Comparison

GainBook vs Rayl

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

Head to head
About

GainBook

This workout tracker allows you to plan, log, and review your strength training progress. It offers detailed exercise tracking, customizable workout plans, and an extensive exercise library. All your data is stored locally, ensuring privacy and offline access.

Highlights
  • Workout planning and templating
  • Detailed set logging with rest timers
  • Extensive exercise library with custom options
  • Progress review with volume heatmaps
  • Local data storage and iCloud backups
  • Offline functionality
Features
Read full description

GainBook is a workout tracker built for people who take strength training seriously. Plan your workouts, log every set in the gym, and review your progress over time. There are no ads and no account required. Everything stays on your device. Start in a minute • Answer a few questions and GainBook builds a starting plan for you • Or build your own from scratch, exercise by exercise Plan your workouts • Organize routines into multiple workout plans • Build workout templates with target reps, weight, rest time, and set types (warm-up, working, drop set, failure) • Group exercises into supersets with synchronized sets • See your previous performance while editing or starting a workout • Duplicate templates or update them from completed workouts • Share your plans and history with any AI chat app you choose, then import the improved plan it suggests • Export any plan as JSON, or import one Track every workout • Log reps and weight quickly • Add or remove sets at any time • Automatic rest timer with sounds and notifications • Live workout bar so you can jump back to an active workout from anywhere in the app • Replace or skip exercises if equipment isn't available, and see what you used instead last time • Changed your mind? Undo a skipped exercise • Timed sets with countdown alerts • A reminder if you leave a workout running • Training volume is calculated correctly for dumbbells and single-leg or single-arm exercises Check in with your body • A quick check-in before each workout: pain, soreness, sleep, fatigue, illness and more • Pick from suggestions or add your own, rated 1–5 or yes/no • Dictate your before and after notes instead of typing • Spot patterns: how often each symptom shows up and how its severity trends Exercise library • Hundreds of built-in exercises with instructions, muscle groups, equipment, and images • Search by exercise name, muscle group, or equipment • Create your own custom exercises • View exercise history and see what you did last time Review your progress • Browse completed workouts with duration, volume, and set summaries • Calendar view of your training history • Muscle volume heatmap to see what you've trained • Progress analytics: see which lifts are improving, how hard your sessions feel, and how your effort trends over time • Muscle recovery map: see which muscles are ready to train again, with an optional notification when you're fully recovered • Complete workout breakdown with every set and rest period Your data stays yours • Everything is stored locally • No account or internet connection required • Export and import your complete database for backups • Optional iCloud Drive backups you can restore anytime from Settings Customize the app • Light and dark themes • Supports kg and lb • Choose whether changing an exercise's unit converts your logged weights or just changes the label • Configurable default and maximum rest times Made by someone who actually uses it I built GainBook for myself. I've spent years in the gym and years cycling through tracking apps, and every one of them was missing something I needed: the set types I actually use, supersets that behave, training volume counted correctly for dumbbells and single-side work, a rest timer that stays out of the way. GainBook is all of it in one app: fast, detailed and fully offline, with no cloud account. I train with it every week, and that is why it keeps moving. Whatever I find missing gets built, so expect new features regularly. If you prefer owning your data instead of storing it on someone else's server, that's exactly what GainBook is built for.

About

Rayl

Features
Read full description

Rayl is your strength-training logbook - local on your iPhone, no account, no ads, no tracking. Open the app, start a workout, log it set by set. That's the whole idea. LOG YOUR WORKOUTS • Strength sets with weight and reps, cardio with distance and duration • Working sets and warm-up sets kept apart - warm-ups never count toward your volume • Drop sets as their own set type • Optional RPE per set • Values from your last session are suggested and adopted with one tap • Rest timers per exercise, separate for working and warm-up sets - they keep running in the background and notify you when the rest is over • Live Activity: current exercise, sets and rest timer on the Lock Screen and in the Dynamic Island • A second, free-standing timer for everything else • Notes per exercise, bodyweight per workout • If the app crashes or you restart your iPhone, your running workout is still there TRAINING PLANS • Plans with exercises, sets, target values, RPE and rest durations • Start an empty workout without a plan whenever you like STATISTICS WORTH READING • Estimated 1RM using Epley, O'Conner, Brzycki or Mayhew - optionally RPE-adjusted • Max weight, volume, repetitions, sets and average RPE • Cardio: pace, speed, distance, duration • Interactive charts with a moving average, an improvements-only filter and full screen in landscape • Periods: 1W, 30D, 3M, 6M, 1Y, YTD, Max or a custom range • Radar chart of your training focus across muscle groups • Previous-load filter: compare only the sessions where the same exercises came before HISTORY • Month calendar with your training days marked • Every finished workout stays fully editable afterwards • Exclude individual workouts from statistics without deleting them • Personal records for weight, volume, 1RM, distance and pace EXERCISES • 120 built-in exercises • Create your own exercises - no limit, even on the free tier • Effective load: pull-ups, push-ups and friends factor in a share of your bodyweight YOUR DATA IS YOURS • CSV export of your complete history • Export and re-import exercises and plans as JSON • No account, no sign-up, no analytics, nothing shared WEEKLY GOAL Set a target number of workouts per week and keep an eye on your streak. RAYL PRO Logging workouts is unlimited and free - no cap, no expiry. Pro opens up the analysis: • Analyze your full history: One year, year to date, all time, and custom ranges • Unlimited training plans • Plate calculator • Create supersets, trisets and giant sets • Compare 1RM formulas and set your default • Moving average, improvements only, filter by previous exercise • Choose and group muscles on the radar • Automatic iCloud backup and restore • Workout import via CSV • Alternate app icons • All future Pro features Pro is available monthly or yearly, both with a free trial. The subscription renews automatically unless you cancel at least 24 hours before the end of the current period in your App Store settings. Local workout tracking without an account. Rayl Terms of Use - https://www.ldm-software.de/rayl/terms

Screenshots

GainBook4 screens
Rayl4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: GainBook at none against Rayl's 2. Rayl's advantage is update cadence (every 4 days vs every 5 weeks). On price, ads, device support 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Rayl sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. GainBook asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

GainBook ships an update every 5 weeks, Rayl every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 17, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
GainBook versus Rayl: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterGainBookRayl
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (1 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings1 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 5 weeksEvery 4 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhone, iPad — betteriPhone
Requires iOS16.4 — better17.6
Further details — not scored
Size59 MB12 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAnatolii VedmidLeon Dorian Michl

In-app purchases

None

GainBook

No in-app purchases

2 purchases

Rayl

Subscriptions2
  • Rayl Pro (Monthly)$4.991 Month
  • Rayl Pro (Yearly)$29.991 Year

Questions

Is GainBook free?
GainBook is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Rayl free?
Rayl is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do GainBook or Rayl have ads?
Neither GainBook nor Rayl shows ads.
Which is updated more often, GainBook or Rayl?
GainBook ships an update every 5 weeks, and Rayl every 4 days. Most recently, GainBook was updated on October 24, 2026 and Rayl on October 17, 2026.

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