Amrap vs Ladder

How your plan is built and adapted

Ladder starts with a short matching quiz that places you on a team. Each team has a coach who publishes a new 7-day plan every week, and everyone on that team gets the same one. Ladder says its coaches don't make custom changes for individuals. You can swap an exercise yourself from a list of suggested alternatives.

As an AI personal trainer app, Amrap builds your program through a natural conversation, by voice or text. You explain your goals, schedule, injuries, gym setup and the exercises you hate, like you would with a human trainer. Your program repeats the same workouts for about 4 to 8 weeks, which is what makes progressive overload work: you add weight to the same lifts and get confident with the movements. When something changes, you tell your coach:

• A machine is always busy, so it picks an alternative that works the same muscles in the same way

• You can only train three days now, so it rebuilds the week around that

• You ask for a change that could hurt your progress, so it pushes back and explains why

What happens during the workout

With Ladder, you press play and the app calls the movement, the pacing and the rest, with audio cues from the coach who wrote the workout and a video demo for every exercise.

With Amrap, your coach talks you through each set in your ear, and every reply is generated for you in real time, never prerecorded. It tells you what's next and what weight to use. Every exercise comes with an exercise video, and you can ask about setup or technique mid-workout and get an answer right away. If you're sore, short on time or the bench is taken, say so and it adjusts on the spot. In Hands-Free mode your phone stays on the bench or the floor, even locked.

How your progress is tracked

In Ladder, you pull up the Ladder Journal and enter your reps and weight after each movement. It shows your previous numbers, PRs and progress charts. When an exercise stalls, a Plateau Alert flags it, and deciding the next step stays with you.

In Amrap, you say your reps out loud and your coach logs them, or you tap to talk or type if you prefer. Your coach then uses that history to apply progressive overload: it adjusts your weights within the session and from week to week, and adapts your plan as you progress. It also checks in if you skip the gym.

Price

Ladder: a 7-day free trial, with no payment info collected until after the trial ends. Then the PRO plan costs $29.99/mo, or $179.99/yr (about $14.99 a month) on PRO Annual. The App Store also lists higher tiers with added 1:1 coaching.

Amrap: a 7-day, 100% free trial, no credit card needed. Then $99.99/yr (about $8.33 a month), $59.99 for 6 months or $19.99/mo, and every plan includes unlimited coaching. You can start it from the App Store.

US prices from the App Store. They may vary by region and change over time.

Platforms & integrations

Ladder runs on iPhone and iPad, with an Apple Watch companion and a web app. There's no Android app. It lowers your Spotify or Apple Music when the coach speaks, and it includes nutrition tracking.

Amrap is on iOS, with Android coming soon. Your coach plays over Spotify, Apple Music or any other app, with its own volume control. Your coach learns from what you tell it: how each set felt, how you slept, what's changed in your week. Wearable integrations are coming soon.

When Ladder might be a better fit

Ladder has a big roster of coach-led teams, from bodybuilding to Pilates, HIIT and kettlebell strength, plus nutrition tracking and a team chat in the same app. If you want a coach's weekly program that you press play on and run yourself, Ladder is built for that.

Switching from Ladder: what to expect

Amrap doesn't import your Ladder history. Your first conversation covers your goals, gym setup, injuries and recent training, and your coach builds your program from there. Your weights settle in over the first few sessions.