Jefit alternative: RPE on every set and a program that adjusts after each session

It depends on what Jefit leaves out for you. Jefit is a big, mature app with a free tier, and for many lifters it is the right one. Shojin is better only on a short list: effort on every set, a program that adjusts after each session, plate maths on the keypad and a lower price.

If you only want a fast logger for a program you already run, our Strong app alternative guide is the closer match. Our Fitbod alternative guide covers the app that picks one workout at a time, and our workout tracker comparison puts five apps side by side.

Jefit's FAQ says every account includes full logging, the rest timer, supersets, the 1,400+ exercise library with demo videos, full history and personal records. Elite, it says, is for programming and in-depth analysis.

It runs on iPhone, Android, Apple Watch, Wear OS and the web. It syncs workouts, calories, heart rate and body weight with Apple Health on iPhone and Health Connect on Android, and it syncs with Strava both ways. A muscle recovery chart shows how recovered each muscle is, and it is in every account.

You can mark a set as warm-up, working, failure or drop. The rest timer starts after each set, and on iPhone a Live Activity shows it on the lock screen. Its Australian App Store listing shows 4.7 stars from 4.3K ratings.

• Effort is rated once per session. Jefit's FAQ says you "give one effort rating (RPE) for the whole session, not one per set". Jefit's own blog says the same: RPE is "logged at the session level, not per individual set". The cost is that you cannot tell which set was the grinder.
• No plate calculator. Jefit's own comparison post lists the plate calculator as something "Jefit doesn't have". Jefit does round its plan targets to the plates and dumbbells you tell it you own.
• The programming is Elite. Jefit's FAQ says the 12 week Adaptive Plan and the weight suggestions from Load Progression need Elite. Free accounts keep 2 plans, 7 custom exercises, 10 Instant Workouts and 3 watch sessions.
• The Adaptive Plan updates weekly. Jefit's FAQ says it updates weekly from your logged workouts, in three four week blocks.

Shojin logs weight, reps and RPE for each set. The RPE sits on the set keypad, and you can skip it. You can also change a set from working to warm-up to drop. Our guide to RPE vs RIR explains what the numbers mean and how accurate a rating is.

• A warm-up calculator. One tap puts a ramp of warm-up sets ahead of a barbell lift, built from your own plates.
• Plates for each side. Tell Shojin your bar and plates once. The keypad shows what goes on each side.
• A suggestion for what to lift next. Each exercise shows what you lifted last time and suggests the next weight from your history. We explain the method in double progression.
• A program written ahead. Shojin Coach reads your logged lifts and a short quiz, then writes a program of 4, 6, 8 or 12 weeks. It sits on a Weeks and Month calendar and adjusts after every session you log.
• A private Training Circle. Up to 12 people, you included, see each other's training and send high-fives.

Shojin has no free tier, and it is not as big as Jefit. The sections below say where.

Shojin wins on effort tracking, planning, plates and price, and Jefit wins on free use, platforms, library, recovery, connections and community. The winner in each row is our call, because we make Shojin. The facts behind each row are in the sections around it.

Jefit's Elite is A$19.49 a month on the Australian App Store, and A$105.99 a year. The listing also shows other yearly prices and older "Legacy Pricing" plans, and does not say which a new user sees. Jefit's FAQ gives US$12.99 a month or US$69.99 a year. Its FAQ says a free trial is a limited offer shown to some users, while the App Store listing's release notes say Elite offers a 7-day free trial for new members.

Shojin is one subscription with Shojin Coach and every feature in it. New subscribers get one month free, then A$4.99 a month or A$34.99 a year at the founding price. On the yearly plans that is A$71.00 less than Jefit's A$105.99. Monthly, A$4.99 against A$19.49 is about a quarter.

Jefit is the cheaper way to start, because its free version logs with full history.

Not directly. Shojin has no Jefit importer. Jefit's FAQ says you can export your data from jefit.com under Settings, then Data Controls, then Export Data, and Jefit's own blog says it exports as CSV.

Shojin's import reads Strong's export, Hevy's and Shojin's own. For any other CSV it makes a best-effort match if the file has an exercise column, a date column and one of weight, reps or time. We have not tested a real Jefit file, so we cannot promise it will match. Try it in Profile, then Data, then Import from a CSV, and check the preview before you import.

If the file does not match, you can still start. A lift you have never logged, or not for 90 days, starts empty in Coach, so you choose the first load. Keep Jefit through your trial as a fallback.

• A free version. Jefit logs for free with full history. Shojin does not.
• Android, the web and watches. Jefit runs on Android and Wear OS, and has an Apple Watch app. Shojin is an iPhone app. An existing Shojin account can sign in on the web, and Android has a waitlist at shojin.fit/android.
• A bigger library with video. Jefit has more than 1,400 exercises and says every one has an HD demo video. Shojin has 169, each with written cues and no videos.
• Muscle recovery and connections. Jefit's recovery chart has no equivalent in Shojin. Strava and Health Connect work with Jefit, and Shojin has neither.
• Failure sets, plans and community. Jefit has a failure set type, a public feed and contests. Its FAQ says 700+ plans from Jefit and 20,000+ from its community. Shojin has no public library of programs.

Stay if you want to log for free, train on Android, log from a watch, or want a huge library with a video for each exercise. Stay too if rating the whole session is enough for you. If you want effort on every set and a plan that adjusts as you log, run Shojin beside Jefit through the trial and keep the one you open.

Jefit is a trademark of its owner. Shojin is not affiliated with it.

Shojin is one subscription with no cap on sets. Shojin Coach is part of it: it writes your program from your own lifts and adjusts it after every session you log.

New subscribers get one month free, then A$4.99 a month or A$34.99 a year, billed by the App Store in your local currency. The subscription renews until you cancel. Cancel any time in Settings. You subscribe in the iPhone app. If you stop, your history stays, and Coach stops adjusting your program.

Every number in this article traces to one of these. Where the evidence is contested or thin, the article says so rather than picking a side.