Comparison

Starting Strength (Legacy) vs Five/Three/One

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Starting Strength (Legacy)

This app guides beginners through a proven strength training program with detailed instructions, video demonstrations, and interactive logging. It simplifies tracking progress and calculating weights for exercises like squats, presses, and deadlifts.

Highlights
  • Beginner barbell exercise instructions
  • Novice strength training program guidance
  • Interactive workout logging
  • Warmup and workset weight calculator
  • Exercise video and photo instructions
  • Cloud sync for training data
  • Customizable progression
Features
Read full description

Please note, this is the legacy version. An all new version of the Starting Strength App is on the store, search "Starting Strength Official" The Starting Strength Method is the fastest, most efficient and straightforward way to increase total body strength for complete beginners. ====== Here's some reviews from our users 5/5 "What do you get when you combine the best method to get stronger with detailed instructional videos, thorough explanations AND an actual day to day program? THIS APP! Finally! Perfect for both beginners and experienced lifters and worth much more than the price I paid for. Thank you Starting Strength! 5/5 "I've tried 2-3 other apps. I've kept paper logs. Nothing has been easier to use than this app. I couldn't figure out why I couldn't enter my warm up sets...its because you don't need to! You enter your work set weight and it tells you exactly what to load on the warmup-ups..." 5/5 "Wonderful, straight-forward way to keep DOING THE PROGRAM. A simple and clear way to apply the SS principles and track your work.” 5/5 "Like others, I was on the fence about buying this app to help kickstart my starting strength program. This app deserves it's high average rating, and you should pull the trigger if you are reading this.” 5/5 "I tried a few free apps before buying this app, this one is well worth the money. Best app out there for barbell training" ====== Mark Rippetoe's "Starting Strength" has sold over 500,000 copies worldwide and considered the most productive method in existence for anyone beginning a strength training program. "The best book ever written on strength training" - Jim Wendler, champion powerlifter. ++++++++++ Features: - Complete, easy-to-follow instructions for performing the basic barbell exercises: the squat, press, deadlift, bench press and power clean. - Walks you through the famous Starting Strength Novice Program -- shows you how to start, what weight to add and when to add extra exercises. - Enough programs to get you through the first year of training including accessory exercises of chinups and back extensions. - Designed for use at the gym with quick access to multiple angle videos and photo instructions of each exercise. - Lift instructions and diagrams from the Starting Strength Book by Mark Rippetoe. - Interactive logging tools journal your strength progression. - Warmup and workset calculator shows you exactly how many plates to put on each side of the bar. - Workset Rest Timer, customisable for each exercise. - Customise your progression for each exercise. - Add and save additional notes for each workout, and access previous notes easily. - Never lose your training data again! Cloud Sync backs up your training log data and restores it across multiple devices. - Download training log data as CSV (requires account) - Helpful hints and tutorials help you learn and progress safely. - How to program the basic exercises into the most effective program for long-term progress. - Metric (kgs) or Imperials (lbs), and change at any time. Have any comments, questions or suggestions? Please email us at hello@shabu.co Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://www.iubenda.com/privacy-policy/7754358

About

Five/Three/One

This app helps weightlifters follow Jim Wendler's 5/3/1 program by automating cycle calculations, plate suggestions, and progress tracking. It eliminates the need for paper logs or spreadsheets, focusing on strength gains. Features include rest timers, workout scheduling, and Apple Health integration.

Highlights
  • 5/3/1 cycle planning and scheduling
  • Progress charting
  • Rest timer with notifications
  • Automatic plate calculation
  • Next cycle calculation based on performance
  • Home screen widget
  • Apple Health integration
Features
Read full description

The latest app for weightlifters doing Jim Wendler's 5/3/1 program! Five/Three/One is a focused and intuitive app helping you achieve what really matters: Getting Stronger. No more bringing a crumbled workout sheet to the gym, no more messing around spreadsheets to update your weights. From calculating your cycles, to telling you what plates to put on the bar, Five/Three/One does it all. Features include: - Planning and scheduling your whole 5/3/1 cycle - Charting your progress - Rest timer with notifications - Automatic plating calculation - Calculating your next cycle based on your performance - Notes associated with each sets - Home screen widget showing your your current and upcoming workouts - Lbs/kg support Optional paid features: - Customize which plates you're using and change your barbell's weight - Customize templates assistance work and define your own exercises - Beyond 5/3/1 templates and options, from Joker Sets to FSL, Pyramid and much more! Integrates with Apple Health : The app saves the workouts you've performed as well as the calories you've burnt in Apple Health. As weightlifters doing 5/3/1 ourselves, we made the app we wanted after being dissatisfied with what was out there. More than just a glorified spreadsheet, we designed it to be focused on each task at hand. With even more great features in the pipeline, we're stoked to release the app for others to use and can't wait to hear your feedback! We use it, we love it, and we're sure you will too.

