Comparison

Barley vs GymDiary

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

Head to head
About

Barley

Features
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Barley is no-frills workout tracking app for serious lifters. **Features** - Exercise library - Create custom exercises - Barbell plate convenience calculator - 4 different 1 rep max calculators to choose from - Personal Record (PR) tracking for weight, reps, and volume - RPE tracking - Timed exercises - Workout statistics - Workout history - Customer rest timers (including the ability to have RPE-specific rest timers)

About

GymDiary

Features
Read full description

The workout tracker built for serious lifters. Log every set, rep, and weight. Track progressive overload session by session. Monitor volume across every muscle group. GymDiary gives you the data to train smarter โ€” completely free, forever. โ€”โ€”โ€”โ€”โ€”โ€”โ€”โ€”โ€”โ€”โ€”โ€”โ€”โ€”โ€”โ€”โ€”โ€”โ€”โ€”โ€”โ€”โ€”โ€”โ€”โ€” WHAT YOU CAN DO WITH GYMDIARY โ€”โ€”โ€”โ€”โ€”โ€”โ€”โ€”โ€”โ€”โ€”โ€”โ€”โ€”โ€”โ€”โ€”โ€”โ€”โ€”โ€”โ€”โ€”โ€”โ€”โ€” - EXERCISE LOGGING Log sets, reps, and weight for any exercise. Build a complete record of your entire training history. - PROGRESSIVE OVERLOAD TRACKING See your last session's data every time you train. Make deliberate increases to keep building strength over time. - MUSCLE GROUP VOLUME Automatically track weekly training volume for Chest, Back, Legs, Shoulders, and Arms. Know exactly what you've trained. - STRENGTH ANALYTICS Charts for volume, frequency, and personal records. Understand exactly how your training is progressing over weeks and months. - CUSTOM EXERCISE LIBRARY Add your own exercises with custom muscle group mappings. Your library works the way you train. - FULL WORKOUT HISTORY Every session you've ever logged, always available. Search and filter by date, muscle group, or exercise name. - WORKS ON ALL YOUR DEVICES your data syncs across all platforms. Train anywhere. โ€”โ€”โ€”โ€”โ€”โ€”โ€”โ€”โ€”โ€”โ€”โ€”โ€”โ€”โ€”โ€”โ€”โ€”โ€”โ€”โ€”โ€”โ€”โ€”โ€”โ€” BUILT FOR EVERY TRAINING STYLE โ€”โ€”โ€”โ€”โ€”โ€”โ€”โ€”โ€”โ€”โ€”โ€”โ€”โ€”โ€”โ€”โ€”โ€”โ€”โ€”โ€”โ€”โ€”โ€”โ€”โ€” Whether you run Push Pull Legs, Upper Lower, a full-body program, or your own custom split โ€” GymDiary adapts to your routine, not the other way around. No templates forced on you. No premium features locked behind a paywall. No ads. Just a clean, fast workout tracker that gets out of your way and lets you lift. Download GymDiary today โ€” it's free. Forever.

Screenshots

Barley4 screens
GymDiary4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is iOS requirement: GymDiary at 15.1 against Barley's 18.4. On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price ยท Rating ยท Positive reviews ยท Number of ratings ยท Update frequency ยท Ads ยท In-app purchases ยท Monetization ยท Best chart rank ยท Devices ยท Requires iOS

CostPrice ยท In-app purchases ยท Ads ยท Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Barley ships an update fortnightly, GymDiary every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 9, 2026 and October 7, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard1 real difference ยท 5 level
Barley versus GymDiary: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBarleyGymDiary
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyFortnightlyEvery 2 weeks โ€” better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod โ€” better
Requires iOS18.415.1 โ€” better
Further details โ€” not scored
Size4 MB44 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperNo Translation Layer LLCANALYTICA SOLUTIONS AND CONSULTING LIMITED

In-app purchases

None

Barley

No in-app purchases

None

GymDiary

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Barley free?
Barley is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is GymDiary free?
GymDiary is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Barley or GymDiary have ads?
Neither Barley nor GymDiary shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Barley or GymDiary?
Barley ships an update fortnightly, and GymDiary every 2 weeks. Most recently, Barley was updated on October 9, 2026 and GymDiary on October 7, 2026.

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