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Shedams vs StepUp
StepUp counts steps and ranks everybody on the total. Shedams grades the effort against your own baseline, and counts walking, running, cycling and cardio.
StepUp describes itself as “Easy to start a free office step challenge”. Everything in the StepUp column below is taken from their own published pages, last read on 2026-11-11. We quote no ratings or download figures, theirs or ours.
The five differences that actually decide it
| Shedams | StepUp | |
|---|---|---|
| What counts | Walking, running, cycling and cardio, indoors or out, plus a tracked session on an Apple Watch or Wear OS watch. | Steps. |
| How your effort is judged | Against your own baseline, by age band and fitness level. A brisk walk can earn an A, and a beginner and a regular can both have a good day. | By the raw number. More steps is a better result, whoever you are and wherever you started. |
| What is at stake | A prize or a donation funded by a brand or an organiser, won on verified effort. Never a game of chance. | The leaderboard position, and whatever the office decides to put up on the side. |
| What it costs you | Free for everybody moving. An optional ad-free subscription. Organisers and brands pay. | Free, stated plainly in their own copy, funded by advertising with an optional ad-free purchase. |
| Who it is built for | People who are not athletes, stated outright: age 13 to 93, and not built for competitive athletes. | Workplaces, friends, family and teams running step challenges. |
Pick StepUp if
- You want a step challenge and nothing else, and everybody in it already walks.
- You need it running in your office this afternoon with no organiser at all.
- An established app-store rating matters more to you than how the effort is scored. StepUp has years of reviews behind it and Shedams does not yet.
Pick Shedams if
- The people you want moving are not already moving, and a raw step count would put them bottom on day one.
- Your group cycles, swims, runs and walks, and a steps-only board ignores most of what they do.
- You want something real at stake, funded by a sponsor rather than by whoever volunteers.
Not built for competitive athletes. Built for everyone else.
Questions
Four things people ask before switching
Is Shedams a free StepUp alternative?
Yes for the person moving. Downloading Shedams, tracking sessions, joining challenges and starting one for yourself and up to fifteen friends all cost nothing, with no trial and no card. Coaches, communities and brands pay to run organised challenges, and that is what funds the free side.
Does Shedams only count steps, like a step challenge app?
No. Shedams counts walking, running, cycling and cardio, indoors or outdoors, and a session tracked on an Apple Watch or a Wear OS watch with the phone left behind. Steps are one input, not the whole score.
Can a beginner compete with a fit colleague on Shedams?
That is the point of it. Every session is graded against your own baseline for your age band and fitness level, so a ten-minute brisk walk can earn a top grade while somebody fitter has to work harder for the same one. On a raw step leaderboard the fittest person wins by default.
Can I run a workplace or office challenge on Shedams?
A community or a coach can run a challenge for their people today, priced per challenge, and anybody can start a free challenge for themselves and up to fifteen friends. See the pricing page for what an organised challenge costs.
Also worth reading: what Shedams costs, and Shedams vs Sweatcoin, Shedams vs StepsClub, Shedams vs Strava, Shedams vs Nike Run Club.
It takes about ten minutes to find out.
Free to download, free to start. Pick a few people, set a target, and see who turns up.
Your data is yours. Organisers see participation, not your health record - and we never sell it.