Apps
The Best Jiu Jitsu Apps in 2026
Search the App Store for "jiu jitsu" and you will get hundreds of results. Most are abandoned. A handful are excellent. The honest answer is that no single app does everything, so the right question is: which app for which job? Here are the five categories of BJJ apps in 2026 and the standouts in each.
1. Training log apps
This is the largest category and the one most people start with. A training log answers two questions: how often do I train, and what did I work on? The best logs make entry fast, the data structured, and the long view satisfying.
BJJLink is the longest-running and the most loved by purists. It is a clean, focused journal with a technique library on the side. The downside is that it is only for the student. It does not run a gym, and it does not connect you to your training partners.
MatFlow takes a different shape. It logs your sessions automatically when you check in to your gym, fills in your gym, class, partners, and date for you, and shows you your streaks and heatmap. The reason it works is that the gym side and the student side share the same database.
2. Technique library apps
These are the visual encyclopedias. Browse positions, watch instructors break them down, save favorites, build a library of moves you want to drill. Submeta and Grapplers Guide are well known for the depth and quality of their content. They are not free, and they assume you already know how to train. They are best as a reference, not as a daily log.
3. Gym management apps
This category is the back office: members, billing, attendance, schedule. Most of the players here, like Zen Planner, GymDesk, Kicksite, and TeamUp, are generic martial arts or fitness software. They run karate schools as easily as BJJ academies, which is the source of their biggest weakness: they do not know what a stripe is. MatFlow is the BJJ-native option in this category, and it folds the student app into the same product so the gym and the athlete are not stuck with two systems.
4. Competition prep apps
If you compete on the IBJJF circuit or AJP events, you need an app that handles weight cuts, brackets, and travel. There is no clear winner here yet. Most competitors still rely on the IBJJF and AJP websites for brackets and a fitness tracker for the weight cut. This is a gap in the market, not a category leader.
5. Community apps
These are the apps that connect you to other people who train. Reddit and Instagram dominate as the unofficial community of BJJ, but neither is built for the sport. MatFlow has a built in feed where you can see what other students at your gym are doing, who is rolling with whom, and where the leaderboards stand for the week. It is community shaped by the gym, not by an algorithm.
Where MatFlow fits
MatFlow is the only app in 2026 that does training log, gym management, and community in one product, with the student side free forever and the gym side free for small academies. If you want one app that does everything for you and your gym, this is it. If you want a reference library of techniques, pair MatFlow with Submeta and you are set.