The 9 Best Workout Apps for Women of 2024

With technological advances and even AI capabilities, the best fitness apps can supercharge your fitness routine. If you’re traveling, have a crazy schedule, have no equipment, or just have a big personal space bubble, take advantage of these apps to help hit your fitness goals. Whether you’re focused on cardio workouts, strength, weight loss, yoga, or barre, there’s a workout app for you.

It can be overwhelming to scroll through your app store, peruse social media, or poll your friends to find a good workout app. If you’re looking for more than just quick fitness tips, our team personally tested more than 50 programs to bring you the best workout apps for women. 

The 9 Best Workout Apps for Women of 2024

• Best Workout App for Women Overall: Future
• Best Workout App for Women for Cardio: iFIT
• Best Workout App for Women for Personal Training: Caliber
• Best Workout App for Women for Weight Loss: Noom
• Best Free Workout App for Women: Nike Training Club
• Best Workout App for Women Over 50: Aaptiv
• Best Yoga Workout App for Women: Alo Moves
• Best Barre Workout App for Women: obé Fitness
• Best Strength Workout App for Women: JuggernautAI

How We Tested and Chose the Best Workout Apps for Women

Our product testers include women who are certified personal trainers, competitive weightlifters, nutrition coaches, CrossFit L-1 trainers, and endurance athletes. They have personally tested 53 workout apps, including the apps you’ll find on this page — some of them for months and even years. This is the criteria we considered while testing: 

• Personalization: We wanted to bring you the best apps that feature a level of customization. All of our picks offer some form of an initial assessment, questionnaire, or quiz to allow you to, at the very least, report basic information about yourself that will allow the app to support your fitness goals.
• Ease of Use: During testing, we look for specific features like the types of dashboards, tabs and search filters each app uses. Our testing team looked for picks that were intuitive and easy to navigate.
• Price: Apps can vary in cost, so we tried to include a broad variety, so there’s something for everyone. All of our budget options rated highly on value and volume of workouts because we want to point you towards workout apps that are worth your time. 
• Support: Accountability and support is helpful during your fitness journey, so all the apps we picked offer support and accountability. (2) Our team looked for features like automatic notifications, live coaches, leaderboards, and community feeds. 
• Long-Term Success:  “Fitness apps are great for planning with busy schedules,” Amanda Capritto, CPT, says. “When you don’t have to create your own workouts, sticking to a plan can be much easier due to the lower mental load.” We wanted to make sure that we chose workout apps that you could invest in for the long haul. 

Best Workout App for Women Overall: Future

We have people on our team who have been using Future extensively for years. We chose it as the best overall workout app for women because each of our testers gave it perfect or near-perfect ratings on factors like ease of use, accountability, setup, equipment demands, and interactive features. 

While your coach won’t be with you during each workout, they will build you a specific plan because they will actually know you. When you sign up, you’ll complete a three-minute questionnaire that assesses your current fitness level and goals, previous obstacles for those goals, and even the ideal personality traits and intensity level of your coach. 

Two of our testers rated Future’s accountability 5 out of 5 because of how diligently their coaches checked in and how motivating it was to see their stats. After all, helping you establish and stick with your routine is what your coach is there for. One of our testers — herself a personal trainer — said, “My coach checking in with me every day was a great motivator to stay on top of my workouts.” 

Your coach will typically load your workouts a week at a time so you can see what’s coming. After giving feedback on her workouts, our tester said, “My coach swapped out my workouts whenever I wanted. I also jumped around to different ones.” All three of our testers appreciated how easy it was to connect with their coach to make adjustments or get feedback.

To design your workout program, your coach takes into account your current fitness level, what type of exercises you enjoy as well as what home equipment you have available. Even if you’re missing some home gym equipment, your coach can build a program for you using what you already have or with no equipment at all. 

Our testers all rated the app’s ease of use a 4.5 out of 5 because it’s easy to start and stop workouts, message your coach, and use the audio and visual cues. During your workout, there is someone on the screen doing the movement as you do it. Additionally, there is a voice that gives cues for how to do the movement properly. Afterward, you can quickly rate how it felt and even automatically send videos of your movements to your coach to get feedback on your form.

Our team rated Future’s pricing an average of 3.75 out of 5. Even though we all believe you’re getting good value, it’s tough to drop $199 a month. That’s even more than a membership to most boutique gyms. However, if you compare the price with the cost of a traditional, in-person personal trainer, which can run anywhere from $25 to $100 an hour, it’s a good deal. (1)

Read our full Future App Review.

