Comparison

Simple Steps vs Ironbook

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

Head to head
About

Simple Steps

This free app tracks your daily steps, calories, and distance with a focus on privacy. Set custom goals and view progress with simple charts, all without needing an account or internet connection.

Highlights
  • Daily step tracking
  • Calorie and distance monitoring
  • Customizable step goals
  • Weekly and monthly reports
  • Apple Watch complication
  • Offline functionality
Features
Read full description

A simple step counter that respects your privacy. Completely free! Track your daily steps, set goals, and monitor your walking progress. All without creating an account, seeing adverts, or being tracked. Features: • Today View - See your step count at a glance with a clean radial progress dial. Track calories, distance, and active minutes throughout the day. • Walk Mode - Start a walk with a specific goal (steps or time) or just walk freely with an open goal. • Reports - View your weekly and monthly step history with clear, simple charts. See your daily averages and track your consistency over time. • Targets - Set minimum and maximum daily step goals that work for you. Watch your progress as you move from your minimum towards your stretch goal. • Apple Watch - Step count complication, progress, last 5 days, and recording a walk. Simple by design: • No account required, just download and go • No internet connection needed, works anywhere • No GPS, better for your battery • No tracking or analytics • No adverts • No AI • No subscriptions or paywalled features. Simple Steps uses Apple HealthKit and your device's built-in pedometer to read your step data and nothing else. We don't collect, store, or share any of your information. Just simple steps.

About

Ironbook

Features
Read full description

Ironbook is a workout log with the look of a gym blackboard: chalk on iron, tape, gold for records. The whole point of a training log is knowing what you did last time while you stand at the bar. Ironbook puts that number next to every set, runs your rest timer on the Lock Screen, and draws the line going up. FREE, FOREVER • Unlimited workouts, templates and history • Every set shows last session's weight and reps; tick a set and it copies them if you left them blank • Rest timer on the Lock Screen and in the Dynamic Island, with a buzz when it's time • A new challenge every month, with a gold medal when you finish it • Warm-up sets worked out for you: empty bar, 40, 60 and 80 percent • 1RM calculator with every percentage worked out, and plate maths with the bar drawn per side, in kg or lb • Notes on any lift, and last time's note shown when you do it again • A weekly goal, a week streak, and one free streak shield every month • A finish screen that calls out every PR • Your top three records, the small week widget, Lock Screen widgets and a Control Center button • Siri and Shortcuts: "Start my workout in Ironbook", "How is my week in Ironbook" IRONBOOK PRO, A ONE-TIME UNLOCK • Progress: estimated one-rep max over time, PR sessions in gold, heaviest set per session, weekly volume • The whole records wall, and every session of every lift • Program library: 5x5, push pull legs, upper lower, three-day full body and dumbbells only • Save workouts to Apple Health • The bigger week widget with your latest PR and what's next • CSV export of every set IRONBOOK PLUS, MONTHLY OR YEARLY Everything in Pro, and: • Muscle balance: working sets per muscle each week against the 10 to 20 set guide, and the lifts climbing fastest • A monthly refill on the 1st: 1 Next Block, 3 PR posters and 2 Week Shields • Every tape colour and PR Fireworks, while you subscribe • iCloud backup of your whole log, so a new phone picks up where you left off • A shareable poster for every challenge medal Already own Pro? You keep it. Plus only adds the monthly extras on top. LITTLE EXTRAS • Next Block: four weeks of a template with a target on every lift, worked out from your own best numbers. Volume, build, heavy, deload • PR Posters: a gold chalkboard poster of a new PR, three to a pack • Week Shield and Shield Pack: keep your streak after a short week • Tape colours, each with a matching app icon: Cobalt, Volt, Rose and Bone • PR Fireworks over every new best PRICES AND SUBSCRIPTION TERMS Logging is free. Pro is $4.99 once. Ironbook Plus is $2.99 a month or $14.99 a year, and the yearly plan starts with a 1-week free trial for new subscribers. Extras are $0.99 (Shield Pack $1.99). Prices are in US dollars and may differ in your country. Payment is charged to your Apple ID when you confirm the purchase, or when a free trial ends. A subscription renews automatically unless it is cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period, and your account is charged for the renewal within the 24 hours before the period ends. Manage or cancel anytime in Settings > your name > Subscriptions. Any unused part of a free trial ends when you buy a subscription. Bought Ironbook before it went free? Pro is already yours. kg or lb. No account, no ads, no tracking. Your log stays on your phone (and in your own iCloud, with Plus). Terms of Use (Apple standard EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://tensorust.com/apps/ironbook/privacy/

Screenshots

Simple Steps4 screens
Ironbook4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Simple Steps at none against Ironbook's 10. On price, update cadence, 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. Ironbook sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Simple Steps asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Simple Steps ships an update every 4 days, Ironbook every 5 days. Both last shipped on October 31, 2026.

Scorecard1 real difference · 9 level
Simple Steps versus Ironbook: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSimple StepsIronbook
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (6 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings6 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 4 days — betterEvery 5 days
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhone, Apple Watch — betteriPhone
Requires iOS17.017.0
Further details — not scored
Size3 MB3 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperGavan Grenville-HuntMatthew Busel

In-app purchases

None

Simple Steps

No in-app purchases

10 purchases

Ironbook

Subscriptions2
  • Ironbook Plus Monthly$2.991 Month
  • Ironbook Plus Yearly7 Days trial$14.991 Year
One-time8
  • PR Posters x3$0.99
  • Cobalt Tape$0.99
  • Week Shield$0.99
Show 5 more
  • Volt Tape$0.99
  • Rose Tape$0.99
  • Bone Tape$0.99
  • PR Fireworks$0.99
  • Shield Pack x3$1.99

Questions

Is Simple Steps free?
Simple Steps is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Ironbook free?
Ironbook is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Simple Steps or Ironbook have ads?
Neither Simple Steps nor Ironbook shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Simple Steps or Ironbook?
Simple Steps ships an update every 4 days, and Ironbook every 5 days. Most recently, Simple Steps was updated on October 31, 2026 and Ironbook on October 31, 2026.

Other comparisons