The usual shorthand for Alpha Progression vs Hevy is that one tells you what to lift and the other is a very good log. That shorthand is out of date. Hevy now has Hevy Trainer, a paid feature that builds a program and raises your working weights as you earn them. Alpha Progression still recommends a weight and rep target before every set. So both apps can now plan your next session, and the real question is how each one decides, what it costs, and what else you get or lose with it.

Everything below comes from each app's own website and its US App Store listing, checked in September 2026. Features and prices change, so check the listings before you pay.

The short answer

• Pick Hevy if you want the cheaper subscription, an Apple Watch app, a social feed, and a generated program that moves the weight up once you hit the top of your rep range.

• Pick Alpha Progression if you want recommendations that change from set to set within a session, reps-in-reserve targets, and periodization with scheduled deloads built into the plan.

• Pick neither subscription yet if you mainly want a log. Both free tiers handle that well, and neither app's progression features are free.

How each app decides your next weight

Hevy Trainer: a generated program with double progression

Hevy Trainer starts with a short questionnaire covering your experience, goal, equipment, how often you train, how long a session can be, and any muscle group you want to prioritise. It then builds a full program, with exercises, sets, target rep ranges and rest times. If you have logged an exercise before, it suggests a starting weight.

The progression rule is published in Hevy's own FAQ, and it is a familiar one: you have to hit the top of the rep range on all prescribed sets before Trainer raises the weight. That is double progression, a well-supported method. Hevy also lists "automatic weight adjustments", reminders to push hard when progress stalls, a program-variety setting (including focused six-week blocks), optional cardio, and an injuries setting that swaps out exercises it considers high-risk. Hevy says clearly that this is not medical advice, and that is the right call.

Two limits are worth knowing. Hevy describes the automatic weight adjustments as part of Trainer programs; for routines you build yourself, its own progressive-overload guide has you read the "Previous" column and decide. And Hevy does not publish how big each weight jump is, so you will only find out in the app.

Alpha Progression: a recommendation for every set

Alpha Progression works at a finer grain. Before each set, the app shows the weight and reps to aim for, based on your earlier workouts and on what you have already done that day. Its listing says outright that recommendations change from set to set because set three is not set one. You can log reps in reserve (RIR) in the same two taps as weight and reps.

On top of that sit a plan generator (goal, available days, session length, priority muscles, your gym's equipment), a one-off workout generator, and periodization tools that ramp sets and effort week by week and schedule deloads. You can also save several gyms, each with its own equipment, and the recommendations adjust to the weights each gym actually has.

The same bench session in both apps

Say your plan is bench press, 3 sets of 8–12, and last week you did 70 kg (154 lb) for 12, 11 and 10.

• Hevy Trainer keeps 70 kg, because not every set reached 12. Next week you hit 12, 12, 12, and the week after the weight goes up.

• Alpha Progression gives you a target for set one, then adjusts sets two and three from what you just did. If set one goes better than expected, the next targets can rise within the session. If fatigue shows, they can come down.

Neither approach is simply better. Session-level double progression is easy to predict and easy to check against your own log. Set-level recommendations react faster but ask you to trust an algorithm you cannot fully see. If you like knowing the rule, Hevy's is written down. If you want the app to handle the fine adjustments, Alpha Progression goes further.

What you get for free

Hevy's free tier covers workout logging, exercise videos, rest timers, set types (warm-up, drop sets, failure, supersets), one-rep-max estimates, muscle-group graphs, the social features and the Apple Watch app. Pro is listed as unlimited routines, unlimited custom exercises, unlimited graph history and advanced measurements. Hevy's own FAQ confirms that Trainer is a Pro feature.

Alpha Progression's free tier covers unlimited workout logging, all 795 exercise videos, your own plans, measurements, the rest timer, records, achievements, plan sharing and CSV export, with no ads and no account required. The progression recommendations, plan generator, charts, periodization and deloads, and the plate and warm-up calculators are all Pro.

So if you are comparing the two for their coaching, you are comparing two subscriptions.

Price

On the US App Store in September 2026:

• Hevy Pro: $2.99 a month, $23.99 a year, or $74.99 once for lifetime access. The listing also shows a second monthly option at $3.99.

• Alpha Progression Pro: $12.99 a month or $79.99 a year, with a 14-day free trial on the yearly plan.

Hevy is far cheaper, and it is the only one of the two with a one-time purchase. Prices differ by country, so check your own store.

The differences that are not about progression

Social features

Hevy is partly a social network. You can follow friends, copy their routines, like and comment, and choose a public or private profile. Alpha Progression lets you share plans with friends or coaching clients, and that is about it. If training alongside other people keeps you consistent, Hevy wins clearly.

Devices

Hevy's listing covers iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch, with watch complications and live sync. Alpha Progression's listing covers iPhone, with a rest timer that runs as a Live Activity on the lock screen and in the Dynamic Island. Both apps are also on Android. If you log from your wrist, Hevy is the one to pick.

Exercise guidance

Alpha Progression films its 795 exercises in a real gym with certified trainers and adds an evaluation of how well each exercise builds muscle. Hevy offers hundreds of exercises with videos and animations. If you are still learning movements, Alpha Progression's library is the more thorough.

Languages and extras

Hevy lists English plus 15 languages; Alpha Progression lists English plus 12. Hevy can send a finished workout to ChatGPT or Claude. Alpha Progression exports everything as CSV on the free tier.

Which one should you choose?

Choose Hevy if price matters, you train with friends, you use an Apple Watch, or you want a structured program with a simple, published rule for adding weight. For most lifters who just want a solid tracker with an optional program, it is the better value.

Choose Alpha Progression if you want the app to program the whole block: set-by-set targets, RIR, periodized weeks and planned deloads. It costs more, but it does more of the programming for you.

If what you actually want is a better logger rather than a coach, our comparison of Hevy and Strong as workout loggers covers that choice.

Where Hefty fits

Hefty sits between the two, and it does less than both in some areas. It is iPhone-only, with no Apple Watch app, no social feed and no plan generator. You build your own routine and choose each exercise's rep range.

What it does is prescribe every exercise in that routine, for free. Hefty uses double progression like Hevy Trainer, with the step published: once every working set reaches the top of the range, the load goes up 5% on compound lifts or 2.5% on isolation work, rounded to the smallest weight jump you set for that exercise. Below that, the weight stays and you work on reps. Before each session you choose Recover, Steady or Push. Recover drops the load to 90% and the sets to roughly 60%, and it never moves your progression, so an easy day does not cost you ground. If a lift keeps missing the bottom of its range at the same weight, Hefty takes 10% off that lift rather than the whole program.

It also reads the files you already have. Hefty imports workout history exported from Hevy or Strong, so your last sessions become the starting point for your next prescription, and it exports your data back out as CSV files in Hevy's column layout. Per-exercise tuning, history beyond 30 days and iCloud sync are part of Pro; the prescriptions are not.

If you like your own routine and just want someone to do the maths, see how Hefty prescribes your next session.