StrengthLog vs GainsLog: Which App Sets Your Next Weight?

It depends on who you want to pick the weight. Pick StrengthLog if you want to choose from a library of over 200 programs and workout routines, or write your own progression, in % of 1RM or RPE on Premium. It runs on Android too. Pick GainsLog if you're on iPhone and want a weight and rep target for each set, set from what you logged, without paying. As of October 2026, StrengthLog Premium costs $109.00 a year in the US and GainsLog Premium $39.99.

Every StrengthLog fact below comes from its US and Swedish App Store listings, its website and its help center, read on 26 October 2026. GainsLog's prices come from its listings and Premium page on the same day, and what its free version and program builder do comes from the app's code.

In GainsLog's launch post I wrote that I wanted RepCount's ease of use, StrengthLog's programs and RP Hypertrophy's progression in one app. This page compares the two apps on programs and progression.

StrengthLog's terms come from its US listing, website and help center. GainsLog's come from its US listing and the Premium page.

In StrengthLog you write the progression into a program, or follow one a coach wrote, and the app has shortcuts that fetch weights from your log. When you add an exercise to a workout, it can copy the sets from the last time you logged it (StrengthLog). In a program or saved workout, a set can use "Retrieve from log": the app finds the last time you did that number of reps on the exercise and uses that weight. If you've since lifted a heavier weight for more reps, it takes the heavier one. Its example: if the program says 10 reps and you only got 8 last session, the app won't fetch the weight (StrengthLog).

The App Store listing says free users can build their own programs with linear progression, and Premium adds double and triple progression (App Store). Combining Retrieve from log with an automatic progression, which adds a fixed amount such as 2.5 kg to the fetched weight, is Premium, and so is writing a program in % of 1RM or RPE/RiR (StrengthLog, StrengthLog). Train Again repeats a logged workout for free, and changing all its weights or reps at once, for example by 1%, is Premium (StrengthLog, StrengthLog).

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 sets you've logged on that exercise recently, whether or not you follow a program. The weight-progression guide explains when a target goes up.

The two apps differ when you miss your reps. In StrengthLog's example, Retrieve from log then fetches no weight, and its help center suggests Train Again if your reps vary. GainsLog sets the next target from the reps you actually did.

StrengthLog's website says its coaches keep adding to a library of over 200 programs and workout routines, for powerlifting, bodybuilding and general strength and muscle growth (StrengthLog). In the app you can filter them by Premium or Free, by Beginner, Intermediate or Advanced, and by category. The Premium programs need Premium (StrengthLog). You can copy a program and edit it, though copying a Premium program needs Premium too (StrengthLog).

GainsLog has five ready-made programs, and starting one needs Premium, as does its program builder. The builder asks what equipment you have, your experience, which muscles to prioritize, how many days a week you can train, how long a session can be and which split you want, then shows the weekly sets and training days for each muscle before you start. On a weekly schedule, until the program ends, each workout repeats every week with the same exercises, and finishing one creates next week's version with targets from the sets you just logged. You can swap an exercise for one that trains the same muscle.

GainsLog's library has 100+ exercises and prioritizes machines (App Store). The machine exercises by muscle pages list them. StrengthLog's has over 600, including cardio and mobility (App Store).

A year of GainsLog Premium costs $69.01 less than a year of StrengthLog Premium in the US, and 496 kr less in Sweden (App Store, App Store). GainsLog's weekly plan comes with a free trial. Its listing also sells Premium Lifetime, paid once: $79.99 in the US, less than one year of StrengthLog, and 999 kr in Sweden, 4 kr more than one year of StrengthLog. It 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, lifetime included, so check the paywall before you pay (App Store).

If you're in Sweden, StrengthLog Premium can be paid with a wellness stipend (friskvårdsbidrag) through Benify, Actiway, Wellnet, ePassi or Benefits, or with an invoice from StrengthLog for a year at a time. StrengthLog says App Store and Google Play receipts can't be used for the stipend because they lack what the Swedish Tax Agency requires, and that you should cancel an App Store subscription first so you aren't charged twice (StrengthLog). Stipend and invoice purchases don't renew automatically (StrengthLog). GainsLog Premium is bought in the app, with no invoice or wellness-portal option.

• Android. StrengthLog is on iOS and Android (StrengthLog). GainsLog's Android app is in closed beta.
• More programs. Over 200 programs and workout routines, some of them free (StrengthLog, StrengthLog). GainsLog has five ready-made programs and its builder.
• Planning in % of 1RM or RPE. StrengthLog Premium lets you write a program in % of 1RM or RPE/RiR (StrengthLog). GainsLog has no % of 1RM or RPE planning; its weight and rep targets come from your history, with a reps-in-reserve target in some cases.
• A larger exercise library. StrengthLog's listing counts 600+ exercises with instructions and videos, including cardio and mobility (App Store).
• Friends, Strava and AI access. Version 9.1 added friends (up to 25), a Strava connection and, on Premium, read access to your training data from ChatGPT or Claude (App Store).
• A Swedish wellness stipend (StrengthLog). GainsLog Premium is bought in the app.

• Pick StrengthLog if you want to choose a program from a large library, write a program in % of 1RM or RPE, train on Android, or pay with a wellness stipend. The free version logs without limits and includes free programs; Premium adds the full library, % of 1RM and RPE planning and more statistics.
• Pick GainsLog if you're on iPhone and want each set's weight and reps set for you from what you logged, free. Pay for Premium if you want the program built around your schedule and the muscles you want to prioritize, at $39.99 or 499 kr a year, or 999 kr once in Sweden.
• If you'll pay either way, a year of StrengthLog Premium costs $69.01 more and adds the full program library and % of 1RM and RPE planning. GainsLog Premium builds the program from your schedule and priorities. GainsLog can't import a StrengthLog history, so switching means starting a new log.
• For more apps side by side, see the best free workout trackers for iPhone and the apps that set your next weight.

If you'd rather have each set's weight and reps set from what you logged, on the free version, see how GainsLog works.

Researched and drafted with AI assistance from StrengthLog's App Store listings, website and help center and from GainsLog's listings and code, checked against those pages on 26 October 2026 and reviewed by me. Prices change, so the pages used are listed below.

• StrengthLog on the US App Store: prices, free and Premium features
• StrengthLog on the Swedish App Store: prices, version 9.1
• StrengthLog: the app page and FAQ: platforms, programs, program builder
• StrengthLog help: what Premium includes
• StrengthLog help: how to follow a program
• StrengthLog help: how to build a program: automatic progression
• StrengthLog help: retrieve from training log
• StrengthLog help: copy sets from last workout
• StrengthLog help: Train Again
• StrengthLog help: wellness stipend
• StrengthLog help: cancel your subscription
• GainsLog on the US App Store: prices, platforms, exercise library