The best step challenge apps, sorted by what you actually want

Leaderboards: most total steps over a period

This is what most people picture and what most apps offer, including the social features inside the big fitness trackers and dedicated group apps that read Apple Health, Google Fit or Health Connect. They are easy to start and work across phones. Their weakness is built in: the ranking is decided early, and the middle of the table stops looking after a week. Check whether manual entry is allowed before you trust one for anything competitive.

Money on the line: bet you will hit your target

Betting-style apps have you stake a small amount and pay out to everyone who hits a personal target for the period. The stake is genuinely motivating for some people and a reason not to join for others. They are usually solo against your own goal rather than a group contest, and the money side means account creation, payment details and terms that are worth reading. Our head-to-head with StepBet covers the details.

Charity: steps become donations

Charity-mile apps convert distance into sponsor donations. They are cooperative and feel-good, good for company-wide events, and not really a competition. Pair one with a separate contest if your group wants both.

Survival: a rising daily goal, out if you miss

This is Stepr's format. Day one needs 2,000 steps, the goal rises by 250 a day, anyone under it when the day ends is eliminated, and the last one walking wins. Every day is a fresh question, so the challenge peaks at the end instead of the start. Stepr reads steps from the iPhone's motion sensor and Apple Health, signs them with the device, and has no manual entry, so the result cannot be typed. Leagues hold up to 100 players in solo, duo or team lobbies, joining is free, and hosting is a small one-off fee (free during launch). The honest limitation: iPhone only for now.

How to choose

Pick by group, not by feature list. A big mixed-phone company event: a leaderboard or charity app that reads both platforms. A person who needs a personal stake: a betting app. Friends, a family or an office team who want something that stays close and cannot be gamed: a survival league, which on iPhone means Stepr. The side by side pages compare Stepr with Stridekick, StepBet and the others one at a time.

• Need Android players to compete: leaderboard or charity apps
• Need it to stay interesting past week one: survival format
• Need zero possibility of cheating: no manual entry, visible device source
• Need it free for everyone joining: check who pays; in Stepr only the host does

Questions people ask

Keep reading

• A step challenge app for friends where the last one walking wins
• A step counter competition app where the steps are verified
• Step challenge apps for iPhone and Android: what works across both
• A team walking challenge app where the team survives together
• What is a step challenge?
• All guides