Comparison

Pacer Pedometer Step Counter vs Steps

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

Head to head
About

Pacer Pedometer Step Counter

This app tracks your daily activity, including steps, distance, and calories burned, to help you reach your fitness goals. It offers GPS mapping for outdoor exploration, personalized fitness plans, and community features for motivation and support.

Highlights
  • Effortless activity tracking (steps, distance, calories)
  • GPS mapping for outdoor routes
  • Personalized fitness plans and weight management
  • Community challenges and groups
  • Syncs with Apple Health and Apple Watch
  • No extra devices needed
Features
Read full description

Whether you’re just starting out or chasing big goals, wanting to get active or lose weight, Pacer’s insightful data, outdoor routes, and personalized plans help you move more, feel great, and stay on track—like your 24/7 walking buddy. Join over 12 million happy walkers and find motivation every step of the way. WHY YOU'LL LOVE PACER - Effortless Activity Tracking Tracks steps, flights climbed, calories burned, distance, and active time—whether your phone is in your hand, pocket, or bag. Syncs with Apple Health and Apple Watch for seamless data. - Motivation & Community Support Join walking groups, compete in friendly challenges, and share progress with friends and family in real time—no matter what phone they use. - Explore Outdoors with GPS Mapping Explore local gems—routes, trails, and parks. Record every walk, hike, run, or ride with precision maps. - Personalized Fitness Plans & Weight Management Set daily goals, track your weight and BMI, and use guided workouts designed to help you lose weight and get fit. - Simple Setup, No Extra Devices Needed Just download and start—no wristbands or hardware required. HEAR FROM OUR HAPPY WALKERS: - “Best Walking App. Period. I love this app and use it for every walk.” — James T. - “I'm 73 and I especially like that if I start an activity and want my kids to be able to monitor where I am I can turn live tracking on in Pacer.” — Dr J. - “…Tracks all progress and more! Love the challenges and clubs to join all while sharing and interacting with others all the hard earned work. Definitely recommend.” — Lustine K. - “Cheaper and better than a gym membership and 1000x more effective!” — Covette92 READY TO TAKE THE FIRST STEP? Download Pacer for free today and start your journey to better health with the happiest walking community! Note: - Pacer offers both a free version and a premium subscription with additional features. If you choose to subscribe, payment will be charged to your Apple ID upon confirmation of purchase. Subscriptions automatically renew unless canceled at least 24 hours before the end of the current billing period. - Pacer has an optional feature for more accurate tracking that uses of iOS's location based services. - Terms of Service https://www.mypacer.com/termsofservice/ - Privacy Policy: https://www.mypacer.com/privacy

About

Steps

This app automatically tracks your daily steps, distance, calories burned, and stairs climbed in the background. Set personalized daily goals for activity and monitor your progress over time with clear historical data. It's designed for effortless use and battery efficiency.

Highlights
  • Automatic step tracking
  • Distance and calorie monitoring
  • Flights of stairs climbed
  • Daily goal setting
  • Daily, weekly, monthly totals
  • Background operation
  • Apple Health data import
Features
Read full description

See your steps, distance, stairs, calories, and progress over time — automatically. Steps is a simple, easy-to-use step tracker that helps you stay active without extra setup. It tracks your daily activity in the background using Apple Health, so you can check your progress anytime without needing to start a workout or keep the app open. Set daily goals for steps, miles walked, flights climbed, and calories burned. Then track your progress throughout the day and build a routine that keeps you moving. Customize Steps with bold themes and app icons to make the app feel like yours. Why people love Steps: • Automatic step tracking — no setup needed • Simple, clean design • Steps, distance, flights climbed, and calories burned • Daily goals for steps, miles, stairs, and calories • Daily, weekly, and monthly totals • Historical activity imported from Apple Health • Theme and app icon customization • Designed to run quietly in the background Over a million downloads and counting. Terms of Use: https://pumpkincomputer.com/steps/terms

Screenshots

Pacer Pedometer Step Counter4 screens
Steps4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Pacer Pedometer Step Counter at 98% against Steps's 49%. Pacer Pedometer Step Counter also leads on ads (none vs shown) and rating (4.9 vs 4.6). Steps's advantage is update cadence (every 9 days vs every 3 weeks). On price, in-app purchases, monetization model and iOS requirement 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. Pacer Pedometer Step Counter sells 9 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month and Steps sells 8 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per 7 days. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Pacer Pedometer Step Counter holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 4.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Pacer Pedometer Step Counter has 330K ratings behind it against 19K, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 98% of Pacer Pedometer Step Counter's written reviews are positive against 49% of Steps's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Pacer Pedometer Step Counter ships an update every 3 weeks, Steps every 9 days. Both last shipped on September 25, 2026.

