The Best Alpha Progression Alternatives in 2026 (Free Picks, Ranked)

Quick answer: Alpha Progression's free tier logs workouts but locks the plan generator, the progression recommendations and the charts. Boostcamp runs coached programs free, Hevy gives you free graphs, Liftosaur lets you script your own progression, JEFIT has the biggest free exercise library, and Gym Note Plus charts plain-text notes.

Alpha Progression is a genuinely good hypertrophy app. It has a 4.9 rating from around 2,100 ratings on the App Store, it is built by a small German studio, and the plan generator does real work.

The reason people search for an alternative is narrower than "the app is bad".

Why are people looking for an Alpha Progression alternative?

Because the free version keeps the logging and takes away the thinking.

Alpha Progression's own site lists what the free version does not include, in its own words: "No plan generator", "No recommendations", "No charts", and "No advanced tools and options".

Read that list again. The free tier gives you 795 exercises with form videos and full workout logging, then removes every feature that does something with the data.

Pro unlocks the custom plan generator, progression recommendations, charts, multiple gyms, RIR, periodization, deloads, a plate calculator and a warmup calculator, which is most of what the app is for.

The third panel above is the charts screen. It is the feature most lifters actually leave for, and it sits behind the paywall.

The price is the second half of the story. The App Store listing shows a yearly plan at $79.99 and a monthly plan at $12.99, with a 14-day trial on the yearly option. Eighty dollars a year is not outrageous for coaching software. It is a lot for graphs.

There is a third reason worth naming: Alpha Progression is iPhone only. If you switch phones or train with someone on Android, that decides it for you.

None of this makes it a bad app. If the plan generator is the thing you use every week, paying for it is rational. This article is for everyone else.

What is the best free Alpha Progression alternative?

1. Boostcamp: best free replacement for the plan generator

Platform: iOS App Store and Android · Price: Free tier includes the full program library and tracker, with a paid Boostcamp Pro tier

The closest match in category. Alpha Progression builds you a plan. Boostcamp hands you one that a coach already built, which solves the same problem from the other end.

Boostcamp's site states the free tier includes its library of 11,000+ programs, 130+ of them coach-designed, plus workout tracking, auto-progression, analytics and an AI program builder. Pro adds 20+ exclusive coach programs and deeper analytics.

For hypertrophy specifically the library is deep, and the auto-progression that Alpha Progression charges for is part of the free tier here.

• Best for: Lifters who wanted a plan written for them and do not care whose name is on it.
• Watch out for: A library that large invites program-hopping, and a coach's block is less personalised than a generator that knows your numbers.

2. Hevy: best free charts

Platform: iOS App Store and Android · Price: Free tier, with Hevy Pro from $2.99 a month, $23.99 a year, or $74.99 for a lifetime licence

The obvious swap if charts were the problem. Hevy has a 4.9 rating from around 89,000 ratings, and its free tier includes the graphs that Alpha Progression gates.

Be precise about the free tier, because "free" is doing some work here. Hevy's listing describes free access to logging, hundreds of exercises with videos, a rest timer and the community feed, with a limited number of routines. Pro removes the caps on routines, graph history and custom exercises. So the graphs are free; unlimited graph history is not.

Even so, Hevy Pro at $23.99 a year is under a third of Alpha Progression's $79.99, and the lifetime option ends the question permanently. If you want the wider field, we ranked the Hevy alternatives separately.

• Best for: Anyone who was paying Alpha Progression mainly to see a line go up.
• Watch out for: No plan generator at all. Hevy gives you a routine builder and expects you to know what to put in it.

What are the best apps like Alpha Progression for planning your own training?

3. Liftosaur: best for writing your own progression rules

Platform: iOS App Store, Android and web · Price: Free tier, with a paid option including a lifetime purchase

The programmable one. Liftosaur uses a scripting language called Liftoscript. You write the sets and the progression rule once, and the app applies it after every session.

This matters here because Liftoscript covers the things Alpha Progression puts behind Pro: weights as a percentage of 1RM or by RPE, programs spanning 12+ weeks with weekly undulation, myo-reps, drop sets, and deloads expressed as rules rather than as a button you pay for.

The trade is that Alpha Progression decides your progression for you, while Liftosaur makes you decide it once and then stops asking.

• Best for: Lifters who found the recommendations too rigid and want the logic in their own hands.
• Watch out for: Real setup cost before your first session. If you did not enjoy reading that last paragraph, this is not your app.

4. JEFIT: best free exercise library

Platform: iOS App Store and Android · Price: Free tier, with Elite listed at $12.99 a month and $69.99 a year, plus discounted yearly tiers on the listing

The one with the deepest free catalogue. If what you valued was 795 exercises with form videos, JEFIT's free tier carries over 1,400 with instructional videos, plus custom routine building.

Its Elite tier is the closest thing to Alpha Progression Pro on this list: an AI Adaptive Plan built around your goal, level and equipment, plus an advanced analytics dashboard and progressive overload suggestions. Free users get a seven-day trial of Adaptive Plans.

Note the price, though. Elite's list monthly is the same $12.99, so JEFIT is a like-for-like swap rather than a saving, unless you stay on the free tier. We also ranked the JEFIT alternatives if it is the app you end up leaving next.

• Best for: Lifters who mostly used the exercise library and form videos.
• Watch out for: The free tier is busier than Alpha Progression's, and the paid tier is not cheaper.

