Comparison

RunSmart vs StrideOn

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

Head to head
About

RunSmart

This app provides personalized running plans adapted by AI and physical therapists to meet your unique goals and schedule. It offers expert-designed strength training, yoga, and stretching routines to enhance performance and prevent injuries. Track your progress with detailed analytics and integrate with popular fitness devices.

Highlights
  • Personalized training plans
  • Expert-designed workouts
  • Flexible scheduling
  • Progress tracking
  • Strength training
  • Yoga and stretching routines
  • Device integrations
Features
Read full description

Four training days aren't a limitation. It's a choice — and a legitimate one. RunSmart is built by Steve Gonser, PT DPT, a Doctor of Physical Therapy, who started the platform after watching runners consistently get hurt doing what other apps told them to do. The goal here isn't to turn you into an elite athlete. It's to keep you running next year, and the year after that. HOW YOUR PLAN IS BUILT → Your current mileage, not a generic starting point → Your race date and goal, not a one-size schedule → PT-informed load progression that builds fitness without stacking risk WHAT'S IN YOUR PLAN → Running workouts with paces tied to your current fitness → Strength training built for runners, not the gym floor → Mobility work that addresses what runners actually tighten up → Run Club — share runs, see what your training community is doing 4.8 stars. Used by runners who've been hurt before and can't afford to be again. "What a great day! Thanks for keeping me running strong and injury-free!" - Tammy "I can’t say THANK YOU enough. The training plans and strength training has kept me injury free and running strong!" - Sheila "I followed it exactly as Steve has it written out and I’m happy to report I’ve been running a whole month now with no pain." - Charlotte Distances: 5K · 8K · 10K · Half Marathon · Full Marathon · Maintenance Integrations: Apple Watch · Garmin · COROS Free to start. No credit card. No expiry. Still running in year five. That's the point. Terms of Use: https://runsmartonline.com/terms-of-use/ Privacy Policy: https://runsmartonline.com/privacy-policy

About

StrideOn

This app helps runners achieve their training goals by offering personalized coaching, structured maintenance plans, and guided workouts. It syncs with popular devices and provides essential stats to improve performance.

Highlights
  • Personalized coaching options
  • Customizable training plans
  • Syncs with Garmin and COROS
  • Guided workouts with pace tracking
  • Workout builder
  • Training groups with chat and leaderboards
  • Essential performance insights
Features
Read full description

Free your mind and run free. Sometimes we run just for the love of running. Other times, we need a plan to tackle those race and training goals or even a hectic life. Let StrideOn eliminate the guesswork and save that mental energy for your workout! Coaching: You can choose to work with a coach, who will manage your training calendar. Maintenance Plan: If you want the structure of a training plan while not training for anything specific, you can start a maintenance plan by telling us your ideal base week of training, and we'll take it from there to build out a repeating 4-week plan that includes a variety of speed workouts and gradually increase in distance. TRACK COMPLETED ACTIVITIES Connect your Garmin or COROS device to sync completed activities to your calendar and activity feed. For other devices, we can capture your data via Strava. GUIDED WORKOUTS StrideOn can sync structured workouts to your Garmin or COROS device to guide you through workouts and keep you on pace. WORKOUT LIBRARY Built-In Workouts: Spice up your routine by dropping a StrideOn workout to your calendar. It will sync to your Garmin device to keep you on pace. New workouts added weekly! Build Your Own: Use our insanely easy workout builder to create your own workouts with just a few taps. You can even build random workouts, where the hard and easy intervals are created for you based on the level of difficulty you choose! STATS & INSIGHTS Say goodbye to endless layers of data, metrics and analytics that you’ll never understand or put to use. StrideOn only gives you what you need to know to track you progress and help you run smarter and stronger. TRAINING GROUPS Create or join training groups where you'll have your own group chat area, leaderboard and activity feed. MANY MORE FEATURES This is only a preview of what the StrideOn is all about.

Screenshots

RunSmart4 screens
StrideOn4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: StrideOn at none against RunSmart's 7. StrideOn also leads on ads (none vs shown). RunSmart's advantage is update cadence (every 2 days vs every 2 months) and ratings volume (117 vs 3). On price, rating, review sentiment 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. RunSmart sells 7 in-app purchases, starting at $15.00 per month. StrideOn asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

RunSmart holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: RunSmart has 117 ratings behind it against 3, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 98% of RunSmart's written reviews are positive against 100% of StrideOn's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

RunSmart ships an update every 2 days, StrideOn every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on September 20, 2026 and September 17, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
RunSmart versus StrideOn: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterRunSmartStrideOn
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (117 ratings) — better4.7 (3 ratings)
Positive reviews97.5% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings117 — better3
Update frequencyEvery 2 days — betterEvery 2 months
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch — betteriPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.115.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size44 MB48 MB
Age rating12+9+
DeveloperRUNSMART ONLINE, LLCLouis Green

Customer experience

RunSmart

All ratings117 ratings
Positive96.6%
Neutral0.9%
Negative2.6%
Written reviews80 reviews
Positive97.5%
Neutral2.5%
Negative0.0%

StrideOn

All ratings3 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

7 purchases

RunSmart

Subscriptions7
  • Monthly Renew - $15$15.001 Month
  • Free Trial + Monthly7 Days trial$15.001 Month
  • RunSmart Pro - Monthly$15.001 Month
Show 4 more
  • Annual Membership - $99/year7 Days trial$99.001 Year
  • Annual Renew - $119$119.001 Year
  • Free Trial + Annual Membership7 Days trial$119.001 Year
  • RunSmart Pro - Yearly$119.001 Year
None

StrideOn

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is RunSmart free?
RunSmart is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is StrideOn free?
StrideOn is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, RunSmart or StrideOn?
RunSmart is rated higher. RunSmart averages 4.8 out of 5 from 117 ratings, while StrideOn averages 4.7 from 3 ratings.
Do RunSmart or StrideOn have ads?
RunSmart shows ads; StrideOn does not.
Which is updated more often, RunSmart or StrideOn?
RunSmart ships an update every 2 days, and StrideOn every 2 months. Most recently, RunSmart was updated on September 20, 2026 and StrideOn on September 17, 2026.

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