The App Store is flooded with workout timer apps. We downloaded and tested the top 20. Here's what we found: most of them are trying to do too much.
Social feeds. Video libraries. AI coaches. Meal planners. Music integration. Achievement badges. Leaderboards.
All you wanted was a timer.
The Problem With "All-in-One" Fitness Apps
Modern fitness apps have fallen into the trap of feature creep. Every app wants to be your complete fitness solution. The result?
- Slow and bloated: 200MB+ downloads for what should be a simple utility
- Subscription hell: Basic features locked behind $9.99/month paywalls
- Account required: Can't use the timer until you create an account and verify your email
- Cluttered UI: So many buttons and tabs that finding the timer takes 30 seconds
- Distracting: Notifications, social features, and upsells competing for your attention mid-workout
You came to work out, not to navigate a social media platform.
What a Workout Timer Actually Needs
Let's strip it down to essentials:
- Quick start: Open app, start workout. Under 10 seconds.
- Exercise configuration: Set reps, sets, rest for each exercise
- Clear countdown: Big numbers you can read across the gym
- Audio/haptic cues: Know when to work and rest without watching your phone
- Progress tracking: Know where you are in the workout
- History: Optional, for those who want to review past sessions
That's it. Everything else is noise.
The Real Cost of "Free" Apps
Many popular workout timer apps are "free"—but you pay in other ways:
- Ads: Banner ads, video ads, full-screen interstitials between sets
- Data collection: Your workout habits sold to advertisers
- Feature gates: "Upgrade to Pro to unlock rest periods over 60 seconds"
- Subscriptions: What starts free becomes $99/year to remove ads
The "free" model creates apps optimized for engagement and ad views—not for helping you work out effectively.
The One-Time Purchase Model
Here's a radical idea: pay once, own the app forever.
- No subscriptions
- No ads
- No feature gates
- No account required
- All features unlocked from day one
This model aligns incentives correctly. The developer makes a good app, you pay a fair price, and everyone moves on. No need to engineer addiction or maximize time-in-app.
Privacy Matters
Your workout data is personal. How much you lift, how often you train, what exercises you do—this information says a lot about you.
Most fitness apps upload your data to their servers for "cloud sync" and "social features." In practice, this means:
- Your data is stored on servers you don't control
- It can be breached, sold, or subpoenaed
- You need an account, which requires an email address
- Deleting the app doesn't delete your data
Better approach: Keep everything on-device. Sync to Apple Health if you want—a system you already control. No external servers, no accounts, no data risk.
Our Pick: Simple Over Feature-Rich
After testing dozens of apps, our conclusion is clear: the best workout timer is the simplest one that meets your needs.
More features don't make a better app. More focus does.
"Perfection is achieved not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away." — Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Why We Built Neon Timer
We built Neon Timer because we couldn't find what we wanted:
- Zero setup: Quick Workout button gets you going in seconds
- Built for lifting: Reps, sets, and configurable rest periods per exercise
- One-time purchase: Pay once, no subscriptions, no ads
- Privacy-first: All data on your device, optional HealthKit sync
- Minimal UI: Big countdown, clear info, nothing else
It's not trying to be your fitness social network. It's trying to be a really good timer.