Comparison

Oarsum vs Cardio Log

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

Head to head
About

Oarsum

This app helps kayakers, canoeists, and rowers track their time on the water. Record live sessions, view distance and pace on Apple Watch, and get detailed trip summaries. It offers on-device analytics, water body identification, and integrates with Apple Health.

Highlights
  • Live paddle session recording
  • Apple Watch companion display
  • Detailed trip summaries
  • HealthKit workout support
  • On-device analytics
  • Water body identification
  • Private route logging
Features
Read full description

Oarsum is a GPS paddle tracker and logbook for kayaking, canoeing, stand-up paddleboarding (SUP) and rowing. You did the paddling. Give yourself something to show for it: routes to replay, records to beat, and a whole year of water worth revisiting. RECORDING — Wrist or phone. Your call. Record on iPhone or independently on Apple Watch. Track your route, distance, duration, speed and pace. See heart rate, calories and stroke rate when available. Pause, resume, check weather conditions, and follow your Watch session on iPhone when connected. HISTORY — Run that paddle back Replay a saved route and see where you picked up speed. Browse trips in your logbook or on the map, show past routes together, and choose their colors. Pin favorite paddles and waters. Less digging. More finding. WATERS — Put a name to the place That lake has a name. So does the river you keep going back to. Search lakes and rivers worldwide, explore water shapes and available facts, and connect trips to named waters. Confirm where you paddled, check repeat visits, and find your regular spots. CALENDAR — Your year. Accounted for. See your year on the water, open a month, and revisit its paddles. Follow streaks, compare activity across days, months and years, and see your most active days and favorite times to paddle. INSIGHTS — Settle it with the numbers Your fastest paddle? Your longest? Open your personal records and the trips behind them. Explore pace trends, heart-rate zones and stroke efficiency from your recorded data. Deep Detail compares individual paddles with your history, so you can see how they stack up. INTELLIGENCE — Go ahead. Ask. "How far did I paddle this month?" "Which water do I visit most?" Paddle Intelligence turns questions about your paddling into answers from your saved trips and available Insights. It uses Apple Intelligence on supported devices. IMPORT, EXPORT & SYNC — Your old paddles count, too Import paddle workouts from Apple Health and trips from GPX files. Save Oarsum workouts to Apple Health, export routes as GPX, and sync your logbook across devices with iCloud. IPAD & MAC — Spread out a little Explore Oarsum Atlas on iPad: your map, water search and logbook in one workspace, with adjustable panels. Bring the same iPad experience to compatible Apple silicon Macs. WIDGETS & SHORTCUTS — Keep it handy Follow a session on your Lock Screen and Dynamic Island with Live Activities. Reach Oarsum through widgets, Siri and Shortcuts, or find a saved paddle with Spotlight. Designed and built by an independent developer who paddles. Oarsum is for recreational tracking, not navigation or emergency use. Support: https://oarsum.com/contact Terms of Use: https://oarsum.com/terms Privacy Policy: https://oarsum.com/privacy

About

Cardio Log

Features
Read full description

The workout is done. Open CardioLog, tap the sport, set the minutes, rate the effort — logged in ten seconds. That is the whole job: a dead-simple cardio journal for people who run, cycle, swim, row or hit the elliptical and just want the work written down. No GPS to babysit. No pace charts to decode. No feed of strangers going faster than you. CardioLog measures nothing — it remembers. You did the session; the app keeps the receipt, adds it to your week and shows how close you are to the 150 minutes of aerobic activity the WHO recommends for adults. WHAT YOU GET • A session logged before your breathing settles — sport, minutes, effort, done • Your week at a glance: 112 of 150 minutes on Thursday tells you exactly what the weekend owes • A streak counter that makes day 14 feel too expensive to break • Your training mix laid bare — when "I swim sometimes" turns out to be 2 swims in 30 sessions, you will know • A monthly summary card ready to share: sessions, minutes, active weeks, longest session and your activity mix • Edit any entry, add notes ("hill repeats", "new shoes"), and export your entire log as CSV anytime PERFECT FOR • Runners and cyclists who want a diary of the work, not another GPS trace • Swimmers, rowers and elliptical regulars whose sports GPS apps never handled well anyway • Anyone chasing the WHO 150-minute week, one logged session at a time • Lapsed athletes rebuilding the habit who need a streak more than a coach WHY NOT JUST A GPS TRACKER? Trackers record where you went. A journal records that you went. If maps and splits kept you consistent, you would be consistent already. CardioLog strips the workout down to the three facts that build a habit — what, how long, how hard — and turns them into a week you can see and a streak you will not want to lose. PRIVATE BY DEFAULT Your log lives on your device. No account, no location, no third-party SDKs. A daily reminder at the hour you choose is the only time CardioLog speaks first. It is an activity journal, not a medical device — it measures nothing and assesses nothing. FULL ACCESS CardioLog Pro unlocks the complete experience: the daily volume chart, your training mix by sport, streak tracking and the shareable monthly summary. Choose a Weekly or Yearly subscription, or a one-time Lifetime purchase. Tonight, after the run — log it. That is how streaks start. SUBSCRIPTION TERMS Weekly and Yearly are auto-renewing subscriptions. Payment is charged to your Apple Account at confirmation of purchase. The subscription renews automatically unless it is cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period, and your account is charged for renewal within 24 hours before the end of that period. You can manage or cancel your subscription in Settings > Apple Account > Subscriptions after purchase. Lifetime is a one-time purchase and does not renew. Terms of Use: https://leanstudio.asia/terms-of-use Privacy Policy: https://leanstudio.asia/privacy-policy Support: support@leanstudio.asia

Screenshots

Oarsum4 screens
Cardio Log4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Oarsum at every 3 weeks against Cardio Log's every 4 months. Oarsum also leads on device support (3 vs 1). Cardio Log's advantage is iOS requirement (17.0 vs 26.0). On price, ads and in-app purchases 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. Oarsum sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per 3 months and Cardio Log sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per 7 days. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Oarsum ships an update every 3 weeks, Cardio Log every 4 months. Both last shipped on October 31, 2026.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Oarsum versus Cardio Log: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterOarsumCardio Log
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (6 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings6 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeks — betterEvery 4 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFreemium—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — betteriPhone
Requires iOS26.017.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size77 MB3 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperOddsplash LLCLEAN ASIA CO., LTD

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Oarsum

Subscriptions2
  • Seasonal Pass$2.993 Months
  • Annual Pass$9.991 Year
3 purchases

Cardio Log

Subscriptions2
  • Activity Minutes Weekly$3.997 Days
  • Run Tracker Yearly$19.991 Year
One-time1
  • Cycling Lifetime$39.99

Questions

Is Oarsum free?
Oarsum is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Cardio Log free?
Cardio Log is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Oarsum or Cardio Log have ads?
Neither Oarsum nor Cardio Log shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Oarsum or Cardio Log?
Oarsum ships an update every 3 weeks, and Cardio Log every 4 months. Most recently, Oarsum was updated on October 31, 2026 and Cardio Log on October 31, 2026.

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