Most fitness trackers make you choose: pay a monthly fee to access the features that actually matter, or make do with a watered-down free tier. Strava locks segments, training load, and route planning behind a subscription. TrainingPeaks charges $19 a month just to see your ATL and CTL. Komoot charges per region for offline maps.
Athlr takes a different approach. Every pro-level feature — GPS recording, real-time splits, segments with leaderboards, training load analysis, offline map tiles, route planning, and GPX export — is free, forever. No credit card. No paywall. No ads.
What is Athlr?
Athlr is a GPS fitness tracker for iOS and Android. You open it, pick your sport, hit record, and it tracks your route, pace, distance, elevation, and heart rate in real time. When you finish, it saves everything locally on your device and optionally syncs to the cloud if you have an account.
It was built by Brilworks Digital for a specific type of athlete: someone who wants accurate tracking, meaningful analytics, and a clean interface — without being nagged to upgrade every time they open the app.
Who is Athlr for?
- Strava users frustrated by the paywall. If you’ve seen segments, route planning, or training load locked behind Strava’s subscription, Athlr gives you all of it free. See our full Athlr vs Strava comparison.
- Newer runners and cyclists building a habit. No account required. GPS works from day one.
- Privacy-conscious athletes. Offline-first — GPS records without internet, activities stay on your device by default, no location data is ever sold.
GPS Recording — the Core Feature
Every session uses a four-stage GPS filter tuned per sport — running uses tighter parameters than hiking, cycling uses wider ones for fast straight sections. Smart auto-pause detects traffic stops and resumes when you start moving. Background tracking keeps GPS recording when your screen locks. On Android, a persistent notification shows live pace, distance, and time without unlocking your phone.
Splits, Elevation, and Pace Charts
After every save you get per-kilometre (or per-mile) splits with a pace bar chart, an elevation profile, and a full map. Personal records are checked automatically — fastest 5km, longest distance, longest duration per sport — and PR badges appear on the activity detail screen.
Segments and Leaderboards — Free
Segments are one of Strava’s most-loved features — and one of the first it locked behind its paywall. On Athlr, segments and leaderboards are free. Create a segment from any activity by marking start and end points. Every future activity that passes through is automatically timed and ranked against other athletes.
Training Load Analysis (ATL, CTL, TSB)
Athlr calculates three metrics from your activity history — the same model used by elite coaches and platforms like TrainingPeaks ($19/month):
- ATL (Acute Training Load) — training stress over the past 7 days. High ATL = you’ve been working hard recently.
- CTL (Chronic Training Load) — average stress over 42 days. This is your fitness base.
- TSB (Training Stress Balance) — CTL minus ATL. Positive = fresh and ready to perform. Deeply negative = accumulated fatigue, injury risk.
Want to understand these numbers deeply? Read our guide: What is Training Load? ATL, CTL and TSB explained.
BLE Heart Rate Monitor Support
Athlr connects to any Bluetooth chest strap or arm band using the standard Bluetooth Heart Rate Service. Wahoo TICKR, Garmin HRM-Pro, Polar H10 — all pair automatically. Live BPM during recording, average HR saved with every activity.
Health Sync — Import from Any Device
- Apple HealthKit (iOS) — imports from Apple Watch, Garmin, Strava, NRC, and any app writing to Apple Health, including GPS routes.
- Android Health Connect — imports from Wear OS, Garmin, Fitbit, Polar, Whoop.
Two-way: activities recorded in Athlr write back to your health platform too.
Offline Map Tiles
Download any map region before heading out. Athlr shows tile count and storage estimate before you confirm. Once downloaded, maps render fully without any internet. Supports satellite view on both platforms.
Route Planning
Tap waypoints on a map before a run. Athlr calculates the total planned distance and overlays your route as a ghost line during recording so you can follow it in real time.
Social and Community
A community feed, follow/follower system, kudos, direct messaging, and group chat. Every activity defaults to private — you choose to share with followers or publicly per-activity. No algorithmic feed designed to maximise screen time.
The AthLr Card
Generate a custom share card after every activity — GPS route as SVG, key stats, sport badge, draggable elements, custom background. Renders entirely on device; nothing uploaded to create it. 9:16 for Stories, 1:1 for grid, 4:5 for Reels.
GPX Export
Every activity exports as a standard GPX file in one tap. Works with Strava, Garmin Connect, Komoot, Google Maps. Your data is never locked in.
What Athlr Doesn’t Have Yet
- Activity comments — coming in the next update
- Activity heatmap — all your runs on one map (planned for Pro)
- Apple Watch / Wear OS companion app — roadmap v2
- Structured training plans — interval builder in progress
Athlr is free to download
No account required. GPS, splits, segments, and Health sync all work out of the box.
Download Athlr →