Row Forge vs RowHero
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Row Forge
This app acts as a personal rowing trainer, offering personalized workouts and a scalable training program designed to improve your performance. It tracks your metrics and stats, providing targeted interval training and conditioning programs. Gamified elements like badges add a fun aspect to your fitness journey.
- Personalized signature workouts
- Targeted High Intensity Interval Training
- Effective conditioning program
- Eleven baseline tests
- Build a performance profile
- Earn badges
Read full descriptionHide full description
FORGE A STRONGER ENGINE. Your Concept2 erg gives you numbers. Row Forge turns them into a personal training system: know where you stand, train with purpose, and see the progress. Connect your PM5 over Bluetooth and every session is captured as you row. Then Row Forge does what a spreadsheet never could. It tells you what the numbers mean and what to do next. MEET ROW FORGE INTELLIGENCE • Today's Workout — one clear session, chosen for you from your fitness tests, training history, and campaign progress, with the reasoning behind it. • Post-Workout Analysis — see what each workout meant and what to carry into the next one, grounded in the work Row Forge recorded. • Ask Row Forge — a training conversation that knows your history. Ask what to train, how a session went, or where to focus next. TRAIN WITH A SYSTEM Test. Train. Learn. Improve. Row Forge connects the pieces so every session has a place and a purpose. • Viking Power Profile — establish your baseline, see your strengths and biggest opportunities, and train to targets built from your own results. • Fitness Tests — benchmark the distances that matter and retest to measure the difference. • Signature Workouts — structured sessions with targets set to your ability. • HIIT — interval work with adaptive power targets that move with you. • Campaigns — training blocks that give every session a sequence and a purpose, from your first row to a stronger engine. • Free Row, Free Ski, and Free Cycle — build your own session on any Concept2 erg. • Live session view — watts, pace, stroke rate, heart rate, and interval targets in real time, with your Apple Watch along for the row. • Logbook — your complete performance history with analytics, achievements, and sync with your Concept2 Logbook. • Cold Impact — track cold exposure alongside your training and see how it relates to your rowing. BUILT FOR THE ERG Row Forge is made for Concept2 RowErg, SkiErg, and BikeErg with a PM5 monitor. Pair once and your erg data flows into the app automatically. Your account follows you across iPhone, Android, Apple Watch, and the web. BECOME A BETTER ATHLETE Rowing is a sport of honest numbers. Row Forge helps you understand them, act on them, and prove your progress against your own history. Whether you are chasing a faster 2K, building endurance, or rowing for a stronger life, you will know what to do today and why. MEMBERSHIP Free Row and your logbook are free. Row Forge membership unlocks Row Forge Intelligence, Viking Power Profile, personalized targets, Fitness Tests, Signature Workouts, HIIT, premium campaigns, and performance analytics. Monthly and semi-annual plans are available, and eligible new members can start with a 14-day trial. Membership is an auto-renewing subscription billed to your Apple ID. Your subscription renews automatically unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Manage or cancel any time in your App Store account settings. Prices are shown in the app before purchase. Privacy Policy: https://rowforge.com/privacy Train with purpose. Perform with confidence.
RowHero
This app provides stroke-by-stroke rowing performance data for athletes and coaches, storing results indefinitely. It offers insights into technique and fitness to help users improve their rowing speed and performance.
- Stroke-by-stroke erg results
- Wireless Concept2 PM5 connection
- Permanent workout storage
- Stroke length and potential split metrics
- Personalized improvement insights
- Team performance comparison
Read full descriptionHide full description
Coaches: get 100% accurate, stroke-by-stroke erg results for your team, stored forever Here's how it works: • Before a workout, every athlete quickly connects RowHero to their Concept2 PM5. It's all wireless. • Every piece/interval result then gets sent directly to your app at the end of every piece. • You get access to everything you're used to, plus stroke-by-stroke breakdown of every piece, and new metrics like stroke length and potential split. And because workouts are saved forever, so you get to see your team's progress over time without trying to put together the right set of spreadsheets every single time. Rank results by raw speed or performance improvement to provide opportunities for everyone to shine. Athletes, find personalized ways to get faster As a former youth coach, my goal is to help you be the best competitive rower you can be. Here's what RowHero can do for you: • Never have to wonder about your 2K or 6K PR again. It's all right in the app for you. • Getting faster is all about understanding where you have the biggest area to grow: technique, fitness, and mindset. RowHero can help you identify where to focus based on its stroke length and potential speed metrics. • When you row with a team you can automatically you see how you stack up against others, so you can use your teammates as motivation to keep pushing for more. Stats are only part of the equation, but if you're driven to improve, you can build your confidence tremendously with what RowHero shares with you. Are you in? Questions, feedback, suggestions? Check out our website https://rowhero.com or contact us at support@rowhero.com. We are very open to helping you create the rowing data solution you need!
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: RowHero at 4.6 against Row Forge's 3.9. RowHero also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 6) and review sentiment (100% vs 68%). Row Forge's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and device support (4 vs 2). On price, ratings volume and update cadence 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. Row Forge sells 6 in-app purchases, starting at $8.99 per month. RowHero asks for nothing beyond the download.
RowHero holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 3.9. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 35 and 19 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 68% of Row Forge's written reviews are positive against 100% of RowHero's.
Row Forge ships an update fortnightly, RowHero every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 25, 2026 and June 1, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Row Forge | RowHero |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.9 (35 ratings) | 4.6 (19 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 67.9% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 35 — better | 19 |
| Update frequency | Fortnightly — better | Every 3 weeks |
| Ads | No — better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Freemium | Ad-supported — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch — better | iPhone, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.1 | 13.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 75 MB | 38 MB |
| Age rating | 17+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Row Forge LLC | RowHero, LLC |
Customer experience
Row Forge
RowHero
In-app purchases
Row Forge
- Monthly1 Month trial$8.991 Month
- Row Monthly Subscription$29.991 Month
- Row Monthly with Two Week Trial14 Days trial$29.991 Month
Show 3 moreShow fewer
- Annual1 Month trial$89.991 Year
- Regular Six-Month Membership$143.996 Months
- Six-Months with Two Week Trial14 Days trial$143.996 Months
RowHero
No in-app purchases







