The short answer: choose Hevy if you want to log every set, rep and weight, watch your one-rep max climb on a chart, and build routines by hand or from a template library. It is free for most of that, and Pro costs less than a protein bar a month. Choose BodyBuddy if someone already gave you the plan (a trainer's sheet, a PT's protocol, an influencer's PDF) and the hard part is doing it on Tuesday when nobody is watching. BodyBuddy reads the plan you upload, texts you on training days, and asks how it went.

Neither app replaces a trainer or a physical therapist, and BodyBuddy is not medical care. The useful question is what happens after you have the plan: do you need a precise record of the work, or something that makes sure the work happens?

Disclosure: this comparison is published by the people who make BodyBuddy. We read Hevy's own pages, help center, store listings and privacy policy in October 2026, and we link each one below.

BodyBuddy vs Hevy at a glance

ㅤ	Hevy	BodyBuddy
What it is	Workout tracker and routine planner	AI accountability coach that texts you over iMessage
Platform	iPhone, iPad, Android, Apple Watch, Wear OS, web	iPhone app, iMessage thread, web app; no Android
How you interact	Tap through sets in the app or on your watch	Text, photos and voice; the coach writes first
The core job	Log every set and watch the numbers move	Follow the plan you were given, every day
Plan import	Build by hand, copy a friend's, or save a library program; file import is Strong CSV only	Upload a photo or PDF of any plan and it becomes a daily plan
Follow-up between sessions	Rest timers in session; likes and comments from friends	Texts on training days, asks how it went, checks in when you go quiet
Tracking	Set-by-set log, PRs, one-rep max, exercise history, charts	Session done or not, meal photos, Apple Health, weekly recap
Price	Free; Pro is $2.99 a month, $23.99 a year or $74.99 once	$29 a month
Free trial	The free tier has no end date	7 days
Who it is for	Lifters who want a detailed log and a social feed	People with a plan from a trainer, PT or creator who need to stick with it

The real difference: logging every set vs following the plan you were given

Hevy is a gym log. You open it at the rack, pick the routine, and tap in the weight and reps for each set. The app marks warmups, drop sets and failure sets, runs a rest timer, and shows what you lifted last time. Over weeks that becomes charts: best weight, volume, projected one-rep max, muscle-group distribution. Hevy's homepage says 17 million people use it, and its App Store and Google Play ratings are both 4.9.

Hevy also plans. The routine builder draws on a library of more than 400 exercises, groups routines into folders, and shares a routine as a link anyone can save. The Explore tab has 26 pre-built programs and seven routine categories you can save and edit (Hevy help center). What Hevy does not do, as far as its public pages show, is read a plan you already have on paper. The only file import is a CSV exported from the Strong app, and it brings in workout history rather than routines (Hevy help center). A trainer's spreadsheet or a creator's PDF gets typed in by hand, or described to Hevy's ChatGPT app, which can build a plan and save it to your Hevy account.

BodyBuddy starts from that paper. You upload a photo or PDF of whatever you were given, and it becomes a daily plan with sessions on the days the plan names (how importing works). From then on the coach texts you on training days over iMessage, answers questions from your own sheet ("what did she mean by tempo 3-1-1?"), and asks how the session went. Meals, sleep and steps live in the same thread, so the coach can see that you skipped leg day the week you slept five hours. The tone is a partner's: "we'll get this in every day."

BodyBuddy has no set-by-set logging screen. You can text "did all three sets of squats at 185" and that goes in the record, but there is no table of sets with a rest timer and a PR badge. If the log itself is the thing you love about training, Hevy is the better tool.

Where Hevy is better

1. The logging screen is the product

Hevy's interface is built for the moment between sets. You see your previous numbers, type the new ones, the rest timer starts, and the set labels are one tap away. The App Store listing describes Live Activities and widgets so the timer sits on your lock screen. BodyBuddy has nothing like this screen.

2. Progress charts, personal records and history

Every exercise in Hevy carries its own history: heaviest weight, best set, projected one-rep max, total reps, and a volume chart (exercise library article). Pro adds set counts per muscle group. BodyBuddy has progress charts and a weekly recap, but it does not graph your bench press.

3. Apple Watch and Wear OS

Hevy's homepage says you can leave your phone in the locker and log the whole workout from an Apple Watch or Wear OS watch, with routines synced to the wrist. The App Store listing confirms a watchOS 9 app. BodyBuddy reads workouts, steps, sleep and weight from Apple Health, so a watch workout shows up in the thread, but there is no BodyBuddy watch app to log sets on.

4. It is free, and Pro is cheap

Hevy's free tier logs workouts with no stated cap, four saved routines, seven custom exercises and three months of chart history (Hevy Pro article). Pro lifts those limits for $23.99 a year or $74.99 once. Android users have no decision to make: Hevy runs on Android and BodyBuddy does not.

Where BodyBuddy is better

1. The plan you were handed goes in as-is

A trainer's sheet, a PT's home program, a six-week PDF from a creator, our own free push, pull, legs routine: you photograph it or upload the file and BodyBuddy turns it into the week. We wrote a guide to doing this without changing the trainer's intent: how to follow a personal trainer's plan between sessions. In Hevy you rebuild that plan exercise by exercise (or describe it to Hevy's ChatGPT app), and if the sheet uses a movement Hevy's library lacks, the free tier gives you seven custom slots.

2. It writes first

Hevy waits for you to open it. BodyBuddy texts you on training days, in the iMessage thread you already use, and asks how the session went afterward. When you go quiet for a few days, it checks in without judgment (that line is on the pricing card at bodybuddy.app). For a lot of people the gap between a plan and a result is attendance, and a tracker cannot close that gap because it is only open once you are already at the gym.

