Compare Motion to other fitness & step-challenge apps
There's no single 'best' fitness app, only the best one for your group, your trackers, and your goals. This is an honest comparison of the main step-challenge, walk-to-earn, and activity-tracking apps: what each does well and who each is best for. Motion is in the table too, so you can judge for yourself.
How to choose a fitness or step-challenge app
Most of these apps count steps. What separates them is everything around the steps: how groups compete, how scoring works, which trackers sync, and whether they're free. Four questions sort the field quickly.
Are you competing with a mixed-fitness group? This is the big one. Almost every app on this page ranks people by absolute output: most steps wins. That's fine when everyone moves about the same. It quietly excludes people when they don't: a beginner, a parent, or a desk-bound colleague can't out-walk a marathon runner, so they stop trying by Wednesday. Motion is built around the opposite idea: effort-based scoring, where you compete on the percentage of your own personalised goal you hit, so a mixed group stays in the race. If your group is uniform in fitness, absolute scoring is simpler and works fine.
Do you want motivation, or raw tracking? Some apps (Fitbit/Google Health, Strava, Samsung Health, MyFitnessPal, Google Fit) are primarily measurement tools: excellent dashboards, deep metrics, fewer social hooks. Others (Stridekick, Pacer, Challenges, Motion) are built to make movement fun and social. Decide whether you're solving a data problem or a motivation problem.
Free vs paid. Several apps are genuinely free for the core experience (Pacer, Sweatcoin, WeWard, Google Fit, Samsung Health, Motion). Others gate the good parts: organiser-pays tiers (Stridekick), per-game cash stakes (StepBet), or subscriptions (Strava, Fitbit Premium, MyFitnessPal). Check the table before you commit a group.
Do you want challenges with friends, family or coworkers? A few apps have quietly retired group challenges (MyFitnessPal, mostly Fitbit) or never had them (Google Fit). If running a challenge is the whole point, rule those out first.
Fitness & step-challenge apps compared
One row per app. Prices and ratings are approximate as of 2026; check each app's store listing for the latest. "Fairness" describes how competitions are scored; "effort-based" means ranked by percentage of your own personalised goal rather than raw totals.
| App | Price | Friend / group challenges | Fairness / scoring | Trackers | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Motion | Free; optional Motion Hero premium | Yes: friend battles, step challenges and team mode for groups, family & work | Effort-based: scored on % of your own personalised goal, so mixed-fitness groups stay competitive | Apple Watch, Fitbit, Garmin, Google Fit and most major trackers, or just your phone | Mixed-ability friend, family & workplace groups who want fair, motivating competition |
| Stridekick | Freemium; free tier (10 ppl / 7 days), organiser-pays Pro ~$12.99–$49.99/mo | Yes: public & private group, team and community challenges | Absolute totals; team modes use per-person averages to balance team size only | Fitbit, Apple Watch, Garmin, Withings, Polar, Xiaomi, phone (broad) | Cross-device groups & corporate wellness on one leaderboard |
| StepBet | Free app; per-game ~$40 cash bet + 15% pot cut; optional ~$59.99/yr | Yes: player-hosted private games, built around money stakes | Personalised but absolute: pass/fail vs your own target, no head-to-head effort scoring | Apple Health/Watch, Fitbit, Garmin, Google Fit, Health Connect | Financially-motivated adults who want loss-aversion accountability |
| Pacer | Free; Premium ~$9.99/mo, 7-day trial | Yes: walking clubs, weekly leagues, global, virtual-adventure & team challenges | Absolute: ranked by total steps/distance with a daily cap (~30k); favours high-volume movers | Phone sensors + Apple Health, Google Fit, Samsung Health, Garmin, Fitbit | Beginners & casual walkers wanting a free phone-only counter and big community challenges |
| Challenges app (FitNow) | Free (no required subscription, no cash prizes) | Yes: Team Throwdowns (teams of 4) and Solo Smackdowns (head-to-head) | Mostly absolute: points for closing rings / step thresholds, soft daily cap | Apple Watch/Health (best), Fitbit, Google Fit, phone (Apple-centric) | Apple Watch owners & work/family groups who like ring-closing competition |
| Fitbit / Google Health | Free app; Premium ~$99.99/yr; needs a wearable for full value | Largely retired (only a basic steps/Cardio-Load leaderboard remains) | Absolute output (most steps/cardio load), not effort-based | Fitbit & Pixel wearables; phone; some third-party | Data-driven users & runners who want clinical-grade passive metrics + AI coaching |
