Read this first
We make one of the apps on this list. That is a conflict of interest, so here is how we have handled it.
Lucy is not first. It is not described as the best. In three of the five categories below, another app is the answer and we say so. If you want the largest library, the broadest free tier, an Android build or an instructor, Lucy is the wrong download and this page will tell you that.
Treat the sections about other apps as a starting point for your own check rather than as a verdict from a neutral party, because we are not one.
The five, compared
| App | Format | Session length | Platform | Free | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bend | Illustrated, timed, with a builder | Varies | iPhone, Android | Free tier plus premium | Most people, most of the time |
| STRETCHIT | Instructor-led video classes | 5 to 45 min | iPhone, Android | Trial only | Splits and deep flexibility |
| Pliability | Video library, added daily | Varies | iPhone, Android | Trial only | Athletes and CrossFit |
| GOWOD | Assessment-driven mobility | Varies | iPhone, Android | Limited | Programmed mobility for training |
| Lucy | Illustrated, timed, capped | 4 to 6 min | iPhone only | 1 routine, complete, forever | Short sessions, no streak |
Best overall for most people: Bend
If someone asks for one recommendation with no further detail, this is it.
Bend has a large illustrated library, a routine builder, a progress dashboard, an Android build and a genuine free tier. It is the most complete general-purpose answer in the category, and the lowest-risk thing to try because you can use a meaningful amount of it without paying.
What it is not: short by default, and it keeps a streak. Both are features for most people and the reason a minority leave.
Best for a flexibility goal: STRETCHIT
Instructor-led video classes, more than a hundred hours of instruction, new classes weekly, sessions from five to forty-five minutes. Built for people working towards splits, backbends and a real home practice.
A teacher demonstrating an unfamiliar movement is hard to replace with an illustration, and this is the app that gives you one. No ongoing free tier, just a trial.
Best for athletes: Pliability, or GOWOD
Pliability, formerly ROMWOD, is more than 1,500 videos with new sessions daily, plus mobility tests and plans built from them. Deep library, athlete-oriented.
GOWOD approaches the same market from the assessment end: it profiles your restrictions and programmes to them.
Either is a better fit than anything else here if mobility work exists to support your training. Both have Android builds.
Best for short sessions and no streak: Lucy
Ours, so discount accordingly.
Sixteen routines, fifty-nine stretches, and nothing in the app runs longer than six minutes. Three routines work standing in about a square metre with no mat. No account at all, and it works fully offline.
The distinguishing decision is the absence of a streak. The progress screen counts the days you completed a routine and does not count the days you did not. If a broken streak is historically the point at which you delete a fitness app, that is the specific problem it is built around.
The six-minute cap has evidence behind it as well as a philosophy. A 2025 meta-analysis in Sports Medicine, pooling 189 studies and 6,654 adults, found session gains flattening at roughly four minutes per muscle group and weekly gains flattening at about ten minutes per muscle group, with no advantage to any particular distribution across sessions.
Where it loses: smallest library here by a wide margin, iPhone only, no Android build, one free routine rather than a broad free tier, no instructor, no video, no assessment, no cross-device sync. Every other app on this list beats it on content.
What Lucy is and what it is not is the longer version of that.
How to actually choose
Pick by the reason you stopped last time, not by the feature list.
| Why you stopped | What to try |
|---|---|
| Ran out of routines, got bored | Bend, Pliability |
| Did not know if you were doing it right | STRETCHIT |
| Sessions were too long for a weekday | Lucy, or Bend's shorter routines |
| Broke a streak and never came back | Lucy |
| You are on Android | Bend, STRETCHIT, Pliability, GOWOD |
| Paid for it and did not open it | Bend's free tier, or Lucy's free routine |
| Stopped training, app stopped making sense | Lucy |
What none of them does
All five are general fitness and wellness products. None provides medical advice, diagnosis or treatment, and none is adapted to a specific injury or diagnosis. An in-app mobility assessment is not a clinical assessment.
None of them should be read as promising a result. Bodies differ, and so do results. If you are stretching around an injury, a pregnancy or a diagnosed condition, a physiotherapist or doctor is the right first stop whichever app you pick. Our fitness and safety note sets out Lucy's position.
FAQ
What is the best stretching app?
There is no single answer, and anyone giving you one is selling something. Bend is the best general-purpose pick, STRETCHIT the best for instruction and goals, Pliability and GOWOD the best for athletes, and Lucy the best for very short sessions with no streak.
What is the best free stretching app?
Bend has the broadest ongoing free tier in the category. Most others, including Lucy, are free to download with limited free content: Lucy gives you one complete routine of sixteen, forever, with no account.
Which stretching app is best for beginners?
STRETCHIT if your obstacle is not knowing what to do, because it gives you an instructor. Lucy or Bend if your obstacle is time. Library size matters least at the start, since nobody runs out of stretches in week one.
Which stretching app has the shortest routines?
Lucy, which caps everything at six minutes. Bend also has short routines alongside longer ones.
Are there good stretching apps without subscriptions?
Not really, in this category. All five here are free to download with paid tiers, and none offers a one-off purchase. Bend's free tier is the most usable without paying.
Which stretching apps work on Android?
Bend, STRETCHIT, Pliability and GOWOD all have Android builds. Lucy does not, and there is none in progress.
Which stretching app works offline?
Lucy works fully offline and needs no account. The video-based apps generally need a connection, which matters if you stretch while travelling.