I actually first mentioned Tonal on my Christmas post as an option for something to buy yourself, but if it’s not quite what you’re looking for, we’ve made this post of alternatives to Tonal to either tone down the price, or provide you with other fitness equipment to cater to other needs.
Now, Tonal has a hefty price to its name, and that goes the same with every other smart mirror reflected back at you on this post. In fact, the cheapest one you’re looking at here starts at $1,495, so you need to make sure you have a budget for it, and you need to make sure it’s something you actually want.
I say this because those high prices are for the essential equipment.
All of these smart mirrors also come with a membership subscription, so there are actually going to be two prices. One’s ongoing, and one’s not (thank god, right?).
Hopefully some of these alternatives will be what you’re looking for, but if not, it’s somewhere out there, just keep looking!
It’s also important to note, there’s always a cheaper option when it comes to fitness, even if it’s not as cool.
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Alternatives to Tonal
I’ll be sorting through the three main smart mirrors through their pricing, equipment, and classes. All the information I go through is found through the products’ websites, so if their website doesn’t provide very clear information, well, shame on them. I’m not a mind reader and nor are the customers, so it should be up to the companies selling the products to make sure everything is clear and concise.
I’m just organizing everything a little better and giving my opinion on each section as I consider them as alternatives to Tonal. Sometimes the former wins out, other times not, and sometimes, it’s a draw.
All in all, it’s up to you to make the final call.
Mirror
The most jarring part of the Mirror is, ironically, its namesake. Even when you activate the training portion of this equipment, you’ll still see yourself in the mirror, so you’re seeing double. But once you get past that little hurtle (if you can–I have a feeling those who are easily distracted might have trouble with it), it should be fine to mimic the moves of the instructor by watching them and yourself.
Kind of a Simon says, while also being able to see yourself do the things–a concept that other smart home gym equipment miss their mark on.
Mirror Pricing vs Tonal Pricing
Mirror
- Starting at $1,495
- $250 for delivery and installation
- $39 monthly membership
Tonal
- Starting at $2,995
- Prices for delivery and installation vary based on location
- $49 monthly membership
The Mirror has the standard price it’s sold at, which you can split payment into several months through Affirm. However, there’s some extra pricing to go on top of its standard price.
- $250 for delivery and installation
The delivery typically takes 7-14 business days, according to their FAQ, and the installation of the device should only last around 30-45 minutes. The delivery is actually shorter than most other products, which have a wait time of weeks.
- $39 monthly membership
The bulk of the price you’re paying is simply the main monitor and all the gadgets that it shows you during those sessions. Which means you can buy the Mirror and pay for the membership at a later time when you’re ready to get your fitness on.
This honestly goes with every other smart mirror from this point forward, but I wanted to hammer it in a little.
Despite all this, Mirror is one of the cheapest alternatives to Tonal that you can buy–even the monthly subscription is cheaper.
Mirror Equipment vs Tonal Equipment
Mirror
- 40” full HD 1080p display
Tonal
- 24″ interactive display w/ 200lbs of digital weights
While Tonal is a mirror, it focuses a lot more on strength-building, meaning there are accessories that come with it. With Mirror, it’s simply a mirror. You don’t have to worry about having any kind of equipment that comes with it to put away or hang on top or beside it.
With that being said, you might want to have a mat to stand on, if you place it in a location without carpet.
As far as alternatives to Tonal without equipment, Mirror is your best choice as it’s at it’s most basic.
Mirror Classes vs Tonal Classes
Mirror
- Virtual Mirror member workouts
- 50+ different genres
- 1:1 personal live training
- Thousands of workouts on demand
- Limited to six household members
Tonal
- Virtual group workouts
- Movement library
- Hundreds of workouts on demand
- Unlimited account access
They cater to anyone who happens to be a beginner all the way to an expert in a wide array of fitness categories. These categories can span from anything to tai chi, boxing, kickboxing, dance cardio, meditation, and more.
For more of their workouts, check out their page listing.
Mirror also promises new live classes every week, on top of over a thousand of on-demand classes you can surf through. Not only that, but the live classes allow you to join up with other Mirror members to exchange feedback, because motivation goes a long way when doing something as strenuous as working out.
