Both apps generate strength workouts for you. Fitbod proved the idea a decade ago and has been polishing it since. Gravl is the same idea built today.
This is our own comparison, so read it knowing where we stand. Every Fitbod claim below comes from fitbod.me as of July 2026, so you can check each one yourself. Where Fitbod is better, we say so.
The short version
Head-to-head scoring
7 wins out of 8 categories
Overview
Gravl is a training system: it generates your plan, recalculates it after every session, and learns your progression per lift. Around the workouts: Strength Score analytics, real coaches in chat, AI form rating, and a social layer with friends and levels. Full feature parity between iOS and Android.
Features
- 9 preset splits plus a custom split builder, with deloads, set counts and rep ranges.
- Weight progression learned per user and per lift; PR detection.
- AI imports: machines from a photo, exercises by name, programs from PDFs or social posts.
- Exercise history with 1RM, Strength Score, progress photos.
- Real coaches in chat plus AI form rating.
- Friends, feed, levels and XP.
- Apple Watch, Wear OS and Garmin watch apps; Gravl MCP; 9 languages.
Who's it for?
Lifters of any level, beginner or experienced, who want to take their training a bit more seriously: plenty of settings to control, and the most modern tooling and features there when you need them.
Head-to-head scoring
1 win out of 8 categories
Overview
Fitbod is a resistance-training session generator: it builds one workout at a time from muscle freshness and your available equipment, backed by the biggest exercise library in the category. Still actively developed, but slowly: very few major updates in the last 24 months.
Features
- 1,000+ exercise library with video demos and form cues.
- One session at a time, generated from muscle freshness.
- 4 preset splits; circuits supported.
- Apple Watch and Wear OS companion apps.
- Syncs with Apple Health, Health Connect, Fitbit, Garmin and Strava.
- HSA/FSA eligible in the US.
Who's it for?
A beginner who goes to the gym occasionally and wants a decent session decided for them, with plenty of exercise variety and no plan to maintain.
1. Workout planning
Fitbod generates one session at a time from muscle freshness, choosing from 4 preset splits. There is no custom split creation.
Gravl ships 9 preset splits plus a custom split builder, and recalculates the whole week after every session. You control deload periods, sets per exercise, rep ranges, supersets and dropsets. Warm-ups and cool-downs are PT-certified. Programs import with AI from a PDF or a social post.
| Gravl | Fitbod | |
|---|---|---|
| Preset splits | 9 | 4 |
| Custom splits | Yes | No |
| Deload periods | Yes | No |
| Sets and rep ranges, predefined by you | Yes | No |
| Supersets and dropsets | Yes | Partial |
| AI import of programs from PDFs or social posts | Yes | No |
| Circuits | No | Yes |
2. In the gym
Both apps suggest weights and apply progressive overload. In Gravl the thresholds that decide when you get 2.5 kg more are per user and per lift, learned from what happened after every previous bump. If you eat squat jumps for breakfast, they come sooner. If bench bumps keep costing you reps, the engine gets patient.
Machines are treated individually: each one can have its own weight unit, jump and range, set by taking a photo of the weight stack and letting AI read it. During the session: Live Activity on the iOS lock screen, interactive notifications on Android, rest timers per exercise, PR detection.
| Gravl | Fitbod | |
|---|---|---|
| Progression thresholds learned per lift | Yes | No |
| PR detection | Yes | No |
| Rest timer settings per exercise | Yes | No |
| Per-machine weight units, jumps and ranges | Yes | No |
| Machine setup from an AI photo | Yes | No |
| iOS Live Activity / Android interactive notifications | Yes | No |
Taps from opening the app to your first working set
Taps, typical session
3. Analytics
Gravl keeps a full history per exercise with estimated one-rep max over time, and rolls it into a Strength Score per muscle and overall. Fitbod has a strength score too, in a more basic form. Progress photos live next to the numbers in Gravl, workouts import from Apple Health, Health Connect and Garmin, and you can set which day your week starts on.
| Gravl | Fitbod | |
|---|---|---|
| Per-exercise history with estimated 1RM | Yes | Partial |
| Strength score | Yes | Yes |
| Strength score per muscle and overall, bodyweight-adjusted | Yes | No |
| Progress photos | Yes | No |
| Configurable first day of the week | Yes | No |
4. Exercise library
Fitbod's 1,000+ exercise library with video demos is the biggest in the category. Credit where due: 15M+ downloads, 120M+ workouts logged, a 4.8 rating across 250,000+ reviews and an Apple Editor's Choice award.
It is also padded: duplicate entries (three variations of barbell rows) and questionable inclusions. Gravl's library is curated: no duplicates, filmed with real humans. Both apps support custom exercises; Gravl imports them with AI from just the name, including custom machines, and feeds them into the algorithm's selection.
| Gravl | Fitbod | |
|---|---|---|
| Library | Curated, no duplicates | 1,000+, with duplicates |
| Custom exercises | Yes | Yes |
| Custom exercises imported with AI, by name | Yes | No |
| Custom machines, imported with AI | Yes | No |
| Custom entries used by the algorithm | Yes | No |
5. Coaching
Every Gravl plan comes with coaches in chat: you message, a person answers, and the plan updates around their call. AI form rating gives instant feedback on your recorded sets in between.
