Comparison

ChallengeRunner vs Strive

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

Head to head
About

ChallengeRunner

Log and track your progress in employee health challenges. View real-time leaderboards, submit data, and engage with other participants. Integrates with Apple Health for automatic data syncing.

Highlights
  • Log health challenge data
  • View real-time leaderboards
  • Submit challenge data
  • Messaging and comments
  • Apple Health integration
  • Join challenges via codes/links/QR
Features
Read full description

ChallengeRunner Fitness Challenge Logging provides a lightweight interface to the ChallengeRunner employee health challenge platform. This application gives participants access to the fitness challenges they are currently enrolled in. ChallengeRunner Fitness Challenge Logging allows participants to view and submit health challenge data and review the challenge leaderboard. This application features a simple challenge data logging interface, real-time leaderboards, messaging and comments. Participants may join challenges using links, QR Codes, or challenge codes provided by a Challenge Administrator. It is now possible for ChallengeRunner to pull steps, active minutes, distance and calories from the Apple Health app. To turn on this functionality, enable the Health Integration switch in Settings and accept the HealthKit privileges when prompted in the ChallengeRunner app. With HealthKit enabled, ChallengeRunner will sync with the Health app whenever the ChallengeRunner app is opened. NOTE: Most functions require an Internet connection

About

Strive

Compete in fitness challenges with friends using various metrics like weight loss, steps, and body fat. Track your progress with integrated health data and visualize your journey with insightful charts and graphs.

Highlights
  • Interactive leaderboards
  • 7 competition types
  • Health App integration
  • Smart Scale integration
  • Charts and graphs
  • Weight loss challenges
  • Step tracking
Features
Read full description

Strive has built an interactive Leaderboard so you can compete in step challenges, chat, and encourage each other to Strive! Strive Individual plans: * Monthly Premium: $5.99 * Yearly Premium: $24.99 Strive Group plans: * 5 Users Yearly Premium: $99.99 * 10 Users Yearly Premium: $199.99 * 25 Users Yearly Premium: $499.99 * 50 Users Yearly Premium: $999.99 More information on how to host an Employee Step Challenge: https://www.strivecompetitions.com/employee-step-challenge Payments and Renewal: * Payment will be charged to iTunes Account at confirmation of purchase. Subscription automatically renews unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24-hours before the end of the current period. * Account will be charged for renewal within 24-hours prior to the end of the current period. * You can manage or turn off auto-renew in your Account settings at any time after purchase * No cancellation of the current subscription is allowed during the active period. Terms of use: https://www.strivecompetitions.com/terms
Privacy policy: https://www.strivecompetitions.com/privacypolicy

Screenshots

ChallengeRunner4 screens
Strive4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Strive at 71% against ChallengeRunner's 16%. Strive also leads on rating (4.8 vs 4.5) and update cadence (every 8 days vs every 2 weeks). ChallengeRunner's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 14). On price, ratings volume, ads and device support 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. Strive sells 14 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month. ChallengeRunner asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Strive holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.5. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 8.7K and 3.1K respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 16% of ChallengeRunner's written reviews are positive against 71% of Strive's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

ChallengeRunner ships an update every 2 weeks, Strive every 8 days. The most recent releases landed on October 21, 2026 and October 27, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
ChallengeRunner versus Strive: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterChallengeRunnerStrive
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.5 (8.7K ratings)4.8 (3.1K ratings) — better
Positive reviews15.9% of reviews71.1% of reviews — better
Number of ratings8.7K — better3.1K
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeksEvery 8 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterSubscription
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPod
Requires iOS15.015.0
Further details — not scored
Size66 MB101 MB
Age rating4+12+
DeveloperChallengeRunner LLCStrive Competitions LLC

Customer experience

ChallengeRunner

All ratings8,732 ratings
Positive88.0%
Neutral6.0%
Negative6.0%
Written reviews69 reviews
Positive15.9%
Neutral18.8%
Negative65.2%

Strive

All ratings3,050 ratings
Positive94.5%
Neutral2.0%
Negative3.5%
Written reviews90 reviews
Positive71.1%
Neutral4.4%
Negative24.4%

User reviews

ChallengeRunner

From 8.7K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Great for motivation
  • 👍 Simple and efficient
  • 💡 Wellness partnership

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Sync issues with Apple Health and other fitness trackers
  • 👎 Poor user interface and navigation
  • 🔍 Lack of visibility into team and individual rankings
  • 🔧 Buggy and crashes frequently

Strive

From 3.1K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Great customer service
  • 🚀 Amazing app for friendly competitions
  • 💡 Fun and motivating
  • 👍 Measuring goals
  • 🚀 Fantastic extrinsic motivator

Room to improve

  • 🔒 Subscription changed significantly
  • 🐛 Glitch
  • 🐛 Support nonexistent
  • 🐛 Doesn't work
  • 🐛 $ to connect to Fitbit , do deleting

Bugs and requests

ChallengeRunner

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • App crashes when scrolling leaderboard
  • Steps not syncing correctly or disappearing
  • Login issues and inability to access app features

Requested features

4 requests
  • Ability to manually enter steps and other activities
  • Improved leaderboard and team management features
  • Integration with more fitness tracking devices
  • Better data visualization and analytics

Strive

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Crashes when trying to read chat
  • Frustrating loss of steps
  • Waste of Money

Requested features

2 requests
  • Relative goals for challenges like apple fitness
  • Weekend challenges

In-app purchases

None

ChallengeRunner

No in-app purchases

14 purchases

Strive

Subscriptions13
  • Monthly$0.991 Month
  • Strive Monthly$1.491 Month
  • Strive Monthly$2.991 Month
Show 10 more
  • 6 Months$3.996 Months
  • Strive Yearly$4.991 Year
  • Annual$5.991 Year
  • Monthly with FREE 7-Day Trial7 Days trial$5.991 Month
  • Strive Yearly$9.991 Year
  • Yearly with FREE 7-Day Trial7 Days trial$24.991 Year
  • 10 Users7 Days trial$39.991 Month
  • 10 Users$50.001 Year
  • 25 Users$100.001 Year
  • 100 Users$300.001 Year
One-time1
  • Public Challenges$5.00

Questions

Is ChallengeRunner free?
ChallengeRunner is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Strive free?
Strive is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, ChallengeRunner or Strive?
Strive is rated higher. ChallengeRunner averages 4.5 out of 5 from 8.7K ratings, while Strive averages 4.8 from 3.1K ratings.
Do ChallengeRunner or Strive have ads?
Neither ChallengeRunner nor Strive shows ads.
Which is updated more often, ChallengeRunner or Strive?
ChallengeRunner ships an update every 2 weeks, and Strive every 8 days. Most recently, ChallengeRunner was updated on October 21, 2026 and Strive on October 27, 2026.

Other comparisons