Comparisons
The best readiness apps for Apple Watch (2026)
A readiness app answers one question every morning: does today suit a hard session or an easy one? On iPhone, the best ones need no extra wearable. They read the sleep, heart rate variability (HRV) and resting heart rate your Apple Watch already saves to Apple Health and compare them with your own normal. Here is how the main options compare on what the score is built from, what it costs, whether you need an account, and what happens with the answer.
Short answer
For a readiness score from the Apple Watch you already wear, look at Keho, Athlytic, Bevel and Training Today, plus Apple’s own Vitals app and Training Load. Keho is the one that turns the score into action: its morning verdict (0–10, from sleep, HRV, resting heart rate and training load) feeds training plans for running, cycling and yoga that ease off when you are not recovering. It needs no account, keeps your data on your iPhone and unlocks readiness for a one-time $4.99.
The comparison at a glance
| Keho | Athlytic | Bevel | Training Today | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reads your Apple Watch data from Apple Health | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Score built from | Sleep, HRV, resting heart rate and training load against your own normal | Overnight HRV and resting heart rate against a 60-day baseline | Recovery from sleep-time HRV and resting heart rate | HRV against a 60-day average |
| Price of the readiness score | $4.99 once, or included with any purchase | Pro: $29.99 a year or $4.99 a month | Free tier | Not listed for 2026 |
| Account required | No account | No account | Not listed | Not listed |
| Readiness adapts a training plan for running, cycling and yoga | Yes | Not listed | Not listed | Not listed |
| Statistics for every sport, free | Yes | Not listed | Not listed | Not listed |
| Direct Polar, Garmin and Strava sync into Apple Health | Yes | Not listed | Not listed | Not listed |
“Not listed” means we found no mention on the maker’s website or App Store page on 29 October 2026. Prices are US prices from the makers’ pages on that date. Sources at the end.
Keho
Keho gives you a readiness verdict from 0 to 10 every morning, built from last night’s sleep, your HRV, your resting heart rate and your recent training load, each measured against your own usual range. Next to it you see why it moved, today’s session and what to do with it. The verdict is part of Keho’s advanced statistics, together with training load and form and a VO2max trend: a one-time $4.99, or included with Keho Coach and Polar Sync.
What sets Keho apart is what happens next. Keho Coach ($24.99 a year) builds plans for a first 5K up to a marathon, for a sportive or a first 100 km on the bike, and yoga at home. When sleep, HRV or training load point to a tougher day, the plan offers easier options, and you decide. Statistics for every sport are free forever. Keho needs no account, computes everything on your iPhone and also brings Polar, Garmin and Strava data into Apple Health.
Athlytic
Athlytic shows a Recovery score from overnight HRV and resting heart rate against a 60-day baseline, an exertion score from 0 to 10 with a target zone based on recovery, sleep quality, sleep debt and sleep consistency, and fitness and fatigue lines. Like Keho, it has no accounts and says its calculations happen on the device. Athlytic Pro costs $29.99 a year or $4.99 a month, and the developer states there is no lifetime option.
Bevel
Bevel’s free tier includes recovery, sleep, strain, stress and training load. Recovery needs two full nights of sleep before it starts. Bevel Pro, with its AI assistant and planning features, costs $14.99 a month or $99.99 a year. Bevel’s privacy policy says Apple Health data is not sent to its servers while Bevel Intelligence is off, and is stored there when it is on. Keho has no such switch: it has no cloud feature, so your health data stays on your iPhone either way.
Training Today
Training Today shows a Readiness to Train score from your HRV over a rolling 24 hours compared with your 60-day average. It needs an Apple Watch worn regularly, including overnight. Its App Store privacy label says the developer does not collect any data. Its price list on the App Store has changed over the years, so check the current price there.
Apple’s own: Vitals and Training Load
Apple Watch has two built-in pieces. The Vitals app shows overnight heart rate, respiratory rate, blood oxygen, wrist temperature and sleep duration and flags values outside your usual range. Training Load, in the Activity app, compares the intensity and duration of your last 7 days of workouts with the 28 days before. Both are free and need no extra app; neither turns the result into a plan. On the newest watches Apple adds its own Readiness, which other apps can’t read. See a readiness score for Apple Watch for the details.
How to choose
- You want the score to change your training: pick an app where readiness feeds the plan, not only a number on a dashboard.
- You want to pay once: check whether readiness is a subscription or a one-time unlock.
- Privacy matters: check whether the app needs an account and where it computes, especially for AI features.
- You wear more than an Apple Watch: check how Polar, Garmin or Strava data gets into Apple Health.
Questions
Do I need a WHOOP or Oura for a readiness score?
No. An Apple Watch worn at night records the HRV, resting heart rate and sleep a readiness score needs. See a WHOOP alternative for Apple Watch.
Why do readiness apps disagree?
Each one weighs different inputs and baselines: some use HRV alone, others add sleep, resting heart rate and training load. Read one app’s trend over weeks rather than comparing two apps on one morning. Our guide to HRV, SDNN and RMSSD explains why the numbers differ.
Is a readiness score medical advice?
No. It is guidance from your own data. If you feel unwell, rest regardless of the number.
Sources
- Athlytic on the App Store, checked 29 October 2026
- Athlytic: no accounts, checked 29 October 2026
- Athlytic: lifetime subscription and discounts, checked 29 October 2026
- Bevel Pro pricing, checked 29 October 2026
- Bevel: how Recovery works, checked 29 October 2026
- Bevel privacy policy, checked 29 October 2026
- Training Today: how it works, checked 29 October 2026
- Training Today on the App Store, checked 29 October 2026
- Apple: Vitals app, checked 29 October 2026
- Apple: track your training load, checked 29 October 2026