The Best Fitness Apps of 2026, Tested & Reviewed NBC Select

Ladder also provides a chat and feedback feature, integration with your music, and progress tracking. From the inspiring Robin Arzon to the hilarious Cody Rigsby and feel-good Alex Toussaint, there is an instructor to fit nearly every workout vibe. Finally, we enjoyed the user interface of this app and felt its layout to be rather intuitive after the first few workouts. Some may find the text to be difficult to read, however, which we attribute to the black and blue color scheme.

best workout app for home

Barre vs. Pilates: What’s the Difference?

It’s especially helpful for those with muscle tightness or need to modify moves involving the knees. “We get so caught up in finding the perfect program—but it comes down to consistency,” Brooke says. If you want to see the best results, choose the program you’re most likely to stick with. The company’s website is full of success stories, testimonials, and reviews touting how effective the workouts are.

Energetic & Fiery Yoga

We’re very excited to see how this app continues to develop and grow over time. You’ll also find cardio workouts on the Les Mills app, which you can do on your own stationary bike or treadmill. Each pre-recorded class is led by a motivational instructor and has options for various lengths and intensities, making this a great option for beginners and pros alike. Contrary to popular belief, you don’t need a Peloton bike (although we’d all love one) to make the most of the Peloton app. You can use any bike in your own home or at the gym and follow along with the famous cycling workouts.

How We Evaluated the Best Home Workout Apps

Budget is a big factor, even though most workout apps cost far less than regular sessions with a personal trainer. Some are free or offer limited free tiers, while others charge a monthly or annual subscription. Think about what you realistically will use—if you won’t tap into coaching or advanced features, you may not need the most expensive option. Paying for a plan is only worth it if it helps you stay more consistent than you would with free content. If you prefer indoor-cycling classes that can double as dance parties, the magnetic resistance SoulCycle At-Home Bike might be for you. Rather than monitoring metrics, SoulCycle classes focus on riding to the beat of the music.

The watch has up to 18 hours of battery life, according to the brand — that’s less than most competitors. It does charge quickly, though, getting nearly a full charge in just 45 minutes. Like Garmin, it shows a lot of data and options, but can get confusing the further you dive into everything. Garmin prioritizes a wind-down time, switching from a jam-packed interface to just a clock during the time you are typically sleeping (which you note during set-up). It’s worth mentioning that in order to be this rugged and durable, the Garmin Instinct 3 is also quite heavy at 53 grams.

A freemium app offers a limited free tier designed to push you toward a paid plan. Most apps in the fitness space are freemium — their “free” tier is a trial in disguise. Fitbod is an AI-powered strength training app that generates a unique, personalised workout every single session based on your logged performance, recovery status, and available equipment.

There is a Pro version with advanced features like body measurement tracking and unlimited workout templates, but most casual lifters will find everything they need in the free tier. Adding sets and reps feels intuitive and fast, a huge plus during a workout. The app offers numerous preset workouts for beginners, but it shines when customized to your training style. Ebenezer Samuel, C.S.C.S., is the fitness director of Men’s Health and a certified trainer with more than 10 years of training experience. He’s logged training time with NFL athletes and track athletes and his current training regimen includes weight training, HIIT conditioning, and yoga. Before joining Men’s Health, he served as a sports columnist and tech columnist for the New York Daily News.

The Best Exercise Ball

Using brake pads or electromagnetic induction with magnets can significantly reduce the weight and size of a flywheel for better usability. Michelle, like Hannah, is also a hard-working mum of two, and also has to fit in training and time on the bike around family and work life. Which is why she regularly turns to home and indoor training, whether that is squeezing in half an hour during her lunch break or, with a baby monitor balanced on the handlebars, finding time when the kids are in bed. Hannah will be the first to admit she much prefers riding outside, however, she is also realistic. Hannah is a working mom, that till recently homeschooled and raced on the weekends.

Best workout app for classes

Whether you’re taking a strength, sculpt, cardio burn, or recovery class, every movement feels intentional—and the platform also offers a variety of workouts for pre- and postnatal. For the most accurate measurements, it’s best to consult with a fitness professional. For many, a big draw is the ability to ride along with an app, approximating an in-person indoor-cycling class. We tested bikes with onboard content streaming as well as those without built-in screens. You can also use the Peloton app with many non-Peloton bikes (without the live leaderboard and full real-time stats that many Peloton fans love). AI systems analyze multiple data streams including heart rate patterns, completed repetitions, user feedback ratings, and recovery metrics to automatically adjust workout intensity, duration, and exercise selection.

