How we make this list: we compare pricing pages, product documentation and public user reviews. Ratings come from G2, Capterra or Trustpilot, with the date we checked them.
Key takeaways
- Stronger by the Day is the most focused pick: a progressive strength programme built for women who lift, with gym and home tracks and a serious lifting community.
- Sweat is the best supported start for beginners: trainer led programmes by women, at 24.99 dollars a month or 134.99 a year, with a large community behind it.
- Nike Training Club is completely free and genuinely good, which makes it the right first download before any subscription.
- Health note: strength training is safe and valuable for most women, but talk to a clinician before starting if you are pregnant, postpartum, injured, or managing a condition, and stop and seek advice if exercise causes pain.
Quick comparison
| Tool | Best for | Starting price | Free plan |
|---|
 Stronger by the Day | Progressive lifting programme | See website | No |
 Sweat | Trainer led programmes by women | $24.99 per month | No |
 Ladder | Coach led team strength | $29.99 per month | No |
 Fitbod | Adaptive gym workouts | $15.99 per month | Yes |
 Strong | Simple workout logging | $4.99 per month | Yes |
 Boostcamp | Free coach programmes | Free | Yes |
 Nike Training Club | Free guided workouts | Free | Yes |
 Peloton App | Instructor led strength classes | $12.99 per month | Yes |
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The best strength training apps for women
Starting priceSee website
Free planNo
What we like- Stronger by the Day, created by lifter Meg Squats and her Strong Strong Friends team, is a true strength programme rather than a workout library: structured weekly training with progression built in, gym and at home tracks, exercise demos, and a community of women who lift heavy and talk about it seriously. It suits beginners who want to learn the main lifts properly and intermediates who want programming handled. Its tone, capable rather than cosmetic, is why it leads this list.
Watch out for- Current pricing is sold in app and through its site in changing offers, so it is listed as see website here
- Confirm the present monthly and annual figures before joining. It is a programme, not a generator: if you dislike following a plan, Fitbod's flexibility fits better. Pregnancy specific guidance is limited, so prenatal lifters need clinician input alongside it.
Starting price$24.99 per month
Free planNo
What we like- Sweat built its name on programmes by women trainers, starting with Kayla Itsines and now spanning strength, gym based lifting, Pilates, and pregnancy and postnatal programmes, all inside one polished app with a huge global community. It costs 24.99 dollars a month or 134.99 a year, with a seven day trial through its site. For a beginner who wants to be told exactly what to do today, with form videos and modifications, it is the easiest start here.
Watch out for- There is no free tier beyond the trial, and the monthly price is mid pack. Advanced lifters eventually find the programmes less demanding than a dedicated barbell programme such as Stronger by the Day. Programme content repeats across long subscriptions, which long term members notice.
Starting price$29.99 per month
Free planNo
What we like- Ladder assigns you to a coach led team and a named strength programme, with periodised weekly plans, in ear audio coaching, and a journal that tracks your loads over time. Reviewers rate the in session experience and programme quality at the top of the category, and it holds an Editors' Choice badge on the App Store. Pricing is 29.99 dollars a month or 179.99 a year for the Pro tier, after a seven day trial that takes no card.
Watch out for- The tier structure above Pro, Pro Plus and Elite levels reaching far higher annual prices, is confusing, and the differences are not clearly spelled out in the store listing. One reviewer complaint to weigh: logging work done outside the plan is not well supported. It is iPhone first, which leaves Android users looking elsewhere.
Starting price$15.99 per month
Free planYes
What we like- Fitbod writes each workout for you: tell it your equipment, from full gym to hotel dumbbells, and its algorithm builds sessions around your training history, targeting fresh muscle groups and progressing loads as you improve. It costs 15.99 dollars a month or 95.99 a year, with a limited free allowance to test the generator. For women who train in varied places and hate planning sessions, it removes the two biggest friction points.
Watch out for- Generated workouts are only as wise as their inputs, and beginners can be handed complexity before they own the basics, so use its form videos and reduce suggested loads freely. The programme logic is a black box beside a coach written plan, which some lifters dislike. Full features require the subscription
- The free tier is a sampler.
Starting price$4.99 per month
Free planYes
What we like- Strong is the logger most lifters settle on: fast set by set entry during a workout, clean charts of volume and personal records, an exercise library with instructions, and templates for your own programmes. The free tier logs unlimited workouts with up to three routines, and Pro at 4.99 dollars a month or 29.99 a year adds unlimited routines, extra charts, and body measurements. If your programme comes from a coach, a book, or Boostcamp, Strong is where it should live.
Watch out for- It coaches nothing: no plan, no form instruction beyond exercise descriptions, and no guidance on what to lift next week. The value appears only if you already train with structure. Apple Watch and Wear OS support is good, but the social and programme discovery layers are thin beside rivals.
Starting priceFree
Free planYes
What we like- Boostcamp hosts more than 130 programmes from named coaches, most of them free, including beginner and dumbbell programmes alongside serious barbell plans, with progression tracked in the app. It is the rare case of a genuinely useful free tier in strength training: pick a proven programme, follow it, log it, and pay nothing. Pro at 14.99 dollars a month or 59.99 a year adds a custom programme builder and extras.
