Best fitness tracker 2026: Top picks from Apple, Fitbit, Garmin and more

The main limitations in free versions are usually advanced analytics or unlimited custom exercises—features many lifters don’t need. Both apps work well for home workouts with limited equipment, letting you create custom exercises for bodyweight movements or resistance bands. Both apps let you organize workouts by muscle group (chest/back/legs) and track volume over time—crucial for ensuring progressive overload in hypertrophy training. Hevy gives you unlimited workouts, exercises, and history without any paywall. The premium version ($9.99/month) adds features like custom exercise creation and advanced analytics, but most lifters won’t need them. JEFIT’s community features let you share routines and track progress against other users.

SIT’s user-friendly interface conveniently recalls your five most recent configurations, accessible by swiping left across the Settings screen to transition between setups effortlessly. Delve into comprehensive history and statistics pages to monitor your advancement. Effortlessly repeat previous workouts from your history, eliminating the need for reconfiguration. For us, if the main downside is that it’s a bit chunky on the wrist, we’ll take it—the Apple Watch Ultra 3 is truly the full package for all iPhone users. Learn how to manipulate training volume (sets x reps x load) within a microcycle to build strength, prevent plateaus, and optimize recovery.

• It functions as more of a retroactive fitness tracker, so if you’re wanting to gauge real-time performance mid-workout, I recommend more of a true fitness tracker, like the Garmin Venu 3.
• A Strava subscription gives you access to more features, such as more in-depth race and performance analysis and the Strava maps feature, which allows you to easily find route suggestions from your current location.
• Navigation is intuitive, and synchronization between devices happens instantly.
• (Zwift also works with cycling, but after a 7-day trial, rides require a $15 monthly membership.) If you’ve got the right equipment, Zwift offers a unique way to get more out of your at-home runs.
• Sometimes you might need to squeeze in a quick workout during the day, and the app makes it easy with its high-intensity training sessions that can be completed in twenty minutes or less.
• That way, you’ll have options ready to go, whether you have internet access or not, keeping your routine consistent no matter where you are.

Live Activities and Lock Screen Widgets

And in a few of our test workouts, the earbuds’ data didn’t transfer to Apple Health. Also new to the Charge 6, you can now broadcast heart rate via Bluetooth to some third-party apps like Peloton. If you have concerns about the appropriateness of a new exercise routine or suspect that you may have a health condition, check with a medical professional. And if an abnormal heart rate is a health concern for you, don’t rely on an activity tracker to help manage your condition. The Fitbit Charge 6 offers a few upgrades from the Charge 5, which we previously recommended as a runner-up pick. The most notable upgrade is a haptic side button that allows for easier screen navigation than swiping on the touchscreen (which, we found, sometimes isn’t responsive).

The recipes are delicious, and easy to follow, and I appreciated having everything in one place. The app can feel a little overwhelming at a first glance, but classes can be filtered by trainer, time, and the music you prefer to work out to. You can also add classes to your library, which lets you select classes you’ve taken before, or plan on taking in the future, at a glance.

The best fitness tracker for Apple users

The Huawei Band 7 look-alike does a good job delivering those core fitness tracking stats. In one of our tests, the battery fell about three days short of the advertised 10 days of life, not great but not terrible. Trackers do not replace the need to discuss any cardiovascular symptoms with a medical professional to ensure an appropriate diagnosis and treatment plan, said Meagan Wasfy, a sports cardiologist at Mass General Brigham.

Nike Run Club: Running Coach

Your journey began with a specific goal, whether it was to build muscle, improve cardiovascular endurance, or simply introduce more structured movement into your life. The key takeaway from our deep dive is that technology is no longer just a passive tracker; it’s an active coach, a meticulous planner, and a source of invaluable data. The right app doesn’t just count reps; it provides context, predicts performance, and helps you understand the «why» behind your training. Sweat is designed to feel like having a personal trainer and a supportive community in your pocket. Its program-based structure eliminates guesswork, guiding you through each phase of your fitness plan. Strava’s strength lies in its blend of robust activity tracking and deep social integration.

