C25K® 5K Running Coach & Map

What reviewers actually said

Built only from these 120 real reviews (foreign ones translated). Superscripts jump to the quote here. Apple has no per-review links, so [ref] opens that app's reviews on the App Store.

1. [R3] 5/5 · US Years later: This app is phenomenal! I’ve tried other apps to try and help with my running but none seem to work for me the way C25K does for me! Give it a chance and you’ll see what I mean!
2. [R4] 5/5 · US Easiest C25K Program: I thoroughly enjoy following thru the c25k plan. And even when I’m finished I return to beat my speeds and earlier performances. You absolutely should use it if you’re a beginner and need a plan or someone who’s been running awhile
3. [R6] 5/5 · US Where it all began!: 12 years ago my running journey began with this app! 4 half marathons later I still love running but due to a meniscus tear/surgery I’m back to the beginning and so thankful I have this app to get me back on the road!
4. [R12] 5/5 · US Highly recommend: Took me from never running in my life to running 20 min straight. I use it every time I get out of the gym groove.
5. [R29] 5/5 · US Great app!: Appreciate the audio cues! The program provides good motivation to push yourself without being overly strenuou
6. [R41] 5/5 · US Great for beginners and running w/o having to check your phone: Definitely recommend
7. [R635] 3/5 · AU C25K: So easy and with great voice messages to alert you. Would love to be able to set ur own training... eg: run time, walk time etc...for maintenance
8. [R662] 3/5 · AU Pretty great: It's great. I thought it would be hard doing even the first week but my boyfriend who never runs ever had no trouble! All I'd say is the notification system is very very quiet. If there was an option to turn up the notification sounds I'd put 5 stars in a heartbeat, but I kept missing them while listening to music and had to keep checking my phone which was super inconvenient
9. [R31] 5/5 · US I can do this!: Everything is easier in small bites. I was thrilled to find that I didn't need Internet or WiFi to use this app. I live in a very rural area and many apps stop working when I leave the house WiFi.
10. [R1] 1/5 · US Overpriced: $30 for 3 months or $40 for the year for a running app? Ridiculous.
11. [R7] 3/5 · US Still Have to Pay For It: I’m happy with the app and how far I’ve come with my running, but it’s still not free, the free part ends with the second week of the program.
12. [R13] 1/5 · US Put the program that used to be free behind a paywall: This program was totally free for years and now you want to charge me for anything beyond week 2 day 1. Unbelievable. 👎🏼👎🏼
13. [R25] 1/5 · US Would give 0 stars if I could: When this app came out I paid for access to it. This greedy developer doesn’t seem to understand what lifetime access means. I now cannot access the rest of my weeks because they paywalled an app I paid for. This app used to be amazing before the developers became greedy and dropped support for their legacy app which is just so slimy and gross I would love to give t
14. [R15] 3/5 · US Bring Back the Simple Coach: I used to love the app and had great resuts using it regularly. Unfortunatly, a recent change in the coach has changed the experience. The old version was simple, and neutral, it just told you what to do, and let you stay focused. The new coach, on the other hand, uses an overly excited tone, with chesy, forced encouragement that feels fake. I am not looking for annoy
15. [R38] 4/5 · US Turn off annoying voice: App is great on the running aspect but with recent update there is now this amazingly annoying voice at the start and middle that goes on for like 8 seconds about how amazing you are and happy running and way to get the day going. It literally makes me cringe especially at 6 am when just getting up. It used to say in a normal voice start running and u reached the halfw
16. [R378] 3/5 · CA Hate the new voice: The new voice prompts in the latest version are way too cheery and fake sounding. It’s so cringe.
17. [R107] 2/5 · GB Disappointingly buggy: Constantly freezes
18. [R114] 1/5 · GB ….looks ok?: Immediately froze When it did open it started and immediately stopped a workout It didn’t actually track any of my stats It also paused the Apple Watch workout that I was actually using to log the data Didn’t give me notifications to run or walk at the right time, and sometimes it would just throw them out seemingly at random or repeat them 10/15 seconds after the first Wouldn’t clos
19. [R149] 1/5 · GB Update issue: No clue what's been done but I can't get the app to open anymore Icon just has a notification and when selected it goes to a white screen then closes itself Please fix - this app was brilliant
20. [R150] 1/5 · GB White screen: Downloaded the app & whenever I load it, I just given a white screen & then it eventually kicks me out. Deleted app & downloaded it again but the same thing happens.
21. [R137] 1/5 · GB Charges: Downloaded because it had the watch app. Uninstalled because they want £5/month to use the watch app.