And the 1:1 personal training from world class instructors is a great perk, giving Mirror an upper hand as one of the alternatives to Tonal, if you want that extra boost in a specific genre of fitness.
Tempo Studio
Don’t get too excited with the looks of this piece of smart equipment, because while it has some storage space, it doesn’t have a lot of storage space–especially if you’re getting the full package with the Temo Pro. But even a little bit of space helps, given the equipment you’re given. If you go with the higher tier package, however, you might need a separate storage system or an area to keep the other stuff.
As one of the alternatives to Tonal, you get actual pieces of equipment with Tempo Studio, while Tonal merely has the digital weights.
And, well, they don’t need storage.
Tempo Studio Pricing vs Tonal Pricing
Tempo Studio
- Tempo Starter starts at $2,495
- Tempo Plus starts at $3,245
- Tempo Pro starts at $3,995
- White glove delivery
- $39 monthly membership
Tonal
- Starting at $2,995
- Prices for delivery and installation vary based on location
- $49 monthly membership
The Starter package is one of the cheaper alternatives to Tonal, but it’s for those who are beginning strength training and has a weight limit of up to 90lbs. As someone who’s starting out and contemplating the future benefits of the Tempo Pro package, it’s a good area to begin if you’re still on the fence with this piece of equipment.
Before you get too invested, you can always stop after the 12 months and move onto something else, instead of wasting more money on a smart machine that’s not quite your style.
The Plus package grants you all the classes, most of the weight plates, and half the equipment.
The Pro package grants you all the weight plates and equipment.
Both of the delivery options are sort of obscured on the website. They’re leaning toward the whole, “It’s based on where you live” statement without throwing out an actual price point. That being said, the monthly membership remains cheaper on the Tempo side.
Tempo Studio Equipment vs Tonal Equipment
Tempo Studio
- 42″ HD touchscreen
- Up to 215lbs in weight plates
- 5mm workout mat
- 7.5lb x2 dumbells
- Up to 7 other extra workout accessories
Tonal
- 24″ interactive display w/ 200lbs of digital weights
When it comes to strength training, Tempo Studio is the better of the alternatives to Tonal, due to all the equipment it can come with–depending on the package you purchase, of course. And the maximum weight limit of the Pro package is around 230lbs, which exceeds Tonal as well, if that’s something you’re wanting to push past.
The storage unit of Tempo can actually hold almost all the equipment you’re given aside from the folding bench and squat rack and kettlebells.
Very convenient for everything you’re given.
Though all of that isn’t something you’ll need to think about unless you’re planning on purchasing the Pro package. With the Starter, you’re given a few pieces of equipment and around a limit of 90lbs.
Tempo Studio Classes vs Tonal Classes
Tempo Studio
- Live leaderboard with Tempo’s community
- Hundreds of classes to choose from
- Live classes
- Add profiles for every member of the house
Tonal
- Virtual group workouts
- Movement library
- Hundreds of workouts on demand
- Unlimited account access
I’d say it’s almost a tie between the two of these, given how vague they keep the amount of classes there are.
Both of the smart mirrors have community workout groups, though Tempo does have a live leaderboard, if you have a competitive spirit. Both of them also have hundreds of classes, but Tonal has a section for movements–I’m not sure if you can search for those specifically on Tempo, which might give Tonal an edge there, if you want to search for specific moves based on upper, lower, full body, core, or stretch.
What Tempo has that Tonal doesn’t is live classes. So 1:1 training is a huge benefit to them.
The accounts? I’ll go ahead and say both of them might have unlimited in a way, as you can keep adding accounts to Tempo and just say they’re all part of your household? That’s one way to cheat the system, though I don’t understand why you would need or want to.
As far as if the Tempo classes are better alternatives to Tonal, I’d say the live classes actually give them a boost up, since it’s always better to get feedback in-the-moment on form and corrections from an actual person instead of an AI. It makes us feel like we’re actually improving and we get more satisfaction hearing it from a real person rather than a fake one.
NordicTrack Vault
The most tantalizing aspect of this smart mirror is the fact that it slides to the side to reveal a hidden storace unit. I absolutely love the idea behind it as it’s something that a lot of weight-lifters actually need more of–space to put their equipment.
