Whether you’re trying to train for a marathon or just stay in shape, running can be one of the most effective and efficient ways to get your heart pumping.
But many people find that even though they know that running is good for them, they have a hard time getting started. Sometimes it’s because they feel unprepared, other times it’s because they’re worried about not keeping up with themselves or others. If you’re one of those people, don’t worry—we’ve got you covered!
Listed below are some of our favorite apps for new runners that will help you feel confident, stay safe, and achieve your goals.
Best Apps For New Runners
Whether you’re new to running or a seasoned marathoner, finding the best running app to help you set goals, record metrics, and track your progress is key to sticking with a training program. Running apps track health and performance metrics like pace, distance, mileage, heart rate, and calories. They also come programmed with training runs and record running routes through GPS. More specifically, running apps give you a place to store information about your workouts, running and other fitness activities, and nutrition. Some apps are free to download and use, while others require a paid subscription to access premium features.
The best running apps consist of pre-programmed routes, virtual runs, audio coaches, support communities, social and competitive features, and personalized running plans. They also provide helpful data via charts and graphs so that you see your progress and make any necessary adjustments. Here are the best running apps to help you hit your stride.
Our Top Picks
Best Overall: Runkeeper
“If you’re also into biking or fitness walking, you can track those activities.”
Best Route Finding and Tracking: MapMyRun
“You can add your shoes to the app and the Gear Tracker will notify you when it’s time to get a new pair.”
Best for Beginners: C25K 5K Trainer
“It starts with a mix of running and walking, gradually building up your strength and stamina.”
Best Community App: Strava
“Allows you to compare times with other members of the Strava community or with your own group of friends.”
Best for Runners Who Want a Coach: Running by Daily Burn
“In-your-ear coaching for runners of all fitness levels.”
Best for Motivation: Charity Miles
“Helps you make your miles more meaningful and motivational by donating 25 cents for every mile you run to the charity of your choice.”
Best for Reaching Your Health Goals: MyFitnessPal
“You can chart your fitness and weight loss progress and connect with friends on the app.”
Best for Apple Watch: Nike+ Run Club
“You can connect to Apple Music or Spotify to access curated playlists that are specific for your runs.”
Best for Marathon Runners: Runtastic
“You can save all your routes and stats, so you can stay motivated.”
Our Top Picks
Best Overall: Runkeeper
Runkeeper
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Why We Chose It: Runkeeper is our pick for best overall because of its long-standing reputation as one of the best running apps for all fitness levels.
Pros
Strong running community and support
Appropriate for all running levels
Set goals and track progress
In-app challenges and virtual running groups
Cons
Need to upgrade for access to premium features
Tailored race-training plans only available with subscription
Continued use of GPS in background can decrease battery life
As one of the most popular and tried-and-true running apps out there, Runkeeper gets our top ranking for its wide array of features, accuracy, as well as ease of use. Whether you’re a beginner runner or an experienced marathoner, this app has something for everyone. You can use the GPS capability to track your distance, pace, and overall time, and mix up your running routine by following one of Runkeeper’s pre-created routes.
Runkeeper also lets you set goals and watch your progress to stay motivated. If you’re also into biking or fitness walking, you can track those activities. For runners training for races, Runkeeper offers personalized training routines, complete with helpful reminders to keep you on track. It also syncs with other apps and devices, such as Fitbit, as well as your Apple watch. All of these features are available free on iOS or Android.
Best Route Finding and Tracking: MapMyRun
Map My Run by Under Armour
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Why We Chose It: MapMyRun is one of the most comprehensive running apps online. With features like audio coaching, route finding, easy-to-see maps, and data analysis, this running app is one you should try.
Pros
Real-time audio coaching
Find local running routes and routes in new cities
Ability to view time, distance, speed, and pace while running
Gear Tracker tells you when you need new shoes
Syncs with Under Armour Smart Shoes
Cons
Premium features require a subscription
GPS can be spotty if phone is not in the right place
MapMyRun is another running app that has stood the test of time. It first debuted as a way to measure running routes, but the latest version offers runners many more cool and helpful features. You can use it to track your runs and find running routes locally or in new cities, as well as get feedback on your stats so you can try to improve your performance.
If you’re one of those runners who never knows when to replace your running shoes, you can add your shoes to the app and the Gear Tracker will notify you when it’s time to get a new pair. You can also join the MapMyRun community to connect with other runners and stay motivated with fun challenges.
MapMyRun is available on iOS and Android and is compatible with hundreds of other popular apps and devices, allowing you to sync your data with your Apple Watch, Garmin, Fitbit, and more.
Best for Beginners: C25K 5K Trainer
C25K® 5K Trainer
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Why We Chose It: C25K features the popular walk/run method of training for 5K distances, which is designed for entry-level runners wanting to train for races.
