Comparison

PentaRace vs Challenges Aid

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

Head to head
About

PentaRace

Features
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PentaRace is a clean, focused GPS tracker for runs, rides and hikes. No ads, no subscription, no account to create: just the numbers that matter, on a full-screen map. TRACK EVERY OUTING Pick Run, Ride or Hike, tap Start and watch your route draw itself live on the map. Duration, distance, speed and calories stay in large, easy-to-read digits at the top of the screen, while a compact bar at the bottom shows your heading, your current altitude and the Start, Pause and Stop buttons. Pause whenever you need to, then stop to save your activity. HEART RATE SENSORS, NO PAIRING HASSLE PentaRace connects automatically to any standard Bluetooth heart rate sensor: chest straps such as the Polar H10, Garmin HRM or Wahoo TICKR, optical armbands, or a sport watch broadcasting its heart rate. Your live heart rate appears in a color-coded banner showing your current effort zone, from warm-up to max, based on a maximum heart rate estimated from your age. CALORIE ESTIMATES THAT MAKE SENSE Enter your age, sex and weight once. Without a sensor, PentaRace estimates the calories you burn from your speed (shown with a ~). As soon as a heart rate sensor is connected, it switches to a heart-rate-based formula for a more accurate figure. APPLE HEALTH Every saved activity is written to the Health app as a running, cycling or hiking workout, with its GPS route, distance, calories, heart rate and speed samples, and per-kilometer splits. YOUR HISTORY, ON ALL YOUR DEVICES Your activities sync through your own iCloud account. Open any of them to see its map, its key stats (duration, distance, average and maximum speed, elevation, calories, heart rate) and charts of speed, altitude and heart rate over time, with effort zones shaded on the heart rate chart. Rename an activity with a tap, and share a clean image of its map and stats from the share sheet. YOUR LANGUAGE, YOUR UNITS The app is available in English and French, and distances, speeds, altitude and weight follow your region: miles, mph and feet in the US, kilometers and meters elsewhere. PRIVATE BY DESIGN No analytics, no ads, no third-party SDKs. Your activities and fitness profile stay on your iPhone, in your iCloud account and in the Health app. Whether it's a quick 5K, a long Sunday ride or a weekend hike, PentaRace tracks it without getting in the way.

About

Challenges Aid

This app helps you track and achieve your monthly Apple Watch fitness challenges. It provides insights into your progress, offers reminders, and displays your achievements through a history tab and customizable widgets.

Highlights
  • Monthly challenge progress tracking
  • Historical achievement overview
  • Motivational messages
  • Home and Lock Screen widgets
  • Limited Edition Challenge tracking
  • Customizable reminders
Features
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Struggling to complete your Apple Watch challenges each month? Let us aid you! With Challenges Aid you will get easier and better insights into your progress this month. You can be reminded on the first day of each month to set your new challenges and with the History tab you will build a great overview of your achievements through the years. Small motivational messages will keep you going and inform you how you are doing. And with both Lock Screen and Homescreen widgets you always have your progress right at hand! Challenges Aid gets your data from Apple Health and only requires read access. The Apple Watch challenges cannot be read from your Health app or the Watch, those must be set manually each month. A reminder will help you do that. ThisMonth Overview * Get a clear view on today's progress * Get an overview of this month's challenge and progress * Get an overview of how much time has passed in the month * See day by day whether or not you achieved that day's goal or reached the required average Limited Edition Challenges* * Track the current, upcoming and previous Limited Edition Challenges * Get a clear view on the current challenges * Look back which challenges you’ve achieved and which you didn’t * More details to come later History* * Add previous challenges and see at a glance which ones you achieved * Open a challenge to see more details Settings * Toggle motivational messages on or off * Choose between distances in kilometers or miles * Toggle the monthly reminder on or off and set a time* * Toggle the monthly summary on or off and let it be auto saved * Subscribe to Limited Edition Notifications to never miss one* With companion Apple Watch App (work in progress). Widgets for your iPhone's Home and Lock Screen and Apple Watch complications! Challenges Aid Plus: * Get access to Limited Edition Challenges * Get your full History instead of the past 12 months * Set reminders and notifications * More widgets (coming soon) * Deeper insights (coming soon) Standard Apple Terms of Use (EULA) applies: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

PentaRace3 screens
Challenges Aid4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: PentaRace at none against Challenges Aid's 3. PentaRace also leads on update cadence (weekly vs fortnightly). Challenges Aid's advantage is device support (3 vs 1) and iOS requirement (17.0 vs 26.0). On price and ads 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. Challenges Aid sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month. PentaRace asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

PentaRace ships an update weekly, Challenges Aid fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 16, 2026 and October 17, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
PentaRace versus Challenges Aid: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPentaRaceChallenges Aid
PriceFreeFree
Rating—4.1 (7 ratings) — better
Positive reviews—30.0% of reviews
Number of ratings—7 — better
Update frequencyWeekly — betterFortnightly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
Monetization—Freemium
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — better
Requires iOS26.017.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size1 MB8 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperDavid LaroseTim Hilker

In-app purchases

None

PentaRace

No in-app purchases

3 purchases

Challenges Aid

Subscriptions2
  • Plus Monthly7 Days trial$0.991 Month
  • Plus Yearly$9.991 Year
One-time1
  • Plus Lifetime$29.99

Questions

Is PentaRace free?
PentaRace is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Challenges Aid free?
Challenges Aid is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do PentaRace or Challenges Aid have ads?
Neither PentaRace nor Challenges Aid shows ads.
Which is updated more often, PentaRace or Challenges Aid?
PentaRace ships an update weekly, and Challenges Aid fortnightly. Most recently, PentaRace was updated on October 16, 2026 and Challenges Aid on October 17, 2026.

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