No, the RP Hypertrophy app is not free, and it has no free trial or free tier. You pay $34.99 a month or $299.99 a year, and the only safety net is a 30-day money-back guarantee.
If that price stings, you have real options: Boostcamp has a permanent free tier, Hevy has a free logger, Dr. Muscle gives you a 14-day trial, and Mesostrength starts at $19 a month.
Key Takeaways
- RP Hypertrophy has no free tier and no free trial. Both the App Store listing and Boostcamp's comparison page show paid plans only.
- Standard pricing is $34.99/month or $299.99/year. That works out to about $25 a month on the annual plan.
- The 30-day money-back guarantee is your trial. Treat it as one, and read the refund terms for the store you buy through.
- Cheaper programming options exist. Mesostrength Core is $19/month or $171/year, and Boostcamp Pro is $14.99/month or $59.99/year.
- Free options are loggers or limited. Hevy and the Boostcamp free tier track your training well, but they won't run a full mesocycle for you.
Is the RP Hypertrophy App Free?
The RP Hypertrophy app is not free. You can download it at no cost, but every real feature sits behind a subscription.
The App Store lists it as "Free" with in-app purchases, which trips people up. That label only means the download is free.
Boostcamp's side-by-side page states it plainly: no free tier, no free trial.
So if you landed here hoping for a hidden free plan, there isn't one.
Here's the thing, though. "Not free" doesn't automatically mean "overpriced for what it does."
RP builds mesocycles and adjusts your volume from feedback, and that's real work. I have a full breakdown in the RP Hypertrophy app review if you want the long version of what it does well and where it falls short.
The question for most lifters is whether that specific job is worth $300 a year to them.
RP Hypertrophy is a paid-only app, so the real decision is whether its programming justifies the subscription or whether a cheaper tool covers what you need.
Does the RP Hypertrophy App Have a Free Trial?
No. RP Hypertrophy does not offer a free trial, and the App Store listing mentions none.
What it offers instead is a 30-day money-back guarantee, which is a different thing. You pay first, then ask for money back if it isn't for you.
One catch worth checking before you buy. Refund policies often differ depending on whether you purchase through RP's own site or through Apple or Google.
If you buy through an app store, the store usually controls the refund, not the developer.
So read the terms on the exact checkout screen you're about to use.
Compare that with the rest of the field:
| App | Free trial or free tier |
|---|---|
| RP Hypertrophy | None. 30-day money-back guarantee |
| Boostcamp | Permanent free tier; 7-day trial on the annual Pro plan |
| Hevy | Free tier with unlimited workouts |
| Dr. Muscle | 14-day trial, then a limited free plan |
The table's takeaway: RP is the only app in this group that asks for money before you've touched the product.
Without a trial, the 30-day guarantee is the only way to test RP Hypertrophy, so start it on a day you can actually begin training.
How Much Does the RP Hypertrophy App Cost?
RP Hypertrophy costs $34.99 per month or $299.99 per year at standard US pricing.
Those figures match both the US App Store listing and Boostcamp's comparison. The listing also mentions a 6-month option but shows no price for it.
RP has run sales that drop the price, and some third-party sites quote lower promotional numbers. I couldn't confirm a current sale price from an official page, so I'm sticking to the listed rates.
Prices also vary by country. The Canadian storefront, for example, showed different numbers than the US one.
Here's how that stacks up against the alternatives, with Mesostrength's own plans included:
| App | Monthly | Annual | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| RP Hypertrophy | $34.99 | $299.99 | No trial, no free tier |
| Mesostrength Core | $19 | $171 | Mesocycle programming with auto adjustments |
| Mesostrength Pro | $29 | $259 | Higher member plan |
| Boostcamp Pro | $14.99 | $59.99 | Free tier plus 7-day trial on annual |
| Hevy Pro | $2.99 | $23.99 | $74.99 lifetime option |
| Dr. Muscle | about $49 | $399.99 | 14-day trial |
The pricing conclusion in one line: RP sits in the middle of the pack on price, but well above every other app that costs under $30 a month.
Let me put real numbers on it. Over three years, RP's annual plan costs $899.97.
Mesostrength Core's annual plan costs $513 over the same stretch, which is $386.97 less.
Boostcamp Pro annual costs $179.97 over three years.
That gap is what you're really weighing, so decide what the extra spend buys you.
