Comparison

Challenges vs Upkeep Social

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

Head to head
About

Challenges

Compete with friends, family, and coworkers to get fit. Track your progress through stand, move, and exercise rings, earn medals, and send motivational nudges. Stay connected and motivated with real-time updates and team challenges.

Highlights
  • Team challenges
  • Activity ring tracking (Stand, Move, Exercise)
  • Medal achievements
  • Motivational nudges and comments
  • Real-time team progress updates
  • Apple Watch integration
Features
Read full description

Get fit and compete with friends, family & coworkers with the Challenges app. ‘Cause everybody needs a little healthy competition. -- How It Works -- Getting started with Challenges is easy. Join a team challenge and aim to complete your Stand, Move, and Exercise rings. Whether you get there by shakin’ it to Queen Bey or taking the furthest spot in the parking lot, it’s up to you. Keep tabs on your progress via Apple Watch, the Challenges App, or the Health app. Watch in real time as your teammates get closer to closing their rings - they’re cheering you on to do the same! -- Achievements -- The more you move, the more you’re rewarded. Stack up your points to earn Bronze, Silver, and Gold Medals. Go for the gold! Check progress on your next medal Bask in the glow of medals you’ve racked up from all of your Challenges -- Nudges -- What gets you stepping better than your L.A. Lights sneakers from the 90s? Accountability. Spark a little friendly banter to fuel your fitness flame. Get and send nudges from your teammates (Tell Dan from the second floor to start taking the stairs if he’s reppin’ your team Mission-Fitpossible) Comment on the challenge wall to share tips or coordinate a workout Invite a friend to join your team, via email or text (Emojis 100% acceptable) -- On The Watch -- Pump yourself up wherever you go with just a glance at your wrist. Check in on team ranking See when you’re closing in on an achievement Compare your daily average so you can gauge your progress. Get notified when someone nudges you Get pinged when one of your teammates is rocking it. “Dan just closed all three rings!” Boom, send back applause hands. Somebody’s been snubbing the elevator. Get your watch charged, your team amped, and your sneakers ready, ‘cause you’ve got a challenge to win. Challenges integrates with the Health App on your iPhone to retrieve the data it uses to determine by how much you've just beaten all your friends. Because of our integration with the Health App, this also means we leverage the powerful HealthKit API to make your user experience and user interface the best possible. Enjoy!

About

Upkeep Social

This app helps you build consistent fitness habits by creating and joining step challenges. Track your progress, earn a consistency score, and compete with friends or solo to stay motivated and accountable.

Highlights
  • Create personalized step challenges
  • Compete solo, 1-on-1, or in groups
  • Automatic step syncing from Apple Health
  • Track consistency score and streaks
  • Daily verification to prevent cheating
  • Flexible challenge scheduling
Read full description

Upkeep Social is the fitness accountability app where your consistency is verified, ranked, and visible to the people who matter. Create step challenges for yourself or with friends. Set a daily step goal, pick your success criteria, and prove you can show up — day after day, week after week. Whether you're building a daily walking habit or defending a 10K-step streak, Upkeep tracks whether you kept your word. HOW IT WORKS Pick a daily step goal: 2K, 3K, 5K, 7K, or 10K. Choose your success threshold: hit your target 70%, 85%, or 100% of days. Go solo, challenge a friend 1-on-1, or compete in a group. Your steps sync automatically from Apple Health — no manual logging, no separate step counter. At the end of each week, see exactly who showed up and who didn't. YOUR CONSISTENCY SCORE Every verified day earns points toward your Consistency Score — a single number from 0 to 100 that represents your long-term commitment to showing up. Skip a week and your score decays. The score isn't just a stat. It becomes your fitness identity. Tiers: Getting Started → Building Momentum → Committed → Relentless → Elite → Legendary. CHALLENGE MODES Solo: Challenge yourself. No invite needed. Start immediately. Duel: Go head-to-head with one friend. Group: Compete with multiple people and follow the leaderboard. BUILT FOR ACCOUNTABILITY Daily verification confirms your steps are real — no shaking your phone to fake it. Leaderboards show who's on track and who's falling behind. Streak tracking rewards consistency with visual milestones. Share cards let you post your results to Instagram, WhatsApp, or anywhere you want proof. FLEXIBLE SCHEDULING Start a challenge now, tomorrow, or pick a specific day. No waiting for a fixed weekly window. MORE THAN A STEP TRACKER A pedometer counts your steps. A habit tracker takes your word for it. Upkeep Social does neither — it verifies your activity against Apple Health data and puts the result where your friends can see it. Your daily walk, your workout streak, your active days: all of it counts, none of it can be faked. WHY UPKEEP SOCIAL? Most fitness apps track what you do. Upkeep Social tracks whether you keep your word. The difference is accountability — and it changes everything. Free to use, with an optional Pro upgrade for deeper fitness insights and higher challenge limits. No ads. FOR TEAMS AND ORGANIZERS Running a step challenge for your office, club, campus, or community? Create the challenge, share one invite link, and your participants join free. Verification means the winner earned it — no manual honor-system spreadsheets, no disputed results. Free groups hold up to 15 people; with Pro, up to 250. Questions or feedback? Reach us at support@upkeep.social Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Challenges4 screens
Upkeep Social4 screens

