A pick of the best stretching apps in 2025 can take you from sore to shining in just a few sessions. Whether you're a stretching pro looking for a new way to practice flexibility or just want to touch your toes, we have a platform for you.
Most people don't stretch nearly enough - and I include myself in this group. I often struggle to set aside the time. Not knowing what your body needs to alleviate a particular ache is another common issue.
However, from reducing the risk of injury after exercise to making daily movement easier on the joints, stretching can offer endless benefits if you can settle into a good routine. Just like the best workout apps can help you figure out what exercise works for you and the best yoga and Pilates apps lead you on the mat, the best stretching apps can support you in building a stretching habit from scratch.
1. Best overall: Bend
2. Best for yoga and stretching: Down Dog
3. Best app for pros: Pliability
4. Best for beginners: Start Stretching
5. Best for daily movement: Stretch Club
6. Best personalised: Stretch It
7. Best free app: GoWOD
8. Best for video: Glo
9. Best premium app: Fiit
Best stretching apps 2025
The best stretching app overall
Regardless of your stretching goals this year, Bend has you covered. I've loved using this app over the past year for post-exercise cool-downs and stretching out after spending the day at my desk, with each illustrated, timed video easy to follow.
Bend helps you create a stretching routine that fits within your lifestyle, sending you reminders every day at your chosen time with exercises catered to your experience (beginner, intermediate or pro), your focus (whether that's full body or one specific problem area, like the hips), and based on your goals (to increase mobility, reduce stress, and so on). Along with classic pre- and post-workout stretching sessions, you'll see routines to build your strength and posture for the better. There are even office-based stretching routines to help ditch tech neck without standing up.
Above all though, my favourite thing about Bend is how easy the routines are to follow. Each has detailed instructions, as well as an illustrated figure to follow along with, and a timer to see you through the five- or ten-minute session. However, it's worth considering that the sessions are without audio guidance, which could be a deal breaker if you prefer to listen rather than watch.
The best stretching app for videos
Want to follow along with live stretching and mobility exercises? Glo is the premium app to have. The homepage layout is simple and easy to navigate, so you can opt into the live classes you want to join with the touch of a button on your smartphone. I've enjoyed having these scheduled into my day, rather than opting in and out of an app when I've felt like it, and having a place in a class with an instructor, just as you would in 'real life' has offered more accountability.
The classes aren't restricted to your smartphone either. Unlike many apps on this list, you can stream the classes from a smart television - provided you have a Roku, Apple TV, or Amazon Firestick.
Along with live classes - made up of 20- to 30-minute flows, each with a different focus - Glo offers collections of stretching routines you can do any time. My favourite is the Sleep On It collection, featuring breathwork, stretching, and yoga routines to help you get ready for bed and boost your sleep hygiene. The beginner- and holiday-friendly collections are also among my top picks.
Glo is significantly more expensive than other paid apps on this list, working out at $244.99 per year (about £196.75 at the time of writing). It's a big investment. However, if that's within your budget and you're looking to follow along with live stretching, yoga, and Pilates classes at home, this is my top choice.
The best stretching and yoga app
Down Dog is one of our best yoga apps - and for good reason. No two Down Dog routines are the same, which is something I love about the app. There are over 60,000 different configurations and each yoga-based stretching session will be catered to your chosen practice, experience, and pace with your chosen instructor and music genre. So whether you do yoga every day or you're looking for the best yoga stretches for beginners, you're sorted. What's more, the Boost feature allows you to choose an area of the body that needs a little more attention and in response Down Dog creates a practice that ensures this focus is well stretched by the end of your routine.
When I first used this app, I added a 'Boost' of neck stretches and I loved how it was seamlessly incorporated into the rest of my yoga routine. For yogis who want to improve their mobility and flexibility or those who want a yoga-focused warm-up pre-workout, this 2-in-1 app is all you need. The only downside is you can't access the other Down Dog routines (such as HIIT, barre, or prenatal yoga) via the app. For each workout type, you'll need to download the individual apps.
While you do need to subscribe to Down Dog to get the most out of the app, you can do most of the routines without paying, and it's considerably cheaper than Glo, for example. Within the same subscription, you can access other apps in the Down Dog family, including those offering HIIT, Pilates, and meditation routines.
The best stretching app for pros
Designed for athletes (both the weekend warrior and daily runner), Pliability has a huge library of on-demand stretching videos, and new videos are uploaded every day. Each one focuses on a different movement or goal, so if you love the idea of Bend but want more video-led content, Pilability could be for you. It's also relatively similar to Glo - but slightly cheaper, and focused on stretching rather than yoga and Pilates.
Pliability explores how stretching supports both the body and mind, making it one of the best strength training apps overall too. Using it over the past year, I've found it helps improve mobility by encouraging a daily schedule - rather than a habit of dropping in and out. It also focuses on mindfulness, breathwork, and promoting feelings of calm where other apps don't.
Although some sessions require foam rollers, massage balls, or a set of the best resistance bands, there are plenty of equipment-free routines to get started with. This app is best suited to those already comfortable with stretching and anyone looking to change their irregular routine.
The best stretching app for beginners
If you're not quite ready for equipment-based stretching routines as featured in Pilability or Glo's premium offering, try Start Stretching. It's a must-try for those who want to improve mobility and boost flexibility without complicated routines, new equipment, or any subscription plan.
Compared to the likes of Bend, it's very basic in its format with simple illustrations and app navigation. When using it, I was drawn more to this one for morning stretching routines as it's so easy to use and doesn't challenge the eyes too early in the day.
Start Stretching features easy-to-do movements with descriptions and graphics to illustrate, but no audio. While I like the graphics, if you prefer video demos or real people showing you how to do each movement, this one might not be for you. I'd recommend you try another one of the best stretching apps, like GoWOD, instead.
