ProductOctober 27, 2026·7 min read·By Ossian

RP Hypertrophy vs GainsLog: Who Decides Your Weekly Sets?

I build GainsLog, and before that I used RP Hypertrophy for what I think was a few months, so weigh this page with both in mind. Pick RP Hypertrophy if you want the app to add or remove sets each week from how your pump, soreness and workload felt, use Android or a web browser, and can pay $299.99 a year. Pick GainsLog if you're on iPhone and want to see each muscle's weekly sets before you start, keep them the same each week, and get a weight and rep target for each set on the free version. As of October 2026, a year of GainsLog Premium costs $39.99.

Which is better, RP Hypertrophy or GainsLog?

It depends on who you want to decide your sets. RP Hypertrophy changes how many sets you do each week from the pump, soreness and workload you report after each session, and it runs on iPhone, Android and the web. GainsLog shows each muscle's weekly sets before you start and keeps them the same each week, on iPhone. Both set targets for your next weights and reps. As of October 2026, RP costs $34.99 a month or $299.99 a year, and GainsLog's targets are free, with Premium programs at $39.99 a year.

RP's rules and prices below come from its help center, its app page and its US and Swedish App Store listings, read on 27 October 2026. GainsLog's come from its listings, its Premium page and the app's code. The full picture of RP alone is in my RP Hypertrophy app review.

I used RP Hypertrophy for what I think was a few months, before I built GainsLog. I liked that it set the targets for my next workout, and I thought its progression rules were good. I stopped because it wasn't flexible enough and wasn't nice to use back then. In GainsLog's launch post I wrote that RP's progression system was one of three things I wanted in one app. RP's changelog lists new muscle priorities and a new mobile planning flow in September 2025, and the iPhone app's US release in December 2025 (RP changelog).

RP Hypertrophy vs GainsLog at a glance

Checked 27 October 2026. US prices in dollars.
	RP Hypertrophy	GainsLog
AppsGainsLog's Android app is in closed beta.	iPhone, Android, web browser	iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch
Weekly sets	Change each week from your pump, soreness and workload ratings	Shown per muscle before you start; the same each week
Weights and reps	You pick week 1; then usually a few percent a week, or one more rep	A target for each set from what you logged recently
Programs	45+ premade plans (listing) or the Meso Builder	5 ready-made or the program builder (both Premium)
Without paying	Free download; a subscription for full access	Logging, targets, 3 saved workouts
Monthly	$34.99	Not on the Premium page
Yearly	$299.99	$39.99
Other plans	None priced	$5.99 a week with a free trial; lifetime $79.99 without Gains Coach
Data export	Export; no import	No import or export

Who decides your weekly sets

Sets are where the two apps differ most. RP plans training in blocks of several weeks, and in its Meso Builder you can put muscles under one of three priorities, with a limited number of Emphasize slots: Emphasize adds sets while you recover well, Grow adds them only when needed, and Maintain keeps the muscle at maintenance volume (RP help). After each workout you rate your pump, soreness and workload. Low pumps, little soreness and an easy workload mean more sets; amazing pumps and soreness that doesn't heal in time mean fewer (RP help). RP says the app "will only increase volumes if you tell it you can handle more", generally by rating the workload too little and the pumps low (RP help). The last week of every block is a deload, a lighter week, though RP lets you skip it, and a block is capped at 8 weeks, deload included (RP help, RP help).

In GainsLog the sets are fixed before you start. Its program builder asks for your equipment, experience, the muscles you want to prioritize, how many days you can train, how long a session can be and your split, then shows each muscle's weekly sets and checks them against fixed ranges, such as 10 to 15 sets a week for a muscle you prioritize. Each workout then repeats every week with the same exercises and sets until the program ends or you change it. The app doesn't ask about pump or soreness.

In practice, RP changes how many sets you do from your answers, and GainsLog keeps the sets you saw when you built the program. If you want to check a week of training against GainsLog's ranges, the volume calculator uses the same numbers as the app, and the training volume guide covers how many sets to do.

