Comparison
Aldo Coach vs Hevy
Hevy is a free, well-liked workout tracker with a social feed. Its AI lives in ChatGPT. Aldo Coach puts the coach inside the log: it plans your weeks, reads every set and changes your plan when you ask.
The short version
| Aldo Coach | Hevy | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A training log with a coach built in. Claude writes your program week by week and coaches each set. | A workout tracker: log sets, build routines, chart your progress and follow friends in a feed. |
| AI | Inside the app, under every set you log. | A free plugin for ChatGPT that reads your Hevy history and saves plans to your account. Not inside the Hevy app. |
| Built-in program | Up to 16 weeks, written around your goal, your calendar and your meet date, with deloads. Changed when you ask. | Hevy Trainer (Pro) builds a program with an algorithm and adjusts your weights. Plus a free routine library. |
| Readiness | Checked on its own before each session: your recent training, last session's rating and any injuries. With Apple Health connected and your OK, also sleep, HRV and resting heart rate against your own 4-week norm. | Hevy's site and App Store listing don't mention a readiness check. |
| During the workout | Log reps with RIR or RPE. Last session's numbers on every set. Rest timer starts on its own, on your lock screen too. After each set the coach can change the rest of your sets. | Log RPE. Last session's numbers on every exercise. Rest timer starts on its own. Trainer adjusts your working weights from how you perform. |
| After the workout | Rate the session. The coach says "no change needed" or suggests a program change you review. A weekly review recommends next week. | Trainer adjusts your weights and shows a progress report. |
| Progress and PRs | Automatic PRs, estimated maxes and charts for every exercise. All included free right now. | Charts and PRs for every exercise. Free shows 3 months; Pro shows all time. |
| Import and export | Imports a Strong CSV, spreadsheets, PDFs and photos. Exports a CSV of every set and a full backup. | Imports a Strong CSV. Exports your workouts to a spreadsheet file. |
| Price | Free right now. Paid tiers later. | Free with no ads. Hevy Pro is $2.99 a month, $23.99 a year or $74.99 once. |
| Phones | iPhone app. Any phone's browser. | iPhone and Android apps, plus the web. |
| Watch | Apple Watch: log sets, rest timer, coach messages. | Apple Watch and Wear OS |
| Calendar | Reads Apple Calendar and Google Calendar and plans around them. | Shows workouts you've done and your streak. Hevy's help center says it can't be used to plan training days. |
| Languages | English | English and 15 more |
| Track record | Launched September 2026, built by one lifter. | 4.9 stars from 100,000+ ratings on the US App Store. |
Hevy details checked on October 26, 2026 from Hevy's website, its help center and its US App Store listing. Apps change, so check Hevy's App Store page for current prices.
How each one plans and coaches your training
Hevy: a fast log, with Trainer and ChatGPT for plans
Hevy is built around logging. You record weights, reps and RPE, mark warm-up, drop and failure sets, and see last session's numbers on every exercise. Rest timers start on their own. You can build your own routines or pick a full split from Hevy's free library.
For a plan made for you, Hevy Pro includes Hevy Trainer. It asks about your goal, experience, equipment, how often and how long you train, and a muscle group to focus on, then builds a program with rep ranges, rest times and starting weights. It adjusts your working weights based on how you perform, and you can add injuries in its settings so it replaces some exercises or adds a warning. Hevy is open about how it works: "Our programs are generated using an algorithm and do not rely on AI."
Hevy's AI is a separate, free plugin for ChatGPT. Type @hevy in a ChatGPT chat and it can read your Hevy history, answer questions about your lifts, suggest your next workout and save plans to your Hevy account. Hevy says a Claude connector is coming soon.
Aldo Coach: a program, and a coach on every set
Aldo Coach writes a full program toward your goal, week by week, and plans it around your real schedule. Before each session it checks how ready you are. In the session, you log each set with how many reps you had left. The coach sets your next weight and writes why, right under the set. Finish a top set easier than planned and the back-off sets go up, one tap to accept or keep them.
The plan and the log are one thing. Log a set and the coach already has it. There's no second app to open in the middle of a workout.
What both apps do
Both log RPE, show last session's numbers while you train, start the rest timer on their own, track PRs with a chart for every exercise, adjust your weights from how you perform, take your injuries into account, run on Apple Watch, write your workouts to Apple Health, and let you export your training to a spreadsheet. Both handle supersets, and both let you swap, add or reorder exercises in a session.
What Aldo Coach does
The coach takes action. Tell it to swap a lift mid-workout, or that you're away next week, and it changes your session or your plan itself. You tap to accept.
You can change it yourself in a tap. Add or delete sets and exercises, swap an exercise from suggested replacements, or reorder the session. No chat needed. Coaching after every set can be turned off anytime.
