Comparison

Row House vs Start Rowing

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

Head to head
About

Row House

This app connects you to a boutique fitness studio offering energetic, low-impact rowing workouts. View your personalized home screen, book classes and rowers, discover new coaches, and track your progress. Join waitlists and manage your membership all within the app.

Highlights
  • Personalized home screen
  • Class and rower reservation
  • Membership management
  • Coach and workout discovery
  • Waitlist functionality
  • Workout tracking
  • Apple Watch integration
Features
Read full description

Row House is a boutique fitness studio that offers a collection of rowing-based workouts guaranteed to make you sweat. Our immersive, energetic, low-impact workouts are designed to shred and tone your body in just 45-minutes. View your personalized home screen - Your customized home screen focuses on the information you want to see - View your upcoming classes - See your weekly goal progression - Discover new coaches Reserve classes and rowers - Filter, favorite and find the perfect class at your Row House - Book a rowing class directly in the app - Reserve your favorite rowing machine - View your upcoming classes in your schedule - Manage your membership in the app Discover new workouts, coaches, and studios - Find new types of rowing workouts - View coaches at your studio - Use the interactive map to find a nearby studio Join a waitlist - Is your favorite coach or class 100% booked? Join the waitlist and get informed if a rower becomes available Workout Tracking - Apple Watch app allow you to view your schedule, check-in for class, and track your Row House workouts - Integrates with the Apple Health app so you can view all your progress in one convenient place Get rowing!

About

Start Rowing

This app provides structured rowing machine training plans for all experience levels, from beginner to advanced. It guides users through workouts with audio cues and a metronome, helping them build strength, burn calories, and improve rowing technique. Track progress and integrate with Apple Health for a comprehensive fitness journey.

Highlights
  • Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced training plans
  • Audio coach guidance
  • Rowing metronome
  • Workout logging and progress tracking
  • Apple Health integration
  • Session-based Challenger workouts
Features
Read full description

Start Rowing without any previous experience needed. Get in shape, build strength and burn calories. Our rowing app's workout plans will train you for the next stage in your rowing journey. Never rowed before? Start with our beginner plan. In 8 weeks you’ll be comfortable rowing 2000 meters with correct technique. Experienced erger? Use our intermediate and advanced plans to improve your overall fitness while increasing your rowing capacity. Start Rowing will guide you step by step, letting you know when to change rowing intensity and when to rest. Each plan is designed to slowly become more challenging so your body can adapt and gain endurance while minimising any risk of injury. Spend just 10-30 minutes a day, 2-5 days a week. You’ll be fitter, stronger and a much better rower! Features - Choose from Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced training plans. - Session based Challenger workouts to exercise your whole body. - Audio coach to guide your through your rowing workout. - Rowing metronome to help you keep in time. - Log your workouts and keep track of your overall progress. - Share your progress. - APPLE HEALTH INTEGRATION: Connect your workouts to Health App to track your daily activity. Legal Disclaimer This app and any information given by it are for educational purposes only. They are not intended nor implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice. You should always consult your healthcare provider before beginning any fitness program. If you upgrade to a premium Start Rowing subscription, payment will be charged to your iTunes account at confirmation of purchase. Your subscription renews automatically unless cancelled at least 24 hours prior to the end of the current period. There is no increase in cost when renewing. Subscriptions can be managed and auto-renewal turned off in Account Settings in iTunes after purchase. Once purchased, the current period cannot be cancelled. Any unused portion of a free trial period is forfeited if you choose to purchase a premium subscription. Find the full terms and conditions at https://www.vigour.fitness/terms, and our privacy policy at https://www.vigour.fitness/privacy.

