ExerciseDB vs wger: Which Exercise API for Your App?

First, which ExerciseDB?#

The exercisedb.dev home page now reads "Previously ExerciseDB" above the name AscendAPI, and AscendAPI's documentation names the ExerciseDB/exercisedb-api GitHub repository as its own. It sells two exercise products: ExerciseDB V1, free with no key at oss.exercisedb.dev (1,500 exercises with 180p GIFs) with a paid RapidAPI tier for higher resolutions, and ExerciseDB V2, on RapidAPI only, with an MP4 video per exercise. An older ExerciseDB listing on RapidAPI under the publisher justin-WFnsXH_t6 also exists; we could not read it on October 22, 2026, or establish whether it is the same product. On this page, "ExerciseDB" means AscendAPI's products.

None of them is self-hostable. A git clone of the exercisedb-api repository on October 22, 2026 found a README and an AGPL-3.0 LICENSE and no code, so in production ExerciseDB is an API you call under AscendAPI's terms of use.

How to compare ExerciseDB and wger#

Three factors decide this head-to-head, in this order:

• Delivery model. ExerciseDB is a hosted API: a key (or none, for V1 free) and you are calling it in minutes. wger is software you deploy, with a REST API you run, or a public instance at wger.de you can read.
• Media against ownership. ExerciseDB's draw is media: GIFs on V1, MP4 video on V2. wger's media is community-contributed still images plus whatever videos you upload, but you own the whole stack.
• Licence fit. Calling a hosted API under its terms is a different situation from deploying AGPL code; wger also splits its licensing between code and data.

ExerciseDB vs wger at a glance#

For what each plan costs, see exercise database API pricing.

Where ExerciseDB pulls ahead#

Time to first call and media. V1's free tier answers without a key, and V2 hands you an MP4 demonstration, multi-resolution images, overview, exerciseTips, variations and relatedExerciseIds for each exercise, which wger has no equivalent for. AscendAPI also states a much larger catalog. The trade: you rent the data. Paid prices sit on RapidAPI listings we could not read, the free tiers come with terms we could not read either, and your app depends on someone else's service. For exercise APIs with video, V2 is the hosted option.

Where wger pulls ahead#

Ownership and no usage fees. wger's README calls it "a free workout and fitness manager" with a "REST API for third-party integrations or automations", and self-hosting "is basically just a docker compose up -d away". In its code the exercise endpoints are commented "Everybody can read", and every exercise, image and video carries its own licence, author and source fields, so attribution travels with the data. The trade-offs: you operate a whole application, its media is lighter than ExerciseDB's, and the licensing needs attention. The code is AGPL-3.0-or-later, the data is "Creative Commons (see individual entries)", and new image uploads default to CC-BY-SA 4.

The AGPL copyleft question (read before you self-host)#

This applies to wger's code. AGPL-3.0 is strong copyleft with a network clause: if you modify AGPL-covered code and let users interact with it over a network, you must offer them the modified source under AGPL.

• Calling a hosted API over HTTP does not by itself make your app a derivative work, which is why ExerciseDB, used as a hosted API, raises a terms-of-use question rather than a copyleft one.
• Self-hosting and modifying wger is what can trigger the source-disclosure obligation for a closed-source service. Running it unmodified, or reading its public API, is a different situation.
• The data is separate. wger's Creative Commons data brings attribution and, for CC-BY-SA entries, share-alike, whichever way you get it.

This is general guidance, not legal advice; have counsel review your setup.

Which should you pick?#

• You want GIF or video demonstrations fast from a hosted key → ExerciseDB. Prototype on V1's free tier or V2's Basic plan, then read the paid prices and terms on RapidAPI.
• You want full data ownership, no per-call fees and control of the stack, and can comply with AGPL (code) plus Creative Commons (data) → wger. ExerciseDB offers no self-host path. If wger's AGPL code or share-alike data is the blocker, see the wger alternatives.
• You want data you own with no licence strings at all → neither; free-exercise-db is public domain. See ExerciseDB vs free-exercise-db.

The whole category is compared in exercise database APIs, and setup on the hosted path is in the ExerciseDB integration guide.

Watch the fine print#

This page was re-checked on October 22, 2026 against AscendAPI's documentation and home page, and against the wger and exercisedb-api repositories. AscendAPI's paid prices, its terms of use and the older RapidAPI listing could not be read, and wger.de's bot check kept us from counting its live catalog. Confirm the current terms and the licence on the exact data you ship before you build.