18 Jul 2025
  

Our Guide on the Cost of Building a Fitness App Like Garmin Connect

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Anushka Das

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fitness app like Garmin Connect

As personal health is now an important factor, health and fitness businesses are shifting towards digital solutions as never before. Fitness apps such as Garmin Connect are revolutionizing how people monitor their health, providing everything from customized training plans to real-time tracking. This creates huge opportunities for businesses that want to break into the market.

However, the cost for fitness app development like Garmin Connect is expensive. On an average, building a fitness app like Garmin Connect typically costs around $30,000 and $300,000.

The cost varies based on factors such as the complexity of the application, its integration with wearables, features such as personalized coaching, and the security level required.

In this blog, we will look at the cost of building a fitness app like Garmin, the development process, monetization strategies, regular maintenance expenses, and various other factors.

What are the Health and Fitness Apps?

Smart Health & Fitness Apps

Fitness and health apps are technological solutions that help users manage their eating habits and exercise and enhance their overall health by encouraging healthier lifestyles. They inspire people to participate in exercise or sports programs, deal with eating disorders, and improve the quality of other areas related to their mental and physical well-being.

These apps are in demand as they help users develop healthy lifestyles. Since the COVID-19 outbreak, the demand for health and fitness app development has increased and is expected to grow. This is the right time if you’re considering making a workout application or a self-care tool.

Developing a Fitness App: Key Statistics and Market Share of the Fitness Industry

The fitness industry has been growing rapidly, and the statistics prove it will not stop soon.

Many people go to fitness centers, practice yoga, or consume healthier food every day. So, how can you set foot in this industry?

If you’re planning to build an app for the fitness industry, there are a few facts you should be aware of before making your app.

Many entrepreneurs have decided to create a fitness app to meet this sector’s needs. But how much will it cost to build an app? 

These numbers will help you understand what customers might seek in an app and what gadgets they use when working at home or in the gym.

  • Statista said the fitness apps market was projected at $4.6 billion in 2022. This implies plenty of room for new players to enter the market.
  • There are many reasons to build a fitness app in 2025. The fitness market is expanding rapidly and it will likely hit the $32.8 billion mark by the end 2025 with a CAGR of 2.5%.
  • Successful fitness apps, including Nike+ Run Club and Fitbit, have shown that the demand for fitness apps is high.
  • According to a survey report, the health and fitness clubs market is expected to reach 136.59 billion by 2028.
  • The industry is expected to grow annually at 7.61% from 2021 through 2028.

Types of Fitness Applications

Fitness Apps Like Garmin Connect

The most widely used kinds of fitness apps are:

1. Activity Tracking Apps

Activity tracking or full fitness apps such as Fitbit, Garmin, and Apple Health are invaluable for tracking and increasing physical exercise. They track a wide range of indicators, including:

Step Count

Measures the number of steps you take throughout the day.

Calorie Burn

Estimates what calories are burnt based on the intensity of your activity.

Distance traveled

Tracks the distance covered in runs, walks, or bicycles.

Sleep patterns

Analyzes sleeping quality and duration to improve overall health.

2. Workout and Training Apps

These types of fitness apps are designed to provide specific workout plans and instructions for exercises to help users in achieving the fitness objectives they have set. This category contains major brands like Nike Training Club, Peloton, and Sweat. This kind of fitness app development is focused on assisting applications to monitor a variety of metrics, such as:

Multifaceted Workout Library

This library offers a diverse variety of workouts, such as HIIT, yoga, strength training, and cardio.

Personalized Training Programs

Custom sets of workouts based on the individual’s needs and preferences.

Videos Tutorials

Offers instructions and videos to guarantee correct technique and form.

Progress tracking

Allows people to keep track of their advancement throughout time.

3. Nutrition and Diet Apps

Health and nutrition and fitness apps such as MyFitnessPal, Lose It, and Cronometer help users in achieving their goals by focusing on eating habits, a variety of features that support them as well as a custom-designed metrics tracking system such as:

Calorie Monitoring

Allows users to log their food intake and monitor their calorie intake.

Macro Tracking

Tracks macronutrients (proteins, fats, carbohydrates) to help you optimize your diet.

Meal planning

Provides customized meal plans based on your dietary preferences and goals.

Recipe Database

Offers an extensive collection of healthy recipes.

4. Yoga and Meditation Apps

Fitness does not only mean physical fitness. It also encompasses mental well-being. This type of fitness tracking application development is focused on helping by focusing on relaxation and mindfulness techniques. Calm and Headspace are among the top well-known names.

The most important features are:

Guided Meditation

These applications for fitness and health provide step-wise meditation exercises to help reduce stress and increase concentration.

Yoga classes

Various yoga styles are offered, from gentle to intense.

Breathing Exercises

Teaches breathing techniques to relax and relieve stress.

Sleep Programming

Provides methods and tools to improve the quality of sleep.

5. Personal Trainer Apps

Personal trainer apps are developed to connect users to virtual personal trainers who provide individualized coaching and support. The fitness apps in this category are Future and GymHero.

