10 Best Heart Rate Monitor Apps I've Tested | Free & Paid Picks

I remember the first time I used Instant Heart Rate; I was genuinely surprised by how quickly I could get a reading – literally within seconds! This "best heart rate monitor app" on my phone eliminated the need for any bulky external devices, proving incredibly useful for quick checks post-workout or just to see my resting heart rate. With over 35 million users globally, it’s clearly a go-to for many.The app uses your phone's camera flash to pick up tiny color changes in your fingertip and shows you a PPG graph - basically the same thing those finger clip monitors at the doctor's office do. It's actually legit too, not just some random app. They've used it for heart studies at UCSF.

You can do more than just check your pulse. It tracks stress, has this workout zone calculator thing, and if you make an account you can export your data to Apple Health. Pretty useful for keeping tabs on your body without buying extra gadgets.

When I first tried Heart Rate Monitor - Pulse App, I wasn't just looking for something that counts beats per minute. I wanted something that actually gave me useful health info. They market it as a free app for Android and iPhone, but honestly, you'll need to pay for most of the good stuff and to get rid of ads. Still, the basic version works fine to start with. The way it works is pretty simple - it uses your phone's camera and flash to read your pulse, and you can actually see your pulse wave on the screen while it's measuring.

The app does more than just count heartbeats though. You can track other stuff like blood pressure and blood sugar levels, which puts it up there with the best fitness apps for keeping tabs on your health. I actually learned quite a bit from the health articles they include - didn't expect that, but they explain how different things affect your heart in ways that make sense. They've also got stress and anxiety tracking, which is useful if you're trying to keep an eye on your overall health. Just remember it's using your phone camera to do all this, so don't treat it like actual medical advice.

From the momentI first opened Welltory, I could tell it wasn't like other ad-free health apps I'd tried. Most of them just track basic stuff and call it a day. But Welltory focuses on something called Heart Rate Variability (HRV) - apparently there's like 20,000 studies about it on PubMed. It doesn't just count your heartbeats; it looks at the tiny time differences between them to figure out how your nervous system is doing. I remember checking it after a rough day at work and seeing my "Battery" was basically dead and my "Pressure" was through the roof. That's when I knew I needed to just crash on the couch instead of hitting the gym.

Welltory basically connects with pretty much everything - Apple Watch, Garmin, Oura Ring, you name it. It pulls all your health data together and uses AI to give you daily tips, like when to do breathing exercises or whether you should take it easy based on how recovered you are. They have this "Sleep Flow" thing with stories that match your heartbeat, which actually works better than I expected for falling asleep. It shows you how your daily habits affect your energy and mood, which is useful if you're trying to figure out what's actually working for you.

I remember being skeptical about a phone camera measuring heart rate, but Heart Rate Plus genuinely impressed me with its speed and ease of use. It's truly the best app, making it widely accessible, though some advanced features like PDF export and data backup are premium, indicating in-app purchases are present. This app shines by transforming your smartphone into a surprisingly capable pulse oximeter-like device. You just put your finger on the back camera of your phone, and the app picks up tiny color changes in your fingertip from blood flowing through it. Then it uses some algorithms to figure out your heart rate in a few seconds.

What's really useful is seeing the actual pulse waveform graph in real-time - you can literally watch your heartbeat on the screen, so you know the reading is legit. Being able to save all your results and tag them makes it easy to track what's going on over time. While it's not a medical device and shouldn't replace professional medical advice, for everyday fitness and wellness monitoring, it’s highly effective. It’s a great addition to your collection of best wearable apps, especially if you're looking for quick, on-the-go pulse checks.

As someone who relies on a fitness tracker, I've found VeryFitPro to be a staple for managing my daily health data, particularly when paired with a compatible smart band. While it doesn't explicitly claim to be one of the AI-powered healthcare apps, its ability to compile and present various health metrics does offer a level of intelligent analysis for users. The app basically syncs with your wearable to track workouts, sleep, and heart rate. I actually find the sleep tracking pretty useful - it shows you deep vs light sleep, which made me realize I wasn't getting enough quality rest.

It does more than just the basics though. VeryFitPro tracks calories, monitors your walks and runs, and has this smart alarm thing. I switched to using the vibration alarm on my band instead of my phone alarm - way less annoying to wake up to. The app syncs with Apple Health on iOS, so all your data ends up in one place, which is convenient. One thing to note - since it's always running in the background for notifications and real-time tracking, it does drain your battery faster. But honestly, having everything in one app makes it worth dealing with the battery drain.

When I first tried FITIV Pulse on my Apple Watch, I could tell it was made for people who actually care about their workouts, not just casual users. Sure, it's a free heart rate monitor app, but it does way more than just show you a number. It uses AI to break down what your body's actually doing during and after exercise.

