FORGE vs Build
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
FORGE
Quickly generate personalized workout routines based on your goals, equipment, and desired duration. Receive detailed instructions, coaching cues, and rest times for a complete training session.
- Goal-based workout generation
- Customizable training parameters
- Includes warm-up, main block, and cool-down
- Detailed coaching cues and movement instructions
- Adjustable duration and equipment selection
- Optional workout finishers
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Working out should not require a gym membership, a perfect plan, or the confidence to already know what every exercise means. Maybe the gym feels intimidating. Maybe you would rather start at home, without anyone watching. I built FORGE because I wanted a practical workout app I would actually use. I still use it. Some days I want to use a kettlebell. Some days I have twenty minutes and a living-room floor. FORGE gives those days enough structure to become a real session. Choose your goal, up to 3 training styles, Full Body or a combination of specific body areas, 20, 30, 45, 60, or 90 minutes, the equipment you have, and any movement limits that matter today. FORGE builds the warmup, main work, recovery, movement instructions, and cooldown. Each exercise shows work and rest, cues, steps, target feel, and what to avoid. Timed exercises can include a round timer with a three-second ready countdown, pause, reset, and clear work and break phases. Use FORGE at home, outside, or at the gym. It is for the person easing into fitness, the nerd who wants the details, and anyone who would rather follow a clear plan than wander around guessing. If one block does not fit, replace it up to 3 times without using another generation. Saved workouts stay in history on this device and use the same exercise detail and timer tools. Start with 3 total free workout generations. They do not refresh. Subscription details: The monthly subscription begins when your purchase is confirmed and renews automatically unless canceled at least 24 hours before the end of the current billing period. An active subscription provides 50 workout generations per billing period. Optional consumable top-ups add more generations. Top-up generations do not expire and are used after free and monthly generations. Manage or cancel your subscription from Account or App Store settings.
Build
Log your weightlifting sets and reps using voice commands in seconds. Import workout routines from photos and track your progress with detailed charts and timers. Works offline and syncs across devices.
- Voice logging for sets and reps
- Import routines from photos
- Progress tracking charts
- Rest timers with notifications
- Plate calculator
- Offline functionality
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Build is the workout tracker you talk to. VOICE LOGGING Hold the mic and say "225 pounds, 5 reps." The set is logged before you rack the bar. IMPORT A ROUTINE FROM A PHOTO Photograph any program — a coach's sheet, a screenshot, a post you saved — and Build turns it into a routine you can train from. TRAIN WITH FRIENDS Follow your gym friends, react to their PRs, and set shared challenges. See who's training right now and lift alongside them. EVERYTHING ELSE • Full history, progress charts, and personal records • Routines you can organize into folders and reorder • Rest timers, plate math, and warm-up sets • 340+ built-in exercises with demos, or add your own • Goals, challenges, and a friends leaderboard • Apple Watch app, and workouts sync to Apple Health • Bring your history over from Strong with a CSV import BUILD PRO Build is free to use. Pro adds unlimited voice logging and unlimited photo imports, plus every future Pro feature: • $2.99 per month • $19.99 per year • $59.99 once, for lifetime access Subscriptions begin with a 3-day free trial and renew automatically unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the period ends. Manage or cancel any time in your App Store settings. The lifetime purchase is a one-time charge and does not renew. Privacy Policy: https://usebuild.app/privacy Terms of Use: https://usebuild.app/terms
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: FORGE at every 3 days against Build's every 9 days. Build's advantage is ratings volume (21 vs 3) and device support (3 vs 1). On price, rating, review sentiment 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
Both are free to download. FORGE sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month and Build sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for FORGE against 5.0 for Build. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Build has 21 ratings behind it against 3, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 100% and 100% positive.
FORGE ships an update every 3 days, Build every 9 days. The most recent releases landed on September 17, 2026 and October 1, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | FORGE | Build |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (3 ratings) | 5.0 (21 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 3 | 21 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 3 days — better | Every 9 days |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Freemium | Freemium |
| Devices | iPhone | iPhone, iPod, Apple Watch — better |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 15.1 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 2 MB | 70 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Nicholas Rixford | Sawdust Ventures LLC |
Customer experience
FORGE
Build
In-app purchases
FORGE
- FORGE Monthly$9.991 Month
- 20 Generations$4.99
- 50 Generations$9.99
Build
- Build Pro3 Days trial$9.991 Month
- Build Pro3 Days trial$79.991 Year
- Build Pro Lifetime$149.99









