Six structural differences
Not features. Decisions about how the thing is built.
Each of these is a design choice most apps in the category did not make, and each changes what happens to you on a Tuesday.
The target is measured, not looked up
Most macro trackers compute your calories once, from a formula, and leave them there. Recomp Coach uses the formula only as the day-one anchor, then measures your real expenditure from your weigh-ins and food log and re-fits it every week, by capped amounts.
For you A target that follows your body, not the form you filled in on day one.
Recovery changes the plan, not just a badge
Wearable apps typically show you a score and stop. Workout loggers usually have no idea you slept four hours. Here the morning readiness read makes the training call - go, trim or rest - and feeds the same engine as your food.
For you A rough night trims the session or sanctions a rest day, without you negotiating with yourself.
Training, food and recovery in one loop
Most people run a logger, a macro app and a wearable app that never talk to each other. Recomp Coach keeps all three in one database, one engine and one voice.
For you No reconciling three apps' opinions on a Sunday night.
It shows its working
Most apps hand you a number. Every proposed change here carries its reasoning: your trend, your logged intake, your goal pace and the floors it will never cross. If the data is patchy, it says so and holds.
For you You can disagree with a number because you can see where it came from.
The AI advises. The maths decides.
AI coaching apps typically let the model set your plan. Ask Coach has your entire context - every set, meal, night and compound - but a proposal to change a target can only come from the deterministic engine.
For you A language-model mistake cannot set your calorie target. By design, not by policy.
It knows what you take
Most trackers have no idea you are on creatine, a GLP-1 or anything stronger. Recomp Coach records 250 compounds and lets them change the water windows, the protein rate, the meal suggestions and the recovery wording - with no dose, cycle or stack, ever.
For you A water jump in week one of creatine is not read as fat, and your protein target knows why it is higher.
Side by side
By category, at the honest level.
No named competitors - we cannot verify another app's behaviour today, so we describe what the category usually does. Where a category sometimes does it, the cell says so.
| Macro trackers | Workout loggers | AI coach apps | Human coach | Recomp Coach | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Calorie target | Formula on day one, rarely revisited | Not their job | Model-set, usually opaque | Adjusted by eye, on check-in | Measured from your logs, re-fitted weekly |
| Recovery | Ignored, or a badge | A badge at most | If you mention it | If you tell them | Read every morning, changes the plan |
| Training + nutrition together | Food only | Lifts only | In conversation | Usually, if they do both | One loop, one engine, one voice |
| Shows the working | Rarely | Nothing to show | Usually opaque | If you ask | Every change, every time |
| Learns you, and shows it | A target, and little else | History only | Usually in the chat, not shown | In their head | On one page: expenditure, scale rhythm, effort calls, forecast record |
| AI | Photo logging, sometimes | Usually none | Yes, and it usually sets the numbers | A person | Advises only; the maths decides |
| Compounds & medications | Not recorded | Not recorded | Maybe in chat | If you tell them | 250 in the engine, no dose ever |
| Account & data | Usually an account, cloud copy | Usually an account | Usually an account, chats server-side | Spreadsheets and DMs | No account; on your phone, export any time |
| Free tier | A trial, or gated history | Often capped | Usually a trial | None | Core free forever, incl. history & export |
| Price | Subscription | Subscription | Subscription | Often hundreds a month | Free core; optional Pro in your currency, 7-day trial |
Free on the App Store
The right-hand column is free to try.
No account, no card, two minutes to set up. The maths is published at /maths if you want to read it first.
What it is not (yet)
The honest column.
A comparison page that only lists wins is an advert. These are the things people ask about and the straight answer to each.
Not on Android yet
iPhone only today, iOS 15.1 or later. If Android matters to you, say so at support - it genuinely shapes what gets built next.
The readiness score needs a signal
A wearable - Apple Watch, WHOOP, Oura, Fitbit or Pixel Watch - or a manual morning check-in. Skip both and you still get everything else; the score waits for data.
The AI coach advises only
It cannot set a target, and that will not change. If you want a chatbot that rewrites your plan on request, this is the wrong app on purpose.
Not a medical device
It does not diagnose, treat, prevent or monitor any condition. The readings feature is a diary shown against published ranges. The compound pages carry no dose. Talk to a doctor.
It needs your logs
The measured target is only as good as your weigh-ins and food log. Log patchily and it tells you the data is thin and holds, rather than guessing - which is the point, but it is not magic.
New app, small team
Built by one person in Sydney and new on the App Store. The upside: a real person reads and answers toby@recompcoach.app.
Fit
Who it is for. Who it is not.
It is for you if
- You lift and you log, or you are willing to start.
- You are cutting, gaining or recomping and want a target that moves with your body instead of a number from a form.
- You are tired of three apps - a logger, a macro app and a wearable app - that never agree.
- You take something, from creatine to a prescription, and want the plan to allow for it without being lectured.
- You want your data on your phone, exportable, with no account.
It is not for you if
- You want a chatbot to set your plan. The AI here advises; the maths decides.
- You will not weigh in or log food. The engine measures; with nothing to measure it holds.
- You are on Android. Not yet.
- You are looking for medical guidance. This is a fitness and nutrition tool. See a doctor or an accredited dietitian.
Questions
The ones people actually ask.
Is this just a macro tracker with a workout log bolted on?
No. Both of those are in it, and both are good, but the point is the engine underneath: one set of arithmetic that reads your weigh-ins, your food log, your sessions and your recovery together and re-fits your targets weekly with the working shown. A tracker records; this one decides what happens next and tells you why.
Why not just use an AI coaching app?
Because a language model should not be the thing that sets your calorie target. Ask Coach has your entire context and talks like a coach who read your log, but a proposal to move a number can only come from the deterministic engine. You get the conversation without handing a chatbot the dial. Nothing reaches the AI processor without explicit consent, and the app keeps its own tally of what it sent.
Can it replace a human coach?
It does the parts of coaching that are arithmetic and attention: measuring your expenditure, re-fitting targets, reading your recovery every morning, auditing weekly volume, noticing a stall. It does not watch you lift, and it only knows what you log. Plenty of people use it alongside a coach, who then gets better data than a text message on Sunday.
Do I need a wearable?
No. Training, nutrition, progress and the weekly target updates all work without one, and a manual morning check-in gives you the readiness score too. A wearable makes the score automatic. Supported today: Apple Watch through Apple Health, WHOOP, Oura, and Fitbit or Pixel Watch through Google.
What is actually free?
The logger, food logging, the measured weekly targets with their reasoning, your full history and charts, the muscle map and ranks, the recovery score and rest-day call, the compounds record, every safety floor and a complete export - permanently, with no account. Plus a weekly allowance of 2 Ask Coach messages, 3 AI meal logs and 1 physique read.
Pro makes those unlimited and adds Autopilot, stall breakers and sessions that trim themselves. Monthly or yearly, priced in your local currency in the app, with a 7-day free trial on both plans.
Why no named competitors on this page?
Because we cannot verify what another app does today, and a comparison table is only worth reading if every cell is true. So the table describes categories at the honest level - most, usually, typically - and the Recomp Coach column describes only what is in the app now. The method behind that column is published at /maths, including what is weak.