Apple Fitness+ is a 12-category video workout library (Strength, Yoga, HIIT, Pilates, Cycling, Rowing, Kickboxing, Treadmill Run, Dance, Core, Meditation, Mindful Cooldown) that you watch on iPhone, iPad, or Apple TV, plus audio-only Time to Run and Time to Walk for outside. Its Custom Plans feature builds a 2-to-8-week schedule across categories you pick. Reshape is a different thing: a race-periodized running block (5K to marathon) that reads Apple Health and rewrites each week from the runs you actually did. Many runners keep both.
Side-by-side, only what’s different
| Reshape | Apple Fitness+ | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Periodized 5K-to-marathon training plan | 12-category video workout library + audio-led Time to Run & Time to Walk |
| Weekly schedule | Race-periodized: base, build, peak, taper, tied to your race date | Custom Plans builds a 2–8 week schedule from categories you pick. Not race-periodized |
| Adapts from your actual runs | Yes. Reads Apple Health and rewrites each Sunday from what you ran | No. Custom Plans follows your chosen rotation; sessions don’t adjust based on runs completed |
| Pace targets | VDOT-scaled per session, from your current fitness | Effort cues from the trainer (e.g., steady, push) |
| Running workouts | Outdoor and treadmill, built into the plan | Video-led Treadmill Run + audio-led Time to Run (outdoor or treadmill) |
| Delivery format | Workout on Apple Watch with pace targets on the face | Video on iPhone, iPad, Apple TV; audio-only for Time to Run & Time to Walk |
| Beyond running | Running-only | 11 other video categories: Strength, Yoga, HIIT, Pilates, Cycling, Rowing, Kickboxing, Dance, Core, Meditation, Mindful Cooldown |
| Music and trainer variety | None | A lot. Curated playlists and on-camera trainers in every video |
| Price | $4.99 / €4.99 per month | $9.99/mo or $79.99/year. Bundled in Apple One |
Both apps are Apple-first and integrate deeply with Apple Watch. The categories are different. Fitness+ covers breadth across 12 disciplines with Custom Plans as its weekly scaffolding. Reshape covers depth in one discipline: adaptive running plans that read your Apple Health and rewrite each week from the runs you actually did. Apple One bundling makes Fitness+ effectively free for many subscribers; Reshape charges separately because the job it does, race-specific running periodization, is a separate job.
Reshape is best for you if…
- You have a race on the calendar. 5K, 10K, half, or marathon. Reshape builds a periodized block to that date; Fitness+ does not.
- You want pace targets, not effort cues. VDOT-scaled paces scheduled per session, updated from your current fitness.
- Your week needs to flex.Missed sessions, bad weeks, sudden fitness gains. Reshape rewrites from the runs you did. Fitness+ doesn’t have a notion of “next week”.
What Apple Fitness+ does better
- 12 workout categories. Strength, Yoga, HIIT, Pilates, Cycling, Rowing, Kickboxing, Treadmill Run, Dance, Core, Meditation, Mindful Cooldown. Reshape is running-only.
- Real video production on Apple TV. On-camera trainers, multiple camera angles, licensed music, 4K Ultra HD. For indoor work, nothing Reshape does replaces watching a strength or yoga class on the big screen.
- Audio-led outdoor experiences. Time to Run and Time to Walk are audio-only sessions with coach voiceovers and curated playlists, designed for Apple Watch + AirPods. Reshape doesn’t do audio coaching during the run.
- Custom Plans builds a weekly schedule. Pick 2-to-8 weeks, your days, durations from 10 to 90 minutes, and categories; Fitness+ assembles the rotation. It’s real weekly structure, just not race-periodized.
- Apple One bundling.If you’re already paying for Apple One, Fitness+ is sunk cost. Reshape is a separate subscription.
When you might keep both
- Reshape for running, Fitness+ for strength. Reshape schedules the runs, Fitness+ fills the cross-training days.
- Fitness+ on off days, Reshape on race-specific ones. Yoga and mobility after a long run. Strength between harder sessions.
- Time to Run for the variety, Reshape for the structure. Drop a Time to Run session into an easy day when you want a different experience.
Reshape is not for you if…
- You want a full video workout library, not a running plan. Fitness+ is exactly that.
- You prefer trainer-led coaching during every workout: a face on the screen, a voice in your ear. Reshape has pace targets on the face but no trainer guiding the session.
- You don’t have a race goal and just want variety. Subscribe to Fitness+ instead.
Common questions
It has Custom Plans, which builds a 2-to-8-week schedule from the workout categories you pick, with your chosen days and 10-to-90-minute durations. It’s a real weekly schedule, so calling Fitness+ a pure on-demand library understates it. What Custom Plans isn’t is a race-periodized running block. It doesn’t progress mileage toward a goal, doesn’t protect a taper, and doesn’t build specific long-run or threshold sessions around a race date. For a 5K, 10K, half marathon, or marathon block, Reshape sequences those sessions; Custom Plans doesn’t.
Yes, and many runners do. Use Reshape for your weekly running plan and Fitness+ for cross-training: strength videos on rest days, yoga for mobility, a Mindful Cooldown after a hard session. The two apps don’t fight each other.
Treadmill Run is a Fitness+ video category you watch on iPhone, iPad, or Apple TV while running on a treadmill, with an on-camera trainer leading the session. Time to Run is an audio-only Apple Watch experience: a coach’s voice and curated playlist during an outdoor run (or on a treadmill without video). Reshape is different from both: it delivers the workout with pace targets to your Apple Watch face the night before, no trainer in the ear.
Yes. Reshape records runs on Apple Watch like any native workout, so Exercise, Move, and Stand rings fill normally. The data flows through Apple Health, which means Fitness+ summary stats also reflect what Reshape scheduled.
Different shape. Apple One includes Fitness+’s 12-category video library and Custom Plans, which is great for variety and multi-discipline weekly rotation. Reshape gives you a race-periodized running block that reads Apple Health and rewrites each week from what you actually ran. If you want structured weekly variety across disciplines, Fitness+ covers it. If you need a 12-to-16-week marathon block with a protected taper and VDOT-scaled paces, Custom Plans doesn’t do that and Reshape does.