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Strava
The default choice if running is partly social. The free version records your runs and gives you the feed, clubs and kudos, so it is the app to pick if your friends or local running club already share their runs there and you want to follow along.
The subscription, $79.99 a year, adds route planning and deeper analysis. Strava is a tracker first, not a coach: it records what you did rather than telling you what to do next. Runners who want a plan can add Runna, which Strava has owned since April 2025, through a joint annual subscription of $149.99.
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Runna
The pick for runners with a race date and a goal time. Runna builds a plan for your goal, sets target paces for each session and reshuffles the week when life gets in the way, moving sessions and updating paces rather than leaving you to rework it yourself.
It is the most expensive app here: $19.99 a month or $119.99 a year. Without a subscription you get Week 1 of any plan plus run recording, and since June 2026 even its beginner plans sit behind the paywall. A 7-day trial lets you test the coaching before committing. Pace targets are only as good as the fitness you enter, so start conservatively.
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Nike Run Club
The best free company on a run. Nike Run Club's Guided Runs are audio sessions in which NRC coaches talk you through the run, which suits anyone who finds solo running a mental slog or wants structure without staring at a pace screen. The app is free to download and use, with no subscription.
Training plans with a goal to work toward are included too, but check your country first: Guided Runs are offered only in select countries, and the plans only in the US, UK, Japan, China, Brazil, France, Germany, Spain and Italy. Its social side is lighter than Strava's, built around challenges and live run sharing with friends and family rather than a big public feed.
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Garmin Connect
Garmin Coach plans
Already own a Garmin watch? Check this before paying for a plan anywhere else. Garmin Coach lives inside the free Garmin Connect app and builds an adaptive plan for a 5K, 10K or half marathon, changing upcoming workouts based on your progress and the runs you record. Each session appears on the watch after syncing, so you follow it from your wrist.
You choose between three coaches: Greg McMillan's pace-based plans, Amy Parkerson-Mitchell's gradual build with cross training, or Jeff Galloway's run-walk-run method, which mixes in walking to limit injury and fatigue. The catch is the hardware: it is built around a Garmin device, so it does nothing for phone-only runners.
More about Garmin Connect5
Kiprun Pacer
The free answer to Runna for anyone training toward a marathon or a trail race. Decathlon's app builds a personalized plan for 5K, 10K, half marathon, marathon or trail distances, and Decathlon bills it as 100% free. After each session you log a debrief, and the app recommends adjustments to the plan based on that and your performance data.
It works without a watch, but also syncs automatically with Garmin, Apple, Polar, Suunto, Coros and Fitbit, so it fits whatever device you already have. Voice guidance, advice on recovery and strength work, and Decathlon loyalty points where the program runs in your country round it out.
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Runkeeper
ASICS Runkeeper
A straightforward phone tracker for runners who want their numbers read aloud and little else. You choose which stats the voice coach announces during a run, such as pace, distance and time, and the app plays alongside Apple Music and Spotify. It also offers personalized plans meant to get you out the door consistently.
Runkeeper Go, the paid tier, adds detailed progress insights, live tracking and race-specific plans from 5K to marathon. At $39.99 a year in the US it costs about a third of Runna, which makes it a sensible middle step for a runner who wants a race plan without paying for full adaptive coaching.
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Map My Run
The route finder of the group. Map My Run lets you save routes and discover new places to run nearby or while traveling, which makes it handy for anyone who runs in unfamiliar towns on work trips or vacations.
The app is free to download and records distance, pace, elevation and calories, with real-time audio feedback as you go. The paid tier, called MVP, adds live tracking so family can follow your run and heart rate zone analysis, and the app also offers adaptive plans for 5K, 10K, half marathon and marathon. MVP prices vary by country and offer in the App Store, so check before upgrading.
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Adidas Runtastic
adidas Running app
Best for runners who are motivated by a shared goal rather than a coach. The app's draw is its global challenges and virtual races, which give a reason to log another run in a slow month, and it also tracks walking, cycling and more than 90 other sports, so a mixed week of training stays in one place.
Personalized training plans are available for runners of all levels, and the app syncs with common wearables. A paid Premium subscription unlocks the extras, and its price varies by country, so check the in-app price before subscribing.
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Zombies, Run! (2012)
Released
For anyone who gets bored before they get tired. Every run becomes a mission in an audio drama set after a zombie outbreak, with the story playing between tracks from your own playlists, so the motivation is wanting to hear what happens next rather than chasing a pace.
There are more than 500 missions across 11 seasons, enough to cover years of easy runs. You can try it free, and a paid membership unlocks every mission; the App Store lists several membership options, so compare them before choosing. It works at any speed and on a treadmill, a trail walk or in a wheelchair, which makes it a kind pick for recovery weeks when the point is time on your feet, not speed.
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