Fitness · alternatives
Alternatives to Hydrow
23 fitness tools sit alongside Hydrow in this directory. Below is what separates each from Hydrow on the figures we hold, price, model, tier count and rating, and a direct comparison for every one.
- Alternatives listed
- 23
- With a free tier
- 11
- Cheaper to start
- 10
- Hydrow starts at
- $44/month
Why people look past Hydrow
Only what the record supports. Each point below is a figure on the Hydrow entry measured against the tools listed beside it.
It costs more than the category median
Hydrow starts at $44/month. Across the 12 fitness tools listed beside it that publish a price, the median entry point is $17.5/month.
There is no free tier
The record for Hydrow carries no free tier, so evaluating it means paying first. 11 of the 23 alternatives below can be used without paying.
There is only one tier
Hydrow publishes a single plan, All-Access at $44/month. There is no smaller tier to drop to if the fit is wrong or the budget moves.
What each alternative does differently
Ordered by the aggregated rating on each catalogue entry. Differences are drawn from price, pricing model, tier count and rating, the fields the category listing carries. For a feature-level difference, follow the head-to-head link on each card: those pages read both full records.
Your personal gym workout planner
- Can be used without paying; Hydrow cannot.
- Starts $31.009999999999998 a month cheaper, at $12.99/month.
- 2 tiers to Hydrow's 1.
Workout tracker and gym log
- Can be used without paying; Hydrow cannot.
- Starts $41.01 a month cheaper, at $2.99/month.
- 2 tiers to Hydrow's 1.
Guided workouts powered by Apple Watch
- Starts $34.01 a month cheaper, at $9.99/month.
Lose weight with your friends
- Can be used without paying; Hydrow cannot.
- Starts $4.009999999999998 a year cheaper, at $39.99/year.
5x5 barbell strength training app built around a fixed beginner programme, sold as a subscription
- Can be used without paying; Hydrow cannot.
- Sold on a Free tier plus subscription model rather than subscription.
- 2 tiers to Hydrow's 1.
Phone based sleep tracking app that uses the microphone or accelerometer to detect sleep phases and wake you in a light sleep window
- Can be used without paying; Hydrow cannot.
- Sold on a Free with a Premium subscription model rather than subscription.
Every Hydrow alternative at a glance
A dash means the catalogue entry carries no figure, not that the answer is nothing.
| Tool | Entry price | Model | Tiers | Head to head |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hydrow (this page) | $44/month | Subscription | 1 | |
| JEFITYour personal gym workout planner | Free, then $12.99/month | - | 2 | vs Hydrow |
| HevyWorkout tracker and gym log | Free, then $2.99/month | - | 2 | vs Hydrow |
| Apple Fitness+Guided workouts powered by Apple Watch | $9.99/month | - | - | vs Hydrow |
| Lose It!Lose weight with your friends | Free, then $39.99/year | - | - | vs Hydrow |
| StrongLifts | Free | Free tier plus subscription | 2 | vs Hydrow |
| Sleep Cycle | Free | Free with a Premium subscription | 1 | vs Hydrow |
| Nike Run Club | Free | Free, no subscription or in-app purchases | 1 | vs Hydrow |
| Insight Timer | Free | Free with a Member subscription | 1 | vs Hydrow |
| Cronometer | Free, then $4.99/month | - | 2 | vs Hydrow |
| Gymdesk | Free, then $75/month | Subscription | 5 | vs Hydrow |
| My PT Hub | Free | Subscription | 3 | vs Hydrow |
| Fitbod | On request | Per user per month | 2 | vs Hydrow |
| Zwift | On request | Per user per month | 2 | vs Hydrow |
| Freeletics | On request | Per user per month, billed annually | 2 | vs Hydrow |
| TrainerRoad | On request | Per user per month | 2 | vs Hydrow |
| Daxko | On request | Quote | 1 | vs Hydrow |
| Everfit | $16/month | Subscription | 4 | vs Hydrow |
| Mariana Tek | $200/month | Subscription | 2 | vs Hydrow |
| MacroFactor | $6.99/month | Subscription | 2 | vs Hydrow |
| Future | $199/month | - | - | vs Hydrow |
| Mirror | $39/month | - | 3 | vs Hydrow |
| Eight Sleep | $19/month | Subscription | 1 | vs Hydrow |
| Nike Training Club | Free | - | 1 | vs Hydrow |
Ratings are aggregated from third-party sources and imported with each catalogue entry; Softwr hosts no reviews of these products. How each figure is used is set out on the Hydrow badges page.
