Routes vs RunBuilder
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Routes
This app generates custom running, walking, or cycling routes based on your desired distance, terrain, and elevation. It offers unlimited regeneration of new ideas and allows saving favorite loops for offline use. Share your routes easily or export them for use with other fitness platforms.
- Distance-perfect loops (0.5-15 miles)
- Surface choice (road, trail, mixed)
- Elevation selection (hills or flat)
- Unlimited route regeneration
- Save favorite loops for offline use
- Export to Maps, Strava, or GPX
- Home-screen widget and Dark Mode
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Routes turns “how far should I run?” and “where should I go?” into one focused running experience. GENERATE A BETTER RUN Choose a distance or enter your own, then create a loop or out-and-back route from your current location. Tune the result for hills, flatter roads, trails, walkways, and the surfaces that fit your day. Compare route options before you head out and save the ones you want to run again. BUILD TOWARD RACE DAY Create a structured plan for your next 5K, 10K, half marathon, marathon, or custom race. Routes uses your recent race result, current weekly mileage, available days, preferred long-run day, injury history, and optional wearable context to build an on-device plan. ADAPT WITHOUT PLAYING CATCH-UP Record completed or missed sessions and Routes adjusts what comes next. The plan protects recovery, avoids stacking missed mileage into later days, and gives you a clear view of today’s work. RUN WITH APPLE WATCH Send a saved route and upcoming workout to Apple Watch. Start a workout from your wrist, record it to Apple Health with permission, and use the route as an on-screen breadcrumb. PRIVATE BY DEFAULT Your routes and coaching profile stay on your devices. Routes has no account, ads, third-party analytics, or tracking in this release. Health access is optional and controlled through Apple Health. Routes provides educational fitness guidance for adults, not medical advice, diagnosis, treatment, rehabilitation, or emergency services. Generated routes can contain changing or incomplete conditions. Check local access, traffic, weather, daylight, and surface conditions, and use your judgment.
RunBuilder
Create custom running workouts with detailed control over distance, time, and pace. Map out your running routes with precision, and track your progress with GPS and heart rate data. Sync your runs to Apple Health and other platforms.
- Custom workout builder
- Plain English workout input
- FIT file import
- Screenshot workout import
- Interactive course mapping
- GPS and heart rate tracking
- Apple Health integration
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RunBuilder turns the workout in your head — or the one buried in your coach's email — into a structured session you can actually run. Build it on iPhone or iPad, run it outdoors, on a treadmill, or from Apple Watch, then see how it landed. BUILD IT YOUR WAY • Step by step, with control over distance, time, pace, and recovery • Type or dictate it in plain English: "2 mile warmup, 6x800 at 5K pace with 400 jog, 2 mile cooldown" • Import a FIT workout file • Screenshot a workout and let RunBuilder read it • Start from a built-in template • Paste anything from the clipboard MAP YOUR COURSES • Tap out a route and watch it snap to real roads and paths • Import a GPX file from a recorded run or another app • Switch to straight lines for tracks and trails • Distance and elevation gain update as you build • Mile or kilometer markers appear right on the map • Search for a starting point anywhere in the world • Retrace to start, or route back, for an easy out-and-back or loop • Undo and redo any point • Save courses by name, then duplicate one to build a variation • Check the elevation profile before you head out • Run a course on iPhone or Apple Watch with your route and live position on screen RUN IT • Outdoor runs with GPS, pace, distance, and heart rate • Structured workouts on Apple Watch from your synced library • Treadmill runs with automatic speed and incline control on compatible Wahoo FTMS treadmills (Pro) • Spoken step announcements and periodic audio updates • Music controls without leaving the run screen • Runs save to Apple Health, route included REVIEW IT • History keeps the runs you finish in RunBuilder • See the prescribed goal next to what you actually ran, including repeats • Mile or kilometer splits with pace and heart rate • Scrubbable pace and heart-rate charts • A map colored by pace, with start and finish marked • Hide warm up, rest, and cool down when you want just the work • Share a PDF or text summary with a coach • Export the completed activity as a FIT file • Mark the run Easy, Steady, or Hard next to your notes CONNECT YOUR GEAR • Bluetooth heart rate monitors • Foot pods and running power meters, including Stryd • Engo smart glasses, with your key metrics in view SEND IT ANYWHERE • Garmin Connect • Wahoo • Apple Watch — run it in the RunBuilder Watch app, or schedule it into the built-in Workout app • Export a workout FIT file, a completed-activity FIT file, or a printable PDF BUILT FOR IPHONE, IPAD, AND APPLE WATCH Large, readable run screens meant to be glanced at mid-stride, whether the phone is in your hand, the iPad is propped on a treadmill, or the workout is on your wrist. Workouts, settings, courses, and history sync across your devices with iCloud. Your Watch library updates automatically from iPhone. Widgets put today's session on your Home Screen, and Siri and Shortcuts can create or start one hands-free. RUNBUILDER PRO Building workouts, mapping courses, running them outdoors on iPhone, reviewing History, and saving to Apple Health are all free. No account required. RunBuilder Pro is a one-time purchase that unlocks: • Sending workouts to Garmin Connect and Wahoo • Starting workouts and courses from Apple Watch • Scheduling workouts to the built-in Apple Watch Workout app • Treadmill control, setting speed and incline for you as the workout runs • Engo smart glasses support • Race Plan, which builds a session around your target race and finish time • Nested repeats, for complex interval structures Note: Course elevation comes from a terrain model and is approximate, especially among tall buildings.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Routes at 5.0 against RunBuilder's 3.0. Routes also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 1) and iOS requirement (18.2 vs 26.0). RunBuilder's advantage is update cadence (monthly vs every 15 months). On price, ratings volume, ads 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
Both are free to download. RunBuilder sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Routes asks for nothing beyond the download.
Routes holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 3.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1 and 2 respectively.
Routes ships an update every 15 months, RunBuilder monthly. The most recent releases landed on October 12, 2026 and October 11, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Routes | RunBuilder |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better | 3.0 (2 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | — | 0.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 1 | 2 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 15 months | Monthly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Paid | Free with in-app purchases — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch | iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch |
| Requires iOS | 18.2 — better | 26.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 6 MB | 17 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Jacob Berko | LandWare, LLC |
Customer experience
Routes
RunBuilder
In-app purchases
Routes
No in-app purchases
RunBuilder
- RunBuilder Pro$14.99









