Interval Timer vs HIIT
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Interval Timer
Organize your running and high-intensity interval training sessions with ease. Quickly set up custom time intervals for running, walking, warm-ups, and cool-downs. Receive voice and vibration notifications for interval changes, and enjoy background music playback.
- Intuitive design
- Customizable time intervals
- Warm-up and cool-down timers
- Voice and vibration notifications
- Background music support
- Foreground/background operation
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Interval Run is a running interval timer for iPhone and Apple Watch. Create run/walk intervals, sprint sessions, and HIIT workouts in seconds. Train with voice announcements and haptic cues, control workouts from Apple Watch, save sessions to Apple Health, and track your workout history. Choose from 25+ ready-made running workouts or build your own. Follow intervals from the Lock Screen and Dynamic Island, and focus on your run. 25+ READY-MADE RUNNING WORKOUTS • Explore run/walk workouts, running intervals, sprints, hill repeats, tempo runs, fartlek sessions, ladders, pyramids, and more • Find workouts for speed, endurance, recovery, and different training goals • Start any workout immediately or customize it to match your training • Save your favorites to My Workouts for quick access BUILD YOUR OWN INTERVAL WORKOUT • Create simple run/walk intervals or advanced multi-step workouts • Add warm-up, running, walking, recovery, rest, and cool-down sections • Set a custom duration for every step • Repeat intervals and complete workout blocks • Add custom cues to guide you through each workout step • Build sprint, HIIT, cardio, and structured running sessions • Save multiple workouts and reuse them anytime • Preview the complete workout before you start VOICE & HAPTIC INTERVAL CUES • Hear clear voice announcements at every interval transition • Feel haptic cues when it’s time to run, walk, recover, or rest • Keep your workout active while your iPhone is locked or the app is in the background • Follow your current interval from the Lock Screen and Dynamic Island with Live Activities • Listen to music, podcasts, or audiobooks while you train RUN WITH APPLE WATCH • Sync workouts to Apple Watch • Start, pause, and control workouts directly from your wrist • Run phone-free with your workouts ready on Apple Watch • Follow interval progress without repeatedly checking your phone • Track heart rate, distance, and active energy during your workout • Get haptic interval cues directly on your Watch • Save completed workouts to Apple Health TRACK YOUR TRAINING • Browse completed workouts in calendar and history views • Review workout duration, intervals, distance, and active energy • Look back at your running and interval training over time • Share your workout results • Export and restore backups of your workout data MADE FOR RUNNERS WHO TRAIN WITH INTERVALS Whether you’re starting with beginner run/walk intervals, adding speed work to your weekly training, preparing for a 5K or another race, or creating a challenging HIIT session, Interval Run keeps every interval clear from start to finish. Use it as a simple run/walk timer, a running interval timer for speed training, an Apple Watch interval timer for phone-free workouts, or a flexible workout builder for more advanced structured sessions. From beginner run/walk workouts to sprints, tempo runs, hill repeats, fartlek training, and custom multi-step sessions, Interval Run adapts to the way you train. Start with one of 25+ ready-made workouts or create your own. Interval Run handles the timing so you can focus on your training. Some features shown, including the full workout library, advanced workout creation, multiple saved workouts, and full workout history, require Interval Run Pro. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
HIIT
Design and track custom interval running workouts with real-time data and audio cues. This app offers detailed post-run analysis and integrates with Apple Health and Apple Watch for phone-free training.
- Customizable intervals (time, distance, open)
- Support for HIIT, tempo, fartlek, pyramid, progression workouts
- Real-time tracking of pace, cadence, heart rate
- Audio cues for guidance
- Phone-free Apple Watch operation
- Post-run analysis and GPX export
- Apple Health integration
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Tired of tapping through menus before a run? Interval Running is a simple HIIT, tabata, and interval timer - say what you want, it builds the intervals, you run. Just tell it what you want. Say something like "eight rounds, 30 seconds fast, 30 seconds easy" and the timer builds your program right then - no forms, no menus, no fields to fill in before you can start running. Prefer to build it yourself? You can: - Set work and rest by time, distance, or leave it open - Choose HIIT, tabata, fartlek, tempo, or plain run/walk intervals - Save a routine once, reuse it whenever you want Everything you need is on the screen while you run, no extra taps. - Interval, pace, cadence, and heart rate at a glance - Audio cues tell you when to switch, no need to look down - Full Apple Watch support - leave your phone at home You don't want a training plan, a coach, or a program - you want a timer that starts and stops intervals exactly when you tell it to. You want to set up a workout on the way to the track without stopping to tap through screens. You do tabata or HIIT sessions and just need something that counts rounds. You run intervals on your own terms and don't want an app deciding your pace for you. After each run, see your intervals, pace, and heart rate. Export GPX files, sync with Apple Health, and connect an external heart rate monitor if you use one. Health app integration With your permission, your interval runs count toward Activity Rings, including the Exercise and Move rings. Say it. Start it. Run. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: HIIT at 57% against Interval Timer's 21%. HIIT also leads on update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 3 months) and iOS requirement (17.0 vs 26.0). Interval Timer's advantage is ratings volume (534 vs 34) and rating (4.5 vs 4.3). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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. Interval Timer sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month and HIIT sells 8 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Interval Timer holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 4.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Interval Timer has 534 ratings behind it against 34, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 21% of Interval Timer's written reviews are positive against 57% of HIIT's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Interval Timer ships an update every 3 months, HIIT every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 10, 2026 and September 18, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Interval Timer | HIIT |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.5 (534 ratings) — better | 4.3 (34 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 21.1% of reviews | 57.1% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 534 — better | 34 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months | Every 2 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — better | iPhone, Apple Watch |
| Requires iOS | 26.0 | 17.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 16 MB | 83 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Roma Sosnovsky | Maxim Kazakov |
Customer experience
Interval Timer
HIIT
Bugs and requests
Interval Timer
Reported bugs
4 issues- Timer resets or freezes during workout
- Prompts not working when phone is locked or in pocket
- Unexpected interval changes or duration changes
- Compatibility issues with music playback
Requested features
6 requests- Option to pause/resume timer
- Larger time remaining display
- Apple Watch app
- Ability to play audio prompts even with screen off
- More interval options (run/walk/jog)
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- Congratulatory audio cue at the end
HIIT
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Interval Timer
- Interval Run Pro Monthly$2.991 Month
- Interval Run Pro Annual7 Days trial$19.991 Year
- Full Version$2.99
HIIT
- Premium Monthly Day 2$0.991 Month
- Premium Weekly7 Days trial$3.997 Days
- Premium Monthly Day 1$4.991 Month
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- Premium Monthly7 Days trial$9.991 Month
- Premium 3 Months$19.993 Months
- Premium Annual Special Offer7 Days trial$29.991 Year
- Interval Run Premium Yearly7 Days trial$59.991 Year
- Intreval Run Premium Lifetime$39.99
Questions
Is Interval Timer free?
Is HIIT free?
Which has better reviews, Interval Timer or HIIT?
Do Interval Timer or HIIT have ads?
Which is updated more often, Interval Timer or HIIT?
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