Comparison

Lace5k vs First Run

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

Head to head
About

Lace5k

Features
Read full description

Get off the couch and start moving with Lace, your personal guide to the Couch to 5K journey. Designed for beginners, Lace provides easy-to-follow plans, motivational tips, and progress tracking to help you build stamina and confidence. Lace up your shoes and let’s take the first step together toward a healthier, more active you!

About

First Run

This app guides beginners through a 9-week program to complete their first 5K run. It provides structured walk and run intervals with voice cues, adapting to your schedule if you miss a session. Track progress, earn badges, and sync with Apple Health and Apple Watch.

Highlights
  • 9-week Couch to 5K plan
  • Walk and run interval timer
  • Full Apple Watch app
  • Apple Health workout sync
  • Live Activity and Dynamic Island support
  • Achievement badges and run history
  • Pre-recorded voice cues
Features
Read full description

Run your first 5K, guided every step. First Run is the 9-week Couch to 5K coach that turns "I've never run before" into "I just finished my first 5K." Press play and follow the plan. Everything else is handled for you. A REAL PLAN, NOT A TIMER The classic Couch to 5K progression: three sessions a week for nine weeks. Each workout breaks down into clear walk and run intervals, so you can see exactly what's coming before you start. By Week 9 you're running 30 minutes straight. APPLE WATCH READY Start a run from your wrist and leave the phone at home. Heart rate, GPS route, distance, pace and calories live on the watch. Every workout saves automatically to Apple Health so it stacks alongside the rest of your activity. Pause, resume or skip from the watch, the Lock Screen Live Activity, or the Dynamic Island. They all stay in sync. A FINISH LINE YOU CAN SEE Every completed workout stacks into a streak you can scroll. Earn badges along the way: First Steps, Hitting Your Stride, Five-K Club. Share any run as a card to friends or social. ALWAYS ONE TAP AWAY Home Screen widget showing your next run. Watch face complication keeping today's session a glance away. Lock Screen Live Activity and Dynamic Island while you're out there. The app gets out of the way; the running stays the point. ADAPTS TO REAL LIFE Took a week off? First Run notices and offers to realign your schedule around today, so you pick up where you left off instead of falling off the plan. Rest days are part of training, not failures. VOICE GUIDANCE A real voice in your ear announces every interval, like "Start running for 60 seconds" or "Walk for 90 seconds", so you never have to look at your phone mid-run. Audio ducks your music only while speaking, then steps out of the way. Pre-recorded clips, no robotic text-to-speech. WHAT'S INCLUDED • 9-week Couch to 5K plan, three sessions a week • Walk + run interval timer with on-screen progress ring • Full Apple Watch app with heart rate, GPS route, distance, pace, calories • Apple Health workout sync • Live Activity on Lock Screen and Dynamic Island • Home Screen widget + watch face complication • Smart Stack workout widget with working pause / resume • Achievement badges + full run history • Share card for every completed run • Pre-recorded voice cues • No account required Get to your first 5K. Then keep going. FITNESS DISCLAIMER First Run is a fitness tracking and coaching app. It is not a medical device, and nothing in the app constitutes medical advice. The workouts and recommendations are general fitness guidance only. Talk to a qualified medical professional before starting any new exercise programme, particularly if you have a heart, lung, joint or other health condition, are pregnant, are recovering from injury or surgery, or have been inactive for an extended period. If you feel pain, chest tightness, dizziness, shortness of breath, or any unusual symptoms during or after exercise, stop immediately and seek medical advice. Listen to your body. Rest is part of training. Use of First Run is at your own risk.

Screenshots

Lace5k3 screens
First Run4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is iOS requirement: Lace5k at 17.4 against First Run's 26.2. 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

Scorecard1 real difference · 8 level
Lace5k versus First Run: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterLace5kFirst Run
PriceFreeFree
Rating—4.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews—50.0% of reviews
Number of ratings—1 — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
Monetization—Free
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, Apple Watch — better
Requires iOS17.4 — better26.2
Further details — not scored
Size1 MB14 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperJaden NationActive Development Limited

In-app purchases

None

Lace5k

No in-app purchases

None

First Run

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Lace5k free?
Lace5k is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is First Run free?
First Run is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Lace5k or First Run have ads?
Neither Lace5k nor First Run shows ads.

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