While the app is free to download, it only features nine stretches. The Premium version only offers to update the illustrations. This makes it feel quite repetitive after some use, but it's perfect for learning the basics.
The best stretching app for daily movement
If you're someone who spends most of their day sitting down at a desk, Stretch Club could be the pick of the best stretching apps for you. Of all the programs available on the app, of which there are many, I found the most unique ones were those that focused on realigning posture and issues relating to desk work. While this is similar to Bend in many ways, there is more focus on this here.
Accompanying these desk-based stretching routines were other useful programs in the same format - such as Full Body, Sleep, Expert, Quick Stretch, and Lengthen. Plus, there are plenty of stretching for runners' sessions. Also on the homepage, you'll find programs to target specific areas of the body such as lower back and hip stretching routines, which is ideal if you're looking to strengthen a particular area.
If you're looking for a stretching app that works as one of the best habit tracker apps, Stretch Club may also be for you. As well as jumping into different stretching programs as you like, you can create a personalised routine through the app. You'll need the PRO membership to do this but it's well worth it, in my opinion, if you want to make stretching a good habit. When you start to build consistency, you'll then be able to see your progress on the weekly and monthly analytics pages.
The best personalised stretching app
To get started with StretchIt, I answered a series of questions based on my experience, mobility, lifestyle and stretching goals to generate a personalised program. This was my favourite thing about this app that isn't offered by many of the others on our list, making StretchIt one of the best health apps to try as well. If you have particular stretching needs, such as pain relief, then this could be the app for you.
Thanks to the seven-day free trial, you can explore everything StretchIt has to offer and your program before committing to a subscription. However, it's worth noting that even at sign-up you need to input your contact details and payment information.
I liked that I could track my stretching workouts and progress in the app, much like Stretch Club, and even upload progress photos as I took on different challenges. Plus, having an instructor talk through each move kept me on track. As well as accessing my personalised program, I appreciated that I could watch other sessions, for example, on days when my shoulders felt tense and needed extra support.
The only downside for me was that there weren't as many classes available to watch on StretchIT as there are with some of the other apps on our list. But, that being said, if you're new to stretching or currently doing yoga for beginners then this might be all that you need.
The best free stretching app
GoWOD was designed by CrossFit athletes and health experts to help people get the most out of their mobility before and after sessions. As such, you can take mobility tests and access more than 240 stretching videos completely for free. However, it's accessible for anyone working out regularly to use, not just CrossFit athletes.
This app focuses on long-term goals with an overview of your data, so you can track your stats and progress as you go, much like Stretch Club. There are three types of personalised programs on offer, including Daily, Pre-WOD and Post-WOD, and you can tailor them depending on whether you're stretching in the gym or at home. If you're not a CrossFit athlete, it may be helpful to know that 'WOD' stands of Workout Of The Day while using this app.
This is a brilliant app for free stretching routines led by expert coaches. If you're ready to take it up a notch after exploring the free programs on offer, GoWOD Premium will grant you access to a full mobility program tailored to you, taking into account your lifestyle, training needs, training prep and recovery.
The best premium stretching app
Fiit is perhaps known as one of the top workout apps with its professionally produced classes and range of celebrity trainers. However, it also offers stretching routines for those interested in paying for a premium app and getting state-of-the-art features. It's similar to Glo in many ways, but slightly cheaper and with more of a fitness focus, rather than yoga and Pilates.
Signing up for this app will cost you upward of £7.99 per month for the Essential package, or Unlimited starts at £19.99. With this cost though comes an almost limitless number of classes, including everything from classic strength training workouts to be done at home to treadmill workouts you can take into the gym with you. Naturally, yoga, Metcon workouts, and Pilates feature heavily too. Within the stretching categories, you'll find practices designed for a pre-or post-workout flow, such as yoga for runners, mobility drills, full-body stretches, and functional movement patterns.
While Fiit is undoubtedly the go-to home workout app if your goal is to simply stretch and get flexible, try one of the other best stretching apps. The cost of Fiit, plus the almost limitless number of classes available, means it's much better suited to those who want a multi-functional app - an app that offers a bit of everything from the comfort of your living room.
Is 20 minutes of stretching a day enough?
Yes, if you live a sedentary life then stretching for 20 minutes a day could be a great way to bring movement and balance back into your daily routine, explains yoga practitioner Maud Eeckman. "However, if you're hyper-mobile, 20 minutes of stretching could aggravate and cause instability in the body," she warns. "In those circumstances, strengthening exercises would be better."
Yoga teacher Georgie Davies agrees. "I would say the most important thing is to move your body every day, whether that be through stretching, yoga, running, swimming as a workout, or other forms of exercise. It's having a variety of movements that's important," she tells woman&home. "If you're taking part in a lot of cardio or strength training without stretching, I would recommend building this into your routine so your body has a combination of strength and mobility."
What happens to your body when you start stretching?
If you've just started mobility work, you should start to see some physical and mental changes occur pretty quickly, our experts agree. "Stretching helps to create flexibility in the body and so helps to increase mobility within the joints," says Davies, who is also the founder of Yogipod. "The phrase 'use it or lose it' is also totally applicable to stretching, muscle health, and mobility, so the more we use our bodies the stronger they become. If you start stretching every day then it's likely you'll notice more range of motion, less muscular aches after exercise, and when combined with strength training as well, a reduced risk of injury."
Although, stretching is about more than just improved mobility. It's about finding the balance of mind as well. As Eeckman explains, "It can help the body begin to release stored emotions. These are the emotions stored under the fascia, a connective tissue which surrounds all the muscles in your body. With a consistent stretching routine people can expect to feel less stiff, feel calmer, and have a better ability to respond to situations rather than react to them."
