531 Trainer vs Five/Three/One
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
531 Trainer
Simplify your strength training with this app. It calculates your daily workouts based on your max lifts, eliminating the need for spreadsheets or manual calculations at the gym. Easily progress to the next cycle with automatic weight increments.
- Calculates daily workouts
- Automatic weight progression
- One Rep Max calculator
- Assistance work percentage calculator
- Supports kilograms or pounds
- Visual weight plate guidance
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5/3/1 made easy You no longer need to deal with clunky spreadsheets or fumble around at the gym trying to find your numbers. Everything is right on your phone and easy to access. Simply enter your max for military press, deadlift, bench press and squat once and have each day's workout calculated for you. When you finish a cycle, hitting just one button increments the weight for each of your lifts leaving you ready to quickly continue your training. Features: - One Rep Max Calculator - Assistance Work Percent Calculator - Uses Kilograms or Pounds - Program persistence - Visual information on what weight plates to use Icons Provided By Icons8 icons8.com/web-app/364/Settings icons8.com/web-app/437/Twitter icons8.com/web-app/435/Facebook icons8.com/web-app/94/Lock icons8.com/web-app/152/Unlock
Five/Three/One
This app helps weightlifters follow Jim Wendler's 5/3/1 program by automating cycle calculations, plate suggestions, and progress tracking. It eliminates the need for paper logs or spreadsheets, focusing on strength gains. Features include rest timers, workout scheduling, and Apple Health integration.
- 5/3/1 cycle planning and scheduling
- Progress charting
- Rest timer with notifications
- Automatic plate calculation
- Next cycle calculation based on performance
- Home screen widget
- Apple Health integration
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The latest app for weightlifters doing Jim Wendler's 5/3/1 program! Five/Three/One is a focused and intuitive app helping you achieve what really matters: Getting Stronger. No more bringing a crumbled workout sheet to the gym, no more messing around spreadsheets to update your weights. From calculating your cycles, to telling you what plates to put on the bar, Five/Three/One does it all. Features include: - Planning and scheduling your whole 5/3/1 cycle - Charting your progress - Rest timer with notifications - Automatic plating calculation - Calculating your next cycle based on your performance - Notes associated with each sets - Home screen widget showing your your current and upcoming workouts - Lbs/kg support Optional paid features: - Customize which plates you're using and change your barbell's weight - Customize templates assistance work and define your own exercises - Beyond 5/3/1 templates and options, from Joker Sets to FSL, Pyramid and much more! Integrates with Apple Health : The app saves the workouts you've performed as well as the calories you've burnt in Apple Health. As weightlifters doing 5/3/1 ourselves, we made the app we wanted after being dissatisfied with what was out there. More than just a glorified spreadsheet, we designed it to be focused on each task at hand. With even more great features in the pipeline, we're stoked to release the app for others to use and can't wait to hear your feedback! We use it, we love it, and we're sure you will too.
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Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Five/Three/One at 4.9 against 531 Trainer's 4.3. Five/Three/One also leads on ratings volume (1.2K vs 10). 531 Trainer's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 6) and iOS requirement (7.1 vs 12.0). On price, review sentiment, 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
Both are free to download. Five/Three/One sells 6 one-off in-app purchases. 531 Trainer asks for nothing beyond the download.
Five/Three/One holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 4.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Five/Three/One has 1.2K ratings behind it against 10, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 82% of 531 Trainer's written reviews are positive against 78% of Five/Three/One's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
531 Trainer ships an update fortnightly, Five/Three/One every 2 weeks. Both last shipped on October 2, 2026.
| Parameter | 531 Trainer | Five/Three/One |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.3 (10 ratings) | 4.9 (1.2K ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 81.8% of reviews — better | 78.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 10 | 1.2K — better |
| Update frequency | Fortnightly | Every 2 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 7.1 — better | 12.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 2 MB | 37 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Kevin French | Strong Pigeon LLC |
Customer experience
531 Trainer
Five/Three/One
Bugs and requests
531 Trainer
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
Five/Three/One
Reported bugs
4 issues- Workout data occasionally lost or not syncing properly
- Calendar and scheduling issues when trying to reschedule missed workouts
- Plate calculation bugs leading to incorrect weight displays
- Occasional app freezes and crashes
Requested features
5 requests- Allow more flexibility in scheduling and rescheduling workouts
- Provide customization options for assistance exercises
- Implement superset and out-of-order exercise completion
- Add support for Apple Watch integration
- Incorporate additional 5/3/1 program variations (e.g., Bodybuilder, Monolith)
In-app purchases
531 Trainer
No in-app purchases
Five/Three/One
- Custom Weight Plates$2.99
- Tip$4.99
- Beyond 5/3/1 Pack$5.99
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- Custom Assistance$8.99
- Large Tip$9.99
- Enormous Tip$24.99
Questions
Is 531 Trainer free?
Is Five/Three/One free?
Which has better reviews, 531 Trainer or Five/Three/One?
Do 531 Trainer or Five/Three/One have ads?
Which is updated more often, 531 Trainer or Five/Three/One?
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