Scorecard7 real differences · 4 level
Pacer Pedometer Step Counter versus Steps: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPacer Pedometer Step CounterSteps
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.9 (330K ratings) — better4.6 (19K ratings)
Positive reviews98.3% of reviews — better48.9% of reviews
Number of ratings330K — better19K
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksEvery 9 days — better
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank#152 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPod, Apple Watch — betteriPhone
Requires iOS15.0 — better16.1
Further details — not scored
Size495 MB68 MB
Age rating12+4+
DeveloperPacer Health, IncPumpkin Computer Co., LLC

Customer experience

Pacer Pedometer Step Counter

All ratings329,832 ratings
Positive98.4%
Neutral0.8%
Negative0.8%
Written reviews18,021 reviews
Positive98.3%
Neutral0.6%
Negative1.1%

Steps

All ratings19,322 ratings
Positive90.0%
Neutral4.2%
Negative5.8%
Written reviews607 reviews
Positive48.9%
Neutral11.7%
Negative39.4%

User reviews

Pacer Pedometer Step Counter

From 330K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Easy to use
  • 🚀 Accurate step tracking
  • 💡 Motivating challenges and goals
  • 🤝 Supportive community
  • 📊 Detailed activity history and reports

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Inconsistent step/distance tracking
  • 💰 Premium features behind paywall
  • 🔍 Difficulty finding certain features
  • 🤖 Impersonal coaching/guidance
  • 🔒 Privacy concerns with sharing activity

Steps

From 19K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Simple to use
  • 🚀 Practical and efficient
  • 👍 Good design
  • 👍 Helps with weight control and health
  • 👍 Accurate step counting

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Inaccurate step/distance tracking
  • 🔍 Lacks options to customize settings
  • 💸 Too many ads, disruptive to use
  • 🔋 Steps not recorded when phone not carried
  • 🐛 Inconsistent step/distance reporting

Bugs and requests

Pacer Pedometer Step Counter

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Steps/distance disappearing from history
  • GPS issues causing inaccurate location tracking
  • App crashes or freezes on certain devices

Requested features

4 requests
  • Ability to edit/delete recorded activities
  • Integration with other fitness trackers
  • Personalized step/calorie goals based on user profile
  • More free access to advanced analytics and insights

Steps

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Steps not accurately counted
  • App freezes or lags when opening
  • Steps/distance data resets or disappears

Requested features

4 requests
  • Add option to track calories burned
  • Provide weekly/monthly step history
  • Allow conversion between steps and distance (miles/km)
  • Implement a premium version to remove ads

In-app purchases

9 purchases

Pacer Pedometer Step Counter

Subscriptions9
  • Premium Subscription with Trial7 Days trial3 variants$3.991 Month
  • Premium Subscription$3.991 Month
  • Premium with Free Trial7 Days trial$3.991 Month
Show 6 more
  • Premium with Free Trial7 Days trial$4.991 Month
  • Premium with Free Trial$9.991 Month
  • Premium Subscription$19.991 Year
  • Premium Subscription7 Days trial$29.991 Year
  • 1 Year Access (with Trial)7 Days trial$49.991 Year
  • Pacer Premium Yearly1 Year trial$49.991 Year
8 purchases

Steps

Subscriptions8
  • Steps Pro Weekly3 Days trial$0.997 Days
  • Steps Pro Weekly3 Days trial3 variants$1.997 Days
  • Steps Pro Weekly3 Days trial$2.997 Days
Show 5 more
  • Monthly Pro3 Days trial$3.991 Month
  • Steps Pro Monthly3 Days trial$5.991 Month
  • Steps Pro Yearly3 Days trial$59.991 Year
  • Steps Pro Yearly3 Days trial$79.991 Year
  • Steps Pro Annual$79.991 Year

Questions

Is Pacer Pedometer Step Counter free?
Pacer Pedometer Step Counter is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Steps free?
Steps is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Pacer Pedometer Step Counter or Steps?
Pacer Pedometer Step Counter is rated higher. Pacer Pedometer Step Counter averages 4.9 out of 5 from 330K ratings, while Steps averages 4.6 from 19K ratings.
Do Pacer Pedometer Step Counter or Steps have ads?
Steps shows ads; Pacer Pedometer Step Counter does not.
Which is updated more often, Pacer Pedometer Step Counter or Steps?
Pacer Pedometer Step Counter ships an update every 3 weeks, and Steps every 9 days. Most recently, Pacer Pedometer Step Counter was updated on September 25, 2026 and Steps on September 25, 2026.

Other comparisons