8fit Review 2023 – Honest Opinion After a Year of Workouts

Is 8fit Pro worth it?

Well, after using the fitness app for a year, we find ourselves perfectly positioned to answer that very question.

Using the app for a year is a big commitment and something that has allowed us to become very familiar with everything 8fit has to offer. So, we thought it was only fitting to turn our first-hand experience into a comprehensive 8fit review, to help anyone else understand if this fitness app is best suited to them and their fitness goals.

This review explores what 8fit is like, as well as comparing it to similarly priced apps we’ve also tested… helping to create a clear overview of where 8fit currently stands in the hyper-competitive market of health and wellbeing apps.

What is 8fit

8fit is a fitness and meal plan app that offers customized workouts, recipes and meditations.

With over 30 million active downloads, it’s one of the most popular apps in the fitness category.

You can sign up for free to try out some basic workouts and recipes, but you’ll need a 8fit Pro membership to access the full app, including the programs and challenges.

On the 2nd February 2022, it was announced that 8fit was being acquired by Withings, the popular French-based wearables tech company. This is likely exciting news for those with Withings devices and may also suggest 8fit is ready to bolster up its tech integrations for better tracking and metrics.

How Much Does 8fit Cost?

8fit Pro costs $79.99 a year according to their website, but pricing may depend on your device, country and payment method.

How to Cancel 8fit

If you want to cancel your 8fit Pro membership, navigate to your subscriptions in your Apple or Android account. Select 8fit and click cancel. You can find more detailed instructions here – https://8fit.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360003466574-How-can-I-cancel-my-trial-or-subscription-

It’s important to note, deleting the app will NOT cancel your membership and you will still be charged. Like Asana Rebel and many others, this leads to an onslaught of 1 star reviews each month… so know how to cancel before you sign up. Your Pro membership will auto-renew until you cancel.

What We Like About 8fit

Fast Loading With Gifs

A feature we really like is the use of gifs to quickly preview and view exercises. This means they load super quick and ultimately means you can preview a workout very easily and effectively.

This definitely beats using a single video that needs to buffer… and that makes it hard to skip sections or exercises.

The gifs are also very clear and made following along a breeze.

Goal Setting

8fit encourages you to set goals to help you get more out of the app. By setting goals, it soon becomes clear if you’re on track to hit them, or if you’re starting to slip.

This is great for motivation and accountability.

Realistically, many people that complain fitness programs or apps don’t work, simply haven’t followed along to them properly.

This ability to track your progress against specific goals means you can quickly see if you need to up your game!

Quality Coaches

We really like the coaches 8fit use. In fact, it’s probably one of their main selling points.

The coaches all offer a professional and motivating experience, yet feel very welcoming and not intimidating. If you prefer your coaches dialled down slightly from the stereotypical fitness instructor, you’ll likely enjoy 8fits workouts.

The coaches all have specific areas of expertise too… so if you enjoy a certain style of exercise, say Pilates… you’ll likely see the same coach pop up on those workouts.

No Equipment Needed

Although the occasional dumbbell is used, by and large, the workouts are bodyweight and don’t require any equipment.

The app makes it clear if you do need any equipment before starting a workout which is very useful.

As far as effectiveness goes, bodyweight exercises are certainly enough to keep you fit… although if you do like to use dumbbells or barbells frequently, you may be slightly disappointed.

Similarly, the lack of strength equipment means you’re unlikely to reach new strength training personal bests, so this is something to bear in mind if you’re looking for an app to really push you in such areas of your fitness.

Great Selection of Recipes

We originally signed up for 8fit for the workouts, but the recipes are a welcome feature and certainly not an afterthought.

The recipe content is vast and includes a wide selection of healthy food ideas.

Healthy eating and exercise go hand-in-hand, so it makes sense to manage all this in one place.

8fit includes a lot of tasty recipes that you’re actually going to want to try… as opposed to just telling you to avoid carbs and sugars, which many recipes apps do. You can also schedule in 8fit meals in your week, so you’re not eating them for every meal, but rather replacing a set amount with these healthier options, which is a nice feature and less daunting than starting a strict diet from day 1.

Short Workouts

There’s a lot of short workouts…which we find very useful.

There’s no better excuse than to say you simply don’t have the time to exercise… but when 8fit offer all sorts of mini workouts that only take 5-10 minutes to complete, there really is no excuse for not doing them.

Ultimately, this helps you to stick to the program more successfully.

Body Positive

We really (really) like 8fits body positive branding… which is very refreshing in the category of fitness apps that often just use tanned models to demonstrate the exercises.

8fit celebrates different body types and doesn’t create a fitness atmosphere set around hitting unsustainable weight loss goals, for example. Instead, it focuses on healthy habits that you can take it with in the long-term.

