ChatRPE is a Fitbod alternative for lifters who want to ask their plan questions. Tell the coach your goal, how long you have, what equipment is around, and what hurts today, and it writes the session with a reason for each exercise. Push back ("why Romanian deadlifts two days after squats?") and it explains or changes them, using the sets you have logged.
Everything happens in one chat. You log sets in plain words, such as "incline press 30s for 10, 9, 8, last set two in the tank", and the coach saves them as dated entries it reads the next time it plans.
What Fitbod does well
Fitbod's help article on how it creates your workout describes a generator that knows a lot. It reads your goal, experience, equipment, training split and session length, recommends sets, reps and weight from your recent sessions, and gives every muscle group a recovery percentage so fresher muscles come first. Reps-in-reserve ratings feed the next prescription, and the app includes over 1,600 exercises with demonstration videos.
Daily changes go through menus. Customizing Today's Workout covers a Swap menu for a different split day or muscle focus, and session mods for duration (15 to 90 minutes) and equipment. You can tell it to recommend an exercise more, less, or never.
If you like opening the app and finding a fresh, balanced session with the weights filled in, Fitbod is built for that. The reasons to move are usually narrower.
When a menu can't say what's wrong
A duration slider covers "I have 35 minutes." It can't hold "my left elbow aches on curls and skull crushers but pressing is fine," or "I'm deadlifting on Saturday so keep today's back work light." In ChatRPE you say that in a sentence and the session is rebuilt around it:
"I've got 40 minutes, the squat rack is taken, and my elbow hates curls this week. Keep it a pull day and tell me what you changed."
The answer lists the changes and why, so you can disagree with one of them and keep the rest. If the limit will last weeks, the coach can save it as a coaching note once you agree. Notes are visible to you, last 30 days unless you ask for longer, and are read again by reminders and check-ins.
Fitbod also regenerates its recommendation when your inputs change: a logged or imported workout, a gym change, a settings edit. Its article on workout refreshes notes that edits made before you tap Start Workout are replaced when that happens. A ChatRPE plan changes when you ask it to.
A steady program instead of a new session each day
Fitbod's algorithm deliberately varies exercises, sets and loads from one session to the next. That keeps training fresh, but some lifters would rather repeat the same main lifts for six or eight weeks so the numbers are easy to compare.
ChatRPE can write that kind of block: fixed main lifts, a rule for when the weight goes up, and accessories that rotate only if you want them to. A rule can be as plain as "add 2.5 kg when every set lands at two reps in reserve or more." Before a session, ask for today's targets; the coach reads your last logs of each lift against the rule. Weights are not filled in automatically.
The progressive overload tracker guide covers which numbers show a block is working, and the AI workout planner guide covers what to tell the coach before it writes one.
What you give up
ChatRPE has no muscle recovery map. It doesn't score each muscle group; ask "what have I trained hard since Monday?" and it reads your logs to answer. There's no exercise video library either, so for an unfamiliar movement you get a written description, or you send a photo of your own rep for feedback.
ChatRPE has no Apple Watch app and no Apple Health or Strava sync. Fitbod can import runs and rides from those apps; in ChatRPE you log them in a message ("ran 5 km in 27 minutes, easy"). If automatic syncing is why you use Fitbod, that matters.
Bringing your Fitbod history
Fitbod's help center does not document a workout history export, though some users report one in the app's settings. If you find a CSV there, paste rows into a message, a few weeks at a time, and say what the columns are; ChatRPE takes pasted text, not file uploads. Otherwise, send screenshots of recent workouts from Fitbod's log. Two to four weeks of your main lifts is enough to program from.
Image limits depend on your plan. A signed-in free account attaches one image a day, Basic two per message, and Premium five per message. Include a full date with each session and check the first batch saved on the right days before sending more.
During the session
Ask the coach to start a live session and it lays out the exercises in order, updates as you report sets, and runs rest timers that show on your iPhone's Lock Screen. When you finish, the session is saved to your history.
On an iPhone running iOS 18 or later, Siri works between sets: "Hey Siri, start a workout with ChatRPE," or "Hey Siri, log with ChatRPE: lat pulldown, 60 for 12." Siri and in-app voice share a daily allowance on Free and Basic, reset at midnight UTC; Premium has no voice limit, and typed messages never count. The hands-free logging guide covers setup.
For technique, send a photo of a rep on any plan, or a short video on Premium, between sets. The coach reviews it against the weights and effort you logged. There is no live camera; the form check guide explains what to film.
Frequently asked questions
Can ChatRPE generate a workout like Fitbod?
Yes. Tell it your goal, time, equipment and any pain or limits, and it writes the session with a reason for each exercise. You can question or change any part of it in the same chat.
Does ChatRPE track muscle recovery the way Fitbod does?
No. There are no recovery percentages. The coach reads what you have logged, so you can ask what you trained recently and how hard, and it plans around the answer.
Does ChatRPE set my weights automatically?
No. Agree a progression rule with the coach, then ask for today's targets or start a live session; it works them out from your last logs of each lift.
Can I move my workout history from Fitbod?
Yes, as pasted text or screenshots. Fitbod's help center doesn't document an export, so screenshots of recent workouts are the dependable route. If you have a CSV, paste its rows into a message a few weeks at a time.
Does ChatRPE sync with Apple Health or Apple Watch?
No. Runs, rides and other activities are logged by message or voice. Fitbod imports activity from Apple Health, Strava and other apps, so keep that in mind if you rely on it.
Fitbod is a trademark of its respective owner. This independent comparison is based on publicly documented product features and is not sponsored or endorsed by Fitbod.