Comparison

Training Builder vs Swim Forge

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

Head to head
About

Training Builder

Features
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Training Builder builds structured workouts and sends them to the Fitness app on your Apple Watch. Warm-up, intervals, cool-down – every section with its own duration or distance and its own target zone. That is all you need: build the workout, send it to the watch, go. If you want more, there is a coach that plans your week, asks in the morning how you are doing, and tells you afterwards what the workout delivered. THE EDITOR Build the workout on iPhone or iPad, from a template or from a blank sheet. Every section gets a duration or a distance, plus a target: heart rate, power, pace or cadence. Repeat blocks hold what repeats. 8 × 400 m with 200 m of jogging in between sits there as one block, not as sixteen rows. Change the repeat once and every round follows. Above the list sits the intensity profile as a chart. Tap to select a section, drag to reorder. THE COACH The coach builds workouts by training rules, not at random. Give it the sport, the duration and the intent – it places warm-up, work and recovery to match. A single workout, a whole week, or a twelve-week block up to race day. Threshold, VO2max and pace get fixed days, and every week brings a different variant – no two weeks are alike. It runs on the device: what you give it never leaves your iPhone. Your workouts themselves sync between your devices over iCloud, and the measurements come from HealthKit. Got a plan from your coach? Bring it in: paste the text or pick a photo. That needs an iPhone with Apple Intelligence – everything else the coach builds from training rules, on any device running iOS 26. THE DAILY CHECK-IN Three questions in the morning: how was your sleep, how are your legs, how much energy is there. Plus resting heart rate, heart rate variability and sleep from Apple Health. Out of that comes a traffic light for the day. If it shows yellow or red, the coach suggests easing the workout or taking a rest day – you decide. The Today card in the planner shows it all at a glance. THE PLAN Training blocks across several weeks – build-up, load weeks and tapering before the race. The hard sessions land on the days you actually have time, spaced apart and never right after the long one. How many there are depends on your experience. THE DIARY What you did sits next to what you planned. Time in zones, pace, heart rate, elevation, route map and laps. For your workouts the coach tells you whether you hit the zones and what that means for the next one. Statistics for fixed periods or for any period you choose. All from HealthKit, with no second account and no second watch. ZONES THAT FIT YOU Heart rate, power, pace and cadence ranges, kept separately per sport. Power for cycling and rowing, pace for running, walking, hiking, cycling, swimming and rowing. Taken from HealthKit or set by hand. Metric or imperial. SPORTS Running, cycling, swimming, rowing, walking, hiking, elliptical, strength training, core, HIIT, cross-training, martial arts, yoga, pilates and more. SEVEN DAYS TO TRY, THEN A SINGLE PURCHASE For seven days you get every feature – no payment details, nothing to cancel. After that, a single purchase: no subscription, no renewal. Family Sharing covers up to six people, and the purchase holds for Version 2 for good. If the trial runs out and you do not buy, the workouts you already built stay fully usable. Only building new ones is locked. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

Swim Forge

Features
Read full description

Swim Forge is a training diary made for swimmers who want a clearer view of their training and progress. Use Swim Forge to create, edit, and review your swimming sessions in one place. Keep track of what you are training, monitor your development over time, and get a better understanding of your strengths and focus areas. With Swim Forge you can: Create, edit, and organize swim training sessions Keep a complete training diary in your phone Share progress with your coach Get insights into your skills and training focus Connect with Apple Health Take a photo of your swim plan and add it directly to your training diary Whether you train on your own or with a coach, Swim Forge helps you stay consistent, structured, and focused on improvement.

Screenshots

Training Builder4 screens
Swim Forge4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Swim Forge at none against Training Builder's 2. Swim Forge also leads on update cadence (every 10 days vs every 14 months) and iOS requirement (15.0 vs 26.0). On price, 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Training Builder sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month. Swim Forge asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Training Builder ships an update every 14 months, Swim Forge every 10 days. Both last shipped on November 5, 2026.

Scorecard3 real differences · 3 level
Training Builder versus Swim Forge: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterTraining BuilderSwim Forge
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyEvery 14 monthsEvery 10 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPod
Requires iOS26.015.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size15 MB115 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperPottbyte Solutions GbRJohannes Skagius

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Training Builder

Subscriptions2
  • Premium Month$0.991 Month
  • Premium Year$3.991 Year
None

Swim Forge

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Training Builder free?
Training Builder is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Swim Forge free?
Swim Forge is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Training Builder or Swim Forge have ads?
Neither Training Builder nor Swim Forge shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Training Builder or Swim Forge?
Training Builder ships an update every 14 months, and Swim Forge every 10 days. Most recently, Training Builder was updated on November 5, 2026 and Swim Forge on November 5, 2026.

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