RIR target), the next load steps up by one plate pair for barbells or 2 kg for stacks and dumbbells; if you fall under the range, it steps back; otherwise it holds. On data ownership: offline, no account, CSV out.
Where it is behind. No watch app, no Android, no web app, no social layer, and no import from other apps — the design list has CSV import from Strong and Hevy, but it is not built. It also has no public track record, which is the most honest line in this table.
In plain terms: Zyra Workouts is built for the person who cares about the set row and their own data more than about a feed or a wrist app — and it is not available yet.
The short version
Choose a workout logger on five criteria: taps per set, set types, inventory-aware plate math, a visible next-load rule, and data you can take with you. Hevy is strongest on platforms and community3; Strong is a mature logger with plate and warm-up calculators, CSV export and a free tier capped at three routines2; Zyra Workouts is built around set detail, gym-aware plate math and offline data ownership — and is in development, not yet on the App Store. No winner is declared here; Zyra builds Zyra Workouts and its gaps are in the table. Training-tool overview only — not medical advice.