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Best Home Workout Apps Of 2023
Updated on
- Written by Kate Barrington, Health Expert
Medically reviewed by
Kathy Shattler, MS, RDN
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Perfect Body
- Offers personalized meal plans
- Numerous delicious recipes
- Shopping list options
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Peloton
- Wide range of workout routines
- Join live classes with friends in the app
- Save your favorite Peloton workouts for later
Fitbit Coach
- Personalized guidance and insights about health
- Library of over 200 audio and video workouts
- Bonus meditations and nutrition content
Regular exercise is the key to overall health and wellness. According to the Centers for Disease Control[1] (CDC), exercise can boost brain function, reduce anxiety, relieve depression, and improve sleep. It’s also an excellent tool for weight management and may reduce your risk for chronic diseases like type 2 diabetes and heart disease.
No matter what your motivation is for working out, the first thing you need to decide is whether to do it in the gym or at home. Working out at home means you can skip the monthly fee, enjoy custom workouts in your own space, and you can do them whenever it is most convenient for you. Especially if you have a fitness application (app).
The best workout apps are inexpensive, easy to use, and customizable. This guide will discuss what fitness apps are and how they work. Then you’ll be introduced to our top twelve favorites for the best at-home workout app.
Best Home Workout Apps On The Market In (November. 2023)
- Perfect Body – Best Home Workout App
- Aaptiv – Editor’s Choice
- Peloton – Best For Exercise Bikes
- Fitbit Coach – Best For Fitbit Users
- 8fit – Most Customizable
- Courtney Black Fitness – Best Celebrity Fitness App
- Sweat – Best For Women
- Centr – Best For Men
- Lean with Lilly – Best For Pilates
- Daily Yoga – Best For Yoga
- Shred – Best For Weight Training
- Couch to 5k – Best For Beginners
- Nike Training Club – Best Free App
How Do Workout & Fitness Apps Work?
A workout app is simply a mobile application you can use to improve your fitness. It’s a tool to help you design custom workouts, learn new exercises, and track your progress.
Most workout apps offer a variety of different types of exercises. Some offer video guides you can follow along while others simply provide visuals for how to perform each exercise. You can often filter the results by the type of workout, duration, or intensity.
Though some workout apps are free, many require a monthly or annual subscription.
Best Home Workout & Fitness Apps Of 2023
Perfect Body
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The Perfect Body online weight loss plan helps you within these two essential constraints. The first way is it offers you unlimited recipes for healthy meals.
- It offers its clients a 28-day meal plan
- The program also includes workout routines
- The diet plans for weight loss are customizable
- Can access the platform on your phone
- You must follow the 28-day meal and workout plans to the letter
Sometimes, supplements may help you get there, but food and activity strategies are the sure way to win your weight loss journey.
The Perfect Body online weight loss plan helps you within these two essential constraints. The first way is it offers you unlimited recipes for healthy meals. With these well-curated nutritious meal plans, you get to enjoy healthy foods that are easy to make, and they are also delicious recipes you will enjoy.
The platform considers your food preferences, water intake, and general health needs and goals. The brand’s website is designed to intake all your information once you log in. Perfect Body also offers an exercise plan for all its users to burn fat. They take your current weight and ask you for your fitness goals and your goal weight. From this information, the algorithm curates workout plans recommended by a professional personal trainer to meet your fitness and health goals.
Aaptiv
With unlimited access to thousands of workout programs and new classes each week, Aaptiv is one of the most popular fitness apps on the market.
- Workout programs designed by personal trainers
- Highly customizable
- Access to a supportive community
- Can be tricky to switch between video and audio
- Limited focus on nutrition
Whether you’re looking for bodyweight workouts, stretching routines, strength training, or running, the Aaptive fitness app has something for you. With over 200,000 users, this app offers more than just daily workouts – it offers a community. Programs can be tailored to your fitness goals with multi-week plans for training, weight loss, and more.
You can even choose from a large music library to accompany your workout. Sign up for a 7-day free trial and, if you like it, you’ll be rolled over into a $14.99/month subscription after the free trial period. You can save by paying a full year’s subscription for $99.99.
Peloton
The Peloton Bike delivers a customizable cardiovascular (cardio) workout loved by millions and, when you pair it with the Peloton app, you’ll enjoy trainer-led workouts to keep you motivated.
- Wide range of daily workout routines
- Join live classes with friends in the app
- Save your favorite workouts for later
- Not ideal if you don’t have an exercise bike
The Peloton craze hit during the pandemic, and the company has expanded to include custom workout plans for more than just exercise bikes. Now you can try strength training, boxing, yoga, and more with the upgraded Peloton app. New app members can try the app for free for two months and then pay just $12.99 per month.
Even if you don’t have a Peloton bike, you can enjoy the workouts or try more than ten other types of workout routines available on demand.
Fitbit Coach
Fitbit Coach has transitioned into Fitbit Premium. This comprehensive app offers workout videos as well as personalized guidance and insights about your health.
