Comparison
Platepusher vs Strong
Strong is the app most serious lifters started with, and it earned that. It is the fastest, cleanest place to log a set. Platepusher is for the lifter who has logged a few hundred sessions in Strong and noticed it never did anything with them. This is an honest, structural comparison, not a teardown.
Choose Platepusher if
You have years in Strong and want that history to actually inform today's session, not just sit in an archive. You want to bring your Strong log with you, and you want analytics without a social feed or a fake coach attached.
Choose Strong if
Your one requirement is the fastest possible mid-set logging, you want a long track record and a mature Android and Apple Watch app, and you do not need the app to do anything with your history beyond storing it.
| Platepusher | Strong | |
|---|---|---|
| What it does with history | Surfaces it into today's session | Stores and archives it |
| Logging speed | Fast | Fastest in the category |
| Progression insight | Built in (e1RM, stalls, volume) | Charts behind Pro; little beyond plotting |
| Bring your history | Imports your Strong (and Hevy) log | No importer at all |
| Data export | CSV, free at every tier | CSV, but one-way out (no re-import) |
| Noise | None: no feed, no coach, no streaks | Minimal social; clean |
| Platforms | iOS (new) | iOS, Android, Apple Watch |
| Pricing | From $4.99/mo, $99.99 lifetime | From $4.99/mo, $99.99 lifetime |
| Maturity | New, small | The category default, millions of users |
The real difference: storage versus useful
Strong does one thing extremely well: it gets out of the way while you lift. The interface is fast, the plate calculator and 1RM are there, RPE is there, and logging a set takes a tap or two. For years that was enough, and for a lot of lifters it still is.
The thing Strong does not do is anything with what you have logged. After 400 sessions, today's training is no better informed than your first. The history is an archive you can scroll, not a system that notices the stall you have been suspecting for three weeks. Platepusher starts from the opposite premise: the point of logging is not the log, it is what the log tells you about the next session.
The point of logging isn't the log. It's what the log tells you about today.
The one-way door
Here is the fact that quietly decides a lot of these switches. Strong lets you export your full history as a CSV. What it does not do is import one back: a Strong export is a one-way door out. So whatever you move to, you are not syncing, you are leaving, and the only question is whether the place you land keeps your history.
Platepusher imports your Strong CSV. Your years of sets, your progression, the experiment you have already run on yourself, all of it comes with you. That is not a convenience feature in passing; it is the point. You should not have to re-zero a multi-year training history to change apps.
Where Strong still wins
We are not going to pretend otherwise. Strong is faster to log in, it is on Android and Apple Watch with a long track record, and it has a community Platepusher does not. Platepusher is new and iOS-only. If raw logging speed or cross-platform support is your deciding factor, Strong is the honest answer, and you should keep using it.
The case for switching is narrower and specific: you have outgrown storage, and you want the years you have already logged to start paying off in today's session.
Where Strong wins
- Fastest, cleanest mid-set logging in the category
- iOS, Android, and a mature Apple Watch app
- A long track record and a large user base
- Plate calculator, 1RM, RPE, minimal clutter
- A fine fit if storage is all you need
Where Platepusher wins
- Turns your history into something useful today
- Imports your Strong log so you keep your years
- Progression insight built in, not behind a Pro wall
- No social feed, no fake coach, no streak theater
- CSV export free at every tier; data you control
Bring your years of Strong with you.
Platepusher imports your Strong history and is built around one idea: your training history should actually improve today's session. No leaderboards, no fake coach. Monthly, yearly, or $99.99 once, with CSV export always free.
Get Platepusher