How each app sets your weights and reps

In RP you pick the starting weights. Week 1 shows a target RIR (reps in reserve) for each set, and RP's advice is a weight you can lift with about 3 reps left within your rep range (RP help, RP help). After that, in what RP calls most cases, the weight "is increased by a few percentage points each week", and when the next weight step is too big, the app adds a rep to each set instead (RP help).

GainsLog sets a weight and rep target for each set from the weight, reps and reps in reserve you logged on that exercise, and adds an RIR target in some cases. It does that on the free version, for exercises you've logged recently, whether or not you follow a program. The weight-progression guide explains when a target goes up.

You can go against the targets in both apps. In RP you can overwrite a weight or add and delete sets at any time, and later sessions build on the change (RP help, RP help). In GainsLog you log what you actually lifted, and the next target comes from that.

Changing the plan mid-block

If you miss a day in RP, you either pick up where you left off or skip to the next training day, and skipping can't be undone. RP suggests starting a new block if you miss a week or more early or in the middle of one (RP help). When you copy a finished block into a new one, the weights and targets carry over, but an exercise you change starts without data (RP help).

In GainsLog you can replace an exercise, and the app suggests swaps that train the same movement. The machine exercises by muscle pages list the machine options in its library.

What RP Hypertrophy and GainsLog cost

Prices on the US App Store, 27 October 2026.
	RP Hypertrophy	GainsLog Premium
Weekly	Not sold	$5.99 with a free trial
Monthly	$34.99	Not on the Premium page
Yearly	$299.99	$39.99
Lifetime	Not sold	$79.99

A year of RP costs $260.00 more than a year of GainsLog Premium (App Store, App Store). GainsLog's listing sells Premium Lifetime for $79.99, paid once, which the app says includes everything in Premium except Gains Coach, its AI coach. The listing also shows a $29.99 yearly offer and two products named Gains Premium, at $14.99 and $49.99. The Premium page shows none of these, so check the paywall before you pay. GainsLog's weight and rep targets cost nothing.

RP's own site sells the yearly plan for the same $299.99 and adds videos from Dr. Mike Israetel, a guided week-by-week plan and three eBooks. It offers a 30-day refund, one per product per customer, but only for purchases made on its website; App Store purchases go through Apple (RP Strength, RP refund policy). RP's listing mentions a six-month term, but the US listing shows no price for one. In Sweden, RP costs 499 kr a month or 3 995 kr a year, and GainsLog Premium 499 kr a year, 3 496 kr less (App Store, App Store).

Where RP Hypertrophy is better

Android and the web. RP runs on Android and in a web browser as well as iPhone (Google Play, RP help). GainsLog's Android app is in closed beta.
Sets that follow how you recover. If you want the app to add sets to a muscle while you recover and remove them when you don't, RP's questions after each workout do that (RP help). GainsLog keeps the sets you saw when you built the program unless you change them.
More programs and videos. The listing counts 45+ premade plans, including body-part specialization programs, and 250+ technique videos (App Store). GainsLog has five ready-made programs and its builder.
Export. RP exports your training data, though it can't import from other apps (RP help). GainsLog has no import or export.
A refund window. Bought on RP's website, you can get your money back within 30 days (RP refund policy).

RP Hypertrophy or GainsLog: which one to pick

Pick RP Hypertrophy if you train for muscle growth, will rate every workout honestly, want the app to move your sets from week to week, or train on Android. RP points lifters who train mainly for strength to Juggernaut AI (RP help).
Pick GainsLog if you're on iPhone, want to know your weekly sets before you start, and want each set's weight and reps set from what you logged without paying. Pay for Premium, in the App Store, if you want the program built around your schedule and the muscles you want to prioritize, at $39.99 a year.
Neither app imports the other's history, so switching means starting a new log.
For more apps that set your next weight, see the progressive overload app comparison and GainsLog vs Fitbod.

If you want to see your weekly sets before you start

If you'd rather know each muscle's sets up front and get a target for every set from what you logged, see how GainsLog works.

GainsLog workout screen logging barbell bench press sets with weight, reps and an optional RIR field

How this article was made

Researched and drafted with AI assistance from RP's help center, app page and store listings and from GainsLog's listings and code, checked against those pages on 27 October 2026, with my own experience of RP from before I built GainsLog. Prices change, so the pages used are listed below.

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