At $299.99 a year, RP Hypertrophy costs roughly $129 more annually than Mesostrength Core and about $240 more than Boostcamp Pro.
What Do You Get for the RP Hypertrophy Price?
You get structured mesocycle programming that changes your training volume based on how you report your workouts.
The core idea is feedback. After sessions you rate things like pump, soreness and effort, and the app uses that to move your set counts up or down.
It also ships with a large library of pre-built templates and technique videos, plus a custom mesocycle builder if you'd rather design your own.
The app runs as a web app and a native iPhone app. The iOS listing requires iOS 17.6 or later and, notably, says "Only for iPhone."
There's no iPad version listed, and no Apple Watch app.
If you want the science behind that feedback loop, it comes from volume landmarks. I explain them in MV, MEV, MAV and MRV explained, and you can look up your own numbers with the Volume Landmarks Lookup Tool.
Who gets the most out of RP? Intermediate and advanced lifters who already understand why volume matters.
Beginners often find the depth overwhelming, and they may not need that much structure yet. My piece on whether beginners need mesocycles covers when simpler is better.
RP's price pays off for lifters who will use the feedback system every session; if you won't rate your workouts, you are paying for features you skip.
Boostcamp: The Cheapest Serious Alternative
Boostcamp is the strongest budget pick because its free tier is permanent and its paid tier costs a fraction of RP.
According to Boostcamp's own comparison page, the free tier includes a library of 14,000+ programs, the workout logger, RPE logging, rest timers, personal records and a weekly report. Building your own programs is free and unlimited too.
Pro costs $14.99 a month, or $59.99 a year with a 7-day free trial on the annual plan. You can verify the details on Boostcamp's pricing page, which also lists Auto Progression and personalized programs as Pro features.
The tradeoff is philosophy. Boostcamp is excellent at delivering programs and logging them, but it leans on pre-written plans rather than a mesocycle engine that reshapes volume from your recovery feedback.
I compare the two approaches in Mesostrength vs Boostcamp.
Best for: lifters who want a good plan, a clean logger and the lowest possible bill.
If your main goal is to stop paying $300 a year, Boostcamp gets you most of the way there for about one fifth of the price.
Hevy: The Best Free Logger
Hevy is the best free option if you mainly need to record your training, not have an app decide it for you.
The App Store listing shows Hevy Pro at $2.99 a month, $23.99 a year, or $74.99 for lifetime access. It also lists a second monthly entry at $3.99 without explaining the difference, so check the price at checkout.
It carries a 4.9 rating from about 101,000 ratings, which is excellent, and it works across iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch.
What it doesn't do is program. There's no mesocycle structure and no automatic volume adjustment.
That's fine if you already follow a program from a book or a coach. It's a problem if you expected the app to think for you.
I cover that split in detail in Mesostrength vs Hevy.
Best for: lifters who already have a plan and want a polished, nearly free place to log it.
Hevy replaces RP's cost but not RP's job, because logging what you did is not the same as deciding what to do next.
Dr. Muscle: The Closest Trial Alternative
Dr. Muscle is the one alternative that offers an automatic-progression system with a free trial, but it costs even more than RP once you subscribe.
The Dr. Muscle free plan page says you get 14 days of all premium features. After that you drop to a free plan unless you subscribe.
The free plan is limited. You get one AI exercise recommendation per day, for your first exercise only, and features like automated deloads and AI progress reports are removed.
On the App Store, the subscription reads $48.99 a month in the description and $49.99 in the in-app purchase list, with $399.99 a year. Those numbers conflict, so treat them as roughly $49 a month.
So Dr. Muscle works as a try-before-you-buy, not as a cheaper RP.
If you want more options in that family, my roundup of Dr. Muscle alternatives goes through cheaper AI-style apps.
Best for: lifters who want to test an auto-progression engine for two weeks before committing.
Dr. Muscle's trial is the only real try-before-you-buy here, but its paid plan is the most expensive on this page.
Mesostrength: A Programming App Priced Below RP
Mesostrength is my own app, so weigh this section with that in mind. I built it because I wanted RP-style mesocycle programming at a lower price.
It programs hypertrophy training in mesocycles. Each week it adjusts both your set counts and your working weights based on how you performed and how you recovered, and it tracks volume per muscle group against landmarks.
