We make StepUp, so it's on this list and it comes first. Every other app here was checked against its own App Store listing on 1 November 2026, and nobody paid to be included. Where a listing doesn't say whether an app does something, we say so rather than guess.
Do you need an Apple Watch to count steps?
No. Every iPhone since the 5s counts your steps on its own, with a low-power motion chip, and keeps each day's total in the Health app. Every app on this list reads that count, so all of them work without a Watch. Step tracking without an Apple Watch covers what the iPhone tracks by itself and what you give up, and does your iPhone count steps in a bag? covers where to carry it.
So the question here isn't whether an app counts without a Watch. It's how well the app works when your phone is all you have. Four things decide that:
- A glance without a wrist. With no Watch to look at, you check your steps on the phone. Home Screen and Lock Screen widgets save you opening an app twenty times a day.
- Recording a walk on the phone. Several apps record walks with GPS for free on Apple Watch, but charge for it on iPhone, or don't do it at all.
- Nothing left empty. Some features read heart rate or workouts from a Watch. Without one, they sit blank, and it's better to know before you pay for them.
- What it costs. Most of these apps are free to download, with a subscription on top. We say what each listing puts behind it.
The apps
Best for a goal that fits you
StepUp
Made by us, the makers of StepUp
- Price
- Free, with optional StepUp Pro
- Best for
- People with only an iPhone who've given up on 10,000 and want a goal built from their own walking
Good
- A weekly walking plan from your real history, asking no more than 10% more each week
- Walks recorded with their route on iPhone, live on the Lock Screen and in the Dynamic Island
- All five free metrics work with just an iPhone
- Step count widgets on the Home Screen and Lock Screen
- Expeditions: journeys along real routes in your own town
- Your steps and walks never reach our servers
Less good
- Needs iOS 17 or later
- Two of its nine metrics, Effort and Fitness, need an Apple Watch and stay empty without one
- The walking plan is free for your first week, then needs Pro, as do four metrics, the bigger widgets and some routes
Best if you just want the number
Apple Health
By Apple
- Price
- Free, and already on every iPhone
- Best for
- Seeing today's steps and years of history, with nothing to install
Good
- Has counted your steps since you first carried an iPhone
- Charts by day, week, month and year, with trend analysis
- Highlights on your steps
- Keeps a tracker's steps beside your iPhone's, if its app writes to Health
Less good
- Its listing doesn't mention a step goal, streaks or step widgets
- Doesn't record walks itself: other apps save them to it
- Steps sit among dozens of other health records
Best for a Move ring without a Watch
Apple Fitness
By Apple
- Price
- Free, with optional Apple Fitness+
- Best for
- A daily goal and recorded walks, in Apple's own app
Good
- A Move ring on iPhone, filled with the active calories your phone estimates
- Records workouts with pace, distance and a route map
- Heart rate during a workout with a heart rate monitor, such as AirPods Pro 3
- Rings you can pause, or set for each day of the week
Less good
- Its goal is calories, not steps
- The Exercise and Stand rings, training load and Readiness need an Apple Watch
Best simple counter with widgets
Pedometer++
By Cross Forward Consulting, LLC
- Price
- Free, with an optional Premium subscription
- Best for
- A clean daily count on your Home Screen and Lock Screen
Good
- Home Screen and Lock Screen widgets, for your count or your progress to the goal
- A custom step goal, badges, and flights of stairs
- Routes, GPX import and offline maps for hiking
- Charts that make your history easy to read
Less good
- Recording a workout on iPhone needs Premium
- The goal is one you set yourself, not one that adapts
Best for walking groups and routes
Pacer
By Pacer Health, Inc
- Price
- Free, with an optional premium subscription
- Best for
- Finding places to walk and people to walk with, with no wristband
Good
- Counts with your phone in a hand, a pocket or a bag, and says no wristband is needed
- Records walks with GPS maps, and finds routes, trails and parks near you
- Walking groups and challenges with friends on any phone
- Weight, BMI and guided workout plans
Less good
- Its listing doesn't say which features need premium
- Its more accurate tracking option uses your location
- Its listing doesn't mention widgets
- A big download, over 500 MB
Best for streaks and friends
StepsApp
By StepsApp GmbH
- Price
- Free, with an optional Pro subscription
- Best for
- Staying consistent with streaks, and walking against friends or coworkers
Good
- Daily goals and streaks, with streak freezes
- Groups, leaderboards and challenges
- Home Screen and Lock Screen widgets
- Syncs with Garmin, Fitbit, Oura and others, if you'd like a cheaper tracker on your wrist
- Wheelchair support, and you can export your data
Less good
- GPS workouts, advanced goals and an ad-free app need Pro
- A big download, over 400 MB
Best for mapping every walk
Map My Walk
By Outside Television Inc
- Price
- Free, with an optional MVP subscription
- Best for
- Recording walks with your phone's GPS, and hearing how you're doing as you go
Good
- Real-time GPS with a map of every route
- Audio updates on pace, distance, time and calories, so you needn't look at a screen
- Over 600 kinds of activity, indoors and out
- Syncs with Apple Health
Less good
- Built around recorded walks more than your steps through the day
