A Hevy alternative built on progress, not a feed.
Hevy adds a social feed to a clean strength log. If gym-bro motivation is your fuel that works — but feeds reward the top of the timeline and quietly demotivate everyone else. Ascend swaps the feed for a visible climb, strength-tier leagues and a forgiving streak.
The pain points that send lifters searching for a Hevy alternative.
Feed motivation fades fast for the 80% who aren't top of it
Strength only — no real nutrition, water or macro tracking
Basic streak counter with no rest-day protection
No long-arc visual payoff beyond charts and PRs
Has ad SDKs in the stack
What Hevy does better.
Hevy's social feed is the most polished in the category, and its routine library is more mature than ours today. If sharing every session with friends is what keeps you going, you'll likely prefer Hevy — that's an honest call.
Where Ascend is different.
Ascend's motivation primitive is the climb, not the feed. Every muscle gets ranked by bodyweight-adjusted strength in weekly leagues (Recruit → Climber → Summit → Apex) so a lighter lifter competes fairly, and a forgiving streak keeps you in the game through a bad week. Nutrition, cardio and sleep all feed the same mountain — and there are no ad SDKs anywhere in the app.
Climb the tiers. Hold the line.
Ascend ranks each muscle by bodyweight-adjusted strength so a 60kg lifter and a 100kg lifter compete on a level field. Recruit → Climber → Summit → Apex, refreshed weekly, globally or friends-only.
- Per-muscle tiers by bodyweight strength — Recruit to Apex
- Fair across sizes: relative strength, not raw kilos
- Global + friends-only leaderboards
- Tier-ups mint a shareable card for your feed
Switching from Hevy — straight answers.
Can I still train with friends on Ascend?
Yes. Crews let you text a 6-character code to your squad and chase a shared weekly summit, and weekly leagues drop you into a bracket of climbers near your level. It's competition and accountability without a public-feed ranking that hurts the bottom of the timeline.
Does Ascend track nutrition like a full app, not an add-on?
Yes — full nutrition with macros, water and a barcode scanner, plus snap-a-meal photo logging. Hevy doesn't track nutrition, so most leavers were running a separate calorie app alongside it.
Is Ascend free like Hevy's core tier?
Core tracking is free forever. Ascend Club (NZ$12.99/mo or NZ$119/yr) adds global leagues, the AI coach, deep analytics and themes — with a 14-day free trial and no ads on any tier.
Dig deeper before you switch.
The app is free. Club adds the coach, leagues and analytics.
Core tracking stays free forever — the climb, streaks, logging and your league tiers. Club is for when you want the full coach, worldwide competition and the depth, at about the price of one coffee a month.
14-day free trial · no card to start
| Free | Club | |
|---|---|---|
| Tracking, the climb and streaks | ||
| Per-set logging, PR detection, wearables | ||
| Muscle-league tiers | ||
| The AI coach | nudges | Full conversation |
| Worldwide leagues and challenges | — | |
| PR projections and deep analytics | — | |
| Unlimited crews | — | |
| Themes, export and higher AI limits | — |