Hydrow vs Watta
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
Watta
Effortlessly log your rowing, biking, and skiing workouts by simply taking a photo of your machine's screen. AI automatically extracts your performance data, organizing it into a comprehensive training log. Connect with your club, compete on leaderboards, and share your progress with teammates.
- AI photo data extraction
- Automatic workout logging
- Support for Concept2 monitors
- Manual workout entry
- Training history and trends
- Club and squad features
- Leaderboards and competition
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Free. Photograph your Concept2 PM5, PM4 or PM3 after a piece and Watta logs the whole workout: no typing, no cables. Every session is scored 0–100 and kept in your training log, and can go straight to Strava. SNAP YOUR ERG. WATTA LOGS IT. Take a photo of the PM5 summary screen, or pick one from your camera roll. Watta reads distance, time, average split, stroke rate and every interval, plus watts, heart rate, calories and drag factor when the monitor shows them. You check the numbers before anything is saved. Photograph several screens (summary, splits, heart rate) and Watta reads them as one workout. EVERY SESSION SCORED 0–100 The Effort Score rates how hard you really worked, from four parts: • Cardiac Load: your average heart rate against your heart-rate reserve • Work Output: watts and duration, scaled for your body weight • Pacing: how even your splits were • Economy: watts per stroke Zones: Recovery, Building, Training and Peak. HEART RATE ZONES Pair a strap to the PM5 so heart rate shows on the screen, and Watta labels each piece by zone using your resting and max heart rate. YOUR WHOLE TRAINING LOG Every workout in one place, with personal bests for every standard distance on each machine, progress charts, streaks and achievement badges. Import the sessions you upload to the Concept2 Logbook. STRAVA Connect Strava and turn on auto-sync, and every workout you log in Watta is posted there too. NEW: SEND WORKOUTS TO YOUR PM5 Got a PM5? Build a workout in Watta (a 2k test, an interval set, a steady piece), save it to your workout library, and tap Start on my PM5. Watta sets it up on the monitor over Bluetooth, ready to row. Then snap the screen when you're done. COACHING Coaches keep a library of sessions, build training plans of up to 12 weeks, and send them to individual athletes or a whole boat. Athletes accept a session, row it, snap the result and mark it done, and the coach sees how it went against the plan. Invite rowers by email or with a crew code, even before they have Watta. CLUBS AND SQUADS Join your club with an invite code, train with your squad, see their workouts in your feed, and compare on club and squad leaderboards. BUILT FOR CONCEPT2 Works with the RowErg, SkiErg and BikeErg, on PM5, PM4 and PM3 monitors. Sending workouts over Bluetooth needs a PM5. Photos of other brands of rower aren't read automatically, so enter those sessions by hand. Free to download. Every erg matters. Watta is a training log, not a medical device. Talk to your doctor before starting a new exercise programme.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Watta at none against Hydrow's 1. Watta also leads on iOS requirement (15.1 vs 18.6). Hydrow's advantage is ratings volume (3.6K vs 2). On price, rating, update cadence and ads 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. Watta asks for nothing beyond the download.
Watta holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Hydrow has 3.6K ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two.
Hydrow ships an update every 3 weeks, Watta every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 13, 2026 and November 9, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Hydrow | Watta |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.8 (3.6K ratings) | 5.0 (2 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 59.2% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 3.6K — better | 2 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks | Every 2 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — better | iPhone, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 18.6 | 15.1 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 187 MB | 38 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Hydrow, Inc. | STEPHEN CHRISTOPHER MILTON |
Customer experience
Hydrow
Watta
Bugs and requests
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
Watta
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Hydrow
- Digital Basic1 Month trial$29.991 Month
Watta
No in-app purchases