| FITIV Pulse | Free app; Pro ~$9.99/mo or ~$59.99/yr | Yes: workout groups & custom challenges (reported as inconsistent) | Absolute output (workouts, calories, HR/training metrics); favours fitter users | Apple Watch, Garmin, Polar, Bluetooth HR straps; iOS & Android | Data-driven athletes wanting recovery & readiness analytics on cheap hardware |
| Walkr (SPARKFUL) | Free + IAP; optional sub ~$7.99/mo or ~$69.99/yr | Co-pilots, fleets & Galaxy League (cooperative/progression, not head-to-head step battles) | Absolute / progression-based; premium cubes can accelerate ranking | Phone pedometer only (no GPS); historic Apple Watch support | Casual gamers who want cute, story-driven gamification of walking |
| Strava | Free tier + subscription ~$79.99/yr (Family ~£99.99/yr) | Yes: clubs, group challenges & time-based segment leaderboards | Absolute performance, ranked by fastest elapsed time (KOM/QOM); no effort handicapping | Phone GPS + broad wearable sync (Apple Watch, Garmin, Fitbit, Wahoo) | Competitive runners & cyclists who want performance analytics and a big social network |
| Samsung Health | Free for core; premium AI insights under consideration | Yes: 'Together' Global Challenges and friend/group step challenges | Absolute: most steps or first to a fixed target; no effort-based scoring | Best with Galaxy Watch/Ring; phone counter; limited third-party sync | Samsung Galaxy users wanting a broad all-in-one health dashboard |
| MyFitnessPal | Freemium; Premium ~$19.99/mo or ~$79.99/yr | No (Challenges retired in 2022; only personal streaks/badges remain) | N/A: no head-to-head competition; tracking is vs your own diet goal | Apple Health, Fitbit, Garmin, Samsung Health, Strava + 35–50 more | Individuals who want detailed calorie, macro & nutrition tracking |
| Sweatcoin | Free with ads; Premium $4.99/mo or $24.99/yr; $SWEAT crypto opt-in | Yes: friend step-streaks, leaderboard, badges, branded challenges | Absolute steps with a daily cap (regressive); rewards raw output, not effort | Phone motion + GPS (outdoor only); Apple Watch; treadmill barely counts | Solo outdoor walkers who want rewards, deals and move-to-earn crypto |
| WeWard | Free; optional Premium ~$5.99/mo or ~$46.99/yr | Yes: friend challenges and global/league leaderboards | Absolute: rewards total steps; escalating goals favour the fittest | Phone pedometer, Apple Health, Google Fit, Fitbit, WeWard Sense | Reward-driven casual walkers who want cash, gift cards or charity donations |
| Google Fit | Free (successor Google Health gates an AI coach ~$9.99/mo) | None (no friends, leaderboards or challenges) | Absolute activity (steps, Move Minutes, Heart Points); no effort scoring | Phone, Wear OS + Garmin/Strava/Samsung/Fitbit via Health Connect | Casual Android users wanting simple, automatic solo tracking for free |
Money & rewards apps
These apps add an extrinsic hook (cash stakes, rewards or crypto) to keep you walking. Useful if money motivates you, but scoring rewards raw output, not effort.
StepBet
Bet real money on yourself to hit personalised step goals over multi-week games; win your stake back (plus a share of the losers' pot) if you succeed.
Best for: financially-motivated adults who want loss-aversion accountability.
Sweatcoin
Converts GPS-verified outdoor walking into a digital currency you redeem for discounts, gadgets and crypto rewards.
Best for: solo outdoor walkers who want rewards and move-to-earn crypto.
WeWard
Turns daily steps into 'Wards' points redeemable for cash, gift cards, brand discounts or charity donations.
Best for: reward-driven casual walkers.
Platforms & tracking apps
These are primarily measurement tools: strong dashboards and deep metrics, with social features that are secondary or, in some cases, retired. Many people pair one of these with Motion: track here, compete there.
Fitbit / Google Health
Google's wearable-and-app platform for steps, heart rate, sleep and VO2 max, now folding into 'Google Health' with Gemini AI coaching, though most group challenges have been retired.
Best for: data-driven users and runners who want clinical-grade passive metrics.
Strava
GPS activity tracking with a strong social network, built around running and cycling and time-based segment leaderboards.
Best for: competitive runners and cyclists who want performance analytics.
Samsung Health
Samsung's free, all-in-one health dashboard covering steps, sleep, nutrition and heart health, with social step challenges via its Together feature.
Best for: Samsung Galaxy users wanting a broad health dashboard.
MyFitnessPal
Calorie and macro tracking built on one of the world's largest food databases; group challenges were retired in 2022.
Best for: people who want detailed calorie, macro and nutrition tracking.
