Boostcamp vs Hevy: program library versus social logger, compared evenly
Boostcamp and Hevy are both excellent free-first lifting apps with different centres of gravity: Boostcamp is built around running published programs with auto-progression, Hevy around logging routines with a social feed. This page compares them from their own materials.
ComparisonUpdated 4 min readMarkdown version
Checked against Boostcamp on the App Store on , Boostcamp website and Pro page on , Hevy on the App Store on and Hevy website and tutorial on . Third-party facts can change after that date. Method facts are checked against the shipped product.
The short version of each app
Boostcamp describes itself as the app with the world's most popular strength programs built in, among them nSuns, GZCLP, 5/3/1 variants, Reddit PPL, PHUL, and PHAT, plus thousands of community programs. Auto-progressions fill in your weights. The tracker logs sets with RPE and RIR, tracks PRs and estimated 1RM, supports supersets, drop sets, and warm-up templates, includes a rest timer and plate calculator, and works offline. A custom program builder with multi-week periodisation is free with no cap, with AI assistance described on the site. Boostcamp Pro adds exclusive coach programs, a strength score, a per-muscle volume heatmap, and advanced analytics. On the date checked its App Store rating was about 4.8 stars across roughly 10,000 ratings.
Hevy is a routine-based gym logger with a social layer of feed, follows, likes, comments, and leaderboards. It logs sets with automatic per-exercise rest timers, marks warm-up, drop, and failure sets, supports supersets, runs on Apple Watch with live sync, exports workouts into Apple Health, and lists Strava integration and RPE among its features. There is a web app at hevy.com and a routine library. On the date checked its rating was about 4.9 stars across roughly 88,000 ratings.
Side by side
Every fact below comes from each app's App Store listing or website on the date shown at the top of this page.
| Boostcamp | Hevy | |
|---|---|---|
| Centre of gravity | Running published programs with auto-progression | Logging routines with a social feed |
| Program library | 130+ coach programs, thousands of community programs | Routine library described on the site |
| Custom building | Program builder with multi-week periodisation, free, no cap | Routines; free tier caps at 4 |
| Platforms | iPhone, iPad, Android, Apple Vision | iPhone, iPad, Android, Apple Watch, Apple Vision, web app |
| Apple Watch | No, per Boostcamp's site | Yes, with live sync |
| RPE and RIR | Both, free | RPE in the feature list |
| Supersets and drop sets | Yes, free | Yes |
| Rest timer | Yes, plus plate calculator | Automatic, per exercise |
| Offline | Stated | Not mentioned |
| Apple Health | Bodyweight and workouts, per the listing | Exports workouts into the Health app |
| Social | Not a focus | Feed, follows, likes, comments, leaderboards |
| Free tier | Full tracker, library, builder, RPE and RIR, PRs and e1RM | 4 routines, 7 custom exercises |
| Paid tier (USD, date checked) | $14.99 per month, $59.99 per year, 7-day trial on annual, no lifetime | $2.99 or $3.99 per month, $23.99 per year, $74.99 lifetime |
| Minimum iOS | 15.1 | 15.1 |
Where Boostcamp is stronger
The program comes with the app. If you want to run a known program with its progression built in, this is the entire pitch, and nothing in Hevy's materials matches it. The weights fill themselves in from the program's rules.
Free-tier breadth. The tracker, the library, RPE and RIR, PRs, estimated 1RM, supersets, and an uncapped builder are all free. A lifter who never pays gets a complete product.
Effort logging. RPE and RIR both, stated plainly, free.
Where Hevy is stronger
Apple Watch. Routines on the wrist with live sync. Boostcamp says it has no watch app.
Surfaces. A web app and, on the date checked, the broader device list.
Community. The social layer, if accountability is what keeps you going.
Price when paying. $23.99 per year against $59.99, and a lifetime option Boostcamp does not offer.
What neither does
Neither app is built for training you write yourself as multi-week programs of dated sessions with per-set prescriptions, where the plan and the log stay separate. Boostcamp's builder is the closer of the two, and its centre remains the library. If self-written programming on a calendar is your model, that is the job of a program-first tracker; Method is built for it, and the trade-offs are laid out in Method vs Boostcamp and Method vs Hevy. If you want a proven program handed to you, Boostcamp. If you want a social gym log, Hevy.
Common questions
- Is Boostcamp or Hevy better?
- It depends on where your program comes from. Boostcamp is the stronger choice for running a published program such as nSuns, GZCLP, or 5/3/1 with weights filled in automatically, and its free tier is broader. Hevy is the stronger choice for social accountability, Apple Watch logging, a web app, and iPad.
- Which has the better free tier?
- Boostcamp's free tier includes the full tracker, the program library, RPE and RIR logging, PRs and estimated 1RM, supersets, and an uncapped custom program builder. Hevy's free tier caps routines at four and custom exercises at seven. On free-tier breadth, Boostcamp wins.
- Which is cheaper if I pay?
- On the date checked, Hevy Pro was $23.99 per year with a $74.99 lifetime option. Boostcamp Pro was $59.99 per year with a 7-day trial on the annual plan and no lifetime option. Hevy is the cheaper subscription; Boostcamp gives more away free.
- Does either support Apple Watch?
- Hevy does, with routines on the watch and live sync to the phone. Boostcamp's site states it does not currently have an Apple Watch or Wear OS app.
Try Method
Write your program on the web, log every set on iPhone, and keep the whole history in one place. Free to start.
Related reading
Method vs Boostcamp: following a published program versus writing your own
Boostcamp is a free tracker built around a library of published programs with auto-progression. Method is a planner and logger for programs you write yourself, with a web editor and cardio in the same record. This page sets out where they differ.
Method vs Hevy: a workout tracker comparison for people who plan their training
Hevy is a social gym logger built around routines. Method is a program-first planner and logger. This page lays out exactly where they differ so you can pick the one that fits how you train.
Hevy vs Strong: an even-handed comparison of the two big gym loggers
Hevy and Strong are the two most popular routine-based gym loggers on iPhone. They overlap heavily, and the differences that matter are platforms, social features, free-tier limits, and price. This page lays them out from each app's own listing.
Method vs Fitbod: an app that writes your workouts versus an app that holds the ones you write
Fitbod generates each workout for you from goals, equipment, and recovery. Method holds a program you wrote and logs against it. They are opposite answers to the same question, and this page makes the choice clear.
Method writes and maintains this page. Every statement about Method is checked against the shipped product. If something here is out of date, email contact@methodapp.net. For general references, link to the Method homepage.