Comparison

Forerunner vs PBSplits

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

Head to head
About

Forerunner

This app helps runners improve performance with VDOT analysis and condition management. Track progress, adjust training, and monitor fatigue to prevent injuries and run smarter. It offers customizable data analysis and home screen widgets for easy access to your running records.

Highlights
  • VDOT-based precision analysis
  • Customizable periodic analysis
  • Fatigue & condition monitoring
  • Home screen widgets
  • Full VoiceOver support
Features
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Running Tracker: Forerunner goes beyond simple run tracking, helping runners achieve sustainable growth through VDOT, sleep, hrv, training load analysis and systematic condition management. Track your records, adjust your training intensity, and manage your physical condition scientifically. [Key Features] Running Readiness Monitoring - Check your body's fatigue and condition alongside your daily run logs. Combine data with your physical intuition to prevent injuries and maintain optimal training levels. VDOT-Based Precision Analysis - Precisely measure your current condition and skill level based on VDOT, a scientific performance metric, and track real-time changes with every run. Customizable Periodic Analysis - Deeply analyze your running data by setting flexible periods such as weekly, monthly, or yearly. Various Widget Support - Conveniently check your monthly mileage or recent records right from your home screen without opening the app. Full Accessibility - With full VoiceOver support, every user can experience the app equally. Running Tracker: Forerunner is the ultimate tool for runners aiming for higher goals through data. From beginners to marathoners, we're here to make every day’s run smarter and healthier. --- Privacy Policy: https://selfovercoming.app/forerunner/privacy Terms of Service: https://selfovercoming.app/forerunner/terms

About

PBSplits

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PBSplits is a free app that finds your fastest split at every standard distance across your run history. Most personal-best tools only know your finish times. If you've never raced a 5K, they think you've never done one. PBSplits looks inside each run and finds the fastest continuous window for every distance on the ladder, so the best 5K you ever ran shows up even if it was the middle 5K of a 12 K training jog. Three tabs, and it opens on the first. Runs is every run in your Health data — pull to refresh, tap any one to open it, even the ones that never hit a standard distance. Trends plots a distance over time, as pace or as finish time, with a year-over-year view to lay this season against the last; it also holds the Power Curve, your season's distance against last year's, and your weekly run streak. Me is your season and all-time totals and the record book: the ladder from 400 m to 100 K, grouped Short / Road / Ultra. Tap any effort and you get the whole run — the route on a map with the record-winning segment highlighted, a mile-by-mile splits table, and pace and elevation charts. Tap a split and its window lights up on the map and across the charts, so you can see exactly where you found the time. Season and all-time crowns mark the efforts that took a podium. Great for: • Runners who want PBs from training, not just races • Tracking progress over a season or a year • Finding the fastest you've ever covered a 5 K, 10 K, half, or marathon • Comparing efforts across short, road, and ultra distances • Anyone whose watch knows more than they do What you get: • Best-effort engine that finds your fastest continuous split at every distance, not whole-run averages • Full distance ladder from 400 m to 100 K, grouped Short / Road / Ultra • Every run, browsable: pull to refresh, and open runs that never hit a standard distance • Trend charts, progression and year-over-year, by pace or by time, pinch to zoom either axis • Mile-by-mile splits: tap a split to highlight its window on the map and the charts • Your watch's own laps and workout intervals, each in their own table • Power Curve: your best pace at every duration, from 30 seconds to your longest run, switchable to heart rate, for a season or your own date range • Weekly run streak, with every run day's distance on a heatmap • Export any run as a GPX or FIT file • Map view per effort, with the winning segment highlighted on the route • Season and all-time crowns on podium efforts • Share cards for a new PB, a podium, or your whole record book • Pick your pace units: min/km or min/mi • PBSplits reads your workouts from Apple Health and never writes to it • Your run data stays on your device Free to download — no subscription, no account.

Screenshots

Forerunner4 screens
PBSplits4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: PBSplits at none against Forerunner's 5. PBSplits also leads on iOS requirement (17.0 vs 26.0). Forerunner's advantage is device support (3 vs 1). On price, update cadence 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. Forerunner sells 5 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per 7 days. PBSplits asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Forerunner ships an update every 3 days, PBSplits every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on September 30, 2026 and October 7, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Forerunner versus PBSplits: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterForerunnerPBSplits
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (3 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings3 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 3 days — betterEvery 4 days
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — betteriPhone
Requires iOS26.017.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size55 MB14 MB
Age rating12+4+
DeveloperForerunnerCow Cow Technologies LLC

In-app purchases

5 purchases

Forerunner

Subscriptions3
  • Weekly$4.997 Days
  • Monthly$9.991 Month
  • Yearly7 Days trial$29.991 Year
One-time2
  • Lifetime$49.99
  • Lifetime$99.99
None

PBSplits

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Forerunner free?
Forerunner is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is PBSplits free?
PBSplits is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Forerunner or PBSplits have ads?
Neither Forerunner nor PBSplits shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Forerunner or PBSplits?
Forerunner ships an update every 3 days, and PBSplits every 4 days. Most recently, Forerunner was updated on September 30, 2026 and PBSplits on October 7, 2026.

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