22. [R140] 3/5 · GB Get ready to pay!: If you download this because it says it offers an Iwatch app, get ready to have to pay a stupid monthly price to be able to leave your phone at home and run with your watch!!!
23. [R155] 1/5 · GB Useless: Fails to connect to Apple Watch continually.
24. [R156] 1/5 · GB Does not work with Apple Watch: It states it syncs with Apple Watch when subscription is purchased on my phone. Purchased the subscription and app on watch kept saying I needed a subscription. Tried logging on to the forums for support but all pages relating to this and other topics “cannot be found”.
25. [R138] 3/5 · GB Ok: Not very inspiring and disappointing that you can’t see your sats unless you upgrade.
26. [R164] 1/5 · GB Crap does not track calories, distance, speed or GPS.: As title does not track anything! Better apps out there.
27. [R168] 1/5 · GB Not good at all: I haven’t had the notification issues that others have. My issue is that it does not seem to track distance properly, and I can not view any data from previous runs, even after just finishing it. Surely this is a basic function of a fitness app
28. [R403] 3/5 · CA Terrible map feature: The overall program’s great but the map is horrendous. I’ve gone into the settings to make sure that the location is always on and that data is on and it just doesn’t capture where I’ve run at all.
29. [R57] 1/5 · US Can’t get far without subscribing: Used it years ago and liked it, came back and not only do you have to wade through a ton of ads you can only get a few days in before you have to subscribe to go any further. Deleting the app now. Tired of greedy subscription services.
30. [R134] 1/5 · GB Annoying: Too much premium spam
31. [R141] 2/5 · GB Unwanted ads: Can’t get rid of Zen, which I don’t want but it just sits there!
32. [R160] 1/5 · GB Too many ads spoils it: Too many adds and other parts popping up constantly to unlock. I’d rather pay for the actual app then use it without being bothered by all the other stuff. Purpose of the app is great
33. [R44] 1/5 · US Started great, now ready to trash it: It did an amazing job of moving me from barely walking to actually running for 20 minutes. Its strategy of increasing one's workout every day works very well. But then it brings one to one's maximum level. I am 73. There are certain things I cannot do now. But the app keeps going and wanting to push more and more and more and more. So I stopped using it. It wo
34. [R135] 1/5 · GB More like “mildly fit” to 5k...: As someone who is quite overweight and quite unfit, I looked to c25k for help in starting off in trying to make a positive change to my lifestyle, hoping it would help “get me off the couch” and on the treadmill. Unfortunately, the app directs you to run, albeit for just 1 minute intervals, right from week one, day one. I’m not fit enough to run for a minute yet.
35. [R525] 3/5 · CA Too difficult: I thought this app was supposed to be a positive goal setter to go from the couch to running 5k. I was that person and this is not an attainable app the way it's set up. The jumps are too high. One day I ran 8 minutes for the first time in my life and hen the next time I'm supposed to jump to 20 minutes!!? Please consider a slower progression so it's a positive experience for spills
36. [R342] 3/5 · CA Great for beginners: I have a love hate relationship with this app. I found it to be a really great motivator when I was first starting out. But I find as you progress they are more focused on your distance within a certain time frame and there is no way I can run 5k in 40 minutes by the end of the allotted weeks. I got discouraged because I could only run have the distance. Another thing I find a
37. [R592] 3/5 · AU Worked ok: It does work, did not have any issues with bugs. Bit annoying to use, but if you work around it it’s still a free app and that’s nice. Doesn’t cut out half way or anything. It’s a couch to 5k, but run data is in miles? Ridiculous. Would be nicer to say how long you’re running/walking each bit in each workout, ie “run for eight minutes” instead of just “begin running”
38. [R687] 3/5 · AU What are miles?: I can't see a way to tell me distances in km. Do these guys not know the world uses km?
39. [R575] 3/5 · AU Stick with the free version: Don’t bother upgrading to the paid app if you just want to access to the music. You can’t shuffle the playlists. You can only skip songs 6 times per an hour, so if you are using the same playlist each run, you’re stuck with listening to pretty much the same thing each time (i.e. You can start at Song #1 or Song #7). Also, if you’re wanting music to help with your runn
40. [R104] 2/5 · GB Only first 4 weeks available for free: Most of the program is behind a pay watch
41. [R413] 3/5 · CA Too many ads: Too many ads. I just want to run. I hate that I have to pay more to find out my stats. It’s unfair. And because I haven’t upgraded I have all these ads that are distracting. I don’t want the fitness plan and I don’t want to purchase any music