Pros
Based on run/walk method of training
Audio coach alerts you when it’s time to run or walk
Run 3 times a week for 30 to 40 minutes
5K ready in 8 weeks
Cons
Not a good fit for intermediate to experienced runners
Need to pay attention to audio cues
Upgrade required for access to premium features like customized programs
New runners rave about how this popular app took them from couch potato to the finish line of a 5K race in just eight weeks. With pre-designed training plans, Couch to 5K guides you through three workouts each week and keeps track of your progress and routes.
Perfect for beginners, it starts with a mix of running and walking, gradually building up your strength and stamina so you learn how to get into a regular running habit. You’ll also get verbal feedback as you’re running, so you’ll stay motivated to stick with the training. C25K works on any iOS or Android device.
Best Community App: Strava
Strava
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Why We Chose It: We chose Strava for its strong commitment to community, support, ability to compare times and runs with other members, and group challenges.
Pros
Good choice for competitive runners
Focuses on performance analytics
Highlights the social aspects of running
Cons
Some people worry about privacy with personal routes that are made public
Might be too competitive or advanced for entry-level runners
Need premium version to enjoy it fully
If you love the social and competition aspects of running, Strava is the app for you. It allows you to compare times with other members of the Strava community or with your own group of friends to boost your motivation. It also has a safety feature called Beacon, which allows up to 3 people to know where you are running (they don’t need to have the app or be Strava members, either).
You can use Strava to set up group challenges, such as fastest 5K or most miles in a set period of time, to keep each other going. You can use Strava on any iOS or Android device and Apple Watch.
Best for Runners Who Want a Coach: Running by Daily Burn
Daily Burn
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Why We Chose It: Running by Daily Burn is a great choice if you’re looking for a running coach. This app gives you access to personal coaching, customized training plans, and guided runs.
Pros
New runs, challenges, and training plans weekly for all levels
Guided treadmill runs or outdoor runs
Customized running plans
Track mileage, pace, and calories
Personal running coach
Cons
Only available on the Apple App Store
Requires additional fees to access certain programs
Daily Burn is known for its incredibly motivational coaching, and its new running app is no different. Running by Daily Burn offers in-your-ear coaching for runners of all fitness levels: Choose from tempo, distance, interval, outdoor, beginner, treadmill, and fun runs. You can also set time or distance to run on your own, and the app will pace you.
Before you start using Running by Daily Burn, the app will prompt you for your running goals (do you want to get faster, build endurance, crush your first race?) and ask how many workouts per week you can commit to. This gives the app a good idea of what type of runs to curate for you. Likewise, the app makes it easy to get up and go, with guided warm-ups to stretch out your muscles and prevent injury, and the ability to share your best runs with other athletes for a little bit of added competition.
Best for Motivation: Charity Miles
Charity Miles
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Why We Chose It: Charity Miles gives users a platform to donate money to a favorite charity and get healthy, at the same time.
Pros
Company donates money on your behalf to charities
Tracks several activities such as walking, running, dancing, and biking
Walking earns money towards your favorite charity
Cons
Not ideal for fitness tracking
Limited features compared to other apps
Interface is on the lower end of apps
Charity Miles helps you make your miles more meaningful and motivational by donating money for every mile you run to the charity of your choice. Just open up this free app, choose a charity and you’ll start raising money with each mile you run, bike, or walk.
You can also form teams with running friends to combine fundraising efforts. To stay motivated, Charity Miles prompts you with reminders to run and keep raising money. You can use Charity Miles on any iOS or Android device.
Best for Reaching Your Health Goals: MyFitnessPal
MyFitnessPal
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Why We Chose It: Reaching your health goals is easier with MyFitnessPal. This fitness app allows you to chart your training runs, weight loss progress, and connect with friends for support.
Pros
Tracks runs, food, calories, and other fitness activities
Very active online community
Customize goals and monitor progress with daily coaching
Cons
May underestimate calorie requirements
Requires premium subscription to access daily goal-setting features
If you’re hoping to lose some weight through running, the MyFitnessPal app can help you achieve your goals. It allows you to track all your calories and runs in one place and lets you know how many calories you have left based on your daily calorie goals.
You can chart your fitness and weight loss progress and connect with friends on the app, so you can hold each other accountable and maintain motivation. MyFitnessPal is available on iOS and Android and it syncs with other apps and devices including Fitbit, Strava, Runkeeper, and Runtastic.
Best for Apple Watch: Nike+ Run Club
NRC
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Why We Chose It: Nike + Run Club app is an excellent choice for Apple Watch owners. Not only is it free to use, it also comes with guided runs, coaching, and personalized plans.