Screenshots

Starting Strength (Legacy)4 screens
Five/Three/One4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Five/Three/One at Free against Starting Strength (Legacy)'s $14.99. Five/Three/One also leads on update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 5 weeks). Starting Strength (Legacy)'s advantage is chart position (#141 vs unranked). On rating, review sentiment, ratings volume and ads there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Five/Three/One is free to download; Starting Strength (Legacy) costs $14.99 up front. Starting Strength (Legacy) sells 8 in-app purchases, starting at $19.99 per 3 months and Five/Three/One sells 6 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.8 for Starting Strength (Legacy) against 4.8 for Five/Three/One. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 2.6K and 1.5K respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 83% of Starting Strength (Legacy)'s written reviews are positive against 78% of Five/Three/One's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Starting Strength (Legacy) ships an update every 5 weeks, Five/Three/One every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 26, 2026 and October 27, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 7 level
Starting Strength (Legacy) versus Five/Three/One: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterStarting Strength (Legacy)Five/Three/One
Price$14.99Free — better
Rating4.8 (2.6K ratings)4.8 (1.5K ratings) — better
Positive reviews82.9% of reviews — better78.2% of reviews
Number of ratings2.6K — better1.5K
Update frequencyEvery 5 weeksEvery 2 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationPaidFree with in-app purchases — better
Best chart rank#141 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPod
Requires iOS13.012.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size239 MB37 MB
Age rating17+4+
DeveloperShabu Pty LtdStrong Pigeon LLC

Customer experience

Starting Strength (Legacy)

All ratings2,550 ratings
Positive96.5%
Neutral1.4%
Negative2.1%
Written reviews240 reviews
Positive82.9%
Neutral7.9%
Negative9.2%

Five/Three/One

All ratings1,218 ratings
Positive97.5%
Neutral2.0%
Negative0.6%
Written reviews133 reviews
Positive78.2%
Neutral9.0%
Negative12.8%

User reviews

Starting Strength (Legacy)

From 2.6K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Easy to use
  • 🚀 Helpful for tracking progress
  • 💡 Includes book excerpts and videos
  • 🔒 Stable and reliable
  • 🚀 Calculates warmup sets and plate loading

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Buggy and crashes frequently
  • 🐛 Glitchy graphics and UI issues
  • 🔒 Lacks customization options
  • 🔒 Limited to the novice linear progression program
  • 🔒 No ability to modify exercises or programming

Five/Three/One

From 1.5K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 💻 Excellent app for 5/3/1 programming
  • 📊 Provides great tracking and progress monitoring
  • 🔢 Automatic weight and plate calculations
  • ⏱️ Built-in rest timers and workout flow
  • 🎨 Clean and intuitive user interface

Room to improve

  • 🗓️ Rigid scheduling and inability to reschedule missed workouts
  • 🔒 Limited customization options for assistance exercises
  • 🔀 Difficulty in reordering or supersetting exercises
  • 🐛 Occasional bugs and data loss issues
  • ⚠️ Lack of Apple Watch integration

Bugs and requests

Starting Strength (Legacy)

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • Frequent crashes and freezes
  • Issues with timer functionality
  • Problems with weight and plate tracking
  • Incompatibility with newer iOS versions
  • Bugs when switching between exercises

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add ability to modify exercises and programming
  • Implement advanced programming options beyond novice linear progression
  • Improve stability and reduce crashes
  • Add Apple Health integration
  • Enhance UI and user experience

Five/Three/One

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Workout data occasionally lost or not syncing properly
  • Calendar and scheduling issues when trying to reschedule missed workouts
  • Plate calculation bugs leading to incorrect weight displays
  • Occasional app freezes and crashes

Requested features

5 requests
  • Allow more flexibility in scheduling and rescheduling workouts
  • Provide customization options for assistance exercises
  • Implement superset and out-of-order exercise completion
  • Add support for Apple Watch integration
  • Incorporate additional 5/3/1 program variations (e.g., Bodybuilder, Monolith)

In-app purchases

8 purchases

Starting Strength (Legacy)

Subscriptions3
  • 3 Months Pro$19.993 Months
  • Pro Quaterly$19.993 Months
  • Annual Pro$39.991 Year
One-time5
  • Single Form Check$24.99
  • Unlock Pro Forever$59.99
  • 3 x Form Checks$69.99
Show 2 more
  • 10 Form Checks$209.99
  • 20 x Form Checks$399.99
6 purchases

Five/Three/One

One-time6
  • Custom Weight Plates$2.99
  • Tip$4.99
  • Beyond 5/3/1 Pack$5.99
Show 3 more
  • Custom Assistance$8.99
  • Large Tip$9.99
  • Enormous Tip$24.99

Questions

Is Starting Strength (Legacy) free?
Starting Strength (Legacy) costs $14.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Is Five/Three/One free?
Five/Three/One is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Starting Strength (Legacy) or Five/Three/One?
Five/Three/One is rated higher. Starting Strength (Legacy) averages 4.8 out of 5 from 2.6K ratings, while Five/Three/One averages 4.8 from 1.5K ratings.
Do Starting Strength (Legacy) or Five/Three/One have ads?
Neither Starting Strength (Legacy) nor Five/Three/One shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Starting Strength (Legacy) or Five/Three/One?
Starting Strength (Legacy) ships an update every 5 weeks, and Five/Three/One every 2 weeks. Most recently, Starting Strength (Legacy) was updated on October 26, 2026 and Five/Three/One on October 27, 2026.

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