Athlytic vs Cortisol+: recovery app or stress app?

Should you use Athlytic or Cortisol+?

Choose Athlytic if you want to plan workouts around recovery and exertion. Choose Cortisol+ if your main question is how stress, sleep and HRV are trending, and you want to see the weights behind the score. Both read overnight HRV and resting heart rate from your Apple Watch. Neither measures cortisol.

Disclosure: Cortisol+ publishes this guide. We compared Athlytic’s App Store listing and website, checked October 20, 2026, with our own published methodology. We have not run a hands-on or clinical accuracy comparison.

What each app is built for

Athlytic is a training app. Its Recovery score turns overnight HRV and resting heart rate into one number measured against your baseline. On Apple Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4 it uses Apple’s new Recovery HRV. Around that it adds a 0–10 Exertion score with a daily target, detailed sleep metrics, training load, an “Athlytic Age”, and a Battery and Stress view showing when your heart rate ran above baseline.

Cortisol+ starts from stress, not training. Its 0–100 wellness score weights HRV and sleep at 20% each and resting heart rate at 18%. Breathing rate, activity, blood oxygen, VO2 max, walking heart rate and two recovery measures make up the rest. All of it is on our methodology page.

Question	Athlytic	Cortisol+
Primary question	Am I recovered enough to train hard today?	How are stress-related signals, sleep and recovery trending?
Core inputs	Overnight HRV and resting heart rate, plus sleep and workout data	HRV, sleep, resting heart rate, breathing rate, activity and five smaller factors
Stress view	Battery and Stress: heart rate above your baseline	The wellness score itself, with an input breakdown
Published weights	Inputs described; no formula published	All weights published
Platforms	iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch	iPhone, Apple Watch and Android
Measures cortisol?	No	No

Where Athlytic is strong

Athlytic is well established. Its recovery model dates back to 2017, and the app launched in 2021. It holds a 4.8 rating from more than 11,000 US App Store ratings (October 20, 2026). Its developer says it processes data on the device and needs no account, and its App Store privacy label reads “Data Not Collected”. It supports Family Sharing and publishes a clear 7-day free trial. If you train regularly and want guidance on when to push or rest, Athlytic is designed for that.

Where Cortisol+ differs

Athlytic treats stress as a secondary view on a training dashboard. Cortisol+ makes it the main subject. If you aren’t training for anything and mainly want to notice how sleep, workload and recovery affect you, a stress-first presentation may be easier to act on.

Seeing the formula lets you judge the score’s assumptions. It isn’t evidence that Cortisol+ is more accurate than Athlytic.

Cost and trials

Both apps are free to download with a paid subscription for analysis. Check current prices, trial eligibility and renewal terms in each app. Cortisol+ analysis requires a subscription or an eligible trial.

How to compare them yourself

1. Decide whether your question is about training or about stress.
2. Use both apps for the same week with the same Watch, worn to bed.
3. Compare morning readings in each app with the overnight HRV and resting heart rate in Apple Health.
4. Notice which app’s suggestions you’d actually follow.
5. Record observations in the free stress and sleep journal.

Related comparisons

See the Apple Watch stress app comparison, StressWatch vs Cortisol+, Bevel vs Cortisol+ and our list of Welltory alternatives. For HRV background, read what low HRV means.

Product screenshot with example readings. Your available inputs depend on Health permissions and recorded data.

View Cortisol+ on the App Store. Free to download; analysis requires a subscription or eligible trial.