Choose MacroFactor Workouts if you want to design programs from scratch, or need Android or iPad; it costs $71.99 a year. Choose RIGOR as a MacroFactor Workouts alternative if you want a plan built for your gym, with the rule behind every target shown. RIGOR runs on iPhone and Apple Watch and costs $59.99 a year.
MacroFactor Workouts alternative: side by side
Every line about MacroFactor Workouts was read on its own pages on the day shown as last checked, and links to its page. Prices are in US dollars and are the ones a new user sees: its site and its US App Store listing agree.
| RIGOR | MacroFactor Workouts | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $59.99 a year or $9.99 a month | |
| Free trial | 7 days on the yearly plan, none on the monthly | |
| Runs on | iPhone, Apple Watch | |
| Nutrition | Not covered | A separate app that works with it |
| Who builds the plan | RIGOR, from your goal, your days, your session length and your gym | |
| Who sets the next weight | RIGOR's rules, after every workout, with the reason shown | Smart Progression, from performance, RIR targets and rep ranges |
| Rating effort | Reps in reserve, optional | |
| Rest timer and plates | Both worked out for you | |
| A missed workout | Days passing never move the plan | Does not penalize you for one |
What a week looks like in each
MacroFactor Workouts builds a program from your goals, equipment and schedule, or lets you build one yourself, then adjusts weights and reps as you log. Its help page says it makes no weight recommendation until you have logged training.
RIGOR asks much the same questions, then the plan is the app: one workout a day, every set with a target. A lift with no history has a blank weight, unless you tell RIGOR one you have used. For a lift with no history, RIGOR then takes your estimated one-rep max from that weight and reps, assuming one rep left, cuts it by 10%, and picks the heaviest weight your gym can load that should give at least the middle of the rep range.
In MacroFactor Workouts
- Let it generate a program, or build your own.
- Log each workout, with RIR on a 0 to 6+ scale.
- Smart Progression adjusts the weights and reps ahead.
In RIGOR
- Tell it your goal, your days and your gym.
- Open today's workout; a lift you have logged has its target set.
- Log it; the rules set next time and show why.
RIGOR is a strength training app for iPhone that builds your plan and sets every weight by rules you can read.
YOUR IPHONE
Where MacroFactor Workouts is better
On reach and on freedom to build your own.
- Your own program. Build From Scratch offers full customization. RIGOR builds the plan; you can swap exercises and change targets, but not write a program from scratch.
- Where it runs. Android, iPad and Mac as well as iPhone, per its App Store listing. RIGOR has no Android app.
- Gym profiles. Separate profiles with their own equipment and weights.
- Technique videos and bought programs. The listing names technique videos by Jeff Nippard, and six Jeff Nippard programs can be imported if you already own them.
- One maker for both. Its nutrition app shares body metrics and progress photos with it. RIGOR does not cover nutrition.
If any of these decides it for you, choose MacroFactor Workouts.
Where RIGOR is better
If you want an app that is only the plan. RIGOR builds it, sets each target from your log and shows the rule.
- Price. $59.99 a year against $71.99, and $9.99 a month against $11.99.
- The reason, every time. Tap Why on any target and RIGOR shows what you did last time and the rule it applied. The written rules start with double progression.
- Rules for the bad days too. Hit the reps but find them harder than planned, and the weight holds. Miss the range two sessions running at one weight, and that lift comes down 10%. When the next weight your gym can load is too big a jump for the range, you add reps first; MacroFactor's Expand Rep Range does something like it when switched on.
- Deload weeks. A RIGOR plan runs four training weeks and can end with a lighter fifth: about half the sets at 10% less weight. It is on by default unless you are a beginner. See deload week.
- Time away. After 14 days without a workout, Today offers an easier return as well as carrying on as planned.
None of this makes RIGOR the better buy for everyone. MacroFactor Workouts is the wider app at the higher price; RIGOR is for a lifter who wants the plan, the target and the reason. For a plan to start from, see the 3-day full body program, or RIGOR vs Hevy, a logbook with a free plan.
See the reason behind every target
MacroFactor Workouts is a trademark of its owner. RIGOR is not affiliated with it.
Questions
Is MacroFactor Workouts free?
It is free to download, and its page offers a 7-day free trial. After that it is $11.99 a month, $47.99 every 6 months or $71.99 a year, the same on its site and on its US App Store listing.
Is MacroFactor Workouts included with MacroFactor?
It is its own app. Its page says it and MacroFactor Nutrition are designed as separate apps that work together, each with its own free trial, and points existing MacroFactor customers to a bundle of the two on its price page.
Is MacroFactor Workouts worth it?
That depends on what you want. It costs more than RIGOR a year and adds Android, iPad and programs built from scratch. RIGOR's plan shows the reason behind each target. Both offer a 7-day trial, RIGOR's on the yearly plan.
How much does RIGOR cost next to it?
$59.99 a year or $9.99 a month, against $71.99 a year or $11.99 a month for MacroFactor Workouts.
Does MacroFactor Workouts set your weight for you?
Yes. Its Smart Progression adjusts your weights and reps from your performance, your reps-in-reserve targets and your rep ranges. It makes no weight recommendation until you have logged training.
