Can you really earn stuff just by walking? There are two companies that say you can and they are betting a lot of people will want to do just that.
Sweatcoin and Lympo are apps that you can download onto your phone. They both will track how many steps and give you points for your steps. The more points you earn by exercising, the more you can “buy” with them in the app’s store.
I downloaded and used both apps for a couple weeks and wrote a full post on each one. You can find those Here for Sweatcoin and Here for Lympo. After testing both apps, I recorded my results and created the chart below, In hopes that it will help decide whether or not to use the apps.
Here is a chart of some of the features that you would expect to find on such an app. Each feature is ranked by stars; one being bad and 5 being great. I will break down each of the features below the chart.
| Feature | Sweatcoin | Lympo |
| Free to Use |   | |
| Accuracy | | |
| Value of coins | | |
| Time spent on app | | |
| Redeeming coins | | |
| Motivation to move | | |
| Daily Cap on steps | | |
Free to use
Both Lympo and Sweatcoin are free to download and use. There are no in-app purchases with a small exception in Sweatcoin.
Sweatcoin limits the amount of coins you can earn by walking each day to 5, but you can upgrade the plans using the sweatcoins that you have already earned. So, you are not spending money, per se.
By using the upgrade you are actually investing in yourself. You are now able to earn more steps per day just by walking more. Here is the breakdown of how Sweatcoin charges for upgrades…
| Name | Cost | Max SC /Day | Max SC/Month |
| 1. Mover | Free | 5 SC | 150 SC |
| 2. Shaker | 4.75 SC/mo | 10 SC | 300 SC |
| 3. Quaker | 20 SC/mo | 15 SC | 450 SC |
| 4. Breaker | 30 SC/mo | 20 SC | 600 SC |
| 5. Trouble Maker | Coming Soon | ??? | ??? |
SC=Sweatcoin
So, by earning and then spending 30 sweatcoins, you will be able to earn 600 sweatcoins each month versus 150, and you haven’t really spent any cash. It’s a good deal…and they give you the first upgrade free. I took advantage and it has worked out pretty good for me. Although, I rarely hit the 20 sweatcoin limit in a day.
Accuracy
Sweatcoin uses your phones accelerometer and gps location to track your steps. It is very accurate and it doesn’t require any other apps.
Lympo by default does the same, but the tracking is a little off unless you pair with another step counting app. Being an Android user, I just paired Lympo with Samsung Steps and it works perfectly.
Both Lympo and Sweatcoin give me right at 1900 steps per mile. I suppose you could take smaller steps and increase that number a bit, but how much is that really going to increase your outcome?
One other note on accuracy. Both apps will add steps if you go for a bike ride. They both seem to measure better if you go faster (12 mph on a cruiser). I tested this on Sweatcoin and at 7 mph I earned almost no steps and at 12 mph I earned almost the same as walking on a per minute basis.
Motivation to Exercise
We’ll talk about the monetary motivation a little bit later. For this section I want to talk about how well the app gets you up and gets you moving.
Other than “paying” you for your steps, Sweatcoin does little else to motivate you to get moving. You Just download the app and go. Your steps are counted and a weekly email is sent to you, showing your results. That’s it from Sweatcoin.
Lympo, on the other hand, offers challenges in the morning, mid-day, afternoon and evening, in addition to challenges that can be completed any time of the day. So, just when you are settling in to watch a movie, Lympo reminds you that you have a challenge waiting that expires soon, so you hop off the couch and take a quick walk to complete the challenge.
This happens several times a day, so if you need motivation to get moving, Lympo is the best app for you. If you just want your steps counted with no extra motivation, then Sweatcoin would be best for you.
Time Spent on App
Similar to the motivation, but in a bad way, Lympo requires a lot more screen time than Sweatcoin.
The Sweatcoin app automatically counts your steps from the time you get up in the morning (assuming you have your phone with you). It keeps track and tallies them at the end of the day. There is an option of watching 3 ads which gives you extra coins every day, but that only requires a single check -in to watch all 3.
As discussed, Lympo has new challenges throughout the day which require you to interact with the app much more than Sweatcoin. Also, Lympo allows you to watch an ad every 60 minutes (the 60 minutes starts after each ad watched), so you could potentially be checking in on the app over a dozen times every day. Great for motivation, bad for passively earning steps in the background.
Daily Cap on Steps
Speaking of earning steps, Both of the apps put an upper limit on the amount of tokens you can earn each day, no matter how many steps you take.
On Sweatcoin you can earn a max of 20 coins per day, but only if you pay 30 sweatcoins per month. (see chart above) You can also earn another handful of coins by watching 3 ads per day. Theoretically, you can earn up to 25 sweatcoins per ad, but 5 coins is the most I have ever gotten for watching an ad on Sweatcoins.
Similarly, Lympo hands out challenges that, if you complete them all, add up to 20 to 30 tokens per day. On Lympo you also have the opportunity to earn tokens by watching ads each hour. Each of these ads can give you anywhere from 1 to 100 tokens, but the most I have seen in my experience is 5.
With that being said, the cap on the number of steps you can earn on Lympo is realistically about 50. Theoretically over 1000, but good luck with that.
Value of Points/Coins/Tokens
So, what is the value of these points or coins earned from walking and accumulating steps? Short answer is :
On Lympo 1 token is worth about $0.0013. 100 Lympo tokens is worth about 13 cents.
On Sweatcoin each coin is worth about $0.037. 100 Sweatcoins is worth about $3.70
Redeeming Points/Coins/Tokens
Here is where both of these apps struggle. Right now, the only thing of value on Lympo is you are able to transfer the LYM tokens to a virtual wallet. To do this you need at least 5000 tokens which would take about 100 days of walking. This would be nice except those 5000 tokens, 100 days of walking and checking your phone 10-20 times a day, would only be worth about $6.50
Sweatcoin also has a limited number of items you can get in exchange for your coins, but currently there are trips and a few electronics available. My choice would be a 4k action cam that sells on Amazon for $299. You can get this in the Sweatcoin store for 7999 sweatcoins. (Price has been reduced since I took the screenshot) That’s where I got the value for each sweatcoin at $0.037.
There you have it. One thing to consider is that there is no rule that says you can’t have both apps on your phone. But now you have the information you need to decide which one you want, if either, or both.
Thanks for reading
Remember to Earn what you’re worth…and more!!
Anderson