Basic Gym vs Iron
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Basic Gym
This app simplifies workout tracking for strength training. Easily log exercises, sets, reps, and weight. It features a customizable interval timer and provides detailed insights into your progress over time. Designed for a hassle-free gym experience.
- Customizable muscle groups
- Exercise assignment
- Effortless stat entry (weight, reps, sets)
- Customizable interval timer
- Workout progress insights
- Past session stats
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Introducing Basic Gym: Your ultimate workout tracker with interval timer. Take your fitness to the next level with Basic Gym, the simplest and most effective workout companion app. Easily track your progress, organize your exercises, and achieve your goals. Workout tracking made easy - Create customized muscle groups that fit your unique routine - Assign exercises to your selected muscle groups for a tailored approach - Get started in seconds - no hassle! Effortless Stat Entry: Track Your Progress with Ease 1. Choose Your Target: select the muscle group you're focusing on 2. Pick Your Exercise: choose the specific exercise within that muscle group 3. Record Your Achievements: input the weight, reps and sets effortlessly Interval Timer: Set custom intervals between exercise sets, allowing you to stay focused and maintain momentum throughout your entire workout Unlock Comprehensive Workout Insights - Get a clear overview of your current workout and past sessions at a glance - Dive deeper into your progress with detailed stats from previous workouts - Make data-driven decisions to optimize your fitness journey What Sets Basic Gym Apart: - A hassle-free gym experience, tailored for strength training enthusiasts - Focus on tracking what matters most: your progress! Building muscles and getting bigger and stronger.
Iron
This free weightlifting tracker offers a clean interface for logging gym sessions. It includes smart features like automatic rest timers and PR recognition, with Apple Health integration and export options for your data.
- Workout logging
- Apple Health integration
- Automatic rest timer
- PR recognition
- Progress charts
- Custom exercises
- Data export
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A modern and completely free weightlifting workout tracker. • Beautiful and simple user interface • Apple Health integration • Apple Watch companion app • Smart set completions • Automatic rest timer • Recognizes and highlights PRs • Well maintained library of built-in exercises • Create custom exercises • Charts to visualize your progress • Supports Imperial (lbs) and Metric (kg) • Siri Shortcuts - Privacy focused There are no analytics, no tracking, no 3rd party SDKs and no account. - Apple Health Iron logs your finished workouts in Apple Health and displays your bodyweight next to your previous workouts - No lock-in Export all of your workout data as plain text or JSON for manual editing or further analysis. Privacy Policy: https://iron.ka.codes/privacy.html Terms of Service: https://iron.ka.codes/tos.html The exercise images are from Everkinetic (license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en).
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is ads: Iron at none against Basic Gym's shown. Iron also leads on monetization model (free vs ad-supported) and device support (4 vs 2). Basic Gym's advantage is update cadence (weekly vs monthly). On price, rating, review sentiment and ratings volume 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.7 for Basic Gym against 4.8 for Iron. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 103 and 231 respectively. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 95% and 96% positive.
Basic Gym ships an update weekly, Iron monthly. The most recent releases landed on October 1, 2026 and September 28, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Basic Gym | Iron |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.7 (103 ratings) | 4.8 (231 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 95.5% of reviews | 96.1% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 103 | 231 — better |
| Update frequency | Weekly — better | Monthly |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Ad-supported | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch — better |
| Requires iOS | 15.6 | 13.1 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 65 MB | 18 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Stefan Collette | Karim Abou Zeid |
Customer experience
Basic Gym
Iron
Bugs and requests
Basic Gym
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
Iron
Reported bugs
7 issues- Apple Health integration causes phone crashes
- Keyboard overlaps other buttons
- Completed workouts display inconsistently (red vs. green)
- Workouts don't auto-finish after extended inactivity, causing inflated duration times
- Unable to edit reps or weight in some cases
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- Recent update changed tracking from sets/weight/reps to time-based system without option to revert
- iOS 14 compatibility issues (older review)
Requested features
13 requests- Cardio workout tracking options
- More gym machine varieties in exercise library
- Granular muscle group breakdown (e.g., separate shoulder heads, traps)
- Customizable rest timer settings for compound vs. accessory work
- Additional set tags (Warmup, Giant, Super sets)
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- Plate calculator and lb/kg conversion tool
- Multi-stat tracking capability
- Ability to track timed exercises better
- Workout sharing functionality with friends
- More audible rest timer notification
- Donation option to support developer
- Improved widget options
- FAQ documentation
In-app purchases
Basic Gym
No in-app purchases
Iron
No in-app purchases









