ActiveCue vs RunSplit
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
ActiveCue
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ActiveCue is the interval running app built for people who want to train smarter — not stare at their phone. Set your run/walk intervals, press start, and put your phone away. ActiveCue handles the rest with voice prompts, automatic phase transitions, and a live countdown you can glance at on your Apple Watch. INTERVAL TRAINING, YOUR WAY • Fully customizable run and walk durations • Set your number of rounds and rest periods • Choose from beginner, intermediate, or custom presets • Works with any fitness level — from first-time runners to seasoned athletes HANDS-FREE BY DESIGN • Voice prompts announce every phase change • Countdown warnings at 10, 5, and 3 seconds • Motivational cues mid-run to keep you going • Screen stays off — your battery (and focus) will thank you GPS DISTANCE & PACE • Real-time distance and live pace tracking • Supports kilometers and miles • Pace displayed per km or per mile • Powered by CoreLocation for accuracy APPLE WATCH • See your phase, countdown, and round number on your wrist • Full native watchOS app — no iPhone needed during runs • Syncs automatically with the iOS app APPLE MUSIC INTEGRATION • Now-playing track and artist displayed during workouts • Skip, pause, and play controls without leaving the app • Music keeps playing seamlessly through all phase transitions APPLE HEALTH SYNC • Workouts automatically saved after every session • Includes duration, distance, heart rate, and calories • Fully compatible with the Health app and third-party fitness apps TRAINING PLANS (Premium) • Structured 5K and 10K plans with progressive weekly workouts • C25K-style beginner program • Advanced pace and analytics charts ACTIVEUE PREMIUM Unlock all features with a subscription or a one-time lifetime purchase. • Monthly: $4.99/month • Yearly: $29.99/year — includes a 14-day free trial • Lifetime: $79.99 — pay once, own forever Payment is charged to your Apple ID. Subscriptions renew automatically unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Manage subscriptions in your App Store account settings. Privacy Policy: https://activecue.store/privacy.html Terms of Use: https://activecue.store/terms.html
RunSplit
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RunSplit is the running app built around the thing that actually makes you faster: clean, color-coded intervals. Green means WORK. Red means REST. No guesswork - just a phone that knows what phase you are in and a coach that runs with you. FREE FOREVER - WITH A TIP JAR RunSplit is completely free. Every feature, every update, no paywall. There's a single ad slot in Settings. Prefer to support a solo developer? Leave a Gel, Energy Bar, or Race Entry tip and RunSplit goes ad-free permanently across every device on your iCloud. SMART INTERVAL COACHING Pick your work and rest blocks in seconds or meters, then tap Start. RunSplit counts you in, tracks the set, and hands you the next interval the second your rest is up. An on-device Smart Coach, powered by Apple Intelligence, talks you through every phase. Choose your tone - Hype, Calm, Drill, or Mindful - and your voice (boy or girl) and you get a runner, not a stopwatch, in your ear. STRETCH BEFORE RUN Three built-in dynamic warmups - Quick (3 min), Standard (5 min), Full (6 min) - made of the 12 stretches running coaches actually recommend: leg swings, walking lunges, hip circles, hamstring scoops, high knees, butt kicks, more. Wire one to a profile and tap Play. Pick "Stretch + Run" or skip. Animated visuals show the motion. Apple Watch chains right into your run when the routine finishes. FREE RUN - JUST RUN No Work/Rest splits, no countdown beeps. Free Run records your GPS route, distance, pace, and heart rate while you set your own pace. Perfect when you want to run by feel. WALK MODE Open record walks with GPS, live steps and heart rate with no Work/Rest bar LIVE CROSS-DEVICE RUN MIRROR Glance at your Apple Watch mid-run and see exactly what your iPhone is tracking. Run from your watch and your iPhone shows the same tile. If a device dies mid-run, the other one still has the live snapshot. FLYOVER VIDEOS Generate a cinematic 3D satellite flyover of any saved run - 9:16, ready to post. Every video opens with an establishing wide shot and closes with a pull-back reveal of the whole route. Duration and camera scale to long routes, elevation gain shows in the HUD, and PACE reflects your actual pace at each point. MOUNTAINS Hike mode auto-tags the highest GPS point on your route as a mountain, builds a Summit Collection, and lets you fix or add a peak retroactively from any past hike's detail screen. ACHIEVEMENTS, PRs, AND TOP-10 MEDALS Marathon distance, sub-5:00/km pace, early-morning run, weekly streaks, per-shoe PRs, mileage milestones. Plus a top-10 medal that lands on every saved run when you place in your lifetime ranks. CONDITIONS - YOUR BODY ON ONE SCREEN Weight, height, body temperature, resting heart rate, HRV, VO2 Max, blood oxygen, walking speed, plus today's steps, exercise minutes, and stand hours - all from Apple Health. Trend charts with a NEW PR badge when you set a lifetime best. SMART CALORIE TRACKING Log meals fast with Quick Add presets, free-form descriptions, or a manual editor. iPhones with Apple Intelligence parse your text into calories and macros on-device. Every other iPhone uses a curated library of 150 runner foods to estimate the same numbers offline. STRAVA SYNC Connect once and every outdoor run pushes automatically. Manual "Push to Strava" on any saved run, with de-dup so you never get duplicate uploads. APPLE WATCH The companion app runs the same interval engine on your wrist. Walk mode counts steps live. Profiles with a stretch routine show "Stretch + Run" instead of Start - same library, same visuals, then chains straight into the run. YOUR GEAR, TRACKED Add a pair, snap a photo, and RunSplit logs every mile. Live wear bar, per-pair pace, cadence, heart zones, total mileage across your rotation. ON-DEVICE, PRIVATE, YOURS No account. No login. No subscription. Your runs, routes, shoes, and music taste stay on your iPhone. The Smart Coach runs on-device using Apple Intelligence. Download free - lace up, pick an interval, and go.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is device support: RunSplit at 3 against ActiveCue's —. On price, in-app purchases and iOS requirement 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
Both are free to download. ActiveCue sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month and RunSplit sells 4 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
| Parameter | ActiveCue | RunSplit |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Update frequency | — | Every 2 days |
| Ads | — | Yes |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Devices | — | iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — better |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 — better | 18.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 7 MB | 18 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | James Thompson | Zeus Solomon Olivar |
In-app purchases
ActiveCue
- ActiveCue Premium - Monthly$4.991 Month
- ActiveCue Premium - Yearly14 Days trial$29.991 Year
- ActiveCue Lifetime$79.99
RunSplit
- Gel$0.99
- Remove Ads$0.99
- Energy Bar$2.99
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- Race Entry$4.99









