Comparison

StepNova vs Steps

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

Head to head
About

StepNova

Track your daily movement with GPS, map routes, and receive coaching for intervals. Set personal records, follow training plans, and stay motivated with achievements and streaks. Share your live location for safety and log your post-activity feelings.

Highlights
  • GPS route tracking
  • Interval training programs
  • Personal records and route bests
  • Structured training plans
  • Live location sharing
  • Home and lock screen widgets
  • Post-activity journal
Features
Read full description

StepNova is a step counter and pedometer for everyday movement. Whether you're walking, running, cycling, or hiking — StepNova counts every step, maps your route, coaches you through intervals, and celebrates every personal record along the way. SMART ACTIVITY TRACKING Automatic step, distance, calorie, and pace tracking using your iPhone's built-in sensors. Supports walking, running, cycling, hiking, and elliptical — indoors or out. APPLE WATCH APP Start, pause, and finish a walk from your wrist. Live steps, pace, distance, and elapsed time on the watch, a seven-day chart, and a watch face complication for today's progress. Start on the wrist and your iPhone picks the walk up while it is still running. LIVE ACTIVITY & DYNAMIC ISLAND Your walk stays on the Lock Screen and in the Dynamic Island — live timer and stats, with pause and resume, without ever opening the app. SIRI & CONTROL CENTER "Start my StepNova activity." "How many steps today?" Ask Siri hands-free, or start an activity from Control Center with one tap. Saved routes appear in iOS search. PERSONAL RECORDS & ROUTE BESTS StepNova tracks your all-time bests for steps, distance, calories, and pace. Save your favorite routes and StepNova will tell you every time you beat your personal record on them — with a full-screen celebration to mark the moment. INTERVAL TRAINING Choose from 5 guided interval programs — Walk-to-Run, C25K Week 1, HIIT 40/20, Tabata, and Active Recovery — or build your own with StepNova Pro. Voice prompts guide you through every work and rest phase automatically. WALK WINDOWS See the best upcoming hours to head outside based on real-time weather — AQI, temperature, UV index, wind, and rain chance, all ranked so the ideal window is always visible on your dashboard. LIVE MAPS & PERFORMANCE GRAPHS GPS route tracing with pace, elevation, and speed graphs. Review your splits, see your elevation profile, replay your exact path, and share your route after every activity. STREAKS & ACHIEVEMENTS Build daily streaks, unlock 50 achievement badges across Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Platinum tiers, and compete with friends on a weekly step leaderboard. TRAINING PLANS Follow structured multi-week training plans — beginner, endurance, or race-ready — with daily targets and CloudKit sync across all your devices. SAFE WALK Share your live location with a trusted contact while you walk solo. They see your real-time position and path for peace of mind — yours and theirs. HOME SCREEN & LOCK SCREEN WIDGETS Glanceable step count, daily goal progress, and streaks — right on your home screen or lock screen without opening the app. VOICE COACHING Milestone announcements and interval cues spoken in your device's language. StepNova keeps you informed without you ever having to look at your phone. Your health, location, and activity data stays on your device and in your private iCloud account. It is never sold. StepNova uses anonymous usage statistics to improve the app; see the privacy policy for details. ——— STEPNOVA PRO Unlock the full StepNova experience: • Custom interval program creation • Unlimited saved routes • Unlimited friends on leaderboard • 25 more achievements to unlock • All training plans & structured challenges • Safe Walk live location sharing • Custom app themes Try StepNova Pro free for 30 days (available for eligible new subscribers). After the trial, your subscription automatically renews at $9.99/year unless canceled at least 24 hours before the end of the trial period. Monthly plan available at $1.99/month (no trial). Lifetime access available as a one-time purchase. Manage or cancel anytime in your App Store account settings. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

Steps

Transform your daily walks into exciting races against friends. Set step goals on real-world routes and compete to reach them first. Climb leaderboards and push each other to stay active.

Highlights
  • Walking races with friends
  • Set step goals
  • Real-world routes
  • Leaderboard competition
  • Social motivation
Features
Read full description

THE WALKING RACE STARTS NOW. Steps turns every step into a race. Running or walking. Pick a route. Invite your friends. Start walking. The one who hits the steps goal first, wins. — REAL STEPS. REAL ROUTES. Munich to Berlin. Barcelona to Madrid. LA to New York. Every step counts. — FRIENDS MAKE IT BETTER. Because Lisa just passed you. Because Tom won't stop trash talking. Because second place sucks. — PUSH THE GROUP. One tap. Maximum pressure. "Tony fired you up. Move your ass." Nobody rests in peace. — THE WORLD IS WATCHING. Daily. Weekly. All time. Climb the leaderboard. Or get left behind. — WHY STEPS? Because 10,000 steps a day is boring. Beating your friends isn't. Steps isn't a fitness tracker. It's competition. — NO ADS. NO TRACKING. NO B******T. Built for people, not advertisers. — DOWNLOAD STEPS. INVITE YOUR FRIENDS. WALK THE TALK.

Screenshots

StepNova4 screens
Steps4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Steps at none against StepNova's 6. StepNova's advantage is device support (3 vs 1) and ratings volume (9 vs 3). On price, rating, update cadence 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. StepNova sells 6 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Steps asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.9 for StepNova against 5.0 for Steps. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 9 and 3 respectively.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

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

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
StepNova versus Steps: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterStepNovaSteps
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.9 (9 ratings)5.0 (3 ratings) — better
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings9 — better3
Update frequencyEvery 5 daysEvery 4 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFreemiumFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — betteriPhone
Requires iOS18.017.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size17 MB7 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperNAVEEN CHOWDARY PUTHUMBHAKUAnatol Korel

Customer experience

StepNova

All ratings8 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Steps

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

6 purchases

StepNova

Subscriptions2
  • StepNova Pro — Monthly$1.991 Month
  • StepNova Pro — Annual1 Month trial$9.991 Year
One-time4
  • Keep StepNova Free$0.99
  • Fund New Features$2.99
  • Power Future Updates$6.99
Show 1 more
  • StepNova Pro — Lifetime$29.99
None

Steps

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is StepNova free?
StepNova is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Steps free?
Steps is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, StepNova or Steps?
Steps is rated higher. StepNova averages 4.9 out of 5 from 9 ratings, while Steps averages 5.0 from 3 ratings.
Do StepNova or Steps have ads?
Neither StepNova nor Steps shows ads.
Which is updated more often, StepNova or Steps?
StepNova ships an update every 5 days, and Steps every 4 days. Most recently, StepNova was updated on October 31, 2026 and Steps on October 31, 2026.

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