Katalyst vs WorkoutSmith
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Katalyst
This app enhances a revolutionary workout system using Electro Muscle Stimulation (EMS) to engage all muscles simultaneously. It offers a full-body workout in just 20 minutes, with zero joint load. Access diverse workout programs and control intensity for personalized training.
- Electro Muscle Stimulation (EMS) training
- Full-body engagement
- 20-minute workouts
- Zero joint load
- Diverse workout library (strength, power, cardio, recovery)
- Adjustable impulse intensity
- Offline workout access
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The Katalyst App is the companion to the Katalyst Suit, a wearable training system powered by advanced fitness technology. Together, they deliver a full-body workout no app can deliver on its own. A Katalyst Suit is required to train. The Katalyst Suit is an FDA-cleared, patented system that uses Electro Muscle Stimulation (EMS) to engage your major muscle groups at once. Low-frequency impulses mimic the signals your brain sends to contract a muscle. Pair them with simple bodyweight movements and every rep works harder, engaging up to 90% of your muscle fibers, including the deep back stabilizers most workouts miss, with zero load on your joints. ALREADY HAVE A KATALYST SUIT The app is free. Log in or create your profile for unlimited access. NEW TO KATALYST Explore the app and preview the workouts. Get your system at katalyst.com. WORKOUT MODES FOR EVERY LEVEL Programs built by professional trainers, from your first session to elite. - Strength: complete full-body strength in less time - Power: explosive sessions that recruit fast-twitch fibers - Cardio: lower-frequency sessions designed to build endurance, with quick recovery for daily use - Recovery: active and passive modes with massaging impulses to finish like the pros - Freestyle mode: Choose a mode, set your intensity, and train your own way. TRAIN LED OR TRAIN SOLO In guided classes, your trainer adjusts intensity in real time so you can focus on the movement. Prefer your own pace? Run independent programs on your terms. ALWAYS IN CONTROL Dial intensity up or down, or target a specific muscle group, at any moment. How hard you train is always your call. TRAIN ANYWHERE Stream any workout on demand, or download sessions ahead of time for when you'll be offline. BUILT FOR YOUR SETUP - Apple Watch: adjust overall intensity, pause, and resume workouts right from your wrist - AirPlay: put your instructor on the big screen and use your iPhone or iPad as the remote Get more strength and more out of life with Katalyst Suit workouts. katalyst.com
WorkoutSmith
Log workouts, track steps, and compete with friends in custom challenges. Features an extensive exercise library, RPG-style motivation, and Apple Watch integration. Offers optional AI coaching and real-time race building.
- Log every workout set
- Track steps and set goals
- Build custom workout plans
- Compete in step and workout challenges with friends
- Extensive exercise library with video links
- RPG-style progress incentives
- Apple Watch support
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I built this app for my family and me, but was advised to share it. I wanted an easy-to-use app on my phone and watch to log every set in structured workout programs built by me, AI, or a real trainer. Also, my mom missed our old step challenges after the app we used removed them; they were fun, and we all walked more. Finally, motivation for me is an issue, so I wanted some sort of progress incentives in an RPG like format. This App: - Syncs with Apple Health for steps and metrics. - Log every set, track steps, build custom plans, share workouts, invite friends and create custom challenges (for steps and workouts) for them. - Set your step goal, earn badges and passport stamps, and create a virtual walking journey to real destinations that turns your miles into a trip toward landmarks. - Expansive exercise library with over 350 exercises, including 30+ Yoga Poses. All have short descriptions and public video links to watch how to do them. Catalog searchable by name, muscle, and equipment. Build your multi-day exercise program with custom exercises, rests, sets and reps counts, leverage heart-rate zone targets, or time based as applicable. - Create your workout plan in the App or on a Google Spreadsheet (your account). Edit it there, and import your changes back. - Invite your friends to compete with them on workouts. Challenges are free and support eight metrics: workouts, tonnage, sets and points, plus steps, distance and running time from your watch. Everyone is scored against their own daily goal, so a beginner and a marathoner race honestly. Keep private groups of friends, cheer somebody mid-set, and climb eight weekly league divisions. - Race in real life by building a course of up to twelve stops anywhere. Races are private and invite-only: people you ask, or people who used your link and whom you approved. The board shows each racer's last checked-in stop and when they reached it. - RPG-style game underneath with points, levels, stats, achievement ladders, and a trophy case for a little extra motivation if you need it. - Apple Watch support to run the workout session: log sets, see live heart-rate zones, pause, resume and mark a segment. It can run a whole workout on its own with no phone nearby. - Coaching: A real coach can build and share an exercise plan with you. Adopt their program, train it, and share back how it went, one toggle per person, and off until you turn it on. Your coach can then see your shared progress and provide feedback. - Muscle map colored by what you trained this week, a lighter week offered when your lifts slip, an opt-in view of your overnight heart rate, HRV and sleep, and progress charts going back as far as you do. - AI: Bring your own or don't use it at all. The optional AI coach runs on a free Google Gemini key you fetch yourself and paste into Settings. We do not sell you AI and we never charge for tokens: the key stays on your device. Everything else here works with no key at all. - Private by Default: Your training history, health data, and home location stay on your phone. Your home is a coordinate, never an address, and it never leaves the device. No feed and no messaging, by design. Social features do nothing until you sign in, sharing is opt-in per metric, and adding a friend shares nothing. Export everything as JSON or delete it anytime. - Free, no subscription: steps, streaks, journeys and routes, friends, groups, challenges, history, progress and export. - Two Plans (renew monthly until cancelled): - WorkoutSmith Premium, $4.99 a month, adds your daily training session, plan building, races and leagues, and coaching up to two people. - WorkoutSmith Coach, $24.99 a month, is for trainers who coach more than two people: it adds their plans, their progress and their shared workouts in one place. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://mig1278.github.io/workoutsmith/privacy
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Katalyst at none against WorkoutSmith's 2. Katalyst also leads on ratings volume (59 vs 1). WorkoutSmith's advantage is update cadence (every 3 days vs every 3 weeks) and rating (5.0 vs 4.6). On price, ads, monetization model 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
Both are free to download. WorkoutSmith sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Katalyst asks for nothing beyond the download.
WorkoutSmith holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Katalyst has 59 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 81% of Katalyst's written reviews are positive against 100% of WorkoutSmith's.
Katalyst ships an update every 3 weeks, WorkoutSmith every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on November 3, 2026 and November 6, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Katalyst | WorkoutSmith |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.6 (59 ratings) | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 80.6% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 59 — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks | Every 3 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — better | iPhone, Apple Watch |
| Requires iOS | 16.0 — better | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 155 MB | 30 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 12+ |
| Developer | Katalyst Interactive Inc. | Michael Lee |
Customer experience
Katalyst
WorkoutSmith
In-app purchases
Katalyst
No in-app purchases
WorkoutSmith
- WorkoutSmith Premium3 Months trial$4.991 Month
- WorkoutSmith Coach3 Months trial$24.991 Month









