Hevy in short
The most generous free tier of the big loggers, a social feed and a Strong CSV import. The downside: pro is needed for unlimited routines and full stats history, and offline use was not verified.
Alpha Progression in short
Pro generates plans and recommends progression. The downside: the most expensive of these apps, and the plan automation is Pro only.
Free tier and price
Hevy free tier: 4 routines, 7 custom exercises and 3 months of stats history. Paid: pro: $23.99/yr or $74.99 lifetime (monthly $2.99 or $3.99 listed).
Alpha Progression free tier: unlimited logging, own plans, rest timer, records and CSV export. Paid: pro: about $12.99/mo or $79.99/yr on the US App Store (one listing showed $69.99/yr).
Prices are the US App Store listings as of the check date, and some listings show several entries without labelling the billing period, so confirm in the store before paying.
Switching between Hevy and Alpha Progression
Moving your data. Hevy: Imports a Strong CSV; exports CSV. Alpha Progression: CSV export is free; import not verified.
Watch support. Hevy: Apple Watch (watchOS 9+) and Wear OS. Alpha Progression: Not verified.
Ads. Hevy: None. Alpha Progression: Not verified.
If a game is what you are missing
Neither app has a game layer. We make GYM RPG, which logs the same sets, reps and weight and adds XP, a skill tree and a party boss. It is not a drop-in for either app, because we have no import tool and you would start fresh.