The news: The health and fitness app industry is quickly migrating from the gym floor to the smartphone screen. Nearly a third (31.7%) of revenues generated by the health and fitness industry came from apps in 2025, a record-high share, per Business of Apps.

Health and wellness apps hit record-high revenues, bringing in $5.98 billion in 2025, a 17.7% YoY increase. Meanwhile, overall industry revenues grew just 2.8% YoY as hardware sales stalled. Customers are holding onto fitness devices longer and turning to cheaper brands from China and India.

Zooming in: The health and fitness app sector is evolving into a mature, subscription-driven economy mirroring streaming video’s success. For brands, this underscores how devices like fitness wearables and connected gym equipment are the gateway, but the recurring service subscription is the endgame. 

• Consistent subscription income ensures financial viability, allowing apps to fund continuous updates and improvements rather than chasing one-time hits. 
• Peloton’s 2025 financial filings show its services segment brought in more than double its hardware revenues, proving fresh content drops outlast equipment lifecycles. 
• Smart ring maker Oura told investors that roughly 20% of its revenues are from monthly subscriptions. Those subscriptions build retention by locking users into exclusive features and personalized insights.

Implications for brands: Marketers should design experiences that live inside these subscription ecosystems. Cross-promotions and brand sponsorships can help retain captive audiences. 

One example is the Hilton–Calm partnership, where Calm’s meditation and sleep content is embedded directly inside Hilton’s Connected Room TV experience. Their strategy was to integrate into users’ daily routines rather than interrupt them.

Unlike physical equipment that depreciates, fitness apps improve with scale. Apps like MyFitnessPal and Strava leverage millions of user inputs to refine their AI coaching algorithms and hyper-personalize recommendations. 

As hardware sales stall, the sense of belonging is shifting to digital spaces. Apps are no longer just trackers but social ecosystems featuring live classes, competitive leaderboards, and community challenges. This creates a competitive moat where the service actually becomes smarter and more valuable the longer a user stays subscribed, making churn less likely.

This content is part of EMARKETER’s subscription Briefings, where we pair daily updates with data and analysis from forecasts and research reports. Our Briefings prepare you to start your day informed, to provide critical insights in an important meeting, and to understand the context of what’s happening in your industry. Non-clients can click here to get a demo of our full platform and coverage.