Comparison

True Pace vs Ardo

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

Head to head
About

True Pace

Calculate your race finishing time with dynamic pacing strategies. Visualize your pace changes and plan your race with mile-by-mile notes. Share your race plans with friends or coaches.

Highlights
  • Calculate finishing times with variable paces
  • Compare different pacing strategies
  • Graphically visualize pace changes
  • Add mile-by-mile race notes
  • Share race plans via PDF or app-to-app
  • Supports 5K to marathon distances
Features
Read full description

Most pace calculators assume you’ll run the same pace for the entire race. Real races rarely work that way. True Pace helps you build a race plan with paces that can vary by mile or kilometer, so you can see how hills, fueling, fatigue, strategy, and late-race surges affect your finish time. With True Pace 4.5, race planning can also include the course itself. Choose from an included library of selected major race courses, see the course outline and elevation profile, and build a Course-aware pacing plan that adjusts your target splits for climbs and descents. For your own races, you can attach a GPX file to add a course outline, elevation details, and, when usable elevation data is available, Course-aware pacing. With True Pace you can: • Plan even, positive, negative, step-based, or Course-aware pacing strategies • Choose an included race course and start planning faster • Import GPX files for custom race courses • See course outlines, elevation profiles, total gain/loss, and per-split elevation • Adjust individual miles or kilometers • Send your race or training-run pace targets to the Workout app on Apple Watch • Compare different race plans without starting over • Account for hills, water stops, fueling, and key course landmarks • See your pacing plan visually with an interactive Paceline graph • Add notes to any split • Export or print race plans as PDFs • Share saved races with friends, coaches, or other True Pace users • Plan common race distances including 5K, 10K, 10 mile, half marathon, marathon, and custom distances Course-Aware Pacing Course-aware pacing starts with your flat-equivalent pace, then adjusts your split targets based on the course profile. Use it to understand where a hilly course may naturally slow you down, where descents may help, and how those changes affect your estimated finish time. Course Profiles Included race courses can show the shape of the course, elevation gain and loss, and elevation details for each split. If you are planning a local race, trail race, or any event that is not in the included library, you can attach a GPX file from Files. Pacing Strategies True Pace makes it easy to test different ways to run the same race. Want to know what happens if you run steady through mile 20, then pick up the pace for the final 10K? Want to compare that against starting more conservatively and getting faster every few miles? True Pace lets you build, duplicate, and adjust those plans with very little data entry. Paceline The Paceline graph gives you a quick visual view of how your pace changes over the course of the race. For races with course data, you can also show elevation on the graph, then swipe across it to inspect individual splits and understand exactly where your plan gets faster, slower, climbs, or descends. Race Notes Add notes to any mile or kilometer so your plan includes more than numbers. Mark climbs, turns, water stops, gels, landmarks, or reminders for the moments you know will matter. Sharing and Printing Saved races can be shared with other True Pace users, sent to friends or coaches, exported as PDFs, or printed for race day. True Pace was built by an independent runner who wanted a better way to plan races than spreadsheets and generic calculators. You can use the app for free, with a one-time purchase available if you want to save unlimited races.

About

Ardo

Features
Read full description

Ardo is the interval timer with an AI coach built in. Tell it your goal, your gear and how long you have — and it builds a custom interval workout, names every exercise, and drops it straight into the timer. YOUR AI COACH Chat with Ardo like a real coach: "20-minute fat-burning HIIT, no equipment" or "kettlebell strength, 15 minutes." It designs the intervals, picks the exercises and shows each move on screen as you go. Save it to your workouts or start right away. 140+ READY WORKOUTS Tabata, HIIT, EMOM, AMRAP, For Time, CrossFit benchmarks (Fran, Cindy, Murph), Hyrox, circuits, running and boxing — a big ring keeps you on pace with a 3-2-1 countdown, work/rest phases and a clear "next up" preview. BUILD YOUR OWN Lego-block editor with nested round groups; fork any preset, the original stays untouched. STAY ON TRACK Weekly chart, day streaks, full history and 20 badges. Beep on the 3-2-1 countdown plus haptics; 7 accent colors and Home Screen app icons; light and dark mode; 28 languages; daily reminders. Free: the full timer, all free workouts, the AI coach (3 free workouts), history, badges and reminders. Ardo Pro (one-time — no subscription) unlocks unlimited AI coaching, the full benchmark library plus Hyrox and Hero WODs, the advanced builder, unlimited custom workouts, color themes plus app icons and Pro badges. Pay once. No ads. No tracking. The timer works fully offline.

Screenshots

True Pace4 screens
Ardo4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Ardo at every 6 days against True Pace's every 3 weeks. Ardo also leads on iOS requirement (15.0 vs 26.0). On price, ads, in-app purchases 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. True Pace sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Ardo sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

True Pace ships an update every 3 weeks, Ardo every 6 days. The most recent releases landed on October 20, 2026 and October 9, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
True Pace versus Ardo: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterTrue PaceArdo
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.3 (3 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings3 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksEvery 6 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPod
Requires iOS26.015.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size18 MB17 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperJosh AdamsRomana Samcova

In-app purchases

1 purchases

True Pace

One-time1
  • Unlock the full app$3.99
1 purchases

Ardo

One-time1
  • Ardo Pro$3.99

Questions

Is True Pace free?
True Pace is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Ardo free?
Ardo is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do True Pace or Ardo have ads?
Neither True Pace nor Ardo shows ads.
Which is updated more often, True Pace or Ardo?
True Pace ships an update every 3 weeks, and Ardo every 6 days. Most recently, True Pace was updated on October 20, 2026 and Ardo on October 9, 2026.

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