FITIV Pulse
Turns heart-rate, sleep and strain data into a daily Training Readiness Score telling you when to push and when to rest.
Best for: data-driven athletes wanting recovery and readiness analytics on cheap hardware.
Google Fit
Google's free, lightweight activity tracker (Move Minutes & Heart Points), now being wound down into Google Health, with no friends or challenges.
Best for: casual Android users wanting simple, automatic solo tracking.
Comparison FAQs
If you have anything else you want to ask, reach out to us.
What's the best step challenge app?
The best step challenge app depends on your group's fitness mix. For uniform groups, absolute-scoring apps like Stridekick (great for mixed devices) or Pacer (free, big community challenges) work well. If your group spans different fitness levels (a beginner, a parent, a serious runner), absolute step counts tend to exclude the slower people, who stop trying. That's the gap Motion fills with effort-based scoring, where you compete on the percentage of your own goal you hit, so everyone stays in the race. See the full comparison table to match an app to your situation.
What's the best free alternative to Fitbit?
For free step tracking and challenges without buying hardware, Pacer is a strong phone-only option, Google Fit covers simple solo tracking on Android, and Motion is free on iOS and Android and adds friend, family and workplace challenges. Fitbit's app is free but most of its value requires owning a wearable, and many of its group challenges have been retired. If you mainly want a wearable's passive metrics, see our Fitbit alternatives page.
Which fitness app is best for families or workplaces?
Motion, Stridekick and Challenges app (FitNow) are the strongest options for family and workplace groups. Families and workplaces almost always have a wide range of fitness levels, which is exactly where raw step-count competitions fall apart: the fittest person wins every week and everyone else disengages. Stridekick is popular for corporate wellness across mixed devices, and Challenges suits Apple-heavy teams. Motion is built specifically for mixed-ability groups. Its team mode and step challenges score on effort, so a desk-bound colleague or a grandparent can realistically compete with a marathon runner.
What's the best free alternative to Strava?
The best free Strava alternative depends on what you want: Pacer for walking and community challenges, Samsung Health or Google Fit for simple tracking, or Motion if you want fun, fair challenges with friends rather than segment leaderboards. Strava is excellent for serious runners and cyclists, but its subscription and performance focus are overkill for casual movement. We cover this in detail on our Strava alternatives page.
How does Motion compare to other apps?
Motion's key difference from other apps is effort-based scoring: you compete on the percentage of your own personalised goal you hit, not raw totals, so mixed-fitness groups stay competitive. Almost every other app on this page ranks people by absolute output (most steps, fastest time, most rewards), which means the fittest person always wins. Motion is free on iOS and Android, works with most trackers or just your phone, and is built for friend, family and workplace groups. It's not a deep performance-analytics tool like Strava or Fitbit. If you want clinical metrics, pair Motion with one of those. Read more about Motion.
Do I have to pay for these apps?
Several are free for the core experience: Pacer, Sweatcoin, WeWard, Google Fit, Samsung Health and Motion. Others gate the good parts behind organiser-pays tiers (Stridekick), per-game cash stakes (StepBet) or subscriptions (Strava, Fitbit Premium, MyFitnessPal). The comparison table lists each app's price model so you can check before committing a group.
Your Fitness Journey Starts Here
Download Motion free and discover why this is the fitness app you'll actually keep using. Your future self (and your Motmot) will thank you.
Step-challenge & social apps
These apps are built around competing or moving together. If your goal is motivation rather than measurement, start here.
Motion
Friendly competition where effort decides the winner, not raw step counts, so mixed-fitness friend, family and workplace groups all stay in the race. Free on iOS & Android.
Best for: mixed-ability groups who want fair, motivating challenges.
About Motion →
Stridekick
A cross-device challenge platform with leaderboard, streak, target and team competitions that work no matter which tracker everyone uses.
Best for: cross-device groups and corporate wellness programs.
Stridekick alternatives →
Pacer
A free, phone-based pedometer with walking clubs, weekly leagues and big global challenges, plus optional weight-loss coaching.
Best for: beginners and casual walkers who want a free counter and large community challenges.
Pacer alternatives →
Challenges app (FitNow)
Turns closing your Apple Watch rings into Team Throwdowns and head-to-head Smackdowns with friends and coworkers.
Best for: Apple Watch owners and work/family groups who love ring-closing competition.
Challenges alternatives →
Walkr (SPARKFUL)
A cute, gamified pedometer where your steps fuel a spaceship exploring a galaxy of planets. Cooperative fleets rather than head-to-head battles.
Best for: casual gamers who want story-driven gamification of walking.
Walkr alternatives →