For Healthcare

It’s also raising fair ethical questions — Retake AI photographs the user never actually took are, strictly, not photographs of the user. The line between ‘a better edit’ and ‘a fictional photo’ has blurred, and how that lands with viewers is still being sorted out. The Whoop MG has an FDA-cleared EKG reader, and can send you notifications if it detects atrial fibrillation.

How to Choose the Right Workout Tracker for Your Goals

With a design that’s more smartwatch-like, Garmin also makes some of the best fitness trackers in 2026, including the Vivoactive 6. For the cost-conscious, the Amazfit Active 2 and Amazfit Band 7 each punch well above their respective price classes. The Pixel Watch 4 isn’t just the best fitness smartwatch for Android — it’s the most interesting flagship smartwatch to have launched within the last year. The newer wearable features several hardware improvements over its predecessor, starting with the display, which offers thinner bezels and higher peak brightness. Google focused on repairability for the Pixel Watch 4, and you can now replace its screen and battery individually rather than scrapping the entire wearable.

How to pay monthly for accessories

The tool boasts excellent compatibility with most external heart‑rate monitors and cadence sensors. The interface is centered around maps and charts and has native Apple Watch support, compatible with almost all Bluetooth HR monitors. The platform is built for athletes who value telemetry and the social aspect of outdoor workouts. A comprehensive tool created by Chris Hemsworth’s team, is unimeal legit aimed at those who want everything in one place.

Sleepiest: Sleep Meditation

So put down that panic-bought packet of shortbread biscuits, grab your smartphone and prepare to get sweaty. Flare is a free safety app anyone can use, and it has been chosen by many businesses and emergency services for its pinpoint accuracy. It turns your phone into an incident-detection, prevention, and easy-to-use near-miss-reporting device, and it’s gaining popularity among cyclists. MyWindsock takes data analysis to new heights, and it’s one of the best apps for enhancing your Strava experience. The founder, Ben Norbury, created the app to check how weather conditions would affect his upcoming time trials. Simply select your discipline (e.g. road, MTB, run or hike), pick your start and endpoints, and Komoot will provide the distance, elevation, profile, estimated time to complete, and more.

Runner-up: Fitbit Charge 6

The learning curve is minimal, which matters when you’re already intimidated by the gym. To join Apple Fitness Plus, you can try it out for free for up to three months and then have the option to pay month-to-month, $10 or $80 for the year. If you’re on a family plan, you can share access to Apple Fitness Plus with up to five family members. The best part of this app is that it’s free and provides access to numerous resources, whether you’re a beginner or more advanced. You’ll also want to figure out whether the app’s classes require you to have certain pieces of equipment on hand, like dumbbells or a yoga mat. Make sure you either have these items, or you have the budget to purchase them.

As a result, you can better determine what you can do to improve your sleep. You can also use your phone’s mic to track what you do during your sleep. Jessica has been a fitness writer at Tom’s Guide since 2023, bringing three years of experience writing about health, fitness, and the great outdoors. Her passion for exercise began during her childhood, where she spent weekends hiking and competing in local athletics club events. After earning a master’s degree in journalism from Cardiff University, Jessica found the perfect way to combine her love of storytelling and fitness into a career. We’ve downloaded and used all of the apps on this list for at least one month to find out more about how they work, and who they are best for.

Ultra-Convenient Health Monitoring For Apple Users

Luke Friend has worked as a writer, editor and copywriter for over twenty five years. Across books, magazines and websites, he’s covered a broad range of topics for a range of clients including Major League Baseball, Golf Digest, the National Trust and the NHS. He has an MA in Professional Writing from Falmouth University and is a qualified bicycle mechanic. He has been a cycling enthusiast from an early age, partly due to watching the Tour de France on TV. He’s a keen follower of bike racing to this day as well as a regular road and gravel rider.