Cheaper ways to solve the same problem
Free to start (11)
These publish a tier that costs nothing, so they can be evaluated before any money changes hands.
- JEFIT , Free, then $12.99/month
- Hevy , Free, then $2.99/month
- Lose It! , Free, then $39.99/year
- StrongLifts , Free
- Sleep Cycle , Free
- Nike Run Club , Free
- Insight Timer , Free
- Cronometer , Free, then $4.99/month
Cheaper than Hydrow (10)
Entry price under Hydrow's $44/month. The record does not say what unit that price is charged in, so confirm per-seat versus flat rate before comparing budgets.
- JEFIT , Free, then $12.99/month
- Hevy , Free, then $2.99/month
- Apple Fitness+ , $9.99/month
- Lose It! , Free, then $39.99/year
- Cronometer , Free, then $4.99/month
- My PT Hub , Free
- Everfit , $16/month
- MacroFactor , $6.99/month
What you would be giving up
Hydrow is most often brought in for workout tracking, nutrition management, health monitoring, fitness coaching, wellness improvement. Anything replacing it has to cover the ones you actually depend on, and a cheaper tool that misses one of them is not cheaper.
Two things this page cannot settle. It compares on price, model, tier count and rating, because those are the fields the category listing carries, feature-level differences need both full records, which is what the head-to-head pages load. And the ratings are third-party aggregates imported with each entry rather than reviews written here, so a 0.2 difference between two tools is noise rather than a finding.
If Hydrow is broadly right and the question is cost, the Hydrow pricing breakdown covers every tier and what each one adds. If you want the whole field rather than a shortlist, the Fitness category lists everything the directory holds, and best fitness tools ranks them.
Hydrow runs on ios, android, hardware. Platform coverage is not carried on the category listing for the alternatives, so it is one more thing to check on each head-to-head page rather than here.
Questions about Hydrow alternatives
- What are the main alternatives to Hydrow?
- 23 other fitness tools are listed in this directory, led by JEFIT, Hevy, Apple Fitness+, Lose It!. They are ordered by the aggregated rating on each catalogue entry, not by any Softwr ranking.
- What is the best free alternative to Hydrow?
- 11 of the alternatives listed here can be used without paying: JEFIT, Hevy, Lose It!, StrongLifts, Sleep Cycle.
- Is there a cheaper alternative to Hydrow?
- Yes. 10 of the alternatives below start under Hydrow's $44/month: JEFIT at Free, then $12.99/month, Hevy at Free, then $2.99/month, Apple Fitness+ at $9.99/month, Lose It! at Free, then $39.99/year.
- Why do people look for an alternative to Hydrow?
- On the figures on record, 3 things stand out: it costs more than the category median; there is no free tier; there is only one tier. Each is set out with the numbers behind it above.
- What would I give up by switching from Hydrow?
- Hydrow is most often brought in for workout tracking, nutrition management, health monitoring, fitness coaching, wellness improvement. Anything you replace it with has to cover the ones you actually rely on, the side-by-side comparisons linked from each alternative below put the two feature records against each other.
- Is there an open-source alternative to Hydrow?
- None of the fitness tools listed here are recorded as open source. That is what the licence field on each entry says, and the field is not always filled in, so it is worth checking directly for any tool you are serious about.
- How were these Hydrow alternatives chosen?
- They are the tools filed in the same category, Fitness, ordered by the aggregated rating on each entry. There is no editorial shortlist, and nothing on this page is paid: no sponsored placement runs on alternatives pages and the order cannot be bought. Softwr has not used these products.
- Where can I compare Hydrow against one of these directly?
- Every alternative below has a side-by-side page against Hydrow covering price, platforms, features and what each one is used for. Those pages read the full record for both products rather than the summary shown here.
- Does this list cover every fitness tool?
- No. It covers what this directory holds in the Fitness category, 23 tools beside Hydrow. The category page lists the rest of the catalogue as it grows.