Comparison

Plates vs Forge

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

Head to head
About

Plates

Log your weightlifting sessions with ease, track sets, and analyze your progress. Create custom workouts or use templates, and access over 250 pre-made exercises. Gain insights into your training trends to improve your performance.

Highlights
  • Workout logging with sets and reps
  • Customizable workout templates
  • 250+ pre-made exercises
  • Progress analytics and trends
  • Custom exercise creation
  • Session volume and best weight tracking
Features
Read full description

Plates is a workout log for weightlifting. A 7-day free trial is included. Access to all features requires a Lifetime Unlock (one-time purchase). It's made for people who are serious about weightlifting and love going to the gym. Start a workout from scratch, or from a template you’ve already built. Add exercises, log sets, tick them off as you go, and finish the session. That’s it. After that, Plates does the boring part for you: it turns your logged sessions into analytics you can use to advance quicker in your weightlifting journey. Logging that's simple and elegant: • Create workouts fast (empty or template-based) • Track sets with weight + reps (and more when needed) • Adjust on the fly mid-workout • Templates (optional, but worth it) If you train the same structure each week (which you probably do), templates save a ton of time: • Add exercises and sets beforehand (it will automatically update the weight you used) • Re-use your common sessions (PPL, upper/lower, full body, etc.) Exercises: • Plates comes with 250+ pre-made exercises (free-weight, machine, cardio, and isometric). • You can easily create custom exercises and configure them according to their function. Plates shows what your training has looked like recently: • Muscle heat-map based on recommended volume • Total volume per session, best weight, best duration, etc. • Trends across time • Most trained muscle groups in the past 30 days

About

Forge

Features
Read full description

FORGE — the dark-first workout tracker, as serious as you train. Forge is a fast, private gym log built for people who actually lift. Plan your training, log every set in real time, watch your numbers climb, and own all of it. No sign-in. No servers. Everything lives on your device. TRAIN Log weight × reps with every set type: normal, warmup, dropset, AMRAP, timed and failure A built-in rest timer counts you back in — with alerts even when your screen is off Weight prefill carries your next load over from your last top set or a rolling average Reorder and adjust exercises on the fly mid-session PROGRESS Automatic personal records, ranked by estimated 1RM See your “biggest mover” — the lift climbing fastest — every session Weekly and monthly plan adherence keeps you consistent (rest days never count against you) Stats follow each exercise by name across your entire history BRING YOUR OWN PROGRAM Programs are portable JSON you fully control No program to hand? Forge’s built-in prompt spells out its import format — paste it into any chatbot to get a compatible program, then import the result straight in Import by paste or file; export and share any program in a tap APPLE WATCH Start and run a workout from your wrist Live heart-rate zones, active energy and your rest timer Log sets on the watch, or hand the session off to your iPhone Saves to Apple Health when you finish 100% ON-DEVICE & PRIVATE No account, no cloud, no ads, no tracking Your data never leaves your device unless you choose to back it up Optional backup writes to a folder in your own iCloud Drive, Google Drive or Dropbox — Forge itself never sends your data anywhere ALSO Dark by default, with a light theme when you want it Home Screen widgets and a Live Activity to jump straight into today’s workout Full English and 日本語 support Forge stays out of your way and keeps the receipts. Plan it, lift it, log it — and watch the numbers climb. No ads, no tracking — all on your device.

Screenshots

Plates4 screens
Forge4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Forge at none against Plates's 2. Forge also leads on device support (4 vs 2) and iOS requirement (14.0 vs 26.0). Plates's advantage is update cadence (every 2 days vs every 5 days). On price 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. Plates sells 2 one-off in-app purchases. Forge asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Plates ships an update every 2 days, Forge every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on October 12, 2026 and October 17, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 5 level
Plates versus Forge: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPlatesForge
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.0 (1 ratings) — better—
Number of ratings1 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 2 days — betterEvery 5 days
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch — better
Requires iOS26.014.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size81 MB23 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperToms BurgmanisBrendon Roberts Pomeroy

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Plates

One-time2
  • Free TrialFree
  • Lifetime$19.99
None

Forge

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Plates free?
Plates is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Forge free?
Forge is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Plates or Forge have ads?
Neither Plates nor Forge shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Plates or Forge?
Plates ships an update every 2 days, and Forge every 5 days. Most recently, Plates was updated on October 12, 2026 and Forge on October 17, 2026.

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