Comparison

Virgin Active SA vs October Health

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

Head to head
About

Virgin Active SA

This app rewards you for achieving personal wellness goals with exclusive partner offers. Access on-demand classes, book club sessions up to 8 days ahead, and use your digital card for club entry. It's designed to support your progress with guidance and tangible benefits.

Highlights
  • Real rewards from partners
  • Book club classes up to 8 days in advance
  • Digital access card for club entry
  • On-demand classes for anytime training
  • Personalized wellness guidance
Features
Read full description

Welcome to Virgin Active’s new wellness app that gives you real rewards for hitting your personal wellness goals. • Real rewards: Instant fist-bumps from iconic partners • Real endorphins: Book all your fave club classes up to 8 days in advance • Scan the app to enter the club with your digital access card • Real support: Train anywhere, anytime, with on-demand classes • Designed to support real progress with real rewards and guidance, this isn’t an app… It’s your personal, free smoothie-giving, endorphin unleashing, goal crushing, wellness weapon.

About

October Health

Invest in your mental wellness proactively with resources, live sessions, and an AI companion. Understand your mental health through assessments and track your progress with objective measurements. Learn and practice skills to improve your overall wellbeing.

Highlights
  • Live performance psychology sessions
  • AI mental wellness companion
  • Mental health assessments
  • Skill-building content and training
  • Progress tracking
  • Sleep sounds
Features
Read full description

October Health provides you with the support, resources and community to invest in your mental wellness proactively. Performance Psychology transforms mental fitness into an aspirational goal through purpose-built technology. Join us in the October app and start your journey today! October Highlights: - The Forest: live sessions all day on a wide variety of performance psychology and mental fitness topics. - Meet Luna: our intelligent AI companion, ready to help you be the best version of yourself every day. - Assessments: understand your mental health, where you should be focusing, and track changes through time. - Content & Training: learn and practice skills, level up with coaching, listen to relaxing sleep sounds and more. - Track your Progress: objectively measure how you are doing and what impacts your wellbeing.

Screenshots

Virgin Active SA4 screens
October Health4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: October Health at 75% against Virgin Active SA's 6%. October Health also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.8). Virgin Active SA's advantage is ratings volume (746 vs 2). On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases 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

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

October Health holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Virgin Active SA has 746 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 6% of Virgin Active SA's written reviews are positive against 75% of October Health's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 23, 2026 and October 30, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Virgin Active SA versus October Health: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterVirgin Active SAOctober Health
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (746 ratings)5.0 (2 ratings) — better
Positive reviews5.8% of reviews75.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings746 — better2
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksEvery 3 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPad — betteriPhone
Requires iOS16.0 — better16.4
Further details — not scored
Size352 MB214 MB
Age rating4+17+
DeveloperVirgin Active South AfricaOctober Health Limited

Customer experience

Virgin Active SA

All ratings745 ratings
Positive95.7%
Neutral2.7%
Negative1.6%
Written reviews52 reviews
Positive5.8%
Neutral5.8%
Negative88.5%

October Health

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews8 reviews
Positive75.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative25.0%

Bugs and requests

Virgin Active SA

Reported bugs

15 issues
  • Login error messages with no resolution
  • Password reset emails delayed or not received
  • App freezes during booking attempts
  • Gym attendance not logged for rewards
  • Rewards expiring before being credited
Show 10 more
  • Inconsistent reward tracking between users
  • Internet connection errors despite valid connection
  • Session timeout and forced re-login
  • Account creation errors during registration
  • Class cancellation not reflected in app
  • Timetables fail to load
  • App crashes on password reset screen
  • Add-to-calendar button non-functional on iPhone
  • Rewards goals resetting incorrectly
  • Club entry button disappeared after update

Requested features

8 requests
  • Apple Wallet integration for digital card
  • Apple Watch device support
  • Graphical display of visit statistics per month
  • Bike assignment visibility for spinning bookings
  • Club entry button on home page
Show 3 more
  • Instructor rating/comments functionality
  • Class calendar add-to-calendar functionality
  • Cross-club timetable access for weekend bookings

October Health

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Virgin Active SA

No in-app purchases

None

October Health

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Virgin Active SA free?
Virgin Active SA is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is October Health free?
October Health is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Virgin Active SA or October Health?
October Health is rated higher. Virgin Active SA averages 4.8 out of 5 from 746 ratings, while October Health averages 5.0 from 2 ratings.
Do Virgin Active SA or October Health have ads?
Neither Virgin Active SA nor October Health shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Virgin Active SA or October Health?
Virgin Active SA ships an update every 3 weeks, and October Health every 3 weeks. Most recently, Virgin Active SA was updated on October 23, 2026 and October Health on October 30, 2026.

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