The most important features are:

Customized Workout Programs

Tailored workout routines are based on the fitness goals of the individual and personal preferences.

One-on-One Coaching

Provides personal guidance and assistance from certified trained trainers.

Video Consultations

Allows trainers to communicate directly with them to receive real-time feedback.

Progression Tracking

Monitors the progress of their plans and adapts them as required.

Also Read : Building a Personal Trainer in Your Pocket: Crafting an AI Fitness App Like Aaptiv

6. Mood Tracking Apps

An app for tracking fitness will also help users understand the connection between diet, physical activity, and emotional health.

Common characteristics include:

Journaling Moods

Allows people to keep track of their moods during the day and find patterns.

Strategies for Stress Management

Provides tools and techniques to help reduce anxiety and stress.

Sleep Tracking

Monitor their sleep patterns to determine if there are sleep disturbances.

Benefits of Fitness App Development

Fitness App Development

The cost of building a fitness app like Garmin may be expensive, but it has numerous benefits. It can help users become more active and improve their overall health.

A fitness app can save people time and money by providing exercise routines and tracking their progress. All you have to do is find an experienced fitness app development company. They will assist you in creating an interface that draws users and encourages them to meet your fitness objectives.

1. Personalization and Enhanced User Experience

Fitness apps are best when it comes to offering personalized health and fitness experience to users. They can adjust diets and workouts to meet the individual’s desires and needs. Imagine a fitness application that acts as an individual coach that you carry inside your pocket. 

If you’re just beginning your journey, this app could recommend simple, beginner-level exercises, gradually increasing their intensity as you become fitter. This individualized approach makes exercising more enjoyable and beneficial and encourages users to stay for the long haul.

2. Data-Driven Insights and Progress Tracking

One of the key benefits of fitness apps is that they can monitor everything from how many steps have been walked to the user’s heart rate during workouts. That information is not just numbers. It tells the story of that person’s fitness journey. 

It does give users the feeling of satisfaction to see how much their running performance has progressed over time. This encourages the individual and helps businesses customize their offering according to customer requirements.

3. Building Community and Social Connectivity

Fitness apps do more than provide simple exercises; they foster communities. Numerous of our apps construct virtual spaces for customers to bask of their triumphs, talk about stories, and share tips. 

It makes the fitness routine more fun, like having members who support you. This community aspect contributes to the application as a place users want to return to, increasing user engagement and loyalty.

4. Helping Businesses Reach New Customers in Different Ways

Geographical barriers collapse with fitness apps as companies tap into global customers. This has the potential to make an impact and go far. This way, small-scale businesses can gain customers worldwide and enhance the brand globally. It’s bringing a local fitness class and making it an international fitness community.

5. Increased Customer Loyalty and Retention

Fitness apps are all about engagement, and that’s how they thrive. We do this through interactive elements, such as reminder prompts that guide users in adhering to their fitness goals or acknowledging their accomplishments. Regular engagement creates relationships between the user and the app.

As a result, consumers are going to be more likely to stay and use their services going forward. Imagine having an encouraging coach as your guide and cheering every success that arises along your path.

6. Revenue Streams

Fitness apps offer numerous ways to generate revenue streams. Apart from offering subscription or digital downloads, there are also various other options such as selling premium features within your app or partnering with fitness brands for discounts or offering.

Fitness apps could offer premium programs with additional workouts or nutrition plans, and partner with beverage brands to offer discounts to their customers, both boosting revenues for all parties involved and creating potential revenue opportunities in themselves. 

Process of Developing a Health and Fitness App

Health & Fitness App Development Process

Though developing fitness and health apps may appear complex, but it doesn’t have to be. With proper strategy, knowledge, experience and top fitness app development services, you can build highly successful fitness and health apps which become hit among your customers. Here are a few factors you need to keep in mind when creating apps dedicated to fitness and health:

1. Research and Planning

To successfully develop an app, the initial step involves research of market and user needs. When studying potential users’ expectations and their requirements for an application, you can identify the optimal method to structure it and the features to add as well as selecting an appealing style for it.

2. Design

Once you’ve identified the features you want to add, you can begin to create the interface that users will use. It’s important to consider how users engage with the app and develop an outline of your user interface. You will also need wireframes and mockups to envision your design’s appearance.

3. Development

When you’ve completed your concept, you can begin programming. If you’re creating an app for a fitness or health program, ensuring that the application is secure and complies with industry standards is essential. At this point, you must hire a mobile app development company in USA, designers, and testers to ensure that your app meets the requirements and goals.

4. Testing

Like any other software development project, testing is the most critical aspect. Once you have developed your app, you’ll have to test it on various platforms and environments to ensure it runs efficiently. Furthermore, you’ll want to test the usability and performance.

5. Launch and Maintenance

Once testing is completed, you’ll be able to launch your application. Before launching the application, ensure that all issues and bugs are addressed and the user experience is optimized. In addition, you’ll have to establish an ongoing maintenance system to ensure that bug corrections accompany future updates.

