Workout Buddy vs Shrug
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Workout Buddy
This app provides audio cues for workout timers, allowing users to track exercise durations without needing to look at their screen. It announces time intervals and high scores through audio prompts, ideal for intense physical activity.
- Audio cues for workout timing
- Spoken time intervals
- High score notifications
- Hands-free operation
- Designed for intense exercise
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Can't see the screen of your phone while doing a difficult exercise, don't worry! Workout Buddy 's got you covered. Just add the exercise, put your AirPods in and start the timer. Workout Buddy will call out the time every five seconds and also when you achieve a new highscore. Icons made by Freepik ("https://www.flaticon.com/authors/freepik")
Shrug
Easily track your gym lifts to achieve progressive overload and see better results. This simple, free application offers all its features without any subscriptions.
- Track gym lifts
- Progressive overload tracking
- Simple interface
- All features free
- No subscription required
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Shrug helps you see better results from your time spent in the gym by making it easy to track your lifts so that you're performing progressive overload - the gradual increases in weight, reps, or other measures of intensity that force your body to adapt. Shrug is simple, free, and doesn't hide any of its features behind a subscription.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Shrug at 4.6 against Workout Buddy's 3.0. Shrug also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 3) and ratings volume (9 vs 1). On price, update cadence, ads and monetization model 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. Workout Buddy sells 3 one-off in-app purchases. Shrug asks for nothing beyond the download.
Shrug holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 3.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Shrug has 9 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.
Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on June 21, 2026 and August 31, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Workout Buddy | Shrug |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.0 (1 ratings) | 4.6 (9 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | — | 80.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 1 | 9 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Every 2 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 16.0 | 13.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 4 MB | 17 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Levente Vig | Super Symmetry LLC |
Customer experience
Workout Buddy
Shrug
In-app purchases
Workout Buddy
- Small Tip$0.99
- Medium Tip$2.99
- Large Tip$4.99
Shrug
No in-app purchases