Pros
Quick glance pace, location, distance, elevation, heart rate, and mile splits
Guided runs with Headspace
Audio runs with Nike coaches
Coaching and personalized plans
Cons
Only for Apple Watch
Users report GPS can be spotty
One of the most popular running apps in the App Store for iPhone and Apple Watch, Nike+ Run Club is a fantastic, all-in-one app. This free app offers GPS tracking, audio-guided workouts, weekly and monthly distance challenges to keep you motivated, and personalized coaching plans.
You can connect to Apple Music or Spotify to access curated playlists that are specific for your runs. If you’re a social runner, you’ll love the opportunities to compete with friends and cheer each other on during runs. Nike+ Run Club is perfect for runners with Apple Watches who want stats and feedback during their runs, but don’t want to carry a smartphone. It’s also available for Android devices.
Best for Marathon Runners: Runtastic
Runtastic GPS Running App
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Why We Chose It: Runtastic is a great tool for marathon runners who need one place to save running routes, training runs, stats, and pre-race information.
Pros
One place to save all your running routes and stats
Post stats to Twitter or Facebook from the app to share with global community
Track and log over 120 activities
Cons
Certain race and training features requires premium subscription
Voice alerts not as loud as other apps
Reach your goals in your next marathon with this app that tracks all your runs and offers training plans for marathons and other races. You can save all your routes and stats, so you can stay motivated by trying to beat your personal records.
Once you’ve finished your run, post your stats to Facebook or Twitter right from the app. This app can be used on iOS and Android devices and syncs with other apps such as MyFitnessPal as well as Garmin devices.
Final Verdict
Whether you’re new to running or training for a marathon, finding the right running app can help you stay focused and on track to meet your goals. A great app to start with is Runkeeper. It’s comprehensive, appropriate for all running levels, easy to use, and it provides you with all the tools you’ll need to get started. Plus, it comes with tons of helpful tips for sticking to your training plan or race schedule. If you’re looking for an app that offers running classes and coaching, consider Running by Daily Burn. But if it’s support, structured training plans, and encouragement that you need, then check out C25K.
Running Apps vs Walking Apps
Running apps and walking apps are similar in form and function, but they often differ in the content, training plans, and support. Both apps are designed to track metrics like miles, pace, distance, and time, but running apps often come programmed with training plans for specific races such as a 5K or marathon. They also feature longer running routes and trails that support a faster pace. and workouts. Some have extra tools like calorie counters and heart rate tracking capabilities. The main difference between a running app and a walking app is likely the programmed workouts. With a walking app, the workouts will be slower in pace and often shorter in the distance. They also focus on beginners or people new to exercise more than running apps.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are Running Apps Good for Beginner Runners?
Whether you’re brand-new to running or you’ve taken a long break from it and want to ease your way back, there’s a running app that’s suitable for you. Many of them are very user-friendly and have training programs and workouts that are designed for beginners.
Can Running Help Me Lose Weight?
Running is one of the best forms of exercise for weight loss, as it burns a lot of calories and is very affordable and accessible.1 The more you run, the more calories you’ll burn, so if you maintain a regular running habit, you’ll see better results. To help stay motivated, you can follow a plan, such as a 5K training program for beginners.
You’ll also want to avoid a common mistake that many runners make, which is assuming that running gives you a license to eat anything you want. The basic rule of weight loss is that you must burn (through life functions and exercise) more calories than you take in. The most effective approach is to follow a proper running program and a healthy, calorie-appropriate nutrition plan if you’re trying to lose weight.
Can a Running App Replace Your Gym Membership?
If you use the gym primarily to run on the treadmill, you may find that using a running app to track your running stats and keep you motivated to run is a sufficient substitute. However, if you like to use other equipment and amenities at the gym and enjoy the face-to-face interaction with instructors and other gym members, you might regret giving up your membership.
In many cases, it works best to keep your gym membership and use a running app as a tool to supplement your training and help you reach your running-related goals.
How Much Do Running Apps Cost?
Most running apps are free to download, but they may include just the basic features. You can make an in-app purchase to access a premium version with more functionality and no ads. Other running apps charge a one-time download cost, usually in the range of $2 to $5.
Some running apps also offer a monthly or yearly membership. Members get access to more robust and advanced features such as personalized training plans and in-depth data analysis. They’re available for a monthly or yearly subscription, which can range from approximately $3 to $20 per month.
Methodology
We looked at nine different apps from reputable companies to curate this list of best running apps. To start, we compared the free version of each app to the premium or paid subscription option. In order to make our list, the free version needed to provide enough features to make the app helpful and worth using or they needed to offer a free trial so users can decide if the upgrade is worth the price. We also took stock of the training tools each app provided and only selected running apps that offered tracking features, running routes, graphs and charts, and stats. Bonus points were given to apps that focus on community support, challenges, and ways to connect virtually with friends.
