Reviewer Rave: “Nike Run Club is by far the best app I’ve ever used for running! It’s guided me through my first 5k, half marathon, and ultimately, my first ever marathon just one week ago. The training plans are flexible and challenging, the achievements help me keep my head in the game, and I honestly wouldn’t run nearly as well if I didn’t have the coaches in the background cheering me on. Awesome app! I highly recommend to anyone and everyone who runs.” —
2 Strava
Free:
Rating: 4.5/5
Number of Reviews: 500K
Reviewer Rave: “I love Strava and use it for all my platforms, past and present (currently Garmin, Peloton bike and Peloton digital). I would give it 5 stars if I could have the same run features for my power walks (detailed splits, weekly tracking, leaderboards, etc.). Otherwise, my go-to app for all things exercise.”
3 MapMyRun
Free:
Rating: 4.5/5
Number of Reviews: 222K
Reviewer Rave: “Great app. Connects to myfitnesspal as an overall support for getting fit and eating well. Easy to use. Talks to you through the run giving updates on pace and distance: your music fades back to allow this to be heard.”
4 Running Pace
$1:
Rating: 4.7/5
Number of Reviews: 83
Reviewer Rave: “I have had and used this app for a couple of years without rating it, and decided its time to give kudos where they are deserved to some little apps that are simple, but elegant in what they do. Choose a distance and time, and it calculates pace; or distance and pace and it calculates time, as well as splits. I don’t use it every day because I don’t need to, but when I start dreaming about my next running goal, it helps me figure out the related stats that I want to know also. If you have distance/time/pace/speed fitness goals, this will help you in your planning.”
5 Runtastic
Free:
Rating: 4.6/5
Number of Reviews: 933K
Reviewer Rave: “Great tracking app! Love how it audibly announces your stats at every mile! Would like for it to give stats at half-mile intervals, also!”
6 Couch To 5K
$2.99:
Rating: 4.5/5
Number of Reviews: 13.5K
Reviewer Rave: “I used to hate running, I had tried so many times before but none with success. I heard an influencer talk about this app, and she told the same story I just did, so I decided to try it out. This app is one of the best investments I have made for my health. It’s a 3-days-a-week, 9-week programme in which you improve a lot and you barely notice the increase in level of difficulty. In other words, you don’t die trying, but you see results! I love this app.”
7 Peloton Digital
$19.49/month:
Rating: 4.9/5
Number of Reviews: 75K
Reviewer Rave: “Been using the app for workouts for the last 4 months and I am obsessed with it. Am particularly keen on the treadmill workouts—I love running outdoors but it’s not always practical and boy does this app take away from the monotony of treadmill running. It even spurred me on to my faster 5k, 10k and 1 mile distances for the last 3 years in the short time I have been using it.”
8 Pacer
Free:
Rating: 4.7/5 Stars
Number of reviews: 682K
Reviewer Rave: “All you need in an app. Counts your steps, measures distance and calories. Easy to use.”
9 RunKeeper
Free:
Rating: 4.4/5 Stars
Number of reviews: 437K
Reviewer Rave: “It’s pretty accurate with the GPS tracking and other stats which it stores whilst exercising. I like how it compares your workout with previous ones. I mostly use it for when I run or walk. I’ve got nothing but praise for this app. I took a break from it two years ago (due to no fault of the app, it’s because I’d stopped exercising altogether) and when I re-installed it this year, it remembered all my previous stats. I was pretty impressed.”
10 Vi
$9.99/month:
Rating: 4.6/5 Stars
Number of reviews: 679
Reviewer Rave: “I was looking for something to help get me back into shape after having a baby and I needed something I could do on my own time rather than trying to make it to gym classes. A friend recommended I try Vi and I’m so glad I did! The quality and variety of workouts are really impressive and after just a few weeks of using Vi I feel like I’m already a better runner than I ever was before.”
Jordan Galloway is the fitness director at Women’s Health with 10 years of experience as a reporter and editor covering the health and wellness industries.