And not only that, but it holds quite a bit.
Moreso than any gym locker, I’d say.
Vault Pricing vs Tonal Pricing
Vault
- Vault: Standalone starts at $1,999
- Vault: Complete starts at $2,999
- $199 threshold delivery
- 1 year iFit membership included
Tonal
- Starting at $2,995
- Prices for delivery and installation vary based on location
- $49 monthly membership
I don’t think you could ask for a better price when it comes from a locker smart mirror combo standpoint–at least from a first year’s perspective, given the entire first year’s iFit membership is included, while Tonal’s is a monthly payment with a 12-month commitment. Even the Complete package costs barely more than Tonal’s singular payment, and that’s getting a lot more equipment to stock the entire locker with.
NordicTrack Vault is already looking good as one of the better priced alternatives to Tonal at this point, but let’s look a little more into the pricing bits.
The website says that the 1 year iFit membership is valued at $396, so if my math is right, and I’m terrible at math, mind you, that would make it around $33 per month.
Don’t quote me on that though.
That’d make this membership cheaper than the others on this post, if that’s correct.
One thing that we can also see clearly that Tonal doesn’t show us all that well is the delivery pricing. $199, which isn’t too bad if they deliver and install.
Vault Equipment vs Tonal Equipment
Vault
- 32” Rotating Smart HD Touchscreen
- Hanging shelves
- Cleaning towel
- Up to 6 other types of workout accessories
Tonal
- 24″ interactive display w/ 200lbs of digital weights
The Standalone package title doesn’t lie, it really does stand alone which gives you an idea why it’s so much cheaper than the other package.
No equipment to fill the locker.
So if you fancy the workout screen of Tonal, but don’t really want those digital weights that come with it, then you might think of investing in Vault: Standalone to save out on some money. Not only does it have a larger rotating screen, but there’s a whole lot of space for you in an empty locker for any smaller gym equipment you might already work with.
Just keep in mind Vault will need more space than Tonal would as well.
As far as Vault: Complete, you’ll get premium shelves to go along with those hanging shelves you already have, plus yoga blocks, loop bands and super resistance bands, 5-30lb dumbbells, and 20 & 30lb kettlebells.
By that array of equipment you’ll probably notice that Vault is not for heavy lifters, while Tonal is more catered toward them with the digital weights. As far as alternatives for Tonal goes, if you want to do the heavy duty lifting, stick with Tonal rather than Vault’s supplies on this one, but if you prefer toning your body with cardio workouts and smaller equipment, Vault could be more preferred.
Vault Classes vs Tonal Classes
Vault
- Numerous training styles
- Variety of iFit workouts led by iFit trainers
Tonal
- Virtual group workouts
- Movement library
- Hundreds of workouts on demand
- Unlimited account access
Vault’s information page really went lackluster on describing their class system. I didn’t see anything as far as how many on-demand classes they had or how many types of genres they’d give people, if they happened to be searching for specific styles and forms and such.
We know there are numerous training styles, and they have images on their website, but…that’s about all we get.
And the iFit trainers can only tempt us so far.
All I can say is Vault’s classes are not recommended as alternatives to Tonal’s, merely because they’ve barely given us any scraps of information on what we could find.
In conclusion…
As you can see, there aren’t too many alternatives to Tonal, in regards to the smart mirror fitness aspect of it. I may have missed a couple. I probably did. It wasn’t intentional, I swear, I just wanted to keep things on the shorter side with this style of multiple product comparison post.
But anyway, none of them are cheap.
They’re all over a thousand dollars.
They all come with apps on your phone that you pay a membership subscription for in order to keep things active on the smart mirror. Hence why the smart mirror itself is so expensive–including the fact that you get an AI or live trainer coaching you.
I feel like every smart mirror has its pros and cons when facing off against Tonal.
It really depends on what you want as far as your plans for fitness, as well as what you already have for your home gym–do you have most of everything you need at the moment, do you want more to push yourself to do better, do you need more space, are you empty-handed and at a beginner level, are you trying new forms of fitness?
They’re all questions you should ask when you look from them to Tonal.