- Personalized guidance and insights about health
- Library of over 200 audio and video workouts
- Bonus meditations and nutrition content
- Only available in English
- Primarily geared towards beginners
Though you’ll get the most out of Fitbit Premium if you’re a Fitbit user; you don’t have to have a fitness tracker to utilize the program. If you’ve already subscribed to Fitbit Coach, you can download workouts from the previous program.
When it comes to on-demand workouts, Fitbit Premium has a large library of over 200 audio and video workouts and over 150 guided meditations. You’ll also enjoy access to nutritional content to help you start eating healthier. Paired with a Fitbit device, Fitbit Premium helps you track progress toward your goals with workout tracking and calories burned.
8fit
Whether you’re looking for home workouts or nutrition advice, 8fit offers both. You can access this content in the mobile app or online, making it an incredibly user-friendly product.
- Customizable exercise plans
- Free recipes and personalized diet plans
- Workouts and app content are available online
- No monthly payment options
- Customer service can be slow
The unique selling point of this app is that it gives you more than just a workout program – it also helps you create custom meal plans to support your goals further. It costs $79.99 for an annual subscription.
Not only does 8fit give you general workout ideas to build from, but you can choose from a large variety of fun and dynamic classes. Whether you want yoga classes, High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) workouts, or core training, you’ll find it in the app. 8fit offers a vast library of healthy recipes on its website, and you can create personalized meal plans based on your dietary preferences.
Courtney Black Fitness
If you want to train hard and achieve real results led by a celebrity fitness expert, Courtney Black Fitness is a great option. The app offers personalized workout plans, recipes, and a progress tracker to help you meet your goals.
- Time-efficient home workouts
- Personalized workout plans and real-time workouts
- Hundreds of recipes for all dietary requirements
- Fairly expensive
- May require some basic gym equipment
- Prices are not in U.S. currency
This is one of the best workout apps released by a celebrity trainer, Courtney Black. Whether you’re looking for a quick workout or a particular exercise, you’ll find it in Black’s extensive library. You can create personalized workout plans or participate in real-time workouts with the app.
Before you settle on the Courtney Black Fitness mobile app, be mindful that if you’re looking for a more intense workout, you’ll want to have some gym equipment on hand. You don’t necessarily need a well-equipped home gym, but resistance bands, a yoga mat, and a few kettlebells or dumbbells will help.
There are several subscription options to choose from. Pay £15.99 per month or £39.99 for three months. You’ll get the best value with an annual subscription for £119.99. U.S. currency prices are not on the website or in the Apple Play Store. To translate into dollars, take pounds (£) and multiply by 1.36.
Sweat
Whether you’re looking to achieve a bikini body or taking your first steps into post-baby fitness, the Sweat app is designed by women for women.
- Designed for women by women
- Workouts for post-baby fitness
- Gain confidence in the weight room
- Must manually tap the screen during workouts
- Somewhat pricey
Kayla Itsines, an Australian personal trainer developed Sweat originally as a series of Bikini Body Guides in 2015. It has since grown into an extensive training app with a wide variety of programs and recipes to help women reach their goals. Trainers like Kayla herself lead the workouts, and you can easily switch between at-home fitness plans and on-demand classes.
With the Sweat app, you can work out anywhere you like, any time you like. Get started with a 3-month plan for just $3, then pay $19.99 per month after that. In addition to classes and workouts, you’ll have access to step tracking, workout reminders, and an online community where you can join other women for support.
Centr
While anyone can use the Centr app, its emphasis on HIIT, strength training, and boxing makes it one of the best home workout apps for men.
- Exercise combined with meal planning
- Minimal or no equipment required
- Free 4-week trial period
- Can’t play your own music during workouts
- No offline download for workouts
When considering the Centr app, one of the key selling points is that it’s been endorsed by Chris Hemsworth, an Australian actor who played Thor in the Marvel Cinema movies. This app combines exercise with meal planning, so you get the best workout but also the best nutrition advice to meet your goals.
The Centr app enables you to work out with world-class trainers in a wide range of 6-week programs. These programs are designed for bodyweight fitness (no equipment) or minimal equipment to meet a wide range of needs. Train at home or in the gym in just 20 to 40 minutes per workout. Get started with a free 4-week trial period.
Lean with Lilly
If you’re a fitness enthusiast who loves Pilates, the Lean with Lilly app is one of the best fitness apps for you.
- Simple workouts with resistance bands and a Pilates ball
- New workouts are uploaded often
- Join various challenges
- Tricky to filter workouts
- No option to save/view past workouts
Lilly Sabri is known for her difficult abdominal (ab) workouts, and now you can enjoy the full range of her fitness expertise in a convenient mobile app. Lean with Lilly is perfect for beginners or experienced individuals because it provides a wide range of classes and challenges. New workouts are constantly being added, so you’ll never get bored.
All of the workouts on Lean with Lilly can be performed at home with resistance bands, basic weights, and a Pilates ball. Subscriptions start at $8.99 per month, or you can pay $21.99 per quarter or $69.99 per year.
