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Gym Journal vs Strong
Strong is a plain, fast log with a long track record, and it is cheaper than Gym Journal. Here is what each app does, in each app’s own words, so you can tell which one fits how you train.
Checked 25 September 2026 · sources at the bottom
Pick Strong if
- You want the cheaper subscription. Strong Pro is $29.99 a year in the US.
- You want to log from an Apple Watch, with or without your iPhone.
- You want animated exercise videos.
- You want a log and nothing else. Strong’s listing calls it the simplest interface of any fitness app and describes no feed, leaderboards or ranks.
Pick Gym Journal if
- You want every lift ranked against strength standards for your bodyweight and sex. You can check a set before you install.
- You want to train alongside friends: a feed, leaderboards and challenges, rather than sharing through the iOS share sheet.
- You want more room on the free plan: 5 routines against Strong’s 3.
- You train in Romanian, Indonesian, Turkish, Dutch, Polish, Ukrainian, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Czech or Greek. Gym Journal ships all twelve; Strong’s App Store listing includes none of them.
Side by side
Strong’s column is taken from Strong’s own App Store listing.
Price
- Gym Journal
- Free. Pro is $6.99 a month or $39.99 a year, both with a 7-day free trial, or $79.99 once.
- Strong
- Free. Strong Pro is $4.99 a month or $29.99 a year in the US.
Free plan
- Gym Journal
- Unlimited workouts, the full 439-exercise library, the feed, leaderboards and cloud backup. Up to 5 routines, 5 splits and 5 custom exercises; statistics cover the last 30 days, while History keeps every session.
- Strong
- Unlimited workouts, and up to 3 custom routines.
Ranks and social
- Gym Journal
- 46 lifts ranked against standards for your bodyweight and sex, from Iron to GOAT, with the kilos to the next tier. Global Hall of Fame leaderboards on top. A feed with fires and comments, and challenges with friends.
- Strong
- Sharing routines and workouts through the iOS share sheet. The listing describes no feed, leaderboards or ranks.
Programs and progression
- Gym Journal
- 40+ ready-made routines and splits, a warm-up generator and a plate calculator. With Pro, smart progression suggests the next weight or rep target, and the AI Coach drafts routines and splits.
- Strong
- “Optimized for a progressive barbell routine such as Starting Strength or StrongLifts 5x5”, with a warm-up calculator and a plate calculator.
Watch
- Gym Journal
- A rest timer on the iPhone Lock Screen. No watch app.
- Strong
- A full Apple Watch app that logs workouts with or without your iPhone.
Exercises
- Gym Journal
- 439 exercises, each with an image and form notes. No video.
- Strong
- Cardio and strength exercises with a growing library of animated videos.
Your data
- Gym Journal
- Free cloud backup with an account, or no account at all in Solo mode. CSV export with Pro, or on request on the free plan. Reads Strong’s CSV export directly.
- Strong
- Cloud sync, CSV export to Notes or Email, and body measurements with Apple Health.
Languages
- Gym Journal
- 22: English, Romanian, Spanish, Portuguese, French, German, Italian, Indonesian, Turkish, Chinese, Russian, Japanese, Korean, Dutch, Polish, Ukrainian, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Czech and Greek.
- Strong
- 10 in its App Store listing: English, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish.
Community
- Gym Journal
- New. It launched in August 2026 and has no App Store ratings yet.
- Strong
- 4.86 from 108,521 ratings on the US App Store; its listing says more than 1.2 million downloads.
Moving from Strong
- Strong exports every workout as a CSV to Notes or Email.
- In Gym Journal, open Settings → Import Data and pick the file. It reads the header and works out which app the export came from.
- Your workouts, sets, reps and body measurements land in your history, so ranks and progression start from your real numbers.
Use the file exactly as it was exported. Opening it in a spreadsheet and saving it again shifts the columns, and the import fails.
More on importingTry it before you decide
Free to download, with no account needed to start logging. You can also rank a set you have already done first.
Sources
Apps change. If something on this page is wrong or out of date, write to contact@gymjournal-app.com and it gets fixed.