5. Setgraph: best for fast logging with live graphs

Platform: iOS App Store · Price: Free to download, with a premium tier

Built around the graph, which is the point. Setgraph has a 4.72 rating from around 6,000 ratings and its whole pitch is logging a set in seconds and watching strength climb on real-time graphs.

Its listing also describes smart plate calculation, automatic rest timers on the Lock Screen and Dynamic Island, and goal-based plans that build routines around muscle groups you want to grow. The muscle map in the first panel is the closest analogue to Alpha Progression's volume view.

It is iPhone only, so it inherits the same platform limit as the app you are leaving.

• Best for: Lifters who want the charts and the speed and nothing else.
• Watch out for: A smaller app with a smaller ratings base, and no published price on its site.

Where does Gym Note Plus fit?

Gym Note Plus is for the lifter who was writing sessions down anyway and only paid Alpha Progression for the charts.

That is a specific person, and if it is not you, one of the five above is the better answer.

Alpha Progression's free tier already lets you log; what it withholds is the analysis. If you are going to type your sets somewhere regardless, the question is which app turns that typing into a chart with the least ceremony.

Gym Note Plus reads plain text and builds the structure from it. Type Bench 3x8 @ 80, move on.

• Log at notes-app speed. No fields, no set-by-set taps, no routine to build first.
• Keep your own shorthand. Your notation, your abbreviations, your note that the last set felt heavy.
• Get the charts anyway. Per-lift history, personal records and searchable sessions build themselves.
• Nothing gated behind a plan generator, because there is no plan generator.

Be clear about what it is not. Gym Note Plus will not generate a mesocycle, prescribe your next working weight, calculate RIR targets or schedule a deload. Those are the features Alpha Progression Pro is actually selling, and if you use them weekly, pay the $79.99. Boostcamp is the free answer and Liftosaur is the customisable one, and we would rather send you there than win an install you regret.

How do the options actually compare?

Prices and free tiers shift constantly, so check the current store listings before you commit to anything.

For the wider field beyond the hypertrophy-planner crowd, we ranked the best free workout tracking apps on the same questions.

Which should you pick?

• Pick Boostcamp if the plan generator was the reason you paid, and a coach's program will do instead.
• Pick Hevy if the charts were the reason you paid and you want them free on both platforms.
• Pick Liftosaur if you want to define the progression rules rather than accept them.
• Pick JEFIT if you mostly used the exercise library and form videos.
• Pick Setgraph if you want speed and graphs on iPhone and nothing more.
• Pick Gym Note Plus if you already write your sessions as text and just want the analysis back.

A simple plan for switching

1. Write down your current working weights. Every main lift, one line each. This is the only Alpha Progression data most people actually need.
2. Note where you are in the plan. Which week, which block, and any lift you have stalled on twice.
3. Decide which gated feature you are replacing. Plan generator means Boostcamp. Charts mean Hevy. Custom rules mean Liftosaur. Plain text means Gym Note Plus.
4. Rebuild one week, not the whole mesocycle. You will change your mind about the app before you get to week four.
5. Cancel after a full training week on the new app, not before. Overlapping for seven days costs one month at most and saves you from switching twice.

If you were the type who typed your sets into Notes anyway, paste a real session into the free notes to workout translator and see what it makes of your shorthand before you install anything.

Paying eighty dollars a year to be shown a line going up is the part worth questioning, not the training.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Alpha Progression free?

Partly. The free version includes full workout logging, 795 exercises with form videos and body measurement tracking. Alpha Progression's own site lists what free does not include: no plan generator, no recommendations, no charts and no advanced tools. The App Store listing shows Pro at $12.99 a month or $79.99 a year, with a 14-day trial on the yearly plan.

What is the best free Alpha Progression alternative?

Boostcamp is the closest free replacement for the plan generator, because its free tier includes the full program library, auto-progression and an AI program builder. If charts were the feature you actually wanted, Hevy's free tier includes progress graphs, though unlimited graph history needs Hevy Pro.

Is there an Alpha Progression alternative for Android?

Yes, and this is a real reason to switch. Alpha Progression is iPhone only. Boostcamp, Hevy, Liftosaur and JEFIT all run on Android, and Liftosaur also runs in a browser, so your log survives a change of phone.

Which app is closest to Alpha Progression Pro?

JEFIT Elite is the nearest like-for-like: an AI Adaptive Plan built around your goal, level and equipment, plus advanced analytics and progressive overload suggestions. It is not a saving, since Elite's list price is also $12.99 a month. For the same job at no cost, Boostcamp's free program library plus auto-progression is the better trade.

Can I export my data out of Alpha Progression?

Check the app's settings before you cancel, since losing history is the expensive part of any switch. In practice most lifters only need their current working weight per lift and which lifts have stalled, which fits on one screen. Rebuilding from those numbers is usually faster than fighting an import.

Does Gym Note Plus generate a training plan?

No. Gym Note Plus reads sessions you type in plain text and turns them into charts, personal records and searchable history. It does not build mesocycles, prescribe weights, calculate RIR or schedule deloads. Pick Boostcamp or Liftosaur if you want the programming done, and Gym Note Plus if you want to log in your own words and still get the analysis.

Final Takeaways

• The free tier removes the reason you downloaded it. No plan generator, no recommendations, no charts.
• Boostcamp replaces the planning free. Coached programs and auto-progression at no cost.
• Hevy replaces the charts free. Graphs on the free tier, and Pro is a third of the price.
• Liftosaur replaces the rules. RPE, periodization and deloads, written by you once.
• Match the swap to the feature you lost, not to whichever app ranks first.