3. Questions get answered from your own sheet

If the plan says "RDL 3x8 @ RPE 7" and you do not know what RPE 7 feels like, you text the question and the answer comes back in the context of your plan. The same goes for "can I swap this for dumbbells today, the rack is taken?" BodyBuddy is not a substitute for your trainer, and real program changes belong with them, but it can get you through a Tuesday session without a forum search.

4. Training sits next to food and sleep

BodyBuddy logs a meal from a photo (calories, protein, carbs), pulls steps, sleep and weight from Apple Health, and sends a weekly recap that puts the three together. The coach can say "you hit all four sessions and protein landed under 100 g on three of those days," which a workout log cannot see.

Pricing: Hevy is much cheaper

Hevy is free with no ads, and the free-tier limits are mild. As of October 2026 the US App Store listing shows Hevy Pro at $2.99 a month (a second monthly tier is listed at $3.99), $23.99 a year, or $74.99 as a one-time lifetime purchase.

BodyBuddy is $29 a month after a 7-day free trial, as listed on the pricing section of bodybuddy.app. That buys unlimited texting with the coach, the plan import, meal logging, and the daily follow-up. If a log is all you need, Hevy's free tier is the right place to start. Pay for BodyBuddy when the thing you keep failing at is showing up.

Privacy and health data

Hevy is made by Hevy Studios, S.L., in Girona, Spain. Its privacy policy (the version on its site takes effect October 30, 2026) lists workout data, optional body measurements, and heart rate from a watch as what it collects, and it treats Apple Health and Health Connect data as health data that needs your explicit consent. The policy says Hevy does not build commercial profiles, uses Amplitude for analytics, erases body measurements within 30 days of a deletion request, and offers an optional connection that lets ChatGPT or Claude query your workout history.

BodyBuddy's privacy policy (updated October 7, 2026) covers a service where you share more: message history, meal photos, imported documents, and whatever you connect from Apple Health or a wearable. Uploaded documents are stored and processed with AI to turn them into plans. BodyBuddy is not a healthcare provider and is not a HIPAA covered entity, and the policy says so plainly. You can see the health record it builds from your messages inside the app, edit it, and ask for any of it to be deleted.

Which one should you choose?

Choose Hevy if:

You want to log every set and see your lifts charted over months.

You train with an Apple Watch or Wear OS watch and want the phone in the locker.

You use Android.

You want a free app, or a paid one that costs under $25 a year.

Choose BodyBuddy if:

A trainer, PT or creator already gave you a plan and you want to follow it as written.

The sessions you miss are the problem, and you want a coach that texts first.

You want to ask questions about your own plan mid-session and get an answer from the sheet.

You want food, sleep and training in one place with a weekly recap.

Plenty of people will want both: Hevy at the rack for the numbers, BodyBuddy in the texts for the showing up. Nothing in either product prevents that.

Frequently asked questions

Can I upload my own workout plan to Hevy?

As far as Hevy's public pages show, no. You create routines by hand, copy a friend's workout, or save one of 26 library programs. The only file import is a CSV exported from the Strong app, and that brings in workout history rather than saved routines. A PDF or a photo of a plan has to be typed in, in Hevy or as a request to Hevy's ChatGPT app, which can build a plan and save it to your account.

Does BodyBuddy log sets and reps?

There is no logging screen. You can text BodyBuddy what you did ("three sets of eight at 185") and it records that against the session, but there is no set-by-set table, rest timer or PR tracking. If you want that, run Hevy alongside it.

Which app is better for following a program my trainer gave me?

BodyBuddy, if the hard part is doing the sessions between appointments: you upload the trainer's sheet and the coach texts you on the days it names. Hevy is better if your trainer wants a detailed log of weights and reps to review, since its export sends a clean history to a coach.

Does Hevy work on Android? Does BodyBuddy?

Hevy runs on iPhone, iPad, Android, Apple Watch, Wear OS, and the web. BodyBuddy is built for iPhone: the coaching runs over iMessage, and there is an iPhone app and a web app. There is no Android version of BodyBuddy.

Is Hevy free?

Yes. The free tier has no ads and no stated limit on logged workouts, and caps you at four saved routines, seven custom exercises, and three months of chart history. Hevy Pro removes those limits for $2.99 a month, $23.99 a year, or $74.99 once, as listed on the US App Store in October 2026.

Can I use Hevy and BodyBuddy together?

Yes, and it is a sensible pairing. Hevy records the sets; BodyBuddy carries the plan into the week and asks whether the session happened. Hevy can write workouts to Apple Health, and BodyBuddy reads workouts from Apple Health, so a logged Hevy session can show up in the BodyBuddy thread.

Sources checked

Hevy homepage: features, platforms, watch claims, user count

Hevy on the US App Store: Pro prices, watchOS compatibility

Hevy on Google Play: Android and Wear OS

Hevy Pro: what it includes: free vs Pro limits

Hevy exercise library: 400+ exercises, custom exercise limit

Hevy routine and program library: 26 programs, seven categories

Importing Strong CSV files into Hevy: the only file import

Hevy routines and folders: how routines are created and shared

Hevy privacy policy: data collected, consent, analytics, AI connections

BodyBuddy privacy policy: data collected, imported documents, HIPAA status

BodyBuddy pricing: $29 a month, 7-day trial

How to import a plan into BodyBuddy: the upload flow

BodyBuddy vs Hevy (2026): Logging Every Set vs Following the Plan You Were Given