asensei rowing vs Hydrow
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
asensei rowing
Enhance your rowing performance with guided workouts from world-class athletes and AI coaching. Connect to compatible rowing machines for real-time analysis and personalized training programs designed to improve your technique and fitness.
- Personalized training programs
- World-class athlete coaching
- Real-time performance analysis
- AI-driven technique correction
- Hundreds of guided workouts
- Compatibility with major rowing machines
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Workout with your Concept 2, Rogue Echo, WaterRower or FluidRower rowing machine. Be guided by world-class athletes and instructors. Follow structured training programs to improve yourself and your times or just choose your own workout. asensei customizes challenges to meet your capability and pushes you to your potential. asensei rowing guides and monitors your practice on and off your rowing machine. Hundreds of workouts, no need to plan - get a recommendation every time! Structured programs - build strength and fitness alongside skill and technique as you are guided, monitored and corrected by great coaches assisted by your personal AI coach, asensei. asensei rowing talks to the monitor on your rowing machine, analyzes your performance and uses that to inform your practice. Are you losing power at higher stroke rates? Are you losing length when you’re tired? Do you find it hard to hold lower stroke rates consistently? Are you rushing the recovery? Compensating for poor leg drive with over-use of your arms? asensei knows. And she’ll be sure to let you know. Practice. Perfected. FEATURES: PROGRAMS, PERSONALIZED: there's a program for you whether it's a 2km, 6km or 30min challenge you are looking for. Designed to challenge, improve and adapted for you. COACHING, UNPARALLELED: Some of the world´s best coaches. Olympic Gold Medalist Eric Murray, British Rowing, Johan Quie, Shane Farmer of Dark Horse Rowing. Watching, responding, adjusting, encouraging - just as they would live. ANALYSIS, DELIVERED: Row - record - watch - rewind - remember. asensei watches you move, as you move, responds in the moment and evaluates over time. PERFECT FOR: * Beginners - if you are new to rowing learn correct technique and be challenged as you workout. * Intermediate rowers - refresh your skills, learn new tips, get back into the groove and take things to the next level. * High-school or college athletes who wish to get win a seat in the boat, get recruited, or compete nationally and internationally. * Indoor Rowers or Crossfit (TM) athletes who wish to improve their indoor rowing technique and scores. * Getting fitter and stronger, the excitement of a studio fitness class and the attention of a personal trainer REQUIREMENTS: Requires a compatible rowing machine: * Concept 2 with a PM5 performance monitor * Rogue Echo Rower with Bluetooth * WaterRower with Bluetooth S4 monitor, S4+ComModule or NEW PowerPulley Performance Ergo * FluidRower with a Bluetooth console. We connect to the Health app to monitor heart rate on some workouts. WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING: “I was fortunate enough to have great coaches from the very beginning of my rowing career. This meant I wasn’t taking thousands of bad rowing strokes, ingraining bad habits. The potential for asensei to provide quality feedback before bad habits are formed is really exciting", Helen Glover, 2x Olympic Gold Medallist and World #1 Rower. "Just when you thought (sports) technology couldn't get any cooler, along comes asensei", CBS Television "... the next frontier in the fitness tech revolution ... a wildly ambitious goal ... able to guide you through everything from form and recovery to metrics and goals while improving your individual results ... future of personal training", Men's Health Here's what users had to say: "someone keeping an eye on you the whole time is really cool because ... it keeps you honest, keeps you on track in a way that I don't think a coach normally can unless you are doing a one on one session, so it was the benefit of a one on one, with the class dynamic, which I really like!" "It's a cool product. I've never ever seen anything like that. In 5 minutes I learned how to row, I thought I was doing it right, but I wasn't" "(asensei) said don't worry there's a bunch of exercises I'm going to give to you afterwards that are going to help you on that. ... that's amazing. ... this is not just about now, it's like building a relationship."
Hydrow
Access over 5,000 on-and-off rower workouts led by elite athletes filmed in beautiful locations. Track performance, connect with a community, and share achievements. Compatible with Concept2 PM5 rowers for integrated metrics and leaderboards.
- 5,000+ on-and-off rower workouts
- Elite athlete instructors
- Global scenic filming locations
- Performance tracking
- Rowing community features
- Strava and Apple Health integration
- Concept2 PM5 rower compatibility
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Hydrow offers more than just a full-body workout – access over 5,000 on-and-off rower workouts led by elite athletes and filmed in stunning locations around the globe. Feature overview: • Track your performance and stay connected to a passionate rowing community: cheer on fellow rowers, form racing teams, and review racing stats • Share your achievements on Strava • Apple Health integration for further personalization • Now compatible with Concept2 PM5 rowers, Hydrow offers serious rowers the variety they seek, allowing you to pair your iPhone or iPad for in-workout rowing metrics and participate in competitive leaderboards Whether you aim to build strength, improve endurance, or perfect your technique, Hydrow delivers the benefits of rowing wherever you are.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: asensei rowing at none against Hydrow's 1. asensei rowing also leads on review sentiment (76% vs 59%) and iOS requirement (14.0 vs 18.6). Hydrow's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 2 months). On price, rating, ratings volume and monetization model 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
Both are free to download. Hydrow sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $29.99 per month. asensei rowing asks for nothing beyond the download.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.8 for asensei rowing against 4.8 for Hydrow. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 4K and 3.5K respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 76% of asensei rowing's written reviews are positive against 59% of Hydrow's.
asensei rowing ships an update every 2 months, Hydrow every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 7, 2026 and October 15, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | asensei rowing | Hydrow |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.8 (4K ratings) | 4.8 (3.5K ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 76.2% of reviews — better | 59.2% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 4K — better | 3.5K |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Every 3 weeks — better |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch |
| Requires iOS | 14.0 — better | 18.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 95 MB | 186 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | ASensei Inc | Hydrow, Inc. |
Customer experience
asensei rowing
Hydrow
User reviews
asensei rowing
From 4K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Great coaching and feedback
- 🚀 Seamless integration with Concept 2 rower
- 💡 Personalized workouts and performance tracking
- 🤩 Motivating and engaging experience
- 🌟 Excellent customer support
Room to improve
- 🐛 Occasional connectivity issues
- 🕹️ Unintuitive user interface
- 🕰️ Slow workout downloads
- 💾 Limited data tracking and export options
- 🔇 Music volume issues
Hydrow
From 3.5K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Smooth motion
- 🚀 Engaging video coaching
- 👍 Variety of workouts
- 👍 Motivating instructors
- 👍 Convenient for travel
Room to improve
- 🐛 App issues (no iPad support, audio sync, etc.)
- 🔒 Lack of account management features
- 💰 Expensive subscription cost
- 💰 Requires expensive rower hardware
Bugs and requests
asensei rowing
Reported bugs
3 issues- Inconsistent pace and split time calculations
- Workout history not saving properly
- Bluetooth connectivity problems
Requested features
5 requests- Ability to select and customize workout programs
- Integration with Apple Health and Strava
- More detailed performance analytics and progress tracking
- Live/virtual rowing classes and competitions
- Support for more rowing machine models
Hydrow
Reported bugs
3 issues- App crashes during workouts
- Difficulty logging in or syncing account
- Inconsistent video/audio quality
Requested features
4 requests- Ability to search/filter workouts
- More data analytics and tracking
- Integration with other fitness devices/apps
- Ability to manage account on app/website
In-app purchases
asensei rowing
No in-app purchases
Hydrow
- Digital Basic1 Month trial$29.991 Month







