Comparison

Workout Builder vs Custom Workouts

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

Head to head
About

Workout Builder

Design personalized fitness routines on your iPhone, then seamlessly transfer them to your Apple Watch. Supports a wide range of activities from running and cycling to yoga and strength training, with options for simple goals, advanced intervals, and paced efforts.

Highlights
  • Create custom workouts on iPhone
  • Send workouts to Apple Watch
  • Supports running, cycling, swimming, yoga
  • HIIT & Strength interval training
  • Boxing and skipping interval options
  • Goal-based workouts
  • Advanced interval workouts
  • Paced workouts
Read full description

Workout Builder lets you create custom workouts on your iPhone and send them to your Apple Watch. Build advanced workouts like: - Running workouts for tempo runs, intervals, hill sprints - Cycling workouts for intervals, pyramids, and distance efforts - Swimming workouts for specific distances and times - Flow, Yin, Vinyasa yoga - HIIT & Strength training intervals - Boxing and skipping intervals, with rest included - Plus many, many more sports! Workout Builder has three types of workouts you can send to your Apple Watch - Simple, goal-based workouts – set a time, distance, or energy burn goal - Advanced interval workouts – add multiple sets and reps, along with rest, warmup, and cooldown - Paced workouts – set a time and distance goal and pace your workout

About

Custom Workouts

Create and schedule personalized workout routines with custom intervals and target alerts. Sync seamlessly to your Apple Watch for a familiar workout experience. Share your creations with friends and track progress with beautiful widgets.

Highlights
  • Create custom structured workouts
  • Add work and recovery steps with target alerts
  • Sync workouts to Apple Watch native app
  • Schedule workouts with Apple Calendar integration
  • Access 40+ predefined workouts
  • Share custom workouts with friends
  • Privacy-focused, no account required
Features
Read full description

Looking for a personalized fitness companion that puts you in control? Introducing Custom Workouts, the ultimate app that empowers you to create custom structured workouts. Sync them seamlessly to the native Workout app on your Apple Watch so you can use the familiar interface you know and love. CUSTOM WORKOUTS • Build structured workouts tailored to your goals. • Add work and recovery steps. Group them together to put on repeat. Customize each step with goals like distance and time, and set target alerts such as pace, heart rate, power, and more. • Supports all activity types that are available on Apple Watch. HIIT WORKOUTS • Use a collection of 100+ different exercises to quickly build your HIIT routines to supercharge your day. • Explore each exercise through engaging animations that highlight the muscles you'll target. Follow step-by-step instructions and delve into details like difficulty level, exercise type, focused body parts, and any necessary equipment. • Adjust exercise durations, rest intervals, and the number of rounds. • Make informed choices to optimize your training. SEAMLESS APPLE WATCH INTEGRATION • Sync workouts directly to your Apple Watch. • Kick off your routines right from the native Workout app interface. • watchOS 11 or higher is required. SCHEDULE WITH FLEXIBILITY • Plan workouts for specific dates and times that fit your schedule. • Set up recurring sessions by selecting preferred days of the week. • Sync your schedules with Apple Calendar. KICKSTART WITH PREDEFINED WORKOUTS • Access a gallery of 40+ predefined workouts to spark your fitness journey. • Perfect for beginners and those seeking new challenges. SHARE WITH FRIENDS • Share your custom workouts effortlessly with others. • Recipients can sync workouts to their Apple Watches (even without the app installed). BEAUTIFUL WIDGETS • See what is coming for Today and the completion rate for the week • Choose from small, medium, and large sizes INTERVALS VISUALIZATION • Supports time-based and distance-based workouts. • Adjusted bar height and color based on interval target value. PRIVACY-FOCUSED EXPERIENCE • No account creation is required — just download and start. • We don't collect any information, so you can focus solely on your fitness. Ready to take control of your fitness like never before? Download Custom Workouts today and craft the perfect workout routines that are as unique as you are. Your journey, your rules — let's get moving! Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula Privacy Policy: https://alextitarenko.me/custom-workouts/privacy-policy

Screenshots

Workout Builder4 screens
Custom Workouts4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Custom Workouts at 4.9 against Workout Builder's 4.3. Custom Workouts also leads on review sentiment (100% vs 71%) and update cadence (every 4 days vs fortnightly). On price, ratings volume, ads and in-app purchases 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. Workout Builder sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Custom Workouts sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Custom Workouts holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 4.3. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 23 and 19 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 71% of Workout Builder's written reviews are positive against 100% of Custom Workouts's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Workout Builder ships an update fortnightly, Custom Workouts every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on November 3, 2026 and October 30, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Workout Builder versus Custom Workouts: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterWorkout BuilderCustom Workouts
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.3 (23 ratings)4.9 (19 ratings) — better
Positive reviews71.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings23 — better19
Update frequencyFortnightlyEvery 4 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFreemium
DevicesiPhoneiPhone
Requires iOS17.0 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size1 MB46 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperMatthew PalmerAlex Titarenko

Customer experience

Workout Builder

All ratings20 ratings
Positive75.0%
Neutral15.0%
Negative10.0%
Written reviews31 reviews
Positive71.0%
Neutral16.1%
Negative12.9%

Custom Workouts

All ratings19 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews7 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Workout Builder

One-time1
  • Workout Builder Premium$9.99
3 purchases

Custom Workouts

Subscriptions2
  • Custom Workouts Pro$1.991 Month
  • Custom Workouts Pro7 Days trial$14.991 Year
One-time1
  • Custom Workouts Pro (Lifetime)$24.99

Questions

Is Workout Builder free?
Workout Builder is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Custom Workouts free?
Custom Workouts is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Workout Builder or Custom Workouts?
Custom Workouts is rated higher. Workout Builder averages 4.3 out of 5 from 23 ratings, while Custom Workouts averages 4.9 from 19 ratings.
Do Workout Builder or Custom Workouts have ads?
Neither Workout Builder nor Custom Workouts shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Workout Builder or Custom Workouts?
Workout Builder ships an update fortnightly, and Custom Workouts every 4 days. Most recently, Workout Builder was updated on November 3, 2026 and Custom Workouts on October 30, 2026.

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