Watch out for- Programme quality varies by coach, and women specific programming is a subset rather than the whole catalogue, so read a programme's description and reviews before committing twelve weeks. The app assumes gym literacy more than Sweat or Nike do. Community and coaching feedback are thinner than the paid programme apps.
Starting priceFree
Free planYes
What we like- Nike Training Club is entirely free with a Nike account: a deep library of guided strength, mobility, and conditioning workouts at every level, for gym and home, led by Nike trainers with studio quality video, and structured plans for goals such as building strength at home. Garage Gym Reviews calls it the best free workout app for women, and nothing in its listing carries an in app purchase. As a first step into strength training, it costs zero and teaches plenty.
Watch out for- Free buys guidance, not progression management: there is no load tracking or personalised overload system, so serious lifters outgrow it into a programme plus logger combination. Instruction quality is high, but nobody watches your form, as with all video apps. Its plans are lighter in structure than Sweat or Ladder programmes.
Starting price$12.99 per month
Free planYes
What we like- The Peloton App brings its famous instructors to strength training without the bike: guided strength classes by body part and programme collections, plus yoga and Pilates for recovery days, on the App One tier at 12.99 dollars a month, with more than 30 free classes available without paying. Production quality and instructor motivation are the best in class based apps. It suits women who train hardest when a charismatic coach is counting the reps.
Watch out for- Class format means fixed weights and tempos chosen by the instructor, which is motivation friendly and progression hostile over months. The strength catalogue, while large, serves the Peloton ecosystem's general audience rather than a dedicated lifting path. Full access pricing above App One climbs toward the App Plus tier, so check which classes your tier includes.
How we chose
We compared the strength apps that October 2026 guides from Ellim, Garage Gym Reviews, SensAI, Fitbod, and Rankite rank most consistently for women, and verified prices against those surveys. We favoured programmes with real progression, since random workouts do not build strength, and we balanced women built programmes, adaptive generators, loggers, and free options rather than filling the list with near identical class apps. We required honest free tier descriptions and excluded apps whose strength content is an afterthought to weight loss marketing.
How to choose the right strength training app for women
Decide what you need the app to decide for you. If the answer is everything, the programme, the exercises, the progression, start with Stronger by the Day for a lifting path or Sweat for a supported beginner path, and take the trial week seriously: do the actual sessions, in your actual gym or living room, before paying for a year. If you already follow a programme from elsewhere, skip the coaches and pay 29.99 dollars a year for Strong to log it properly, or take Boostcamp's free programmes as the plan itself. If budget is the constraint, Nike Training Club plus a notebook beats a subscription you resent.
Match the app to your equipment and your life stage honestly. A programme assuming a barbell and rack frustrates a dumbbell only home trainer within two weeks; check the equipment filters before subscribing. Pregnancy, postpartum return, and menopause all change sensible programming, and while Sweat carries dedicated prenatal and postnatal content, the governing advice stays personal: a clinician who knows your history outranks an app's general guidance every time. Start lighter than your pride suggests, film your main lifts occasionally to check form, and increase loads in small steps. The best app here is the one still open on your phone in month three.
Frequently asked questions
Is strength training safe for beginners?
For most healthy adults, yes, and it is one of the highest value habits for bone density, joint health, and long term independence. Start with light loads, learn form from the apps' demonstration videos, and progress gradually. If you are pregnant, recently postpartum, injured, or managing a medical condition, get a clinician's clearance and personalised guidance first, and stop any exercise that causes pain, dizziness, or unusual symptoms.
How many days a week should I strength train?
Two to four sessions a week suits most people, with rest days between sessions for the same muscle groups. The programmes here are built on that pattern: Stronger by the Day and Ladder run structured weekly splits, Fitbod schedules around your recovery, and beginners progress well on two or three full body days. Consistency across months matters far more than the exact split.
Do I need a gym, or can I train at home?
Both work if the programme matches the equipment. Sweat, Nike Training Club, and Peloton carry deep dumbbell and bodyweight libraries for home training, and Fitbod rebuilds sessions around whatever you list. Barbell focused programmes such as the classic plans on Boostcamp assume a gym or a home rack. Check a programme's equipment list before paying.
Which app is best for pregnancy and postpartum training?
Sweat includes dedicated pregnancy and postnatal programmes, which makes it the common recommendation, but the real answer is clinician led: clearance, pelvic floor considerations, and load guidance are individual. Use any app's prenatal content inside your clinician's instructions, not instead of them, and return to lifting gradually after birth regardless of what a programme suggests.
What is the cheapest way to start strength training?
Free, genuinely: Nike Training Club for guided workouts and Boostcamp for structured coach programmes cost nothing, and Strong's free tier logs your progress. The sensible paid step, when you are consistent for a month, is a programme subscription such as Stronger by the Day or Ladder, bought monthly first so you can leave if the coaching style does not land.
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Is your product missing or out of date?
We review this list regularly. Vendors can request a listing, send updated pricing or ask about featured placement.
Shihab Mia · Founder, Rankite
Shihab has 5+ years in B2B and SaaS SEO. He writes Rankite's software buying guides from pricing pages, documentation and public user reviews. More about Shihab.