Syncing data with Apple Health, Google Fit, and major wearables

The ad experience can be intrusive, and the programming lacks the depth of NTC or Fitbod — but for a zero-cost, is unimeal legit zero-equipment starting point, it delivers. Peloton’s app (~$12.99/month as of May 2026) offers far more than cycling classes. Without owning any Peloton hardware, you can access thousands of live and on-demand classes — running, strength, yoga, meditation, and walking — led by world-class instructors. FitOn is a freemium (partly free, partly paid) app offering hundreds of workout classes led by celebrity trainers including Gabrielle Union and Jonathan Van Ness. Its free tier is genuinely generous — most classes are accessible without a subscription, making it one of the few apps where “free” actually means free for the core experience.

Plus & Peak Subscription

The element of Fitbod I found the most beneficial was the workout videos, however. There’s so much focus on the benefits of strength training at home, but not every workout app actually shows newcomers in the gym how to use basic equipment like dumbbells, barbells, kettlebells, and even resistance bands. While having a personal trainer is possible for some people, it’s not within everyone’s budget.

The app will ask you a series of questions before you sign up, including weight, height, age and goals, before recommending its library of video workouts and challenges. Finding the best fitness app for your particular needs can feel overwhelming. With hundreds of workout apps promising fast results, personalised training plans and more upgrade options, it’s hard to know which ones are actually worth your time and your money. Rebecca Ravee Norris, a freelance journalist, has been using this app for three years now and rates it as a surefire 10 out of 10. “It showcases dozens of different workouts organized by muscle groups, as well as various types of resistance training, including push, pull, and HIIT,” she says. “While these one-off workouts (and warm-ups and cool-downs) are great, my favorite aspect of the app is the Challenge section.

best workout app for home

Fitness Classes by Alo Moves

  • With your membership, you get access to different workout classes like yoga, pilates, strength, barre, sculpt and HIIT along with other wellness practices like stretching, nutrition and self-care.
  • While the workout library isn’t as dense as some other apps, the app is high quality and you can personalize your training programs when creating fitness goals.
  • Stronger by the Day simplifies its workout program through its layout and even includes a resource section that provides educational videos on nutrition, proper breathing and exercise techniques.
  • Most exercises can be done on the spot with zero equipment – and the app will offer an at-home alternative when they can’t.
  • Fitness trackers started as mostly wrist devices—from step counters like the Fitbit to the original Apple Watch.
  • On the upside, Brooks says it’s easy to build and aesthetically pleasing.

The pedal clips, which are Look Delta–compatible, hold the sold-separately Peloton cycling shoes or other appropriate bike shoes securely. Daily Burn’s challenge board provides community-driven motivation through group goals and friendly competition. Combining this social element with wearable-derived metrics like heart rate zones, calorie expenditure, and recovery status creates comprehensive progress assessment.

Best value for a seamless Peloton cycling experience

Nike Training Club (NTC) is one of the most comprehensive free fitness apps available on Android. It offers a variety of workouts, including strength training, yoga, HIIT, and mobility sessions. You’ll find programs for beginners and athletes alike, with video guidance and tips included. The app integrates seamlessly with Google Fit and Apple Health, letting you view all your fitness data in one place. The best fitness apps offer personalisation, value for money, a consistent bank of content, and help support your progress and goals. If you favour cardio and are looking for an app to get you into running, I’d recommend Runna.

The recipes are delicious, and easy to follow, and I appreciated having everything in one place. Apple Fitness Plus is the best workout app if you’re embedded in the company’s ecosystem, especially if you use an Apple Watch. There are HIIT, strength, core, yoga, Pilates, and meditation classes, taught by a range of different trainers. We also really liked that you can head into the app’s settings to select the equipment you have to hand, then use that list to filter the library, so you only see classes or routines you can do with the weights you have. This saves a lot of time, allowing you more space to do your workout rather than fiddle with the app. If you’re feeling tight after high-octane workouts like CrossFit, you should check out this app to get a good stretch.