Daily Yoga
If you love yoga, this may be one of the best free workout apps you’ll come across. Loved by 50,000,000 yogis around the world, it’s great for all levels of experience.
- Loved by 5 billion users around the world
- Over 100 yoga and meditation guides
- Simple tutorials for beginners
- Lots of pop-up ads in the free version
Even the most experienced yogi will find plenty of variety in Daily Yoga. With over 100 yoga and meditation classes to choose from, you can try something new every day. The app offers a series of beginner-friendly tutorials with programs as short as two weeks. The app also helps track your workouts and your progress so you can see your growth.
Join the Daily Yoga community to ask questions, make friends, or share your yoga moments. Get the app for free in the Apple Store or Google Play Store.
Shred
One of the best home workout apps for strength training enthusiasts, Shred covers a wide range of styles and different types of training.
- Wide range of gym, body weight, and cardio options
- Interactive visuals and activity logging
- Try it with a 7-day free trial
- Can’t download workouts for offline use
The Shred app is like having a dynamic fitness trainer right in your pocket. Whether you’re working out at home or in the gym, you’ll find plenty of workouts to choose from, and you’ll enjoy interactive visuals and activity logging to track your progress. You can even share your workouts to inspire a little friendly competition after you finish.
From HIIT to recovery classes, Shred has thousands of options. View your personal stats and unlock achievements as you progress. Get started now for just $12.99 per month.
Couch to 5k
If you want to start exercising but don’t know where to begin, the Couch to 5k program is great and it’s one of the best weight loss workout apps for beginners.
- Great for beginners
- Helps improve stamina for running
- Simple to follow program
- Doesn’t help improve running technique
Many of us want to get into better shape, but it can be difficult to find the motivation or even know where to begin. The Couch to 5k app walks you through the process of getting off the couch and progressing to finish a 5k in just nine weeks’ time. You’ll work out 20 to 30 minutes at a time just three times a week to meet this goal. It may be simple, but many people find this app a helpful starting point in their fitness journey.
Nike Training Club
If you’re not sure whether you want to pay for a workout app, Nike Training Club is completely free. They started with a 90-day free trial during COVID, but it’s now completely free.
- Completely free workout app
- Filter classes by duration and intensity
- Connect your workout to Apple Music
- Some Nike training programs have been removed
Gym memberships can be pricey, but the Nike Training Club app offers customizable fitness for free. You can filter workouts by a particular exercise or muscle group. Choose from bodyweight programs, yoga workouts, and lifting programs to meet your goals. You can also filter by duration and intensity level.
Nike Training Club workouts range in intensity, making it a great option for beginners and seasoned fitness enthusiasts alike. Whether you want to lose weight or build muscle, this is the best free fitness app to help you achieve your goals.
How To Choose The Best Home Workout Apps?
Workout apps are a dime a dozen, designed for every need out there. So, how do you choose the best workout app for you? Here are some things to consider:
Workout Plans
Everyone has their own preferences when it comes to exercise, so find a workout app that has the kind of exercises you like. Many offer bodyweight exercises as well as workouts that require basic gym equipment. Some are best used in a gym environment, while others can be done at home. Many apps also offer things like yoga, guided meditation, cardio, cycling, and more.
Ease Of Use
A workout app doesn’t do you any good if you can’t figure out how to use it. Think about whether the app offers real-time videos to follow, audio instructions, or written instructions with visuals to determine if it’s the right option for you.
Bonus Features
In addition to workouts, many workout apps offer additional features like progress tracking, calorie counting, and meal planning. If you’re interested in making nutrition part of your fitness journey, select an app that provides recipes and nutritional advice.
Subscription
The final thing to consider is cost. Most of the best app purchases come with a monthly subscription plan, though many offer a free trial. Monthly prices usually range from $10 to $20.
Final Thought
Making a commitment to a regular exercise program is great, regardless of where or how you choose to do it. If you want to skip the pricey gym membership and work out in the comfort of your own home, a fitness app is the way to go. Review the options above to find the perfect app to meet your needs and get started with home workouts.
Frequently Asked Questions
It depends on which one you choose. Some have a free version, while others charge a monthly fee but may offer a limited free trial. Monthly prices generally range from $10 to $19 per month.
The best workout apps enable you to create custom workout plans to help you meet your goals. If you are willing to do the work, a workout app can certainly help you lose weight.
Sometimes. Many apps provide a library of healthy recipes, some of which you can filter by dietary preference. Certain workout apps will help you create personalized menu plans, count calories, and track your macronutrients as well.
+ 1 sources
Health Canal avoids using tertiary references. We have strict sourcing guidelines and rely on peer-reviewed studies, academic researches from medical associations and institutions. To ensure the accuracy of articles in Health Canal, you can read more about the editorial process here
- CDC (2021). Benefits of Physical Activity. [online] Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Available at: https://www.cdc.gov/physicalactivity/basics/pa-health/index.htm
Written by:
Kate Barrington, Health Expert
Medically reviewed by:
Medically reviewed by:
