Where your training history is backed up, and what that costs
Nobody thinks about backup until the phone goes in the toilet, and then they think about nothing else. A training log is one of the few things on a phone that genuinely cannot be recreated, because you cannot re-lift 2023. This page covers where each gym app keeps a copy of your history, what that protection costs in 2026, what the word "backup" hides, and how to find out in two minutes whether yours is actually safe.
Updated August 2026
The short answer
- Hevy: account-based sync with a web app, so your log exists off the phone by design. Included at every level, and Pro is $23.99 a year if you want the caps lifted.
- Strong: syncs to your account across devices. Included, with PRO at $29.99 a year for unlimited routines.
- JEFIT: account sync plus a web interface, ad-supported until you pay $69.99 a year for Elite.
- SayLift: mirrors every workout, routine and custom exercise to the cloud automatically from your first session. It is part of the subscription, $49.99 a year after a 3-day trial, so it is included in the price rather than sold separately.
- Any local-only tracker, or a Notes file: one lost phone from gone. If this is you, fix it today rather than at the weekend.
- The thing to check is not whether the app *has* backup. It is what identity the backup is attached to, because that is what you will be restoring with.
SayLift logs your whole workout from one spoken sentence. iPhone only, 873 exercises built in, 3 days free then $49.99 a year.
Start the free trialBackup, sync and export are three different promises
Sync keeps two devices showing the same data. Useful, but it is not protection on its own, because a bad sync can propagate a deletion to every device you own.
Backup is a copy held somewhere you can restore from after the device is gone. This is the one that saves you.
Export is a file you own, usually CSV, that you can open without the app existing. This is the one that saves you when the *company* is gone, or when you want to leave.
Most gym apps do the first two. Export is the one that quietly disappears from feature lists, and it is worth knowing whether you have it before you have five years of data in one place. SayLift does the first two and not the third: there is no CSV export today.
How SayLift handles it
Everything the app stores gets mirrored to the cloud as you use it, with nothing to turn on. That means logged sessions, routines, custom exercises, and your unit and training-style settings. The phone stays the copy the app reads from, which is why the whole app still works with no signal; the cloud copy is written alongside it in the background.
The important detail is what that copy is filed under. If you started as a guest, the backup is attached to an anonymous identity that lives with that install. It protects you from a broken app or a bad update, but not from a lost phone, because there is no email address to sign back in with. Attaching Google or Apple in Settings, once, at any point, links the same data to an account you can actually reach, and that is what makes a restore on a new phone possible.
So the honest version of the claim is: backup is automatic and immediate, and restore across phones needs a real sign-in. It takes about fifteen seconds and it is the single highest-value thing to do in the app after your first workout.
What it costs and what it does not do. Backup is bundled into the subscription, which is $49.99 a year, $7.99 a month or $3.99 a week after a 3-day trial, alongside voice logging, the coach, the progress dashboard and 873 offline exercise guides. There is no CSV or spreadsheet export, and no way to import another app's history. The shipping build has no Apple Health sync, and there is no web or Android version to read your log on. If you want your data portable in a file you control, that is a real gap, and Hevy or JEFIT are the better answers today.
How they compare
| SayLift | Hevy | Strong | JEFIT | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| What backup costs | Part of the subscription | Included with an account | Included with an account | Included with an account |
| Works fully offline | Yes, phone is the source of truth | Partly | Partly | Partly |
| Read your log on a computer | No | Yes, web app | No | Yes, web app |
| Start without signing up | Yes, guest mode | No | No | No |
| Restore needs | Google or Apple sign-in | Your account | Your account | Your account |
| App Store rating | No ratings yet | 4.92 (85,100) | 4.86 (108,489) | 4.76 (46,811) |
| Price per year | 3-day trial, then $49.99 | $23.99, or $74.99 once | $29.99, or $99.99 once | Elite $69.99 |
Check your own tracker in two minutes
- Find out what identity your data is under. Open the app's settings and look for an email address or a linked Google/Apple account. If there isn't one, your history is on the phone and nowhere else.
- If the app offers a real sign-in and you skipped it, do it now. That is the whole job, and the rest is checking.
- Look for an export option and use it once. A CSV in your email is a backup that survives the app being discontinued.
- Test a restore on a second device if you have one, or after your next phone upgrade, before you delete anything.
- Do not rely on the iPhone's own device backup for this. It restores app data when you migrate phones normally, but it will not help you if the app's own account is what you have lost access to.
How to pick
- You want protection with no setup: SayLift backs up from the first session; attach Google or Apple once and you are done.
- You want your log readable on a computer: Hevy or JEFIT. SayLift is iPhone-only with no web app.
- You want a file you own: look for CSV export. Hevy and JEFIT have it and SayLift does not.
- You want the lowest ongoing cost: Hevy at $23.99 a year, or its $74.99 one-time unlock. SayLift is $49.99 a year with no lifetime option.
- You have years of history somewhere already: keep it there. No tracker imports another app's past workouts, including this one.
- You are on Android: SayLift is not an option.
Frequently asked questions
Which workout apps back up your training history?
Hevy, Strong and JEFIT all sync your history to an account, so the log exists off the phone, and each includes that with the app. SayLift mirrors every workout, routine and custom exercise automatically from your first session, bundled into its subscription at $49.99 a year after a 3-day trial. Local-only trackers and Notes files back up nothing, so one lost phone and the log is gone.
What happens to my workouts if I lose my phone?
It depends entirely on what your backup is attached to. If you signed in with Google or Apple, you sign in on the new phone and your history comes back. If you have only ever used a guest or anonymous mode, there is usually no way to identify you, and that data is gone. That is why attaching a real sign-in once is worth fifteen seconds.
Does SayLift charge extra for cloud backup?
No, it is bundled rather than sold separately. SayLift costs $49.99 a year, $7.99 a month or $3.99 a week in the US after a 3-day trial, and cloud backup and restore come with it, along with unlimited logging, all 873 exercises, voice logging, the AI coach and the progress dashboard. There is no separate storage tier and no upsell for more history.
Can I export my workouts from SayLift to a spreadsheet?
Not today, because there is no CSV export. Your data is backed up and restorable inside the app, and it is not portable to a file you control. If that matters to you, Hevy and JEFIT are better choices, and it is a fair reason to pick one of them instead.
Does SayLift work without an internet connection?
Yes, apart from voice logging and routine import, which both need to reach an AI model. The phone holds the copy the app reads, so logging, your full history, the coach's targets and all 873 exercises with instructions and photos work with no signal. The cloud copy catches up when you are back online.
Is my workout history still there if my subscription lapses?
In SayLift the data stays in your cloud backup rather than being deleted, and the app itself locks behind the paywall until you subscribe again, because there is no free tier to fall back to. Hevy and Strong both drop you to their free tiers instead, so you keep reading your history within their caps. Check this before committing years of training to any tracker.
Stop typing between sets
Say what you lifted. SayLift writes down every set, rep and weight, then tells you what to lift next time. iPhone only, 3 days free then $49.99 a year.
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