The best marathon training apps, compared

What makes a good marathon training app

• Paces from your fitness today, updated as you get fitter.
• Sensible progression: gradual volume, recovery weeks and a real taper.
• A long run that fits your weekend, and a plan that adapts when the weekend doesn’t happen.
• Workouts on your watch, so you’re not doing arithmetic at kilometre 28.

Marathon training apps at a glance

What an 18-week marathon build costs

About four and a half months of training, at prices checked on 29 October 2026:

• Runna: 5 monthly payments of $19.99 = $99.95, or $119.99 for a year.
• MOTTIV Premium: 5 × $19.99 = $99.95, or $0 on the free plan without device sync.
• TextFit: 14 days free, then 4 monthly payments of $14.99 = $59.96, or $99.99 for a year.
• TrainingPeaks: $134.99 for a year of Premium, plus the plan you buy.
• Coopah: £9.99 a month on an annual subscription (UK pricing).
• Garmin Coach, Nike Run Club: $0.

The apps, one by one

Runna

The best-known running plan app and, for a pure runner, the most complete one here: plans from new-to-running to Elite ultras, live audio cues through your phone, its Apple Watch app, Garmin or Suunto, and a personalized strength plan. Apple Watch, Garmin, COROS, Fitbit and Suunto, on iPhone and Android. $19.99 a month or $119.99 a year after a 7-day trial. More options: Runna alternatives.

Garmin Coach

Free in Garmin Connect. Garmin Run Coach adapts workouts day to day from your performance and health metrics, or you follow a plan from Jeff Galloway, Greg McMillan or Amy Parkerson-Mitchell; select plans adjust when you miss a workout or sleep badly. Pick it if: you race with a Garmin. Runna vs Garmin Coach compares the two.

Nike Run Club

Free, with a 12-week marathon plan, half marathon plans and Audio Guided Runs, including sessions with Eliud Kipchoge, in the US, UK and seven other countries. Apple Watch app and Apple Health sync. Pick it if: it’s your first marathon and you like a coach’s voice.

MOTTIV

Marathon, half and ultra plans with guided strength and mobility and an explanation for every workout. Free for one race at a time without device connections; Premium ($19.99 a month or $179.99 a year) adds them. Pick it if: you want a structured plan with gym work on a budget.

Coopah

Adaptive plans with instant AI answers and human coaches, a weekly coach’s report and a Race Day Confidence Score; strength and conditioning in every plan. Garmin, Apple Watch, COROS and Strava. £9.99 a month on an annual subscription (UK site). Pick it if: you want to ask a person about pacing or fuelling.

TrainingPeaks plans

Marathon plans by individual coaches, priced separately from Premium ($134.99 a year); live coaching from $149 a month. Syncs to Garmin, Apple Watch, Wahoo and Zwift. Pick it if: you know which coach’s method you want.

TextFit

Our app. It plans your marathon block around your race date, target time, running days and current fitness in your own words (“half in 1:52, 4 runs a week”), and keeps the next 7 days on your Garmin or Apple Watch with your paces. Pick it if: your block also has rides, swims or gym sessions.

• One plan for everything you train: rides and gym sessions count toward the same limit of two hard days a week.
• Rules you can read: about 80% easy, volume up by no more than 10% a week, a recovery week every 4th week, base to taper.
• Auto-push and Undo: the watch follows every change, and “I missed this week with a cold” rebuilds the coming days.

The AI running coach page shows an example half marathon week. Before your build, the marathon interval training guide and the marathon pace intervals workout cover the key sessions, and the race time predictor turns a recent result into a realistic goal.

Prefer a plan on paper? The 16-week marathon training plan and the 12-week half marathon training plan lay out every run, week by week, and print cleanly.

FAQ

What is the best marathon training app?

Runna for a polished running app with audio cues, Garmin Coach for free on a Garmin, Nike Run Club for free audio-guided runs, Coopah for human coaches, and TextFit for a plan that also covers cycling, swimming and strength on Garmin or Apple Watch.

Is there a free marathon training app?

Yes. Garmin Coach (on Garmin devices) and Nike Run Club are free. MOTTIV has a free plan for one race at a time without device connections. TextFit has a 14-day free trial, then costs $14.99 a month or $99.99 a year.

Are the same apps good for a half marathon?

Yes. Runna, Garmin Coach, Nike Run Club and MOTTIV list half marathon plans, and TextFit plans for any race date and target time. Look for the same things: paces from your current fitness, recovery weeks and a taper.

How long should a marathon training plan be?

Most plans run 12 to 20 weeks. Nike Run Club’s marathon plan is 12 weeks. A longer plan suits a first marathon or a low starting mileage, because weekly volume should rise slowly; TextFit, for example, caps the weekly increase at 10% and drops volume by 30–40% every 4th week.

Which marathon app gives audio cues during long runs?

Runna gives live audio cues on running workouts through your phone, its Apple Watch app, Garmin or Suunto. Nike Run Club has audio Guided Runs.

Can a marathon app adjust the plan when I miss a week?

Several can. Select Garmin Coach plans adjust when you miss a workout or sleep poorly, and Coopah lets you reschedule sessions. In TextFit you tell the coach what happened and it changes the coming days, with Undo on each change.

Sources

Prices checked on 2026-10-29 (US prices unless noted; they vary by country and change). Where we write “not listed”, the feature wasn’t on the pages below that day, which doesn’t prove the app lacks it. Spotted something out of date? Email support@textfit.app.

• Runna: Runna pricing, Runna homepage FAQ (devices, strength, support), Runna help: audio cues, Runna on the App Store, Strava pricing (Strava + Runna plan)
• Garmin Coach: Garmin Coach overview, Garmin Coach running plans, Garmin Coach triathlon plan
• Nike Run Club: Nike Run Club on the App Store, Nike Run Club app page
• MOTTIV: MOTTIV pricing, MOTTIV homepage
• Coopah: Coopah homepage, Coopah on the App Store
• TrainingPeaks: TrainingPeaks pricing for athletes, TrainingPeaks help: structured workout sync, Garmin newsroom: Garmin acquires TrainingPeaks

More comparisons

• Runna alternatives: Six options instead of Runna, free and paid: Garmin Coach, Nike Run Club, MOTTIV, Coopah, TrainingPeaks and TextFit.
• Runna vs Garmin Coach: A paid coach-designed running plan against a free plan built into Garmin Connect, plus a multisport third option.
• Triathlon training apps: TriDot, HumanGO, Athletica, AI Endurance, MOTTIV, TrainerRoad, Garmin Coach, TrainingPeaks and TextFit for swim, bike and run.