It checks how ready you are. Before it builds a session, the coach looks at your recent training, how your last session felt, which muscles you trained lately and any injuries. With Apple Health connected and your OK, it also sees your sleep, HRV and resting heart rate against your own 4-week norm. Or just tell it you're feeling beat up today.
It changes the rest of your sets. After each set you log, the coach can change the weight or reps of the sets left, skip or add a set, or change your rest.
It checks every workout. Rate the session from 1 to 5. The coach says "no change needed" or suggests a change to your program, which you review or skip. Each week you get a review with trends and recommendations for next week.
It plans around your calendar. Connect Apple Calendar or Google Calendar and a work trip, a late shift or a busy week becomes part of the plan instead of the reason you fell off it.
It builds toward a meet. Tell the coach your meet date and the program ends there, with taper days. Move the meet and the program reshapes. Deloads are checked after each session, and you can ask for one anytime.
It remembers. Your injuries, your PRs on every exercise, and the lifts you like and don't. Tell it about an injury once and it works around it. It writes warm-ups and mobility for each session around your limits.
It reads the training you already have. Import a Strong CSV, a spreadsheet, a PDF or a photo into a program, a workout or your workout history. Export a CSV of every set or a full backup anytime.
It's quick in the gym. The rest timer starts on its own and shows on your lock screen and Dynamic Island. You can log and give commands by voice. The Apple Watch app logs sets with RPE or RIR, runs your rest and shows coach messages.
It tracks your progress. Automatic PRs, including rep maxes, estimated maxes and a chart for every exercise. All included free right now. Share a workout summary or your weekly review as an image.
It's tailored to any goal. Powerlifting, bodybuilding, CrossFit, or staying healthy. Conditioning is part of the plan too: EMOMs, AMRAPs and circuits run on their own timer.
The coach is Claude. Claude Opus writes your program and Claude Sonnet coaches you set by set.
I'm a powerlifter. Coming back after my first meet, I had nobody at the gym to ask "do I add weight today?" I used ChatGPT and then Claude as my coach, but my sets lived in a separate workout app.
I spent my time copying training from one to the other. So I built one app that is both: the log and the coach.
Which one fits you
Pick Hevy if
- You want a social feed: follow friends, compare lifts, see their workouts.
- You want an Android app or Wear OS.
- You want the app in a language other than English.
- You like planning in ChatGPT.
- You want exercise videos built into the app.
- You want to pick a ready-made program from a library.
- You want to log body measurements and progress photos.
- You want an app with a big community and 100,000+ ratings behind it.
Pick Aldo Coach if
- You want the coach inside your log, answering after every set.
- You're training toward something: a meet, a block, a goal date.
- Your week changes: shifts, travel, kids, a busy stretch at work.
- You want to change your plan by asking, then tap to accept.
- You want each session to account for your sleep and recovery.
- You're working around an injury.
The limits: Aldo Coach doesn't track food or body measurements. There's no social feed. It's in English only. Its exercise how-to videos link out to YouTube, where Hevy has videos built into the app. The App Store app covers the US, Canada, the UK, the EU, Iceland and Norway; anywhere else, it runs in your browser.
Comparing other apps? Read Aldo Coach vs Fitbod, or using ChatGPT for your workout plan.
Questions
Does Hevy have an AI coach?
Not inside the Hevy app. Hevy's AI is a free plugin for ChatGPT: type @hevy in a ChatGPT chat and it can read your Hevy history, build plans and save them to your Hevy account. Hevy says a Claude connector is coming soon. Hevy Trainer, the program builder in Hevy Pro, is not AI: Hevy's help center says its programs are generated using an algorithm and do not rely on AI.
Is Aldo Coach a good Hevy alternative?
It is if you want the coach inside your log: one that checks your readiness, reads every set, sets your next weight and changes your plan when you ask. If you want a social feed, an Android app, built-in exercise videos or an app in a language other than English, Hevy suits you better.
Is Hevy free?
Yes, with no ads. The free version allows 4 routines and 7 custom exercises and shows 3 months of history. Hevy Pro, at $2.99 a month, $23.99 a year or $74.99 once, removes those limits and adds Hevy Trainer.
Can I bring my Hevy history to Aldo Coach?
Yes, through Aldo Coach's spreadsheet and CSV import. Export your workouts from Hevy (Profile > Settings > Export & Import Data), then import the file into your Aldo Coach history. There's no Hevy-specific importer, so check your history after the import; some details may not carry over exactly.
Is Aldo Coach free?
Yes, right now, with nothing for sale in the app. Every set you log goes to Claude, which costs money per user, so paid tiers will come later.
Does Aldo Coach work on Android?
There is no Android app. Aldo Coach runs in any phone's browser and installs to your home screen.
The coach and the log, in one app.
Your program, your log and your coach on every set.