Walking has long been associated with improving our health, offering a low-impact, safe, and effective way to strengthen muscles and bones, increase heart rate, reduce stress, and burn fat.
However, like all elements of physical activity, there are always ways to increase fat loss, one way that has become increasingly popular is walking apps, which can enhance motivation, structure, tracking, and results.
In this article, we show you the best walking apps for weight loss. We cover key features to look for, how to choose the right app, and more.
What to Look for in a Walking App for Weight Loss
Choosing the best walking app for weight loss can be difficult. The app market is constantly growing, with new platforms popping up every day, making it difficult to know which app to invest in. Below, we show you what to look for in a walking app for weight loss, to help you choose the best platform for you.
Key Features: Tracking, Coaching, Motivation
When it comes to walking and fitness apps, it’s no longer enough to just track your workouts and provide generic tracking advice. A great walking app must provide dedicated programs, coaching, and motivation elements.
Great apps don’t just track your walking, they provide programs that give you the specifics of what to aim for for effective weight loss. On top of this, they have coaches who provide professional tips to maximize weight loss.
Lastly, great apps offer challenges, goals, and even gamification elements to keep you motivated and engaged. Here, activities such as competitions, rewards, achievements, and rewards incentivize you to return and track your walking progress.
Syncing With Your Lifestyle and Goals
Many walking apps offer excellent features for weight loss, however, if they don’t align with your lifestyle and goals they may not be the perfect fit.
For example, an app may offer excellent routines, but may not have coaching, making it less suitable for those looking for a more hands-on experience. Or, you may find a great walking app, but it doesn’t have nutrition tracking, making it less convenient for weight loss.
While walking apps don’t necessarily need to be a perfect match, aligning them with your lifestyle and goals can make them easier to use and help you achieve great results.
Free vs. Paid Apps: What’s Worth It?
Choosing between a free or paid walking app is not as simple as it used to be. While some platforms offer subscription-only services, others provide excellent free versions while paywall premium benefits.
Ultimately, comes down to the criteria above and your perceived value. This is where you must ask yourself, the following questions:
- Does this service match your lifestyle and goals?
- Does its key features meet my needs (tracking, coaching, motivation)?
- Do I think the price is worth it?
Asking these questions will help you narrow down your choices. If you find an app that ticks all the boxes, then it's time to invest in the app and weight loss journey.
The 7 Best Walking Apps for Weight Loss
Selecting the correct walking app can be difficult as there are so many factors to consider. Because of this, we have put together a list of the 7 best walking apps for weight loss, listing prices, ratings, and features to help you decide which meets your needs.
1. Reverse Health Walking — Designed for Women Over 40
Price:
- Free Version
- $1519/month
- $52.99/year
Features: Coaching, Tracking, Nutrition, Exercise, Coaching, Community, Challenges, Smart Device Enabled
Reverse Health offers walking tracks, however, unlike other apps on the market it is dedicated to women over 40. Based on a foundation of nutrition, it addresses women’s health, menopause, and hormone-related health issues. This not only helps tackle the root cause if weight loss, but alleviates menopause symptoms in the process.
2. Pacer — A Simple, Step-Based Daily Tracker
Price:
- Free Version
- $9.99/month
- $49.99/year
Features: Coaching, Tracking, Nutrition, Exercise, Coaching, Community, Challenges, Smart Device Enabled
Pacer Pedometer & Step Counter is a walking and fitness app, that allows you to track your physical activity. Offering outdoor routes, data insights, challenges, personalized fitness plans, and guided workouts, it is an excellent walking app for improving your fitness and losing weight.
Linking to your phone, Fitbit, Garmin, and Apple Watch iy closely monitor your training, recording accurate data, which can enhance weight loss and improve fitness. Pacer also comes with a community, coaching, and challenges to keep you engaged and achieve your goals.
3. Map My Walk — GPS-Powered and Social
Price:
- Free Version
- $7.99/month
- $29.99/year
Features: Coaching, Tracking, Exercise, Community, Smart Device Enabled
Map My Walk is a top-rated tracker known for its excellent tracking, community, and challenge capabilities. The app lets you record your walking route with in-depth tracking, monitoring pace, elevation, heart rate, and calories. Tracking can be done in-app using a real-time GPS, it is also smart device-enabled allowing accurate and easy tracking.
Workouts are also available to help you improve your strength and conditioning, providing you with a complete body training experience.
4. WalkFit — Personalized Weight Loss Plans
Price:
- Free Version
- $6.99/month
- $29.99/year
Features: Coaching, Tracking, Exercise, Community, Challenges, Smart Device Enabled
WalkFit is a simple and easy-to-use walking tracking app that encourages treadmill, indoor, and treadmill walking. Providing personalized walking plans based on your BMI and activity level, it offers a tailored tracking experience.
Your daily goals are displayed clearly for easy tracking, and monitoring your step goals, calories, distance, and exercise duration. Meanwhile, its challenges provide added motivation to log on each day and chase weight loss goals.