There's also a recovery feedback system, a progressive overload engine and an exercise library organized by muscle group. It runs as a web app (PWA) on any device, with no app store required.
Pricing is $19 a month or $171 a year for Core, and $29 a month or $259 a year for Pro. That annual Core price is $14.25 a month.
Now the honest limits. Mesostrength is newer, the community is smaller, and it has no technique video library yet.
It also has no native app store listing, which some people dislike.
I've also offered free lifetime accounts to early users, so ask whether that's still open before you pay.
If you want the head-to-head, I wrote Mesostrength vs RP Hypertrophy with the full feature breakdown, and RP Hypertrophy app alternatives widens the lens.
Best for: lifters who want mesocycle programming and automatic adjustments without the RP price.
Mesostrength trades RP's brand and video library for a lower price and automatic set-and-weight adjustments, so it fits lifters who value the programming over the polish.
Feature Comparison: RP Hypertrophy vs the Cheaper Options
Only RP, Dr. Muscle and Mesostrength adjust your training automatically, while Boostcamp and Hevy mainly deliver programs and track what you log.
Here's the side-by-side, based on the sources above and each app's published features:
| Feature | RP Hypertrophy | Mesostrength | Boostcamp | Hevy | Dr. Muscle |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free tier | No | No | Yes | Yes | Limited |
| Free trial | No | No | 7 days (annual) | n/a | 14 days |
| Mesocycle structure | Yes | Yes | Program-based | No | No |
| Auto volume adjustment | Yes | Yes | Limited | No | Progression-based |
| Auto weight adjustment | Via templates | Yes | Pro feature | No | Yes |
| Native iOS app | Yes | No (PWA) | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Starting paid price | $34.99/mo | $19/mo | $14.99/mo | $2.99/mo | about $49/mo |
The table's conclusion in prose: if you want true mesocycle programming, your realistic shortlist is RP and Mesostrength, and the main difference is price and polish.
If you just want a cheap plan and a logger, Boostcamp or Hevy do the job.
A few ways to test any of these before you commit:
- Run the Progressive Overload Calculator on your last session and see whether the app's suggestion matches.
- Check whether the app explains why it changed your sets, not just that it did.
- Look at how it handles a bad week, with poor sleep or a missed session.
- Confirm you can cancel without emailing support.
Pick the app whose programming logic you can follow, because an adjustment you don't understand is one you'll stop trusting.
Which Option Should You Pick?
Pick RP if you want the best-known evidence-based brand and can spend $300 a year, and pick a cheaper app if price or simplicity matters more.
Match your situation to the app:
| Your situation | Best fit | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Want a free tracker for a plan you already have | Hevy | Free, polished, huge user base |
| Want free plans plus a low-cost upgrade | Boostcamp | Permanent free tier, $59.99/year Pro |
| Want to test auto-progression first | Dr. Muscle | 14-day trial |
| Want mesocycle programming for less than RP | Mesostrength | $19/month or $171/year |
| Want the full RP system and videos | RP Hypertrophy | Most established, no free trial |
No app removes the need to understand your own training. A tool is only as good as the inputs you give it.
If you're unsure what structure suits you, take the Hypertrophy Program Selector Quiz first. And if you're planning your own phase length, the Mesocycle Length Planner helps.
For a wider look at the category, see my ranking of the best hypertrophy training apps, and browse every review under App Reviews.
Choose by the job you need done: free logging, cheap programs, a trial, or full mesocycle programming, then pay only for that.
Conclusion: Is RP Hypertrophy Worth Paying For?
RP Hypertrophy is not free, but it's worth paying for if you'll use its feedback system and you value the brand, the videos and the depth.
If you won't, you can get most of the benefit elsewhere. Boostcamp covers programs for little money, Hevy covers logging nearly free, and Mesostrength covers mesocycle programming at a lower price.
My honest take: don't pick on price alone. Pick the app you'll actually open after a hard session.
A $300 app you ignore is worse than a $15 one you follow. If you do want RP, buy it on a day you can start training, because the 30-day guarantee is the only trial you get.
Whatever you choose, run it for a full mesocycle before judging it. Four to six weeks tells you more than any review, including this one. The guide to structuring a 4-week mesocycle shows what to expect, and double progression is a free fallback if you decide to go app-free.
The best hypertrophy app is the cheapest one you will follow consistently for a full mesocycle.