Comparison

Rubber Bands vs Lifting Lab

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

Head to head
About

Rubber Bands

This app provides personalized resistance band workouts for strength, mobility, and muscle building. It features a comprehensive exercise library with video guidance, progress tracking, and support for various band types and popular systems.

Highlights
  • Personalized workout plans
  • Video-guided exercises
  • Resistance band manager
  • Progress tracking
  • Supports various band types
  • Integration with fitness trackers
Features
Read full description

Rubber Bands builds resistance band workouts around the bands you own. It picks the band and reps for every set, and tells you when to move up. Add your bands once. Every workout after that is built from them. THE BAND AND REPS FOR EVERY SET • Each exercise comes with the band to use and the reps to hit, matched to your level and your goal • Automatic mode builds a workout from the muscle groups you pick and the bands you have • Build your own workouts too, or start from routines like Push/Pull/Lower and Upper/Lower KNOW WHEN TO MOVE UP • Progression reads your recent sessions of each exercise • Hit the top of your rep range in two of your last three sessions, and it suggests the next band up • When the next band is too big a jump, it can suggest stacking two bands instead MADE FOR RESISTANCE BANDS • Bands are first-class equipment, each with its own resistance range, not an afterthought on a gym plan • Gym profiles for home, hotel and office, each with the bands and anchors you have there • Built for loop bands, and it works with tube bands and loop bars like X3 and Harambe too • Bands from any brand, from the built-in catalog or added as your own • Band-assisted moves like pull-ups and dips TRACK EVERY REP • Sets, reps and the band you used, logged as you go • Personal records, including the first time you use a new band • Charts, streaks and a full workout log • Log sets from your Apple Watch with your phone in your pocket • A rest timer between sets • Works offline: your workouts and history are stored on your phone • Syncs with Apple Health and Strava FREE TO START Add your bands, try full workouts and track every set for free. Rubber Bands Pro unlocks unlimited workouts, AI workouts and exercise guide videos. Subscriptions are monthly or yearly. Payment is charged to your Apple Account at confirmation of purchase, and the subscription renews automatically unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. You can manage or cancel your subscription in your Apple Account settings at any time; cancellation takes effect at the end of the current billing period. Privacy policy: https://rubberbands.app/privacy-policy Terms of use: https://rubberbands.app/terms-and-conditions

About

Lifting Lab

Features
Read full description

Lifting Lab is a training app built for one sport: the snatch and the clean & jerk. Tell it how you feel and it builds today's session, or follow a periodized program. Film your lifts, see them split into phases, find out why you missed, and walk into meet day ready. No sensor needed, and no subscription needed to log your training. IT BUILDS TODAY'S SESSION Energy, soreness, your equipment, the time you have. Lifting Lab builds the day around them: the right lift for today's rotation, strength work that avoids what's sore, accessories that balance it. Then it is yours to reorder, swap, or dial up or down. IT PROGRAMS THE CYCLE Periodized cycles, from technique and strength through specification, peak and masters, built off your real PRs, not a generic table. Every set arrives with target weight, percentage and plates already loaded. Miss a session and it reschedules it. IT SEES THE LIFT Film a set on your phone. Bar Trace plots the bar path and splits it into first pull, transition, second pull, turnover and catch. Peak speed, mean pull speed and bar height, and a side-by-side compare against your best lift. No sensor, no pairing. IT TELLS YOU WHY YOU MISSED Technique Doctor names the fault, the likely causes and corrective drills, and flags it when the same fault shows up twice. IT KNOWS THE SPORT Sinclair, openers, Prilepin ranges, plate math for your gym's actual inventory, warm-up ramps shaped the way a coach would set them, and strength ratios that show where your lifts sit against each other. MEET DAY The warm-up room runs on attempts, not the clock. It counts your warm-ups, tells you when to take the next one, and tracks your six attempts on the board. TRAIN WHERE YOU TRAIN Set a gym profile for your bar, plates and equipment. Switch supported lifts to dumbbells when the barbell isn't there. An illustrated exercise library covers every lift and accessory. PROGRESS THAT IS COUNTED, NOT INVENTED PR tracker, charts, levels, streaks and badges, all computed from your log. Finished workouts write to Apple Health; every Health toggle is optional. Export your data to CSV. FREE Unlimited training log and history, the adaptive daily workout builder, the Beginner Foundation program, Technique Doctor for recent lifts, PR tracker, exercise library, every calculator, warm-up generator, and three bar-path analyses every month. No account required. LIFTING LAB PRO Unlimited bar-path analyses with side-by-side compare, full Technique Doctor history, the full program library, Meet Day, and import from a VBT sensor you already own. Bar Trace works best side-on with the whole bar in frame and a steady phone. When a clip isn't good enough to measure, Lifting Lab says so and shows you why, instead of giving you a number it can't back up. Video analysis runs on your device. Pro is $12.99 per month or $99.99 per year, charged to your Apple Account. Subscriptions renew automatically unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Manage or cancel in Settings > Apple Account > Subscriptions. Terms: https://liftinglab.app/terms/ Privacy: https://liftinglab.app/privacy/

Screenshots

Rubber Bands4 screens
Lifting Lab4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: Lifting Lab at none against Rubber Bands's shown. On price, update cadence, 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. Rubber Bands sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month and Lifting Lab sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $12.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Rubber Bands ships an update every 9 days, Lifting Lab every 2 weeks. Both last shipped on October 25, 2026.

Scorecard1 real difference · 9 level
Rubber Bands versus Lifting Lab: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterRubber BandsLifting Lab
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (135 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews67.7% of reviews—
Number of ratings135 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 9 days — betterEvery 2 weeks
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationSubscription—
DevicesiPhone, Apple WatchiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS17.0 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size116 MB25 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperRubber Bands LLCDavid Hicka

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Rubber Bands

Subscriptions2
  • Unlock all features7 Days trial$4.991 Month
  • Unlock all features7 Days trial$24.991 Year
2 purchases

Lifting Lab

Subscriptions2
  • Pro Monthly$12.991 Month
  • Pro Annual$99.991 Year

Questions

Is Rubber Bands free?
Rubber Bands is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Lifting Lab free?
Lifting Lab is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Rubber Bands or Lifting Lab have ads?
Rubber Bands shows ads; Lifting Lab does not.
Which is updated more often, Rubber Bands or Lifting Lab?
Rubber Bands ships an update every 9 days, and Lifting Lab every 2 weeks. Most recently, Rubber Bands was updated on October 25, 2026 and Lifting Lab on October 25, 2026.

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