Best Workout App for Women for Cardio: iFIT

iFIT is our pick for the best workout app for cardio because of the variety of cardio workouts available: running, walking, HIIT, cycling, rowing, elliptical, treadmill, and even some barre. If you have forever equated cardio with running, then your world is about to expand.

There are two ways to use iFIT for cardio — on-machine or off-machine. Our tester, a CrossFit Level 1 Trainer, says, “I do have access to lots of these machines, but I also like that I can just use the iFIT app on the go.” However, to take advantage of all 16,000 on-demand classes, you’ll need something like one of the best NordicTrack treadmills, whether that’s at the gym or in your home.

The immersive workouts are quite the experience, though. “I did an immersive beach run, and — even though I knew it was coming — the first time the machine raised up when we were climbing the hill, it was a little jarring — in a good way!” one tester explained. “I was never afraid I was going to fall off, but I still somehow wasn’t ready for it.”

The off-machine classes have plenty to offer, too. You can find exactly what you want using filters like type of equipment, duration, trainer, type of workout, intensity, target area, and class environment. Our tester noted, “To avoid some scrambling when the workout starts, double check the class description. Sometimes it’s not very clear exactly what equipment I needed.”

In May 2024, iFIT discontinued live classes — think Peloton — but they still offer some live races. While she was disappointed about this, our tester said, “For a casual exerciser, it’s great that it has so many different on-demand classes.” She also rated accountability a 3.5 out of 5 because, as she said, “Since it’s not personally customized, most everything is self-guided. They have challenges and you can reach certain milestones that you create or preset ones.”

The free 30-day trial is a big plus for iFIT. Before committing to a monthly or annual subscription, you’ll have plenty of time to try out different studio-quality classes, coaches, and new types of workouts — like HIIT workouts or pilates. After the trial, you can either go with an individual plan — $15 a month or $180 a year — or a family plan — $39 a month or $396 a year. Our tester rated iFIT’s value a 4 out of 5 and summed it up by saying, “For the price, it’s a great value!”

Read our full iFIT Review.

Best Workout App for Women for Personal Training: Caliber

Caliber was our testers’ top personal training app for women because, as they put it, “The only way to top this would be to have a trainer in person.” Your personal trainer builds a fully personalized training and nutrition plan. They are available to you 24/7 via video and in-app messaging, and you can expect responses within a few hours. $200 a month is expensive but we say it’s worth the investment.

For this high of a price point, you should expect VIP treatment and, according to our tester, you’ll get it. She gave the accountability portion of the app a perfect 5 out of 5, noting, “My favorite part of this experience was the weekly asynchronous check-ins. My trainer used the chat function in the app to send videos she recorded on Loom. In each video, she recaps the previous week’s workouts, checks out my weights, logged RPE, and reps, then gives me great feedback.”

For even more time with your trainer, Caliber offers an additional package with monthly live strategy sessions over Zoom for $266 a month. Our tester explained, “That comes out to $66 for 4 live calls with your trainer. That’s basically unheard of.” Even at this price, she still rated the value of the program a 5 out of 5.

Whether you’re in the gym or at home, each exercise in your daily workout features a video to demonstrate proper form in case you feel unsure in the heat of the workout. Our tester said she was disappointed that Caliber only syncs with an Apple Watch — she uses a different fitness tracker — but she just had to manually log her workouts after completing them.

Both of our testers rated Caliber’s interactive features a 5 out of 5. Beyond daily interaction with your coach, they loved the social engagement in interest groups like mountain biking, cycling, hiking, swimming, and more. Each group has a social feed and you can even create your own group. 

Our testers did give a 3.5 out of 5 for the pricing because it was confusing. She said, “I didn’t Caliber was very upfront about the pricing on their website. After some searching, all I found was some super vague info in the FAQs.” After completing her initial quiz, she was expecting to see package options, but instead was prompted to have a video chat with a trainer.

Best Workout App for Women for Weight Loss: Noom

We love Noom for its psychology-based approach to building healthy habits, which will help you learn about why you want to eat the foods you want. Noom was our choice for the best workout app for weight loss because it builds a personalized weight-loss timeline. Its color-coded system groups foods by their nutritional value and provides a visual representation of what you eat daily, weekly, and monthly.

[Related: The Best Weight Loss Programs]

Our tester experienced the color-coding system herself, saying, “Now I’m eating more green food, which is nutrient-dense, than orange or red, which are less nutritious. It has totally helped change my habits. Originally, my issue was that I wasn’t eating enough protein and it has helped me track that. I can also track blood pressure, blood glucose, steps, water intake, and exercise.”

