Comparison

Dial vs The Log

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

Head to head
About

Dial

This app helps serious lifters meticulously track their training volume per muscle group. It provides detailed insights into progressive overload and workout efficiency without ads or requiring an account. Visualize your progress with clear charts and make informed training decisions.

Highlights
  • Fractional volume tracking per muscle group
  • Automatic muscle contribution mapping
  • Log sets, reps, and weight with gym-focused interface
  • Extensive exercise library with custom movement support
  • Progress visualization with charts and analytics
  • iCloud sync and Apple Health integration
Features
Read full description

Dial is the workout tracker for lifters who take volume seriously. See exactly how much work each muscle group receives, track progressive overload, and make informed decisions about your training. No ads. No account required. FRACTIONAL VOLUME TRACKING When you bench press, it counts toward chest, front delts, and triceps—each weighted appropriately. Dial shows the full picture, not just total sets. • Automatic muscle contribution mapping for every exercise • 4-week rolling averages smooth out week-to-week variation • Efficiency gradient shows where each set contributes most • Set optional volume goals as personal benchmarks TRACK YOUR LIFTS Log sets, reps, and weight with an interface designed for the gym. Quick access to previous workout data makes progressive overload easy to follow. • Mark sets as warmup, working, drop set, or to failure • Group exercises into supersets • Build reusable templates for any program EXERCISE LIBRARY Hundreds of pre-loaded exercises organized by muscle group. Add custom movements and AI automatically maps them to muscles. Each exercise tracks your complete performance history. SEE YOUR PROGRESS Beautiful charts showing volume over time, best weights, and estimated 1RM. Spot patterns across weeks. See what's working. INSIGHT, NOT INSTRUCTION No AI-generated workouts. No gamification. No algorithm telling you what to lift. You bring your training—Dial makes it visible. DESIGNED FOR iOS Native SwiftUI app built to feel at home on your iPhone. Fast, fluid, and distraction-free. iCloud sync. Apple Health integration. FREE TO START Full workout tracking at no cost. Dial Pro unlocks advanced analytics and additional features. No ads. Your data stays on your devices. Perfect for powerlifting, bodybuilding, strength training, and any program focused on progressive overload. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://www.dial.fit/privacy

About

The Log

This app helps you track your weightlifting progress by showing your previous performance before each set. It automatically starts a rest timer on your lock screen and provides insights into your one-rep max and training volume. Focuses on simplicity for experienced lifters.

Highlights
  • See previous set performance instantly
  • Automatic lock screen rest timer
  • Estimated one-rep max tracking
  • Calendar view with workout intensity
  • Exercise suggestions based on muscle groups
  • Workout data stays on device
Read full description

The only thing that builds muscle is progressive overload. Lift a little more than last time, recover, repeat. It's not complicated — but it's easy to forget what "last time" actually was. That's the problem The Log solves. How it works: Open the app and tap your exercise. Before you log a single rep, you'll see exactly what you did last time — your top set, the weight, the reps, everything you need. No scrolling through old entries or trying to remember what you hit last week. It's already there, waiting for you to beat it. Log your working sets in a few taps. When you finish a set, the rest timer starts automatically and shows up as a Live Activity on your lock screen so you can glance at your phone without unlocking it or digging back into the app. Exercise, see what to beat, log it, rest, repeat — that's your entire workflow. What you get: The moment you start logging an exercise you've done before, your previous top set shows up automatically. This is the core of the app and the reason it exists, making progressive overload obvious without any extra work on your part. Your rest timer runs right on your lock screen as a Live Activity. You don't need to keep the app open or check it constantly, just glance and get back to lifting when you're ready. The stats page tracks your estimated one-rep max based on your top sets, so you can watch it trend upward over weeks and months without doing any extra math. Every workout gets logged to a calendar view where the intensity of each day reflects how many sets you did, making weeks of consistency visible at a glance. You'll also see how your training volume is distributed across movement patterns, so you'll know whether you're actually balanced or quietly neglecting your weak points. When you start typing an exercise, The Log suggests options based on muscle groups and movement tags. Over time you'll build your own library of movements that fits how you actually train. What you won't find: There's no AI writing your program, no social feed showing what strangers lifted, no ads interrupting your sets. You don't need to create an account and your data never leaves your device. The Log is built for people who already know how to train. You don't need an app telling you what to do - you need one that remembers what you did and stays out of your way while you work. Who it's for: You've been lifting for a while and you have a program or at least a general plan. You've tried other apps and they felt like too much — too many screens, too many features, too much friction when all you want is to log a set and move on. Or maybe you've been using notes or a spreadsheet and it mostly works, but you're tired of the scrolling and formatting and manual organization. The Log sits in the middle. More structured than notes, less cluttered than everything else. Privacy by default Your workout data stays on your device. There's no account to create, no server storing your lifts, no analytics tracking what you do. The app works fully offline and syncs only when you want it to. This is a tool, not a platform trying to build a profile on you. Pricing Your first month is completely free with full access to every feature. After that, you can go monthly at $2.99, yearly at $29.99, or pay $49.99 once for lifetime access and never think about it again. If you ever cancel, you keep read access to every workout you've logged. Your data is yours regardless of whether you're paying. From an independent developer The Log is built by one person, not a team optimizing for engagement metrics. There's no growth strategy that depends on making the app addicting and no investor asking about daily active users. Just a tool that does what it's supposed to do and nothing more. Download it, try it for a month, and see if it helps you lift heavier. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Dial4 screens
The Log4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ratings volume: The Log at 6 against Dial's 1. Dial's advantage is iOS requirement (18.0 vs 26.2). On price, rating, review sentiment 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. Dial sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $7.99 per month and The Log sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for Dial against 5.0 for The Log. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: The Log has 6 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 100% and 100% positive.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Dial versus The Log: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterDialThe Log
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (1 ratings)5.0 (6 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings16 — better
Update frequencyEvery 5 days—
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFreemiumFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhoneiPhone
Requires iOS18.0 — better26.2
Further details — not scored
Size24 MB16 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperErik Daniel LarssonPIETER CORNELIUS DE BRUIJN

Customer experience

Dial

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

The Log

All ratings6 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews5 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Dial

Subscriptions2
  • Dial Pro Monthly7 Days trial$7.991 Month
  • Dial Pro Annual7 Days trial$49.991 Year
One-time1
  • Dial Pro Lifetime$149.99
3 purchases

The Log

Subscriptions2
  • The Log - Monthly14 Days trial$2.991 Month
  • The Log - Yearly14 Days trial$29.991 Year
One-time1
  • The Log - Lifetime$49.99

Questions

Is Dial free?
Dial is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is The Log free?
The Log is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Dial or The Log?
Dial and The Log are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 1 and 6 ratings respectively.
Do Dial or The Log have ads?
Neither Dial nor The Log shows ads.

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