An office step challenge app that does not need a spreadsheet
Stepr is a step challenge app for work teams of up to 100 people. The organiser opens a league, shares a code, and everyone joins free from their own iPhone. Steps are read from Apple Health and the phone's motion sensor, so there is no honour-system form to fill in. The daily goal rises every day and anyone below it is out, which keeps the office talking until one person is left.
The problem with the usual workplace step challenge
Most office step challenges run on a shared spreadsheet or a weekly email. Participation is high on Monday and gone by the second Friday, because the format rewards the two colleagues who already walk 15,000 steps a day and gives everyone else nothing to play for. The person running it spends their lunch breaks chasing numbers.
A survival format changes the incentives. Nobody is competing against the office marathoner's total; everyone is competing against today's bar. The early days are easy enough that the whole floor stays in, and the slow climb means the ending is genuinely uncertain.
How to run it for an office
Pick a commissioner. They create the league in Stepr, set the starting goal and increment (2,000 steps and +250 a day by default; a desk-heavy team may prefer 1,500 and +200), and choose a start date a few days out. Post the six-character code in the team channel.
Decide the format. Solo is simplest. Team lobbies split the office into groups whose daily goal is the league goal multiplied by the team size, and a team is eliminated together, which turns it into a reason to walk to lunch with your group. Duo works well for pairing new starters with veterans.
Set expectations once: steps must come from a phone or watch, nothing is typed, the app warns you at 9 pm if you are short, and the day rolls over in the league's time zone.
- Up to 100 players per league
- Team lobbies for departments or floors
- Live standings page anyone with the code can open, no account needed to watch
- No cash pots and no personal data shared beyond a display name, today's steps and device type
What it costs a company
Employees pay nothing to join. League Pro is $18.99 once for the whole league with up to 100 players, duo and team lobbies, a few free passes per player and a season recap, which is under a dollar a head for an office of twenty. If HR runs challenges every quarter, Host Pro at $49.99 a year covers unlimited leagues. During launch, hosting is free.
Privacy for employees
Colleagues see a display name, whether you are still in, today's steps, your total and which kind of device recorded the steps. Nobody sees your email, your location, or raw health data, which never leaves the phone. Leagues are invite-only.
Questions people ask
Is there a free step challenge app for companies?
Stepr is free for every participant, and hosting is free during launch. Afterwards the organiser pays $18.99 once per league or $9.99 a month for unlimited leagues; employees never pay.
How long should an office step challenge last?
A Stepr league ends itself when one player is left, which usually takes three to six weeks with the default ladder. A smaller daily increment makes it longer; a larger starting goal makes it shorter.
Do employees need to install anything?
Yes, the Stepr iPhone app, which reads steps from Apple Health and the motion sensor. Watching the standings page needs nothing but the league code.
What about staff on Android?
Stepr does not support Android yet, so a mixed-phone office should run it as an iPhone league for now and let Android colleagues follow the live standings page.
Start a league
Free to join. Share one code, and the last one walking wins.
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Last updated September 2026