- Live tracking, plans and heart rate zones need MVP
- GPS in the background uses battery, as its listing says
Best if you want rewards
WeWard
By WEWARD
- Price
- Free
- Best for
- Turning the steps your phone counts into cash, gift cards, deals or donations
Good
- Free, with a built-in pedometer
- Made for the phone: its listing names no Apple Watch app
- Challenges with friends, and a leaderboard
- You can give your rewards to charity
Less good
- Built around rewards and offers from its 500+ brand partners
- Its listing doesn't mention Apple Health or widgets
Side by side
| Feature | StepUp | Apple Health | Apple Fitness | Pedometer++ | Pacer | StepsApp | Map My Walk | WeWard |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | Free, optional Pro | Built in | Free, optional Fitness+ | Free, optional Premium | Free, optional premium | Free, optional Pro | Free, optional MVP | Free |
| Counts with just an iPhone | Yes | Yes | Shows a Move ring | Yes | Yes, in a hand, pocket or bag | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Records a walk on iPhone, with a map | Yes | No | Yes | With Premium | Yes | With Pro | Yes | Not stated |
| Home and Lock Screen widgets | Yes | Not stated | Not stated | Yes | Not stated | Yes | Not stated | Not stated |
| Step goal | Built from your history | Not stated | Calories, not steps | One you set | Daily goals and plans | Daily, advanced with Pro | Personal goals | Personal goals |
| If you get a Watch later | Watch app with its own walks | Collects Watch steps | Adds two rings | Watch app | Watch app | Watch app | Watch app | Not stated |
| Needs iOS | 17 or later | Built in | Built in | 15 or later | 15 or later | 15 or later | 16 or later | 16.4 or later |
"Not stated" means the App Store listing doesn't say, not that the app can't.
Which one should you pick?
- You just want to see your steps: Apple Health. It's already counting.
- You'd like a goal you can see from the Lock Screen: Pedometer++, or StepsApp if a streak keeps you going.
- You want to record walks with a map, for free: Map My Walk, or Pacer if you'd like routes near you and people to walk with.
- You like Apple's rings: Apple Fitness. You get the Move ring without a Watch, though it counts calories, not steps.
- You'd walk more for a reward: WeWard.
- You've tried 10,000 and it never stuck: StepUp. It starts from what you walk now and asks a little more each week, and everything but two metrics works on an iPhone alone. How many steps should I walk a day? explains the idea, and the daily step goal calculator gives you a number to start with today.
How to get a fuller count from your iPhone
Whichever app you pick, it can only show the steps your phone was there for. The ones it misses are mostly at home and at work, with the phone on a counter or a desk. Keep it in a pocket around the house, take it with you to the printer and the kitchen, and keep it in your pocket on a treadmill rather than on the console. A bag works almost as well as a pocket, as long as the bag is on you and not hanging on a pushchair.
You don't need every step. A phone that misses roughly the same share each week still shows whether you're walking more than last month, and a goal built from your own average already allows for the steps it misses. Counting steps on iPhone explains how the count works.
How we chose
We started from our best step counter apps for iPhone, which kept apps that count steps on iPhone, were updated in the last month and have tens of thousands of ratings or more. We added Apple Fitness, because it's what most iPhone owners without a Watch already have for a daily goal. Of the apps that pay you to walk, we kept one, WeWard, to stand for the kind.
Each app's details come from its own US App Store listing on 1 November 2026: what it says it does on iPhone, what it costs and which iOS it needs. Where a listing only says a feature works on Apple Watch, we haven't assumed it works on iPhone. We haven't raced the apps' step counts against each other, since on iPhone they all start from the same sensor data. Apps change often, so check a listing before you pay for anything. We'll check these again at least every three months.
Questions
Can I use a step counter app without an Apple Watch?
Yes. Every iPhone since the 5s counts steps on its own and saves them in Apple Health, and step counter apps read that count. You only need to carry the phone: it doesn't count steps while it sits on a desk or a counter.
What's the best free step counter app without an Apple Watch?
Apple Health, because it's already on your iPhone and costs nothing. For a goal in a Lock Screen widget, Pedometer++ is free to download. To record walks with a map on your phone, Map My Walk and Pacer are free to download too, with optional subscriptions.
Can I record a walk with GPS on just my iPhone?
Yes. Apple Fitness, Map My Walk, Pacer and StepUp all record walks with a map on iPhone. Pedometer++ needs its Premium subscription to record a workout on iPhone, and StepsApp needs Pro for GPS workouts.
Do step counter apps work with my phone in a bag?
Yes. The apps read the steps your iPhone counts, and an iPhone in a shoulder bag or backpack counts about as accurately as one in a pocket, within 3% in a 2018 study. It misses steps when the bag isn't moving with you, such as on a pushchair.
Does StepUp need an Apple Watch?
No. StepUp reads your steps from Apple Health, and seven of its nine metrics work with just an iPhone, including all five free ones. Effort and Fitness need workouts and heart rate from an Apple Watch, and stay empty without one. StepUp is free to download on the App Store.
Sources
Written by Dheeraj Kumar Sharma, who makes StepUp. How the guides are written.
