Duro vs Strong

This is where the two apps differ most.

Strong gives you a line chart of your estimated one-rep max per exercise. That's the analytics. For powerlifting, an E1RM trend line has value. For hypertrophy, it tells you almost nothing about whether your volume is distributed correctly across muscle groups.

Duro tracks your weekly working sets per muscle group and plots them against volume landmarks (MV, MEV, MAV, MRV). Color-coded bars show you which muscles are in the growth zone, which are maintaining, and which are approaching overtraining. You also get a full-body recovery map and PR tracking at every rep range — not just 1RM.

Bottom line: If you train for strength and only care about E1RM trends, Strong's chart is fine. If you train for hypertrophy and want to know whether your side delts got enough volume this week, Strong can't tell you.

Strong has years of polish on its logging UI. Set entry is fast. Templates work well. The experience has been refined by millions of sessions. If logging speed is your top priority, Strong is hard to beat.

Duro has the same core flow — start a workout, enter weight and reps, rest timer between sets. Templates, custom exercises, full history. The logging UX is fast and functional, but it's a newer app. It hasn't had the same years of iteration.

Bottom line: Both log workouts well. Strong's logging interface is more mature. The real difference is what happens after you log — that's where Duro adds the analytics layer Strong doesn't have.

Both apps have Apple Watch companions. Strong's Watch app is well-established and reliable.

Duro's Watch app does full 2-way sync — edit weight and reps from your wrist, stream live heart rate back to iPhone. It's a standalone logging tool, not a remote display. Duro also supports Live Activity: your rest timer, current set count, and heart rate appear on the lock screen without opening the app.

One honest trade-off: Strong supports both iOS and Android. Duro is iOS only. If you switch between platforms or share a gym log with someone on Android, Strong is more flexible here.

Strong uses cloud sync with an account. Your data lives on their servers. This enables cross-device sync and automatic backup — useful features, but your training history is stored on someone else's infrastructure.

Duro stores everything on-device. No account. No cloud. No sync server. Your data never leaves your phone. The downside: no cross-device access and no automatic cloud backup. If you lose your phone without a local backup, your data is gone.

Bottom line: If cloud sync matters, Strong is better. If you'd rather your training data stay completely local with no account required, Duro is the better fit.

• You need a proven, mature workout logger with years of polish
• You train for strength and E1RM tracking is enough
• You need Android support or cross-platform sync
• You want the stability of an established app with a large user base
• You don't need per-muscle-group volume analytics

Strong's ideal user: A lifter who wants a fast, reliable digital logbook. They know their programming, they don't need volume zone feedback, and they value a proven product with years of track record.

• You train for hypertrophy and want volume analytics per muscle group
• You've ever wondered "am I doing enough sets for this muscle to grow?"
• You want to see which muscles are recovered before your next session
• You care about PRs at every rep range, not just estimated 1RM
• You've tried tracking volume in a spreadsheet and want it automated
• Privacy matters — you want on-device storage with no account

Duro's ideal user: An intermediate-to-advanced lifter focused on hypertrophy who wants their app to show whether each muscle group is in the growth zone every week. They know about volume landmarks, they've outgrown basic logging, and they want training quality data — not just a record of what they did.

We're a new app. Strong has been around since 2016 with millions of workouts logged. They've earned trust through years of reliability. Duro hasn't yet — you'd be an early adopter.

Duro is iOS only. No Android, no web dashboard, no cross-device sync.

Strong's exercise library is larger and more community-tested. Duro has 160+ exercises with muscle group classification, which covers the main compounds and isolations, but Strong has years of user-submitted entries.

Pricing isn't finalized yet. Strong is a known $5/month. With Duro, you're committing before the full pricing picture is clear.

If you want a proven product with cross-platform support, cloud sync, and a large community, Strong is the safer choice. Duro is for lifters willing to try something new because the volume analytics are worth it to them.

What transfers

• Full workout history — every exercise, set, rep, weight, and date. One-tap CSV import.
• Exercise names — automatically matched to Duro's library with muscle group classification.
• Volume data — your historical sets get mapped to per-muscle-group zones immediately. Years of data in Strong become volume analytics in Duro.

What you'll need to redo

• Templates — routine templates don't transfer. Rebuild them in Duro or use one of the 18 included programs.
• Custom exercises — custom entries may need to be re-created and mapped to their primary muscle group.

How long it takes

The actual data import takes about 30 seconds. In Strong: Settings → Export → CSV. In Duro: tap Import, select the file. Your training history appears with volume zones populated.

Rebuilding your templates and customizations takes another 10-15 minutes depending on how many you have.

• Your Workout App Has an Analytics Problem — Why a 1RM line chart isn't analytics.
• Why You Should Track Volume Per Muscle Group — The case for per-muscle tracking over total sets.
• MEV, MAV, and MRV Explained — Volume landmarks and how to use them.
• Duro vs Hevy — How Duro compares to Hevy's social workout logger.