Comparison

PoolFit vs Pawl

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

Head to head
About

PoolFit

Engage in a variety of low-impact water exercises and in-home fitness routines led by expert instructors. Access over 225 workouts, download them for offline use, and create custom playlists to achieve your fitness goals.

Highlights
  • Over 225 water and in-home workouts
  • Workouts for all fitness levels
  • Downloadable videos for offline use
  • Customizable workout playlists
  • Led by certified fitness instructors
  • Low-impact exercises
Features
Read full description

Exercise in your own pool. Advanced to beginner, achieve your fitness goals with a wide variety of low-impact, challenging water workouts led by top instructors. OVER 225 POOL & IN-HOME WORKOUTS PoolFit currently has over 225 water exercise workouts to choose from. There are also in-home fitness workouts for when you can’t get in the pool. Two to three new videos are posted each month. Select from a wide variety of at-home water workouts, including water aerobics, deep water fitness, aqua boot camp, pool HIIT workouts, aqua arthritis, water walking, aqua Pilates & yoga, as well as pool workouts with noodles, foam dumbbells, Aqualogix equipment, webbed gloves and more. DOWNLOAD & GO Select your daily pool workout video, download to your device and then head to the pool and follow along with water fitness classes led by trained experts. NEW! You can now create a playlist of your favorite workouts that will play consecutively. Visit the PoolFit Mobile App page and watch some short video tutorials on how to use the Poolfit App features and resources, along with tips for exercising poolside with mobile & tablet devices, as well as Chromecast and Airplay enabled TVs. TOP WATER FITNESS INSTRUCTORS All PoolFit videos are led by certified fitness professionals, many of whom educate water fitness instructors across the globe. PoolFit is all about water exercise workouts for all fitness levels and we strictly adhere to safety and industry guidelines. TRY THE APP FOR FREE You can subscribe and receive a 7 day free trial. Just want to dip your toes into PoolFit? You can try out 8 sample workouts for FREE before subscribing for the trial period. SUBSCRIPTION/7 Day Trial & PRICING TERMS PoolFit offers two auto-renewing options: $15.99 monthly $159.99 yearly (12 months for the price of 10, or $13.34/month billed annually ) These prices are for subscribers in the USA and pricing may vary in other countries due to currency conversion. The subscription will automatically renew after your trial period until you cancel. You can cancel at any time in your iTunes Account Settings. You must cancel at least 24 hours before your next renewal date to avoid charges. Read more about our terms of use here: Terms & Conditions: https://poolfit.tv/terms-and-conditions Privacy Policy: https://poolfit.tv/privacy-policy

About

Pawl

This app acts as a commitment device to help users break unwanted habits by blocking distracting apps and websites. It utilizes physical friction, like a security key, and a mandatory cool-off period to make unblocking difficult, turning impulsive choices into deliberate ones.

Highlights
  • Block distracting apps and websites
  • Requires physical security key to unlock
  • 15-minute cool-off period before unblocking
  • Clean-day streak tracking
  • Optional sponsor for accountability
  • Relapse log for pattern analysis
Features
Read full description

Block gambling sites, adult content, or distracting apps—and make them impossible to unlock without a security key. Pawl turns willpower into physical friction. Pawl is a commitment device for the habits you can't stop on your own. It blocks the apps and websites you choose — gambling, adult content, or anything you keep reaching for — using Apple's Screen Time, and makes unblocking deliberately hard. Every other blocker has the same flaw: you can turn it off the second you crave it. A passcode you set is a passcode you can remove. Pawl replaces willpower with physical friction. HOW IT WORKS • Shield it. Choose what to block — sportsbook, casino, and crypto sites and apps; adult sites; or any distracting app. Pawl shields them with Screen Time and shows a calm "Locked by Pawl" screen with no unlock button on it. • Lock it behind a key you can't reach. Unblocking requires a physical USB-C security key (FIDO2). Put it somewhere out of reach — a drawer at a friend's, a locked box, anywhere that isn't your pocket at midnight. No key in hand, no unblock. • Cool off first. Even with the key, unblocking starts a 15-minute wait before anything lifts. The urge passes, the block holds, and it re-locks on its own. BUILT FOR THE HARD MOMENTS • A clean-day streak that survives deleting and reinstalling the app. • A one-tap "tough moment" button: breathe, pause, and call someone you trust — never a shortcut to unblock. • A relapse log to see your patterns without shame. OPTIONAL: A SPONSOR Add a trusted person as your sponsor. They approve your unlock requests and are alerted if your protection drops — so you're not doing this alone. HONEST ABOUT THE LIMITS Pawl is friction, not a cage. You could still delete the app or switch off Screen Time, and Pawl says so plainly instead of pretending otherwise. The point is to turn the impulsive choice into a deliberate one. For most people, a key placed out of reach is the difference that finally sticks. PRIVACY Pawl blocks through Apple's Screen Time (Family Controls), which gives the app only anonymous tokens — it never sees which specific apps or sites you use. Your streak stays on your device and in your own iCloud. Signing in and adding a sponsor are optional. The right friction makes quitting possible. FREE CORE, OPTIONAL PRO Everything above — blocking, the security-key unlock, cooling-off, streak, the tough-moment tools — is free, and being a sponsor for someone else is always free. Pawl Pro (subscription) adds the accountability layer: linking your own sponsor who approves your unlocks and gets protection-drop alerts. $29.99/year (7-day free trial) or $3.99/month; auto-renews until cancelled. The one thing you'll need separately is a USB-C security key (FIDO2) — any standard one works. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://getpawl.com/privacy

Screenshots

PoolFit4 screens
Pawl4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Pawl at none against PoolFit's 2. Pawl also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.8) and update cadence (weekly vs every 2 weeks). PoolFit's advantage is ratings volume (457 vs 1). On price, review sentiment, 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. PoolFit sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $15.99 per month. Pawl asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Pawl holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: PoolFit has 457 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 97% of PoolFit's written reviews are positive against 100% of Pawl's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

PoolFit ships an update every 2 weeks, Pawl weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 9, 2026 and October 7, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
PoolFit versus Pawl: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPoolFitPawl
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (457 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews96.6% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings457 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeksWeekly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationSubscriptionFreemium — better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS18.618.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size33 MB5 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperFitmotivation Inc.JASON EVAN PAGE

Customer experience

PoolFit

All ratings457 ratings
Positive95.8%
Neutral1.3%
Negative2.8%
Written reviews235 reviews
Positive96.6%
Neutral1.7%
Negative1.7%

Pawl

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

PoolFit

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Freezing or crashing during workouts
  • Incompatibility with older devices or operating systems
  • Difficulty downloading or accessing certain videos

Requested features

4 requests
  • More high-intensity cardio options
  • Ability to easily browse and organize workouts
  • Support for Apple TV or other smart TV platforms
  • Shorter warm-up and cool-down options

Pawl

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

2 purchases

PoolFit

Subscriptions2
  • PoolFit Monthly7 Days trial$15.991 Month
  • PoolFit Annual7 Days trial$159.991 Year
None

Pawl

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is PoolFit free?
PoolFit is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Pawl free?
Pawl is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, PoolFit or Pawl?
Pawl is rated higher. PoolFit averages 4.8 out of 5 from 457 ratings, while Pawl averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do PoolFit or Pawl have ads?
Neither PoolFit nor Pawl shows ads.
Which is updated more often, PoolFit or Pawl?
PoolFit ships an update every 2 weeks, and Pawl weekly. Most recently, PoolFit was updated on October 9, 2026 and Pawl on October 7, 2026.

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