Fitiv and WHOOP both give you HRV, recovery scores, and training load — but WHOOP requires a $30/month hardware subscription on top of a device you have to buy, while Fitiv runs on the Apple Watch you already own. That single difference shapes everything about how each product fits into your training life.
Feature Comparison
| Feature | Fitiv | WHOOP | |---|---|---| | Device required | Apple Watch, Garmin, Bluetooth HR monitor | WHOOP band (proprietary) | | Monthly cost | Free tier available; premium from $4.99/month | $30/month (includes hardware) | | HRV tracking | Yes — overnight + spot checks | Yes — overnight continuous | | Recovery score | Yes | Yes | | Training strain / load | Yes (TRIMP, TSS, Training Load) | Yes (Strain score) | | Strength tracking | Yes — sets, reps, rest, muscle groups | No | | GPS workout tracking | Yes (via Apple Watch or paired phone) | No | | VO2 max estimate | Yes | No | | Workout builder | Yes | No | | Screen / display | Apple Watch display | No screen | | Battery life | 18–36 hours (Apple Watch dependent) | 4–5 days | | Sleep tracking | Yes | Yes — industry-leading | | Menstrual cycle tracking | No | Yes | | Coach / team features | No | Yes (WHOOP Teams) | | Platform | iOS, Apple Watch, Garmin, Bluetooth HR | iOS, Android, WHOOP band |
What WHOOP Does Best
WHOOP built its reputation among serious endurance athletes and professional sports teams for a reason. The hardware is screenless by design — no notifications, no distractions, just biometric data collected continuously at 100Hz. That focus pays off in the depth of sleep staging data and the consistency of overnight HRV measurement.
Battery life is a genuine advantage. Four to five days between charges means you never have a data gap. If you forget to charge your Apple Watch overnight, you lose sleep tracking; WHOOP eliminates that failure mode.
The WHOOP Teams platform is purpose-built for coaches managing multiple athletes. If you train a group or work with a coach who uses WHOOP, the shared dashboard and accountability features are hard to replicate.
WHOOP's menstrual cycle tracking and hormonal impact on recovery is more developed than most competitors and worth noting for female athletes evaluating both platforms.
What Fitiv Does Best
Fitiv's core advantage is consolidation. Instead of wearing a dedicated recovery wearable alongside a watch or phone, Fitiv surfaces HRV readiness, training load, recovery scores, structured workouts, strength tracking, GPS routes, and VO2 max estimates from a single device on your wrist.
If you already own an Apple Watch, you own the hardware Fitiv needs. There is no additional device to buy, charge, or explain to airport security.
Strength training is a major gap in WHOOP's feature set. WHOOP tracks your heart rate during lifting and logs it as strain, but it has no concept of sets, reps, exercise selection, progressive overload, or muscle group balance. Fitiv tracks all of that, and its recovery score takes both cardio stress and lifting stress into account when telling you how hard to train tomorrow.
For hybrid athletes — runners and lifters, cyclists who also do CrossFit, triathletes who strength train in the off-season — Fitiv gives you a unified picture that WHOOP cannot provide.
GPS tracking is another area where Fitiv wins by a significant margin. WHOOP does not offer GPS. Fitiv records routes, pace, elevation, and heart rate zones on every outdoor run, ride, or hike.
Honest Assessment: Where WHOOP Wins
If sleep tracking accuracy is your primary concern, WHOOP's continuous optical sensing and five-day battery gives it an edge over an Apple Watch that may or may not have been charged before bed.
If you want zero screen time during recovery periods and a device specifically engineered not to distract you, WHOOP's screenless design is a real differentiator.
If you are part of a coached team environment that already runs on WHOOP Teams, the switching cost is real — Fitiv does not have an equivalent coach-facing dashboard.
Pricing Breakdown
WHOOP's $30/month includes the hardware after an initial commitment period, but it locks you into a subscription to use a device that becomes a paperweight if you cancel. Over 12 months that is $360 per year minimum.
Fitiv's free tier gives you core workout tracking and heart rate data. The premium tier, which unlocks HRV readiness, training load, advanced recovery metrics, and workout builder, costs significantly less than WHOOP's hardware-bundled subscription. You also retain full use of your Apple Watch if you ever stop using Fitiv.
Who Should Choose Fitiv
- Athletes who already own an Apple Watch and do not want to wear a second device
- Hybrid athletes who mix strength training with cardio
- Runners and cyclists who want GPS tracking alongside recovery metrics
- Self-coached athletes who want training load (TRIMP/TSS) without a coaching platform subscription
- Anyone who wants to start free and upgrade when they are ready
Who Should Choose WHOOP
- Athletes who prioritize sleep tracking above all else
- People who want a screenless, distraction-free wearable
- Team athletes whose coaches use WHOOP Teams
- Female athletes who want detailed hormonal impact tracking on recovery
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Fitiv track HRV like WHOOP? Yes. Fitiv measures HRV overnight using your Apple Watch's optical heart rate sensor and uses that data to generate a daily readiness score. The methodology is comparable to WHOOP's, though WHOOP's continuous 100Hz sensing throughout the night is more granular than Apple Watch's periodic overnight samples.
Can I use Fitiv without an Apple Watch? Yes. Fitiv also supports Garmin watches and Bluetooth heart rate monitors like the Polar H10, Wahoo TICKR, and Scosche Rhythm+. This makes it one of the most hardware-flexible training intelligence apps available.
Does WHOOP track strength training? WHOOP logs heart rate during strength training sessions and calculates a strain score, but it does not track sets, reps, exercises, or progressive overload. For serious strength athletes, this is a meaningful limitation.
Is Fitiv free? Fitiv has a free tier that covers core workout tracking. Advanced features including HRV readiness, training load, and recovery scoring are available on the premium plan.
Can Fitiv replace both my fitness app and WHOOP? For most athletes, yes. If your primary use of WHOOP is recovery scores and training load, Fitiv surfaces the same metrics on your Apple Watch. The only scenarios where WHOOP remains distinctly better are deep sleep analytics and screenless wearable preference.
How accurate is Apple Watch HRV compared to WHOOP? Both devices use photoplethysmography (PPG) for optical heart rate sensing. WHOOP's higher sampling rate gives it a theoretical edge in HRV precision, but multiple studies have shown Apple Watch overnight HRV measurements correlate strongly with medical-grade ECG-derived HRV in healthy adults. For training guidance purposes, both are valid.