Kinoku vs Strong

Quickstart

Strong is a lifting logger on iPhone, Apple Watch and Android, with a free account and cloud sync between devices. Kinoku is Android only, with no account and no cloud sync, and it keeps routines and charts free while adding runs, a muscle map, and training programs. So pick Strong for iPhone or two-device sync, and pick Kinoku for Android, privacy, and depth.

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What Strong does well

Strong has earned its name, and here is what its own pages promise, and what we would keep if we used it.

The account is free. Strong says so on its homepage [1], so you sign up once and the app is yours.

Your workouts follow you between devices. Strong Cloud keeps them in sync on its own [2], so you log on one device and read it on another.

It runs on iPhone, Apple Watch, and Android [3]. If you live in the Apple world, Strong is at home there, watch included.

It logs with no signal. In our test Strong took a set with flight mode on, saved it without a word, and still had it after a forced stop [14].

You can get your data out. Strong exports your workout history to a CSV file [4], which is a real exit door that not every app has.

What we tested

We installed Strong 6.2.4 from Google Play on September 11, 2026, on an emulator running Android 16, and took these steps:

1. Open a fresh install and search for any way in that skips the account.
2. Sign in and step past the welcome dialog.
3. Create templates, one at a time, until the app stopped us.
4. Open the Strong PRO screen and note the prices it showed.
5. Turn flight mode on, start an empty workout, log one set, and finish it.
6. Stop the app by force, open it again, and check History.
7. Turn the network back on and watch for any message.
8. Find the export path and read the file it produced.

The app opened on a sign-in wall with no skip [10], so everything after step one ran on a Google account. Three templates saved without a word, and the fourth New template tap opened a Strong PRO dialog instead of the editor [11]. Its Learn More button led to a screen that states the cap as a number [12], and the price sheet behind that listed a monthly plan, a yearly plan, and a one-time buy [13]. With no network, Strong started an empty workout, took a 135 pound bench press set, and finished it with a summary card, and it showed no offline message at any point [14]. The set was still in History after a forced stop, and nothing changed when the network came back. The export lives under Settings, then Data management, and the file it shared is described in the moving-over section [15].

We did not test a per-workout set cap, the custom exercise path, or the watch app, so this page states nothing about them.

Kinoku got a lighter check on the same emulator, also with flight mode on, from a 1.2.0 test build that did not come from Google Play: the Today screen opened, the exercise search worked, a bench press workout took a 135 pound set, and the set was still there after a forced stop. What this page says about Kinoku’s backup and export comes from Kinoku’s own pages.

Side by side

Every Strong cell below rests on a Strong page or on our test, and the bracketed number names the source in the list at the end.

Where a cell says “Not stated on Strong’s pages”, we found no Strong page that says either way and did not reach it in the parts of the app we walked, and that is not a claim that Strong lacks it.

For Strong in a wider field, read the offline trackers roundup and the free tiers roundup.

Where Kinoku differs

No account: Kinoku never asks you to sign up, so you open the app and log a set.

Your training record stays on your phone. No Kinoku server holds it, and backup is a file you own, while eligible app data can go into your Android system backup. If you want to move phones, you carry the file.

Routines have no cap. Free users make as many routines as they like, and the free plan also has no cap on workouts, history, or custom exercises. A check in our build blocks a free feature moving behind Pro without a recorded sign-off.

All the basic charts are free. Per-exercise charts, personal records (PRs), your best one-rep estimate, and volume trends are on the free plan, and hold, rep, and distance work each get a chart that fits.

Runs, the muscle map, and programs are free too. GPS runs give you live pace, splits, and a route map, and the muscle map shows what your training hits and how often. The program builder, 15 templates, and named plans like 5/3/1, GZCLP, and nSuns are free, and Pro adds the tuning layers on top: volume targets, readiness, and auto set adjustment.

A real Wear OS app: the watch covers workouts, runs, steps, tiles, and watch face data, and all of that is free.

Ten languages: Kinoku ships in 10 languages, and the free plan gets all of them.

One paid plan: Pro is US $39.99 a year, or US $5.99 a month, which is the US price, and Google Play shows your local price before you buy. Pro buys depth: run analytics, readiness, the Pro Analytics hub, and the smart layer, and the free app works without any of it.

Where Strong is the better pick

We mean this section, because some people should not switch.

You use an iPhone or an Apple Watch. Kinoku is not on iOS and has no watch app for Apple Watch, while Strong is on both [3], which settles it for a lot of people.

You want two devices that stay in sync on their own. Strong Cloud does that [2], while Kinoku has no cloud sync, so moving data between two of your own devices is a backup file rather than a live sync.

You want one simple job done well. Strong logs lifts, and if you never plan to track a run, a muscle map, or a program, Kinoku’s extra screens are weight you do not need. A single-purpose logger can be the better tool.

You want a one-time buy at Strong’s price. Strong showed us a Strong PRO Forever option at 97.14 euros next to its monthly and yearly plans [13], so a lifter who has settled on Strong can stop paying monthly.

You already have a long history in Strong and are happy there. A switch costs an afternoon, so only make it if the reasons above pull you.

Moving over

Strong exports from Settings, then Data management, then Export data, and the app opens the Android share sheet with one CSV file [15]. Strong 6.2.4 wrote this header in our test, on an account set to pounds:

"Workout #";"Date";"Workout Name";"Duration (sec)";"Exercise Name";"Set Order";"Weight (kg)";"Reps";"RPE";"Distance (meters)";"Seconds";"Notes";"Workout Notes"

Three things in that file are worth knowing before you import it. Strong writes the weight in kilograms whatever unit the app shows you, so our 135 pound set came out as 61.23492. The fields are split by semicolons rather than commas. And Strong adds one row per exercise whose set order reads Rest Timer, with the rest length in the Seconds column.

Kinoku’s importer spots the Strong layout by its Workout Name, Exercise Name, and Set Order columns, and the review screen shows the exercise-name matches before anything is saved. Exercise names get matched to Kinoku’s library, and unknown names become custom exercises.

One honest note from the test. Kinoku reads this file, but not well: our test build detected the layout and imported the workout, then it dropped the weight from the set and turned the rest-timer row into a second, empty set. Kinoku 1.3.0, the version on Google Play now, has the same importer code. That is a Kinoku bug we found in this test, and this page will say so until a fix ships, so keep your Strong file and check the preview before you save. Strong’s own page says its CSV cannot be imported back into Strong [9], and the app repeats it under Export data [15], so keep that file in any case. A Strong CSV carries no row ids either, so the same file imported twice lands as two copies, and Import History undoes each import on its own.

The backup page explains the import paths, and the import format page shows the layouts Kinoku reads, plus the ones it prefers.

What Kinoku does not do

Candor is cheaper than a refund, so here is the honest list.

• Android only. There is no iPhone app.
• No cloud sync between devices. Backup is a file. Restore it on the new phone yourself.
• No social layer. There is no feed and no friends list. Nobody sees your workouts unless you share a card.
• Some depth is paid. Run analytics, readiness, the Pro Analytics hub, recovery on the muscle map, and the six Pro themes cost money. The free plan is a complete app, but it is not the whole app.
• “Offline” has edges. Map tiles load when you view a map. Weather on a run is opt-in and calls Open-Meteo. Buying Pro goes through Google Play. Core logging, routines, programs, and stats work with no signal at all.

If Strong fits your life, use it, because it is a good app. If you are on Android and want your record kept on your own phone, Kinoku is built for that.