Follow Workouts for Free

8fit allow you to sign up for free, and try out various bits of the app for free. They also have plenty of free workouts on their website and YouTube, so you can get an understanding of the types of workouts they offer.

What We Don’t Like

Logging Estimates Aren’t Too Accurate

8fit tries to motivate you by showing how many calories you’ve burnt during an activity… whether you’ve manually logged it or followed along to a workout.

These just seem too generic and unlikely to be accurate for most users.

It’s too easy to follow workouts half-heartedly to then be told you’ve burnt a decent amount of calories, when realistically this just isn’t going to be the case. If you’re new to fitness, this inaccuracy may ultimately lead to confusion.

If you want this data, you’re better off using data from a Fitbit or Apple Watch (or due to their recent acquisition, a Withings device) during a workout.

All Quite Similar Workouts

We really enjoyed the 8fit workouts… but certainly after a while, you may find you want more variety. A lot of the workouts feel quite similar, all primarily focused on bodyweight movements in a HIIT style workout.

This makes the workouts very accessible to everyone… but it means if you wanted to include some specific strength training workouts, for example, it falls short to other apps that have this wider variety.

Focus on HIIT

HIIT workouts are very effective for getting fitter, especially if you’re short on time. However, we found some HIIT workouts focused too much on the high tempo aspect of the workout and less on good form and technique.

There were some instances where the exercise demonstration didn’t really illustrate very good form… which if you’re a beginner, isn’t ideal.

Pricey

Ultimately, we really like 8fit, but to create a fair review, we must acknowledge the price, and that’s where competitors start to gain our attention.

Based on what some other fitness apps are offering, 8fit seems slightly light on features for the price. An app like Fitbod uses better tech to continuously adapt your fitness plan to keep challenging you… or an app like Alo Moves will offer a huge library of on-demand and live workouts.

To stay competitive, 8fit either needs to reconsider its pricing or add more content around live classes, interactive content and community.

Even Beachbody, arguably the godfather of online workout videos, has recently launched all sorts of new features around community and interactive support groups to stay competitive against the new wave of home workout brands. This shows the need for fitness apps to keep pace of new features.

8fit Alternatives

If you’re looking for workout apps, there are all sorts you could look at. Alo Moves, FiiT, Gymondo, P.volve, The Sculpt Society… the list goes on (and on).

To try and make things as comparable as possible, the 3 apps below are most similar to 8fit’s value proposition.

Beachbody

Although we would tend to favour 8fit’s branding and body positivity… Beachbody, who really adopt the complete opposite branding, ultimately do deliver results for users.

The workouts are tough and designed to get you fitter… which is why Beachbody has such a loyal and dedicated fanbase. Whatever you think of the brand, the workouts will undoubtedly improve your strength, cardio and overall fitness.

Beachbody have recently launched BOD Groups which is something we feel is the missing piece for most fitness apps and currently for the price, sets them apart from many others. This allows you to chat with fellow users, coaches and enjoy the benefits of a supportive community.

Beachbody is also very well priced, including a lot of health and fitness content for a very low monthly cost.

MyFitnessPal

MyFitnessPal is very similar to 8fit in terms of offering both meal plans/healthy recipes and workouts. It also boasts millions of users worldwide and has long been one of the top fitness apps on both Android and iOS in the health and fitness category.

MyFitnessPal shot to fame for its food logging feature, which makes it a popular app for those looking to count calories and track their overall calorie deficit/surplus.

The app’s free version used to include most of the core features, but they recently put barcode scanning within the premium membership, which will come as a disappointment to many. As a result, we’d recommend taking them up on the free trial of the premium version to understand if it’s right for you or not.

Check out our MyFitnessPal review for more details.

Fitbod

Fitbod focuses on exercises and workouts… so doesn’t offer the nutritional value that 8fit does. However, the way it creates a customized workout plan that continuously challenge you at an incredibly low price means it’s got to be a serious contender for anyone looking to get in better shape.

Fitbod also adapts to any equipment requirements… whether you want to do bodyweight movements, use a plated barbell, kettlebells, etc.

Fitbod have very kindly offered our readers an exclusive discount code.

Our Fitbod review includes a full breakdown of what this app is like.

Bottom Line

8fit is a great app, and unquestionably offers a lot of value for users looking to follow along to home workouts, recipes and healthy habits. However, at the moment, we think there are other apps, either similarly priced, or richer in features, that we enjoy using more.

You can check out our ultimate list of the best home workout apps and programs for our top picks.

8fit is free to download though, so you can always try the free version (as well as following some workouts and recipes on their website) and seeing how you get on.

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