5. Fitbit App — Data-Driven Health Companion
Price:
- Free Version
- $9.99/month
- $79.99/year
Features: Coaching, Tracking, Exercise, Community, Challenges, Smart Device Enabled
The Fitbit app offers a comprehensive health and fitness platform that allows you to not only track your walking and weight loss but also all forms of exercise.
In terms of walking, it monitors your heart rate and steps to give a comprehensive breakdown of your performance. Additionally, it comes with workouts, nutrition tracking, challenges, community, and coaching. Because of this, it does come with a higher price tag of $79.99 per year which is great value but may deter those on a strict budget.
6. Walking for Weight Loss by Leap Fitness — Beginner-Friendly Audio Coach
Price:
- Free Version
- $6.99/month
- $29.99/year
Features: Coaching, Tracking, Community, Routes, Smart Device Enabled
Walking for Weight Loss by Leap Fitness focuses on walking, delivering a solid, streamlined walking app. Offering excellent tracking, the watch walk is logged using an accurate GPS, recording your route, time, distance, calories, and speed.
Walking plans are also available in three different difficulty levels (easy, medium, and hard), providing a gradual increase in intensity to develop your endurance.
Wrapped into this is music playing function, integrating your favorite playlists while syncing to Apple Health for in-depth logging.
7. Apple Fitness+ — Integration and Guided Walks
Price:
- Free Version
- $9.99/month
- $79.99/year
Features: Coaching, Tracking, Community, Routes, Smart Device Enabled, Guide Workouts
Apple Fitness+ is a premium product encompassing walking and all types of exercise, including HIIT, yoga, core, Pilates, strength, treadmill, cycling, rowing, dance, kickboxing, and mindful cooldown.
Apple has created a comprehensive fitness app that provides recommendations based on your preferences. On top of this, they use the Apple Watch to record real-time metrics, for accurate walking routes and workouts while offering 4K Ultra HD guided workouts.
Like the other comprehensive apps on the list that offer more than walking, this comes with a higher price tag of $79.99. However, if walking is just one part of your workout, then this may just be worth the investment.
How to Choose the Right Walking App for You
Selecting the right walking app requires consideration of goals, usability, and function. Below, we take a look a these elements to help you choose the walking app that meets your needs.
Goal-Oriented Suggestions (Fat Loss, Accountability, Tracking)
A great place to begin is browsing walking apps that meet your needs. While some women may only require basic step and route tracking, others may need help with nutrition, accountability, and fat loss coaching.
Basing your decision on these factors will ensure the app meets your expectations and improves your chances of reaching your weight loss goal.
Ease of Use vs. Customization
Ease of use and customization are essential when finding the correct walking app. In the beginning, these elements may seem trivial, however, when you're using an app daily, ease of use can lead to a better user experience, that will have you looking forward to tracking your progress.
Staying Consistent With the App You Pick
When you are choosing your walking app, ask yourself if this is the app you think you’ll stick with long-term. It may sound like a strange question, but choosing an app you believe you can use consistently, and long-term will increase your chances of not only reaching your weight loss goal but keeping the weight off.
Factors that influence this are ease of use, key features, customization, tracking, nutrition, and coaching. The right walking app should be effortless to use while improving your exercise experience. If your app frustrates you or feels like a chore, then it's not the correct one for you.
Recap: Start Walking for Weight Loss With the Right Support
The great thing about walking is that you don’t need any additional equipment to start, enabling you to get outdoors and start burning fat and losing weight. However, choosing the right walking app can enrich your training experience, providing added motivation to spur you toward long-term health.
Walking Works — and the Right App Helps You Stay on Track
Walking undoubtedly works, providing an accessible method of improving cardio and fat burning to almost everyone. However, this doesn’t mean the result will be instant. This is where the right walking app comes in.
The correct app can elevate your training experience, and provide real-world data to help you take measured steps toward your weight loss and training goals.
Reverse Health Walking Puts Women 40+ First
Reverse Health walking stands out among the crowd for women over 40. While other apps provide great services for fitness and walking, Reverse Health helps women address the cause of their weight gain, while alleviating menopause symptoms through nutrition, exercise, and mindfulness.
Any Step Forward Is a Win
If you still can choose the right walking app for you, just put down your device and start walking. Getting up and moving will not only start your walking training, it will also give you an idea of what you want out of your perfect walking app. Once your ideal features are, you can make an educated decision on which app is best for you.
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FAQs
What is the best walking app for women over 40?
The best apps for midlife women often include features like step tracking, coaching, and menopause-friendly goal setting.
Can walking apps really help with weight loss?
Yes, many walking apps offer goal tracking, calorie estimates, and reminders that support consistent, fat-burning habits.
Are there walking apps with built-in motivation or coaching?
Several top apps include guided audio walks, motivational tips, and virtual coaches tailored for sustainable weight loss.
Do any walking apps sync with menopause or health trackers?
Some apps integrate with Apple Health, Fitbit, and other platforms to track hormonal changes, sleep, and energy levels.
How often should I walk to lose weight after 40?
For women over 40, walking 30–60 minutes a day, most days of the week, supports metabolism and sustainable fat loss.
