Best At-Home Workout Apps 2021: Money-Saving Review

After searching for the best fitness apps on the market, I tested the top 10 to see how they compared. I was trying to find the best overall app and was looking for two things specifically. I wanted something good enough to help me keep on top of my fitness goals, without being too expensive. I was also looking for something that can help to motivate me. I didn’t just want to follow a list of exercises with no soul. 

I upgraded to the paid versions to see the very best of the apps (many had long free trials) and then proceeded to test the apps over 10 days. I set time aside to exercise in the morning and the evening and I did a new workout each day (on some days I did extra because some of the workouts were short).

Les Mills workouts are available at 20,000 clubs around the world, either through their trained instructors or their virtual group exercise classes, but their app brings them all conveniently to your home. You can find workouts that require equipment, such as RPM or BodyPump, but they also have some fantastic options if you don’t have any equipment at all, including BodyAttack, Sh'bam, Bodycombat, and more, all on a user-friendly interface.

Don’t worry if you don’t have any equipment because they have you covered with a range of classes that don’t require anything but your body. However, if you have some weights or an indoor cycling bike at home, you will love their specialized workouts.

It quickly became my go-to fitness app as I fell in love with the workouts. They are expertly choreographed, with specially-designed music, and everything is done to help you work hard, but at your ability level, making it a fantastic app for beginners or more seasoned exercise lovers.

Whereas some of the apps seemed to lack direction, Les Mills provided a professional experience every single time. You just know when something is good and when it works well and that’s the feeling I got with the Les Mills app. It’s the gold standard in group exercise classes and it’s easy to see why. 

Reasonably priced at $14.99 per month, you get a lot for your money and if you’re a fan, you can lower the subscription cost by signing up for a longer period of time. There’s a huge range of workouts available and once you’ve found the workouts that you like, you can download them for offline viewing at your leisure. 

One of the best parts of the Les Mills Fitness app is undoubtedly the instructors. Most classes are run in groups so that each instructor can give it their all and then get their breath back while the next one takes over. That means each instructor gives you a different level of challenge and the sessions are always demanding.

Some apps like Peloton offer live workouts, daily, but Les Mills does not. Instead, they offer a new release every three months, and while this sounds like a long time to go without a new workout, once you hear the reasoning behind it, it makes sense. 

The time in between each new release is spent in the lab, creating the best possible routine to roll out, which means that instead of getting different quality workouts every day, you get a strong 9/10 performance every time that you can repeat and try to master before you move on. It’s also worth remembering that with the huge Les Mills database, pre-recorded workouts are always available to do.

Peloton is a high-energy app with tons of workouts available so finding the right one is always easy. It even has live classes for you to join in so it’s like you’re actually attending a class at your local studio. You can filter through the options to find the type of workout for your needs, whether that means a quick workout because you’re short on time or one without weights because you don’t have any, and you even have the option of searching for your favorite instructor. 

Whereas Les Mills oozed professionalism from the moment you log in, we found Peleton a little different. 

Because the instructors are trying to mimic a real class by talking to you, calling users out by name, and making it a high-energy experience, they often miss the beats of the music, mumble into their mics, or aren’t fully clear with their instructions. It isn’t a deal-breaker and you still get a fun and enjoyable experience, but there were times when we didn’t know what to do because the instructor was more focused on dancing to the music. 

It’s also worth noting that in some cases, the instructors speak to you like you’re all on the same piece of equipment, which if you’re using something different, or you're new, can lead to further confusion.

It’s still a fantastic fitness app, and at $39 it isn’t too expensive, but we felt these things just kept it behind Les Mills.

StrongLifts is a wonderful app if your goal is to get stronger, although you do need to have a squat rack and a barbell to get the most out of the app. However, the good news is you can continue where you left off once you make it back to a gym, unlike with some apps that use completely different equipment. 

The idea behind StrongLifts is simple: five exercises that help you to build strength (squat, bent over row, overhead press, bench press, and deadlift) are split into two workouts (A and B) and you alternate between them.

Each workout only has 3 movements and your goal is to complete 5 sets of 5 reps before moving on to the next movement. As you’re only completing 5 reps, you will be training much closer to your max, which allows you to make progress quickly. 

The workouts are suitable for beginners, intermediates, and more advanced lifters and it makes it super easy for you to progress as it breaks down what you should have on the bar when you should make it heavier, and how many reps you should complete. 

The program is very basic, but it works, although you will miss out on some of the fancier moves that you could complete at the gym. It also doesn’t cater to you if you want to follow a different form of exercise or follow a different program. 

The app is free to use but when you upgrade to Pro membership you do gain access to some additional assistance exercises that you can add to your routine. However, these are still fairly standard exercises so you shouldn’t expect anything too creative.

We liked the idea of Aaptiv, but there are just a few things we’d like to see it improve upon. The app looks great and it’s very user friendly, we loved the design and the fact that it has a community for you to interact with other users, but, the workouts themselves just fell short for us. They’re more instructional videos with someone talking over them rather than a live workout and you have to move along to each new video as the coach talks you through the exercise.

The Nike Training Club app is free to use, and as you’d expect from a company like Nike, the app looks good. However, that’s where the fun ends. The workouts are simply instructions, listed out with small demo videos showing you what to do. Unfortunately, this format disrupts the flow of your workout and can make you lose interest pretty quickly.

This app has a range of programs for you to complete, but just like the apps named above, they only offer videos with someone narrating, explaining what to do. That could work for some people but for us, when there are fun and interactive options out there, settling for a voice-over doesn’t make sense.

Sworkit’s app looks good and we loved how they allow you to set up your fitness profile, making it easier for them to recommend a workout for you. However, to take it to the next step, we’d love to see live workouts f that we can follow along with. The app was also a little slow to respond when we tried to click a video or load a new section of the app.

We loved how you can filter your settings to create an exercise profile and get the type of workouts that you love. You can also select home-based workouts or gym-based workouts, making it easier to complete a program based on your current equipment availability. Unfortunately, we’d like to see some live videos to follow along with before committing to this app.