Verdict

The call

Challenges and Upkeep Social both sit at 4.6 stars, but that hides the real split: 100% of Upkeep Social's written reviews are positive against 51% of Challenges's. Upkeep Social also leads on update cadence (every 5 days vs every 3 weeks). Challenges's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 5) and ratings volume (5.7K vs 10). On price, rating, ads and device support 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. Upkeep Social sells 5 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month. Challenges asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.6 for Challenges against 4.5 for Upkeep Social. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Challenges has 5.7K ratings behind it against 10, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 51% of Challenges's written reviews are positive against 100% of Upkeep Social's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Challenges ships an update every 3 weeks, Upkeep Social every 5 days. Both last shipped on October 24, 2026.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Challenges versus Upkeep Social: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterChallengesUpkeep Social
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (5.7K ratings) — better4.5 (10 ratings)
Positive reviews51.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings5.7K — better10
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksEvery 5 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationAd-supportedFree — better
DevicesiPhone, Apple Watch — betteriPhone
Requires iOS18.617.6 — better
Further details — not scored
Size48 MB52 MB
Age rating4+12+
DeveloperFitNowImperial Engineering Labs

Customer experience

Challenges

All ratings5,728 ratings
Positive92.3%
Neutral2.5%
Negative5.1%
Written reviews355 reviews
Positive51.0%
Neutral14.9%
Negative34.1%

Upkeep Social

All ratings10 ratings
Positive90.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative10.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

Challenges

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • App crashes frequently
  • Syncing issues with Apple Health
  • Inability to delete account
  • Challenges not working as intended

Requested features

6 requests
  • Allow rest days in challenges
  • Increase maximum daily points
  • Add option to set individual vs. group challenges
  • Improve messaging and notifications
  • Add Garmin integration
Show 1 more
  • Allow challenge creators to manage teams

Upkeep Social

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Challenges

No in-app purchases

5 purchases

Upkeep Social

Subscriptions4
  • Upkeep Pro Monthly7 Days trial$9.991 Month
  • Upkeep Pro Yearly14 Days trial$49.991 Year
  • Upkeep Pro Annual Plan$49.991 Year
Show 1 more
  • Upkeep Pro Annual$69.991 Year
One-time1
  • Creator Pass$4.99

Questions

Is Challenges free?
Challenges is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Upkeep Social free?
Upkeep Social is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Challenges or Upkeep Social?
Challenges is rated higher. Challenges averages 4.6 out of 5 from 5.7K ratings, while Upkeep Social averages 4.5 from 10 ratings.
Do Challenges or Upkeep Social have ads?
Neither Challenges nor Upkeep Social shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Challenges or Upkeep Social?
Challenges ships an update every 3 weeks, and Upkeep Social every 5 days. Most recently, Challenges was updated on October 24, 2026 and Upkeep Social on October 24, 2026.

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