When it came to what she could track, she noted that she wanted to track macronutrients — proteins, carbohydrates, and fats. She rated the progress and stat tracking just 3 out of 5, saying, “It tracks weight loss and calories, but initially, I wanted to track macros. It doesn’t track those automatically.” However, as she became familiar with the color categories, she noticed her habits started to change.

One drawback is that the tracking process can be tedious. As you add foods, they are saved in your “favorites” for easy access later, but it could take some time when you first start. On the plus side, there was only one instance when our tester couldn’t find her food in the database.

The comprehensive program includes coaching, daily lessons, as well as calorie and activity tracking to encourage behavioral change. Our tester also praised her health coach’s availability and knowledge with a 5 out of 5, saying, “There is such a focus on behaviors in Noom and I feel like I have a built-in psychologist in the app.” It’s important to remember any weight-loss program requires commitment, and Noom is no exception. 

Your personal health coach will offer constant encouragement and practical advice to sustain the commitment you make. The people at Noom understand that making a lasting change starts with building new, positive habits to improve your physical and mental health.

Read our full Noom Weight Loss App Review.

Best Free Workout App for Women: Nike Training Club

There are approximately 10 billion free training apps out there, but with Nike Training Club, free does not mean limited. It’s the best free workout app we tested. Nike’s certified trainers lead all your workouts and, as you explore the app, you’ll find educational resources from specialists on nutrition, sleep, movement, recovery, and more. 

Its huge library offers targeted and full-body workouts — ranging from HIIT, functional fitness, and strength to yoga, pilates, and mobility workouts. There are exercises designed for at-home workouts, in the gym, or even outdoors. Our tester — a certified personal trainer — was impressed with the offering, saying, “I found so many different workout types for any conceivable goal. It has standalone workouts, periodized programming, then also on-demand and even live fitness classes.”

While it offers far more than short videos to follow, the on-demand classes and programs are what made it our top choice for free workout apps for women. The instruction earned a 4 out of 5 from our tester because, as she described it, “I generally don’t love the hype-man vibe of studio classes, but I have to say the instruction was great in both the on-demand and live classes. If someone prefers that style, then I think the NTC app provides some of the best classes for it.”

We found that you’ll need some equipment for a majority of the workouts, but according to our tester, there are body-weight options, too.She gave the equipment demands a 4 out 5 because you can get a lot of the app using no equipment at all. 

If you know that you need extra accountability to meet your fitness goals, you might need an app with a personal trainer. Our tester rated accountability just 3 out of 5. Nike Training Club provides the training resources absolutely free, but, as she laid bare, “As far as accountability, it’s pretty much all you. Nobody will be making you use it.”

You won’t find any personalized programs, but you can follow your favorite female or male trainers, utilize its goal-setting tools, and track your progress on your wearables. It’s really incredible that this much access and content is free, which is why our tester rated its value 5 out of 5. As she put it, “You just can’t really beat the value of this app because of how much quality content it offers.”

Best Workout App for Women Over 50: Aaptiv

Aaptiv features a robust library of over 8,000 on-demand, guided exercise classes, including low-impact workouts for women over 50. You will also find educational articles about nutrition, healthy aging, and fitness. One of our certified personal trainers who tested Aaptiv rated the app’s ease of use a 5 out 5, saying, “It is so easy to use this app. You can filter down to exactly what you are looking for.”

The app’s distinct feature is its emphasis on audio workouts. For some types of workouts, you may need a video. Learning a new strength training movement, for instance, requires a visual. But if you’re on a treadmill, you don’t always need a video of a coach just telling you that it’s time to pick up the pace. Audio-only classes provide a way to focus on your surroundings and on your form.

Our tester rated the instruction a 4 out of 5 and remarked, “Some workouts have a little animation of a person doing the movements with a voice over of the trainer. I could see how it might throw some users off.” 

While Aaptiv is self-driven because there is no personal training, it does offer some limited interactivity, earning a 3 out of 5 from our tester. She noted, “You can check out other people’s workouts on the community feed, but that’s about it.” It also does not offer any GPS tracking for when you take it on a run or walk. 

The library of over 8,000 guided exercises includes plenty of bodyweight exercises, as well as low-impact or high-intensity workouts. Each workout runs from less than 10 minutes up to 60 minutes, but most are around 15 to 30 minutes. At $15 a month, she rated the value a 4.5 out of 5, saying, “$15 a month is a great deal for this app.”

