We checked 20 heel pain and plantar fasciitis apps: what they promise and who is behind them

What did we check?

Key findingThe 2023 heel pain guideline grades plantar fascia and calf stretching A and strength training B (Koc and colleagues, 2023).

For each app we read its App Store and Google Play listing and the website it links to, and checked the same things for every app:

• Does it mention the three home exercises the 2023 guideline supports: a plantar fascia stretch, a calf stretch and strengthening?
• Does the plan adapt to you, for example to your pain or progress?
• Is a clinician behind it: one you can talk to, or one who made the program?
• Does it cite studies, a guideline or trials of the app?
• Does it promise to end the pain, or call itself proven without a citation?
• Does it say when to see a clinician?

Koc TA Jr, Bise CG, Neville C, et al. Heel Pain - Plantar Fasciitis: Revision 2023. Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy. 2023;53(12):CPG1–CPG39.

What did the 19 apps promise?

Key finding9 of 19 heel pain apps promise to end the pain or claim proven results, while only 3 cite any studies (Walkito study, 2026).

These are the 9 apps whose listing or website promises to end the pain, or calls the program proven or validated without a citation, with the words they use:

• Arch: Flat Feet Trainer: “SCIENTIFICALLY PROVEN BENEFITS ... See significant results in just 6 weeks”
• Sports Injury Rehabilitation (SportsRehab.app): “Cure My Plantar Fasciitis”
• ROM Coach (Mobility Workouts): “ROM Coach is your #1 resource to eliminate pain”
• Alleviate Therapy: “helped thousands resolve Plantar Fasciitis, for good”
• Sidekick Relief & Recovery: “Heal foot pain for good”
• RecoveryOne: “Clinically-proven educational information”
• MoveU: “Live-Free From Pain … Guaranteed!”
• ArchFix: “Clinically validated exercises”
• Injurymap: Physiotherapy App: “Become pain-free with Injurymap”

Plantar fasciitis usually improves over months with stretching and strengthening, and no exercise program can promise that. A claim of proven results should come with the study that proved it.

Koc TA Jr, Bise CG, Neville C, et al. Heel Pain - Plantar Fasciitis: Revision 2023. Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy. 2023;53(12):CPG1–CPG39.

Who is behind the apps?

10 of the 19 apps name no clinician behind their program. In 5 you can talk to a physical therapist or another clinician, and in 4 the program was made by one. Two of the apps are only available through an employer or insurer.

Only 3 apps cite named studies: Kaia Health, whose trials cover back, hip and knee pain rather than feet; GaitLab Coach, a running form app; and Tendon Tracker, which names tendon research. Two apps state a medical device certification: Exakt and Injurymap.

For heel pain specifically, 15 of 19 apps mention strengthening, which the guideline grades B. Only 1 mentions the plantar fascia stretch and only 1 a calf stretch, both graded A, at least in the words a buyer can read before downloading.

Koc TA Jr, Bise CG, Neville C, et al. Heel Pain - Plantar Fasciitis: Revision 2023. Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy. 2023;53(12):CPG1–CPG39.

How did Walkito score?

We scored Walkito with the same checklist and the same rules, and left it out of every number above. Its listing and website mention the plantar fascia stretch, both calf stretches and strengthening, say the plan adapts each morning, cite the 2023 guideline and named trials, make no promise to end the pain, and say when to see a clinician.

Its weak points are real too:

• The two founders are not clinicians; a licensed physical therapist checked the app’s exercises, but no clinician reviews the program as a whole.
• The app itself has not been tested in a trial; it is built on the guideline and published trials of the exercises.
• It is new, with no ratings yet on either store.

Our listing was written with the same guideline in mind, which is one reason it scores well on a checklist built from that guideline. Judge it the way you would judge any other app on this page.

How do you choose a heel pain app?

Use the same checks we used, before you pay:

• It includes a plantar fascia stretch, a calf stretch and strengthening that gets harder over time.
• It tells you who made the program, and whether you can ask a clinician.
• It does not promise to end the pain, and any "proven" claim links to the study.
• It tells you when to stop and see a clinician.
• It shows the price before you start, and you can cancel in the App Store or Google Play.

Our buyer’s guide to plantar fasciitis apps compares the main ones side by side.

How we did this study

Sample. On October 11, 2026 we searched the US App Store and Google Play for 11 phrases, such as plantar fasciitis, heel pain, foot pain exercises and flat feet, and took the top 30 results for each. We kept an app only if its listing names plantar fasciitis, heel pain or foot pain as something it helps with and it gives the user exercises. Scanners, insole fitting, pain devices, symptom trackers without exercises, single-clinic patient portals and general fitness apps were left out. An app on both stores counts once. That left 20 apps, including Walkito, which appeared in the results on its own.

Scoring. Before scoring we wrote a fixed checklist. Each app was scored from both store listings and its website, and every yes needed a quote and where it came from. A second scorer scored 6 of the apps, including Walkito, without seeing the first scores; the two agreed on 53 of 54 checks.

• We read listings and websites; we did not install or test the apps. An exercise an app does not mention may still be in it.
• Listings change, and store search results vary by country and day.
• Hinge Health and Sword Health came up in the searches, but their store listings did not name foot or heel pain, so by our rule they were not included.
• A few apps were close calls under the rule (Kaia Health, RecoveryOne, Vive Now and How to Do Foot Exercises); the data file explains each.

All 20 apps

Strength means the listing or website mentions strengthening; Clinician shows whether you can talk to one or one made the program; Evidence means it cites named studies; Promise means it promises to end the pain or claims proven results without a citation; Doctor means it says when to see one.