Screenshots

Row House4 screens
Start Rowing4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: Start Rowing at none against Row House's shown. Start Rowing also leads on update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 5 weeks). Row House's advantage is ratings volume (8.3K vs 681) and monetization model (ad-supported vs free with in-app purchases). On price, rating, review sentiment 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. Row House sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $19.99 per month and Start Rowing sells 7 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per 7 days. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Row House holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 4.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Row House has 8.3K ratings behind it against 681, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 69% of Row House's written reviews are positive against 73% of Start Rowing's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Row House ships an update every 5 weeks, Start Rowing every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 24, 2026 and September 11, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Row House versus Start Rowing: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterRow HouseStart Rowing
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.9 (8.3K ratings) — better4.7 (681 ratings)
Positive reviews69.0% of reviews73.2% of reviews — better
Number of ratings8.3K — better681
Update frequencyEvery 5 weeksEvery 2 weeks — better
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationAd-supported — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch — betteriPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS13.0 — better15.6
Further details — not scored
Size145 MB49 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperExtraordinary Brands, LLCVigour Group Ltd

Customer experience

Row House

All ratings8,090 ratings
Positive97.7%
Neutral0.7%
Negative1.6%
Written reviews87 reviews
Positive69.0%
Neutral9.2%
Negative21.8%

Start Rowing

All ratings681 ratings
Positive95.0%
Neutral2.9%
Negative2.1%
Written reviews97 reviews
Positive73.2%
Neutral9.3%
Negative17.5%

User reviews

Row House

From 8.3K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Engaging and professional coaches
  • 🚀 Variety of classes and workouts
  • 🚀 Multiple classes throughout the day
  • 👍 Great fitness application
  • 👍 Helpful and friendly staff

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Inconsistent stats display
  • 🐛 Unreliable Apple Watch integration
  • 🐛 Buggy app updates
  • 🐛 Confusing performance metrics
  • 🐛 Difficult to switch between studios

Start Rowing

From 681 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Helpful for beginners
  • 🚀 Structured workout plans
  • 👍 Easy to follow
  • 👍 Enjoyable and motivating
  • 🚀 Useful metronome and pacing features

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Connectivity issues (blank screen, spinning circle)
  • 🔋 High battery drain
  • 💰 Misleading about free access, requires subscription
  • 👎 Limited customization and flexibility
  • 👎 Inconsistent performance (stroke rate changes, screen shutoff)

Bugs and requests

Row House

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • App crashes and fails to load
  • Booked classes not showing up
  • Apple Watch app issues

Requested features

4 requests
  • Ability to update login information
  • More endurance-focused rowing classes
  • Ability to follow friends and compete
  • Integration with rowing machine metrics

Start Rowing

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Blank screen during workouts
  • Inconsistent stroke rate changes
  • Automatic screen shutoff during workouts

Requested features

5 requests
  • Allow custom workout creation
  • Improve volume control for metronome and audio
  • Add more advanced workout options
  • Enhance user interface and navigation
  • Improve sync and data tracking across devices

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Row House

Subscriptions2
  • GO Monthly Subscription7 Days trial$19.991 Month
  • All-GO Monthly Subscription7 Days trial$29.991 Month
7 purchases

Start Rowing

Subscriptions6
  • Start Rowing Weekly$4.997 Days
  • Premium Monthly$9.991 Month
  • Premium Monthly2 variants$14.991 Month
Show 3 more
  • Premium Yearly$79.991 Year
  • Premium Yearly7 Days trial$79.991 Year
  • Yearly Premium7 Days trial$99.991 Year
One-time1
  • Lifetime Access$179.99

Questions

Is Row House free?
Row House is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Start Rowing free?
Start Rowing is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Row House or Start Rowing?
Row House is rated higher. Row House averages 4.9 out of 5 from 8.3K ratings, while Start Rowing averages 4.7 from 681 ratings.
Do Row House or Start Rowing have ads?
Row House shows ads; Start Rowing does not.
Which is updated more often, Row House or Start Rowing?
Row House ships an update every 5 weeks, and Start Rowing every 2 weeks. Most recently, Row House was updated on September 24, 2026 and Start Rowing on September 11, 2026.

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