Best Yoga Workout App for Women: Alo Moves

While Alo Moves is not a dedicated yoga app, it has seven varieties of yoga practice — prenatal, vinyasa, hatha, restorative, ashtanga, kundalini, and yoga for kids. Over 3,700 total on-demand classes — ranging from strength and HIIT to walking and dance — means that you’ll have an enormous library to find what suits you best. Most classes require no equipment and last from 10 to 90 minutes. 

Our tester rated the equipment demands 5 out of 5 because — especially if you’re focused on yoga — as she said, “Most of the workouts are just bodyweight.” For yoga, we suggest using a mat, but even without one, you can complete most classes.

Our tester also raved about her coaches. She said, “They did a super job breaking down movements and demonstrating how to do them.” Each instructor did a good job of explaining what she needed to know before each class began, as well as each individual movement as the class progressed.

As far as interactivity goes, the app does feature a “community” board where you can log your workouts, comment and like other users’ logs, and even follow specific people. Since there are no live classes (as of 2024), this is about as interactive as the user experience gets, which is why our tester rated the interactive features 3 out of 5. As she pointed out, “I didn’t see too many people really engaging with each other.”

With so many different types of yoga, fitness, mindfulness, and wellness classes, you can dramatically expand your practice with Alo Moves. Our tester rated the value a 4 out of 5 because, even beyond yoga, she said, “For $13 a month, it has good value even for people wanting to do more than yoga. There is minimal equipment and you can try all sorts of fitness and wellness styles.”

Best Barre Workout App for Women: obé Fitness

It can be tough to find an app that focuses on Barre, but obé Fitness really emphasizes its selection, which makes it stand out among the workout apps we tested. Most classes only require a chair or barre ball, and sometimes a one- to three-pound “hand weight.” 

Two features really set obé Fitness apart from other exercise apps on this list. One, it’s specifically marketed toward women and even has tools like cycle tracking, cycle insights, and mood support. It also features educational resources dedicated to understanding how exercise is connected to hormones. For some users, our tester thought that as a general workout app, the price was high, saying, “If someone took advantage of all the features — live classes, mood tracker, cycle insights — then I think it’s worth it.”

However, if you’re looking for a rich Barre selection, it is perfect for beginners while still offering challenging advanced classes. You can filter these workouts by fitness level — beginner, advanced, open level, prenatal, and postnatal — to find exactly what you need. Its live class schedule usually has at least one barre class per day.

One weakness of the app, though, was the amount of full training programs. There are a handful of programs, but as our tester explained, “A lot of the programs are only 3 to 4 weeks, which usually isn’t long enough for most people to see any results.” It also lacks any social or community component, so she rated the interactive features just 2 out of 5. 

The instruction was an area our tester emphasized, rating it a 4 out of 5. As she described, “The instructors give really good cues and tips as the workout progresses. They are doing all the movements as you do them, also.” Especially regarding barre, which requires specific movements, clear instruction is very important.

Obé Fitness’ focus on women and its barre selection were its defining features. It’s our top pick for the best workout app for women for barre, but our tester wasn’t as impressed with its value overall: “It has a ton to offer. However, there are some more affordable apps that offer almost as much variety.”

Best Strength Workout App for Women: JuggernautAI

When beginning a strength training program, it has to be tailored to your needs. JuggernautAI is our top pick for strength workout app for women because it makes personalized strength training accessible and affordable. 

Getting set up is simple: Complete the initial set up with your basic information and details about your current fitness level and goals, then the AI gets to work building your program. Our tester rated the app’s ease of use a 4.5 out of 5 because, at first, she said, “It was a little overwhelming how much was going on.” But she also reported, “It was really easy to use after I poked around and got familiar with the layout.”

Interactivity was her lowest rating, 3 out of 5, because of the lack of a live coach. As she described it, “I don’t really want or need a live coach, so I enjoyed that I was just interacting with the app. I can see how others might feel it isn’t very interactive, though.” 

She also said that sometimes she needed to head to the gym for her sessions, but added, “Depending on what you have handy, you can swap out exercises each day or for a whole block.” Without access to some of this equipment, you won’t be able to take full advantage of the app.

Every workout you complete and every detail you offer helps the AI learn how to create the best program specifically for you. Each day you will be prompted to rate how ready you are for your workout in several ways: how many calories you’ve had that day, how well you slept, and even real-time ratings of perceived exertion during your workout. The app is — in a word — thorough. 

Our tester shared that the AI even adjusted her workout in real time after she rated her perceived exertion at 10 during her second of three sets. She said, “The AI deleted the third set it had planned because I reached an RPE 10 (max effort) on the second set. So, it just stopped me at 2×10.” This is a useful feature both for experienced strength athletes who may push too hard and beginners who are still learning their limits. 