The app tracks stuff like training readiness, strain score, and recovery score - basically telling you when to push harder and when to chill out. After I do a HIIT workout, I can see my strain score shoot up and my recovery score drop. That's my cue to take it easy the next day instead of forcing another intense session. It's pretty straightforward once you get used to checking these numbers regularly.

FITIV Pulse excels in its integration capabilities, connecting with an impressive array of over 100 different devices and apps, including popular choices like MyFitnessPal as one of the top calorie-tracking apps. So basically, everything gets tracked in one place - your sleep, heart rate zones, running power, all of it shows up on one dashboard that's pretty straightforward to use. The live coaching thing is actually useful when I'm running since it tells me if I need to speed up or slow down to stay in the right heart rate zone. You can track pretty much any activity you can think of, and if you're into running, it breaks down stuff like your stride length and how much you bounce when you run. FITIV Pulse just gives you the data you need without making it complicated.

I've been using Cardiogram for a while now and it's pretty useful. It works with most smartwatches and shows your heart rate minute by minute throughout the day. You can see exactly what happened during that stressful meeting or how your heart rate changed while sleeping. The symptom tracking is actually helpful - you can log whatever you're feeling and it timestamps everything. So if you felt dizzy at 2pm, you can see what your heart was doing then. It connects to Apple Health too, so all your ECG and blood pressure readings are in one place. Makes it easier when you need to show your doctor what's been going on instead of trying to remember everything.

The app gives you these weekly risk scores for stuff like high blood pressure, sleep apnea, and diabetes using their AI system. It basically shows how your daily habits might mess with your health down the road - something you won't get from best nutrition apps. Yeah, you have to pay after the 30-day trial, but they actually keep your data secure with proper encryption and don't sell it to anyone. If you're serious about tracking your health, it's probably worth the money.

When I first heard about Kardia, what caught my attention was that it's not just another app - you actually need to buy their KardiaMobile device to use it. This is different from most apps that just use your phone's camera. The thing is, because you're using actual hardware, you're getting a real EKG reading, not just a pulse check. It's measuring the electrical signals from your heart, which is way more accurate than what you'd get from a typical best heart rate app for iPhone and Android. A friend of mine actually started using it after having some weird heartbeats. Their doctor suggested it, and the device managed to catch an irregular rhythm that was happening on and off. Without it, they probably would've missed getting diagnosed when they did.

The app is pretty straightforward to use. You just put your fingers on the Kardia device and wait 30 seconds, then it tells you if your heart rhythm is normal or if something's off. You can send these EKG recordings straight to your doctor, which is useful when you're feeling weird symptoms and want to show them actual data instead of trying to describe it. It also connects with Apple Health so all your health stuff is in one place.

PulsePoint Respond is different from your typical free app to check heart rhythm. It's not about monitoring your own heart - it's about potentially saving someone else's. The app basically alerts you when someone nearby is having a cardiac arrest and needs CPR. Your phone buzzes, shows you where they are, and even tells you where the closest AED is located. I find this pretty useful because those first few minutes really matter when someone's heart stops. The whole point is getting help to someone faster than waiting for an ambulance to show up.

PulsePoint Respond connects directly to 911 systems, so it gets emergency dispatch info in real-time for areas where it's set up. You can get alerts for more than just cardiac emergencies - it'll notify you about wildfires, floods, and utility problems in your area too. One thing I noticed is you can actually listen to live dispatch radio for most connected communities, which gives you a pretty direct look at what's happening with local emergency services. The app is FirstNet Certified, which basically means it's been through serious security and performance testing. The GPS runs constantly so it does drain your battery, but honestly, if it means potentially helping save someone or knowing about emergencies nearby, that seems like a fair trade-off.

As someone who understands the complexities of managing chronic health conditions, I can see how Cormeum stands out as an invaluable tool for heart failure patients. This isn't like intermittent fasting apps or general fitness trackers; it's a specialized companion meticulously designed to help individuals with heart failure monitor crucial metrics that directly impact their condition. The app lets you log your meals and it figures out the sodium, carbs, calories, and fluids for you, which is pretty useful if you're watching what you eat. People say it helps to see their numbers over days, weeks, or months - gives them a better handle on their health.

Besides tracking what you eat, Cormeum lets you monitor your weight, which is important for catching fluid retention if you have heart failure. It also reminds you to take your meds on time – basic but really helpful for actually remembering to take them. The best part about Cormeum is how easy it makes sharing info with your doctor. You just spend a few minutes twice a day logging your blood pressure, symptoms, and other stuff through their daily checklists, then send all that data straight to your healthcare provider.

 This empowers both you and your doctor to collaboratively establish and maintain an effective care plan, leading to better management of your heart failure. While it's not a heart rate mobile app in the traditional sense, its holistic approach to heart failure management is highly commendable and a testament to how mobile technology can genuinely improve patient outcomes.