Comparison · July 2026
Blocksmith vs Formd
Where we agree
Formd and Blocksmith share a conviction most of the market doesn't: training should start from diagnosis. Formd predicts your finish time and benchmarks your weak stations, then trains toward them. Blocksmith reads your actual race— station by station, against your category — and pre-fills your next block's priorities from where you lost time. Different mechanics, same thesis: don't train the plan, train the gap. If you're comparing us two, you've already ruled out generic templates — good.
What Formd does well
Formd is a polished, well-reviewed iOS app (4.9★) with the best prediction hook in the category: tell it your numbers, it predicts your finish time and shows you which stations are costing you. The plans are personalised and race-date periodised, the mobile experience is genuinely good, and the annual price ($11.67/month effective) is aggressive. For an iPhone athlete who wants prediction-led training in their pocket, it's an easy product to like.
The two questions that separate us
First: how complete is a session?Formd's sessions are partially written — structure and targets, with room left for you to fill. Blocksmith writes every session in full: paces computed from your zones, sled loads, sets, reps, rest periods, and a coach note explaining why the session exists. Whether that matters depends on you — some athletes want a frame and their own judgment; some want Tuesday handed to them finished. We built for the second athlete.
Second: what happens after the plan is generated? This is where diagnosis-led products earn or lose the thesis. Diagnosing you once and handing you a plan is the first half of the loop. The second half:
Mid-block, the plan negotiates.Tell Blocksmith's refinement chat your knee's flared up or your Thursdays are gone, and it proposes a change to the block — you see exactly what changed before you accept it, and the change has to obey the same recovery and phasing rules as the original program. Not a settings toggle; a conversation with the thing that wrote your plan.
Between blocks, nothing resets.Your logged sessions, the loads you actually lifted, the stations you didn't fix — the next block starts from all of it. Diagnosis isn't a one-time intake question; it's re-run on what you actually did. As far as we can verify, no other product in the category carries training forward like this. It's the difference between being diagnosed once and being coached.
Underneath both halves sits an engine, not a paraphrased prompt — paces computed in code, phases enforced, invalid weeks rejected before you see them. Short version only; the free first block is the long version.
Honest comparison
| Feature | Formd | Blocksmith |
|---|---|---|
| Model | iOS app | Coaching intelligence |
| Price | $19.99/mo ($11.67 ann.) | $9.99/mo · $79.99/yr |
| Diagnosis | Finish-time prediction + station benchmarks | Race report from your actual results, free |
| Personalised, race-date plan | Yes | Yes |
| Sessions written in full | Partial | Yes — paces, loads, rest, coach notes |
| Mid-block changes | Regenerate within the app | Coach-style refinement: proposed changes, shown as a diff, rules enforced |
| Remembers your training across blocks | No | Yes — next block starts from your logs |
| Platform | iOS only | Web app; mobile on the roadmap |
| Free trial | — | First block free, no account required |
Two honest concessions in that table: Formd's native iOS experience beats our web app on the phone today, and prediction-before-you-race is a hook we don't offer — our diagnosis reads races you've already run.
Prices verified early July 2026; check current pricing before subscribing.
Who should choose which
Choose Formd if:you're iPhone-first, you want finish-time prediction before your race, and partially-written sessions suit how you train — you supply the judgment, it supplies the structure.
Choose Blocksmith if: you want every session arriving finished — your paces, your loads, your rest periods — a plan you can push back on mid-block, and a next block that starts from what you actually did. $9.99/month; less than one session with a HYROX coach.
FAQ
Is Formd good for HYROX training?
By its reviews, yes — 4.9★ on iOS, real personalisation, race-date periodisation, and the strongest prediction hook in the category. The open questions are the same for any AI training product: how complete are the sessions, and what happens after the plan is generated?
What's the actual difference between Blocksmith and Formd?
Both diagnose weaknesses and build personalised race-date plans. Blocksmith's differences: sessions written in full (paces, loads, rest, notes), mid-block changes negotiated through a refinement chat and shown as diffs, training history carried into the next block, and it runs on any device. Formd's edges: native iOS polish and pre-race finish-time prediction.
Is there an Android or web version of Formd?
Formd is iOS-only as of July 2026. Blocksmith is a web app — it runs on any phone, tablet, or laptop — with a mobile app on the roadmap.
Can I try Blocksmith before paying?
Yes — the first block is free, no account required, about three minutes from intake to a written block. And the race report is free permanently: enter your name, see where your race lost time, whatever app you end up training with.
See how all nine HYROX training apps compare → Best HYROX Training Apps in 2026