JuggernautAI’s highest rating was for its value — 5 out of 5. It was her highest category rating because, as she said, “This program is like having the insight of a live coach for so cheap. Considering what you’re getting, $35 a month is an insane value.” If you need help building a personalized strength plan without the person, we think JuggernautAI is the best workout app for strength.

Benefits of the Best Workout Apps for Women

Each of our picks is designed with a similar purpose: to help people meet their fitness goals. Some of these fitness apps are narrowly focused, while others are better for trying new types of cardio or strength training. No matter which app you decide is for you, committing to a workout program tailored to your goals promotes many positive outcomes. These are a few of the benefits of workout apps for women.

• Healthy Habits: Beginning any new routine takes time, motivation, and support to ensure the change lasts long term. Researchers have found that accountability to others is an enabling factor for adhering to regular exercise. (2) “Workout apps provide an element of accountability that one may not have on their own,” according to Amanda Capritto, CPT. 
• Feeling Better: Factors like physical activity, eating healthy food, and optimal sleep have been proven to improve mental health, as well. (3) Over time, small and consistent changes will create a noticeable improvement in how you feel day to day.
• Sense of Community: There will certainly be days when you don’t feel up to completing — or even starting — your workout. In fact, in one study, social factors were even associated with more enjoyment and energy during exercise. (4) These apps work to combine these proven motivations: accountability and community.

How Much Do the Best Workout Apps for Women Cost?

Workout apps can vary quite a bit in cost. While some apps may charge a steep monthly fee, you can also find options that are absolutely free. Regardless of which you choose, rest assured, a workout app is probably cheaper than working with a personal trainer.

Best Workout App for Women Overall	Future	$199 per month
Best Workout App for Women for Cardio	iFIT	Starting at $15 per month
Best Workout App for Women for Personal Training	Caliber	Starting at free
Best Workout App for Women for Weight Loss	Noom	Starting at $70 per month
Best Free Workout App for Women	Nike Training Club	Free
Best Workout App for Women Over 50	Aaptiv	Starting at $15 per month
Best Yoga Workout App for Women	Alo Moves	Starting at $13 per month
Best Barre Workout App for Women	Obe Fitness	Starting at $25 per month
Best Strength Workout App for Women	Juggernaut AI	Starting at $35 per month

What to Consider Before Choosing a Workout App for Women

Deciding which workout app is right for you depends on a ton of personal factors. Establishing realistic and achievable goals is going to be most women’s first step. Beyond that, think about the level of accountability you need, your budget, and any restrictions you might have.

Personal Goals

It’s important to be honest about why you are searching for the best workout app for women. Are you trying to build muscle? Do you have specific health issues? Are you trying to start new and healthy habits? Asking yourself these questions before starting this journey will help establish clear goals. Once you have your goals, all that’s left is choosing the right app to help you get there.

Personal Restrictions

The best apps are all able to be personalized in some way, but depending on your situation, you may have a specific need that may require a deeper search. It’s always important to check in with your doctor before starting any new fitness or dietary program. Make sure to be mindful of any past injuries, family history or other physical limitations.

Cost 

For many of us, an important consideration is always the money. Working a new monthly or annual bill into your budget requires some planning. Before you click “subscribe,” ensure that you can squeeze in an extra expense. Hopefully, this is a long-term investment in your physical fitness, and the only way to make sure it doesn’t become a financial burden is to plan ahead.

You may not need to spring for the most expensive personal training app, but you may want more than the best free workout app. The good news is that there are many options in between that can fit your needs without causing financial strain.

Best Workout Apps for Women FAQs

References

1. Mahaffey, K. (n.d.). How much does a personal trainer cost & should you hire one?. NASM. https://blog.nasm.org/how-much-does-a-personal-trainer-cost
2. McArthur, Deanne, Dumas, Alex, Woodend, Kirsten, Beach, Sarah, Stacey, Dawn, “Factors influencing adherence to regular exercise in middle-aged women: a qualitative study to inform clinical practice” (2014). BMC Women’s Health. 14(49). 
3. Zaman, Rashid, Hankir, Ahmed, Jemni, Monem, “Lifestyle Factors and Mental Health” (2019). Psychiatria Danubina. 31(Suppl 3). 217-220. 
4. Davis, Arran J, MacCarron, Pádraig, Cohen, Emma, “Social reward and support effects on exercise experiences and performance: Evidence from parkrun.” (2021). PloS one vol. 16,9 e0256546.