Suppose you understand the procedure by following the steps described in the previous paragraphs. In that case, you can create a successful application for those looking for an easy method to monitor their fitness and health goals.

How Much Does It Cost to Build a Fitness App: A Detailed Cost Breakdown

The most straightforward answer is that no app has a standard price. The average cost of building a fitness app like Garmin ranges from $10,000 to $25,000. The cost depends on the features and the needs of your business.

1. Determine the App Scope

You must determine the size and features of your idea and the features you would like to add. This also involves the kind of target audience you intend to reach and the needs of that audience. You can begin looking for developers after you have a clear idea of your project.

2. Operating System

You can decide on the location to place your app based on the audience you want to reach. If you’re planning to develop an app specifically for Android, you can hire an experienced Android app development company.

3. App Development Team

When it comes to selecting the right development team, there are several choices. You could work with an agency, a freelancer, or an internal team. Each choice has its own set of pros and cons to take into consideration.

4. UI/UX Design

The intricate design of the app comes with lengthy development cycles that can increase the cost of building a fitness app like Garmin. Remember that users love an easy and user-friendly app design. They’re easy to design and simple to use.

cost to build your fitness app like Garmin Connect

Factors Affecting Fitness App Development Costs

There are various factors that affect the cost of building a fitness app like Garmin. Basically it all depends on your desired app type, features and your app development team’s location – here are just a few key aspects:

1. Features and Functionalities

As more features become important to users, their costs increase accordingly. Simple apps which monitor basic activities may cost less than those offering more sophisticated capabilities like personalized exercise plans, AI recommendations or social media sharing features that increase costs further. Some additional costs that could occur could include:

2. Platform Choice (iOS vs. Android vs. Cross-Platform)

The platform you select will affect the price. If you develop your application for only one device (iOS or Android), the app is cheaper than developing apps for all platforms. Cross-platform apps could save you money because they allow developers to create apps for iOS and Android simultaneously.

3. Design and User Interface (UI)

The application’s appearance, including its simplicity of use, is crucial. A well-designed app can encourage users to continue using it. However, designing an individual design that includes interactive features can take longer and cost more.

4. Development Team Location

The location of your development team will affect the price. If you employ an organization in North America or Western Europe, the costs will be more costly. However, teams from countries like Eastern Europe, India, or Southeast Asia can offer lower costs. However, when working with teams from different nations, it’s essential to be clear in communication and efficiently manage the project to get the best results.

5. Maintenance and Updates

After the app is launched, you must keep it up and running and update it frequently. This means fixing bugs, adding new features, and ensuring your app is compatible with the most recent software updates. The maintenance costs typically range from $5,000 to $15,000 per year.

Ways to Reduce the Cost of Fitness App Development

Fitness App Development Costs

So we have looked at the various factors that could affect the cost of building a fitness app like Garmin. It’s equally important to know how to cut down on that expense. We suggest following these tips.

1. Offshore the design

Engaging outsourced developers is a better option for financial viability for startup companies, particularly in regions like the US, UK, or other costly regions. Outsourcing to developers from countries such as Ukraine can allow you to create your app cheaply without sacrificing quality. For example, you must pay at least $100 per hour to hire a US developer, but only $50 per hour for outsourcing to a Ukrainian developer.

2. Validate your Concept

Do not build the app until you’ve established a market for it. Otherwise, you’ll have sunk considerable money but have no return to demonstrate the investment. We suggest conducting an extensive discovery phase to test the assumptions of your target users. Knowing what people want before the time you develop an app for fitness that is market fitness.

3. Create an MVP

Including every feature your competition has in your application is tempting. However, doing this will cause significant development costs for features you don’t require. Instead, you should concentrate on essential aspects by creating an MVP. An MVP is more geared to the needs of the user. In addition, you can save time, effort, and costs by bringing the app to the market.

4. Leverage Third-Party Resources

There is no need to design everything from scratch to create your fitness application. There are a variety of frameworks, libraries, plugins, and third-party services that you can use to speed up the development process. For instance, you can connect to PayPal or Stripe using the provided API. In this way, a healthcare app development company can focus its efforts on customer experience, business logic, and other factors to make their applications more enjoyable for users.

Cost of Fitness App Development

Final Thoughts

The need for fitness app development has significantly impacted many fields, including health tracking, improving performance in sports and workplace wellness programs, and recovering from injuries. If you’re looking to develop an app similar to the one developed by Garmin Connect, there are several ways to modify it to meet the specific requirements of various sectors.

By determining the purpose of your app, choosing the best features, and understanding how Garmin Connect makes money, you can create a fitness tracking app similar to Garmin Connect that keeps users engaged and generates income.

Although the cost of building a fitness app like Garmin Connect may be high, investing in it for providing a user-friendly experience is ultimately worth it. The development of a fitness tracking application similar to Garmin Connect is more than an engineering challenge; it’s a chance to build an app that inspires users, connects them, and encourages people around the world.

Turn your fitness app idea into reality with Techugo. Let’s build something amazing together! Get in touch today.

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