Fitbod offers video demos and form cues. There is no one, human or AI, looking at your movement.
6. Social
Gravl: add friends and family, compare Strength Scores, a social feed, levels and XP, and gym profiles matched to real Google Maps gyms.
Fitbod has no social features.
7. Platform
Gravl has full feature parity between iOS and Android, watch apps for Apple Watch, Wear OS and Garmin, 9 languages, and an MCP server, so you can connect Claude or any MCP-capable assistant to your training data.
Fitbod supports Apple Watch and Wear OS as phone companions, one language, and has historically lagged on Android.
| Gravl | Fitbod | |
|---|---|---|
| iOS / Android feature parity | Yes | Partial |
| Apple Watch and Wear OS apps | Yes | Yes |
| Garmin watch app | Yes | No |
| Languages | 9 | 1 |
| MCP server for AI assistants | Yes | No |
8. Price
Fitbod: $15.99/month or $95.99/year, 7 day trial, HSA/FSA eligible in the US. Gravl costs less. Nutrition lives in its own companion app, and both together still come in under Fitbod, with human coaching included.
| Gravl | Fitbod | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Less than Fitbod, free trial | $15.99/month or $95.99/year, 7 day trial |
| Human coaching included | Yes | No |
| Nutrition | Companion app | Not offered |
| HSA/FSA eligible (US) | No | Yes |
The full feature list
Every feature in one table. Both columns filled in honestly. Fitbod gets its checks.
| Feature | Gravl | Fitbod |
|---|---|---|
| Algorithmic workout generation | Yes | Yes |
| Weekly plan, recalculated after every session | Yes | |
| Preset splits | Yes | Yes |
| Custom splits | Yes | |
| Deload periods | Yes | |
| Sets-per-exercise control | Yes | |
| Custom rep ranges | Yes | |
| Muscle focus | Yes | Yes |
| Supersets and dropsets | Yes | Partial |
| Circuits | Yes | |
| Warm-ups and cool-downs | Yes | Yes |
| AI import of programs from PDFs or social posts | Yes | |
| Muscle recovery model | Yes | Yes |
| Recovery adjusts working weights | Yes | |
| Weight recommendations | Yes | Yes |
| Progression thresholds learned per lift | Yes | |
| PR detection | Yes | |
| Rest timers | Yes | Yes |
| Rest time settings per exercise | Yes | |
| Per-machine weight units | Yes | |
| Per-machine jumps and weight ranges | Yes | |
| Machine setup from an AI photo | Yes | |
| iOS Live Activity | Yes | |
| Android interactive notifications | Yes | |
| Multiple gym profiles with equipment | Yes | Yes |
| Exercise video demonstrations | Yes | Yes |
| 1,000+ exercise catalog | Yes | |
| Custom exercises | Yes | Yes |
| AI import of custom exercises, by name | Yes | |
| Custom machines | Yes | |
| Custom entries used by the algorithm | Yes | |
| Smart exercise replace | Yes | Yes |
| Per-exercise history charts | Yes | Yes |
| Estimated 1RM tracking | Yes | Partial |
| Strength score | Yes | Partial |
| Progress photos | Yes | |
| Configurable first day of the week | Yes | |
| Import external workouts | Yes | Yes |
| Human coaches in chat | Yes | |
| AI form rating | Yes | |
| Friends and social feed | Yes | |
| Strength Score comparison with friends | Yes | |
| Levels and XP | Yes | |
| Gym search | Yes | |
| Apple Watch app | Yes | Yes |
| Wear OS app | Yes | Yes |
| Garmin watch app | Yes | |
| Fitbit sync | Yes | |
| Strava sync | Yes | Yes |
| iOS / Android feature parity | Yes | Partial |
| 9 languages | Yes | |
| MCP server for AI assistants | Yes | |
| HSA/FSA eligible (US) | Yes |
Summary
Seven categories to Gravl, one to Fitbod, and Fitbod's win is the category defined a decade ago. Everything added to training apps since goes the other way.
Already on Fitbod? Gravl can import all of your Fitbod workouts. Just email us at support@gravl.ai and your history comes with you.
1. Workout planning
Custom splits, deloads, rep ranges vs 4 preset splits
2. In the gym
Learned progression, PR detection, live lock-screen workout
3. Analytics
Exercise history with 1RM, Strength Score, progress photos
4. Exercise library
1,000+ exercises is the biggest catalog in the category
5. Coaching
Real coaches in chat plus AI form rating
6. Social
Friends, feed, levels. Fitbod has none
7. Platform
iOS/Android parity, Garmin watch app, Gravl MCP
8. Price
Costs less than Fitbod
Which app is right for you?
Choose Fitbod if you want the biggest exercise library feeding a solid session generator, circuits included, and HSA/FSA eligibility matters to you.
Choose Gravl for everything since: a plan you control, weights that learn you per lift, a workout on your lock screen, and a coach one tap away, on either platform, for less money.
The best test is the same for both: take the free trial, run it for two weeks, and watch what happens to the bar.
Two weeks is enough to feel the difference. Watch what happens to the bar.
Try Gravl free