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Ægir Iron vs Boostcamp
Both are free to use and both are popular with powerlifters, but they solve different problems. The clearest way to choose is to decide whether you want to run a well-known, ready-made program, or build and progress a plan from your own numbers and take it to a meet.
What Boostcamp does well
Boostcamp is best known for putting a library of proven, community-favorite programs behind a clean free app. Instead of copying a spreadsheet for 5/3/1, GZCLP, nSuns, PPL, or a classic 5x5, you pick the program, plug in your numbers, and Boostcamp handles the week-to-week logging and progression for you. It also has a custom workout builder, a plate calculator, progress charts, and an active community, and the core program library is free on iOS and Android, with premium coaching offered on top. If your goal is to run an established, battle-tested program without doing any of the setup yourself, Boostcamp does that very well.
Where Ægir Iron differs
The line between the two is run-a-template versus build-and-progress-your-own. Ægir Iron (also written Aegir Iron) is built for strength sport, so it starts from your training maxes rather than a fixed template. The guided Program Wizard writes a complete Cycle / Block / Week / Day plan for your discipline, experience, schedule, and equipment, with percentage loading priced live from your maxes, weak-lift emphasis, competition squat style, and a meet peak. Auto-progression then reads your logged AMRAP top sets, proposes a training-max bump each cycle, and reprices the whole plan in one tap, so the program keeps pace as you get stronger. On top of programming it adds the competition layer a program library does not: meet planning with warmup and attempt selection, and scoring across Wilks, DOTS, IPF GL, and Sinclair. It also reaches past powerlifting into Olympic weightlifting, strongman, and calisthenics, carries honest analytics (uncoupled ACWR with an EWMA companion, relative intensity zones, make rate from logged misses, and a recovery Body Map), and connects real coaches and athletes on a shared roster where the athletes train free. And if you do just want a proven template, Ægir Iron ships those too, including free 5/3/1 and 5x5 programs.
| Feature | Ægir Iron | Boostcamp |
|---|---|---|
| Core approach | Build your own plan, use templates, or a guided wizard priced from your maxes | Pick a proven program from a curated library |
| Percentage & training-max progression | Percentages resolve live from maxes; auto-progression from AMRAP reps | Handled per program's built-in rules |
| Meet planning & attempt selection | Powerlifting, weightlifting & strongman | Not a focus |
| Competition scoring | Wilks, DOTS, IPF GL, Sinclair | Not a focus |
| Sports covered | Powerlifting, weightlifting, strongman, calisthenics, more | Powerlifting & general strength programs |
| Load & intensity analytics | ACWR with EWMA companion, % of 1RM zones, make rate | Progress charts |
| Coach and athlete platform | Yes, athletes train free | Premium coaching add-on |
| Cost for individuals | Free, full platform | Free core library |
Pricing and features reflect public information at the time of writing and may change. Check each app for the latest.
Who should pick which
If you want to grab a famous program like 5/3/1 or nSuns and run it for free with the math handled, Boostcamp is a great choice and a genuinely good app. If you want a plan built from your own training maxes that auto-progresses, meet prep with real attempt selection and federation scoring, more than one strength sport, or a coach-and-athlete workflow where athletes train free, Ægir Iron is the better fit. A lot of lifters start on a fixed template and move to individualized programming once they are chasing a total, and that is exactly the line between these two.