Logbook vs Strong: minimalist tracker, or modern training journal?
Strong is the OG iOS lifting app: minimalist, fast, reliable, with a free tier and PRO sold from $4.99/mo, from $23.99/yr, or as a one-off PRO Forever licence from $79.99 (USD App Store listing, August 2026; Apple shows several price points and regional pricing varies). It's focused on logging and deliberately stays there. Logbook logs at the same speed and adds a club-based social layer, per-muscle recovery in its Pro tier, and a more modern design system. Strong is on iPhone, Android and Apple Watch; Logbook 1.0 is iPhone only. Pick Strong if you want a logging tool and cross-platform maturity. Pick Logbook if you want the same logging speed with training partners in the app and a deeper analytics layer.
A modern training record with a small social layer
The minimalist iOS lifting app, since 2014
Side by side
Honest dimensions, both products. Every Strong row was checked against their own published information on .
On the currencies: Logbook is priced in NZD and AUD above because New Zealand and Australia are our main markets, with USD in brackets. Strong publishes US App Store pricing, so that is what their column shows. Don't read the two columns as a direct price comparison: compare the USD figures, or check Strong in your own App Store storefront.
Prices and features change. Everything above about Strong comes from their own published information, checked on . Check their pages before you decide, and tell us if we've got something wrong and we'll correct it.
Strong and other product names on this page are the trademarks of their respective owners. Logbook is an independent product and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by them. They are named here only to compare the products honestly.
Strong is great. Here's where Logbook adds something.
Strong is one of the apps Logbook was designed in respect of. Its makers argued that a lifting app should be fast, minimal, and own its data, and then they built exactly that and kept it alive for a decade. Logbook starts from the same brief and adds three things Strong doesn't emphasise.
A social layer. Logbook has clubs: invite-only by default, with followers-only and public options, and a plain chronological feed of what the people in them logged. Strong keeps its focus on solo logging. For a lot of lifters the thing that drives consistency isn't an algorithmic feed of strangers. It's four people you actually know seeing that you trained today.
Recovery state. Logbook models recovery per muscle group: a recovery percentage, a status, and hours until you're back to full, updating as time passes since you trained it. Useful for anyone hitting a muscle more than once a week. It's part of Logbook Pro.
Progress next to the lift. Strong puts progress in a stats tab. Logbook puts last session, best set, average volume, and the recent trend on the exercise screen itself, visible the moment you load it, before your first set.
Where Strong still wins
Cross-platform. Strong runs on iPhone, Android, and Apple Watch. Logbook 1.0 is iPhone only: the watchOS app is built but is not part of the 1.0 release, and there's no Android app. If you need any of those today, Strong covers you and we don't.
Maturity. Strong has been refined for over a decade. It's stable, predictable, and there are no surprises. Logbook is a version 1.0. There will be the usual v1 rough edges, and it would be strange of us to pretend otherwise.
Lifetime pricing. Strong sells a one-off PRO Forever option. Logbook Pro is subscription only.
Strong has earned its loyal user base. If you've been using it for years and it works, there's nothing wrong with staying: the interface is fast, the data is yours, the upgrade pressure is low, and it runs on more platforms than we do. If 'logging tool, nothing more' is the spec, Strong is genuinely good at it and has been for over a decade.
Lifters who outgrew Strong's minimalism but don't want a wide-open social feed.
FAQ
- Can I import my Strong workout history?
- Not at launch. Strong supports CSV export of your training history, and a Strong importer is on our post-launch list, but it isn't built yet.
- Does Logbook work on Apple Watch?
- Not in version 1.0. A watchOS app is built and tested but is not included in the 1.0 App Store release, so don't buy Logbook expecting to log from your wrist yet. Live Activities do ship in 1.0, so the rest timer and session status appear on your lock screen. Strong's Watch app works today.
- Why would I switch from Strong if I already like it?
- If Strong covers your needs, you don't have to switch. We mean that. The case to try Logbook is if you've wanted training partners inside the app, per-muscle recovery, or a more modern design layered on the same minimalist logging speed, and you're on iPhone.
Your next session.
Your next page.
Log your sets, look back on your progress and share the sessions you choose. Your personal training journal starts with you.