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offline running app
If you’re like us, your smartphone is your go-to for just about everything. From capturing memories to video chatting with loved ones, the list goes on and on. It goes everywhere with us, and that includes our workouts. Whether you’re someone who prefers an at-home workout session or you’re a gym rat, there are countless apps out there to help you exercise more effectively.
At Asurion, our experts help millions of customers resolve their smartphone issues and get the most out of their favorite tech. Here are their recommendations for the best running apps, available for both iPhone® and Android™. The best part? They’re all much cheaper than hiring a personal trainer. In fact, these 10 running apps we’re about to mention all have free versions available.
- ASICS Runkeeper
One of the first running apps on the scene, ASICS Runkeeper™ is an easy-to-use app that tracks your pace, distance, calories burned, time, and more. Look back on past runs to track your progress and discover new routes near you. It’s one of the best running apps for beginners, providing basic run data to help you get into your new routine, but has straightforward info runners at every skill level will appreciate. - Map My Run
The Map My Run™ by Under Armor® app offers all the basic functionality of a running app: pace, distance, calories burned, and time, with the added benefit of linking to compatible fitness trackers and heart rate monitors. You can also input more robust data like food consumption and track the distance logged on your running shoes—the app will even alert you when it’s time for a new pair. A cool function of this app is the ability to specify the type of run (treadmill, trail, neighborhood stroll, etc.), which can be helpful when analyzing your performance. - Adidas Running App by Runtastic
Another popular app, adidas Running App by Runtastic™, is your basic running app that links to Google Earth for easy route-mapping. The analytics in this app are great, with graphs and charts depicting your progress and easy social sharing. It comes with built-in training schedules and even syncs up with Spotify™ and Pandora™ for easy music streaming. This app is great for travelers constantly running in new cities and those looking for more robust reporting of your run data. - PUMATRAC
PUMATRAC™ offers a sleek interface with all the perks of a basic running app, but with several bonus features to give a holistic view of your workouts. The app pulls in additional information that may impact your run like weather, time of day or day of the month, and synthesizes to determine personal insights. For example, you may find you run best on Friday mornings before 10, or that you run faster when listening to rock music.
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- Nike Run Club
You don’t have to have Nike products to enjoy the benefits of the Nike Run Club™ app. Set your running terrain (treadmill, trails, sidewalk) and the app tracks your pace, distance, calories burned, and time. The thing that sets this app apart are the gamified options that let you share your personal goals, challenge friends and beat your personal record. You can also upload a “Power Song” to play when you need an extra boost on your run. - Strava: Run, Ride, Swim
If you split your fitness routine between multiple activities, the Strava™ app is a great choice. The unique dashboards track more detailed aspects of your workout like elevation gained, plus more traditional metrics like pace, distance, and time. Other unique features are the leaderboards, achievement badges, and challenges to push you to reach your goals. This app is great for those who like to run off the beaten path and thrive with a little friendly competition. - Couch to 5K
The Couch to 5K® app is perfect for novice runners looking to get in shape and build up their running regimen in just a few short weeks. Set a goal date for your first 5K and the app will provide training schedules with 20–30 min routes three times a week until your race. The built-in pacing tells you when to walk, when to run, and coaches you through your route while gradually building stamina and strength. Choose 1 of 4 virtual coaches to keep you motivated. - Pacer Pedometer & Step Tracker
With some pedometer apps, they won’t track steps if your phone isn’t in your hand. That’s not the case with the Pacer Pedometer & Step Tracker™ app. As long as your phone is with you while you walk, jog or just while running errands (hand, pocket, or even purse), it’ll track your steps. If you’re looking for a guided workout, Pacer offers free options like Intro to Interval Walking, Full Body Strength and Daily Stretch. Pacer is also compatible with other fitness monitoring apps like Fitbit™ and MyFitnessPal™. - Zombies, Run!
With the Zombies, Run!® app, you’ll find yourself immersed in the midst of a zombie apocalypse and running to escape the lifeless monsters chasing you. The more miles you log, the more supplies you win to help your village survive. Run too slow, and the zombies catch you! This is a fun app for those looking for an exciting way to spice up their runs. - Charity Miles
Charity Miles® is a basic running app that lets you help others while taking care of yourself. Before you start your run, choose the charity you want to donate to that day—there are many to choose from, like the Wounded Warrior Project, Stand Up to Cancer, the ASPCA and more. Then, for each mile you run, walk or bike, corporate sponsors will donate to the cause of your choice. The more you run, the more they donate. Typical donations are $0.10 per mile biked and $0.25 per mile run or walked. Get the kids involved and see how much you can earn for the charity of their choice on your next family walk.
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