Tonal vs. Tempo: Smart Home Gym Face-Off (2024)

Smart home gym equipment is steadily changing the face of the home fitness industry. Fitness mirrors and smart functional trainers specifically—a la Tonal, Tempo Studio, and other similar products like the MIRROR and Echelon Reflect—have together altered the definitions of “all-in-one home gym” and “virtual personal training.” 

I want to take a hard look at two of the most dominant smart home gyms: Tonal vs. Tempo. In this guide, I put the two products head-to-head and scrutinize every spec a potential buyer should know. If you’ve been struggling to choose one smart gym over the other, consider your internal battle over after reading this comparison article.  

Why You Should Trust Us 

At one point, I had Tonal and Tempo Studio set up in my home simultaneously, installed less than 8 feet from each other. Not only have I extensively used both smart gyms, but I’ve been able to directly compare them on a day-to-day basis. 

Quick Look: Tonal vs. Tempo

First things first: Both Tonal and Tempo are good products. I’m not going to explicitly write that one is better than the other, because I believe both serve a specific type of exerciser, and the important thing to figure out is which type of exerciser you are. 

Basically, I’m here to help you decide where your money is better spent. 

That said, let’s take a quick look at the Tonal and Tempo. 

Who Should Buy Tonal

• Strength training enthusiasts 
• People who already love cable machines or functional trainers
• Intermediate to advanced trainees who don’t need form corrections or technique feedback 

Tonal

Tonal Smart Home Gym

Looking for a complete home gym that fits in a compact space? The Tonal smart home gym offers 200 pounds of resistance, more than 170 moves, and a range of full-body exercises. Plus, the AI gets to know you as a lifter the more you use it, so the workouts will be customized to your needs.Tonal may be effective, but it's not budget-friendly. The machine sells for $3,995 (which does include professional installation), but you still have to pay a $50 monthly subscription fee on top of that.

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Who Should Buy Tempo

• Trainees who like to dabble in a lot of different exercise modalities 
• Beginners who need help perfecting their exercise form and technique (honestly, most people can benefit from this) 
• People who don’t want to wall-mount anything

Tempo Studio

Tempo Studio

Tempo Studio is the all-in-one smart home gym. Its sturdy A-frame aluminum design holds weight plates, loadable dumbbell handles, a barbell, foam roller, workout mat, and barbell collars. Tempo Studio has AI technology that uses 3D Time-of-Flight sensors to capture your movement patterns and provide form corrections, rep counting, weight recommendations, and stat tracking. When you're working out, the Tempo Studio acts as a virtual personal trainer to help you improve your exercise technique and reduce your risk of injury from exercise.

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What the Tech? 

Tonal and Tempo each have unique callout tech features. 

Tempo’s claim to fame is its 3D sensing technology that tracks reps and analyzes exercise form to provide technique corrections. 

I love this technology and think it’s an amazing selling point for beginners who want the benefits of a personal trainer for a fraction of the cost. Of course, no tech can fully replace a trained human eye, but Tempo does a very good job of providing feedback. 

Tonal, on the other hand, is all about the weight. Digital resistance is meant to replace the widespread setups of traditional home gyms, plus provide automatic weight changes when the trainer senses it’s too heavy or too light for you. 

One good example of Tonal’s tech is the spotter feature: Spotter automatically detects when you’re struggling during a set, and it temporarily decreases the resistance to something manageable so you can finish the set safely. 

Truly, both of these home gyms boast impressive tech specs and I would love to one day see some version of a smart home gym that combines elements of Tonal and Tempo. 

Related: How to build your ultimate smart home gym

Equipment and Accessories

Tonal’s accessory suite is straightforward: For $3,995, you get the trainer, which has the mechanical arms and cables that provide digital weight resistance. 

For $495 extra on top of the trainer price, you get the smart accessory bundle, which includes two smart handles, one smart bar, a smart rope attachment, weight bench, foam roller, and cushioned yoga mat. (Paying the extra cost is really non-negotiable if you want to benefit from the smart rep tracking and weight control features.)

Tempo offers a range of physical weights, including weight plates, barbells, and loadable dumbbell handles, as well as barbell collars for safe weight lifting, a yoga mat, and foam roller. Tempo also has foldable squat racks and weight benches to add more variety to your workouts. If you have your own home gym equipment already, you can use that, too.

Installation and Space Requirements 

Both Tempo and Tonal require less space than a traditional home gym setup (if we’re talking squat racks, weight plates, and all the good stuff). 

Tonal doesn’t take up any floor space at all, at least for the trainer itself. You will need floor space for the weight bench, workout mat, other accessories, and room to work out. Tonal recommends having the trainer installed in an area that’ll allow for a 7-foot by 7-foot workout space with 7-foot-10-inch ceilings, but you can totally use Tonal in smaller spaces. 

Tempo has stricter space requirements: You must set up the Tempo Studio in an area that allows you to work out with 6 feet of space between you and the Studio, otherwise, the 3D sensing technology won’t work. 

Workout Classes and Training

This is where most buyers will make their final decision. The workout experience is very different between Tonal and Tempo: Both machines provide ample opportunity for full-body workouts, but they go about it differently. 

Because Tempo uses free weights, it’s easier to do supersets, circuit work, and high-intensity interval training. My biggest—and only, really—gripe with Tonal is that it becomes cumbersome to adjust the arms up and down and side to side in order to target different muscle groups. 

It can be equally annoying to adjust the spinlock-style weights when using Tempo, but I still think free weights allow for more versatility than the cable-style resistance on the Tonal.   

RELATED: Best Online Workout Programs

Also, I find it interesting that Tonal is marketed as the best home training system for strength, but the potential to build muscle is greater with Tempo. Tonal provides up to 200 pounds of resistance, which, yes, is more than enough for the average person. 

However, with Tempo, you can use unlimited resistance in the form of free weights and still benefit from the tech features like technique corrections. 

Both smart home gyms have massive libraries of on-demand workouts, plus a packed schedule of live classes. I found the energy of on-demand and live workouts to be pretty similar across the two machines—they very much emulate Barry’s  and Orangetheory vibes. 

Design and Aesthetics 

Some home gym owners might not consider looks in their buying decisions, but let’s face it: Many of us want our home gyms to look absolutely sick. Those who plan to stick a smart home gym in the middle of their living room might pay extra special attention to design and aesthetics. 

If I had to choose a winner for this category, Tempo would be an automatic champ. The A-frame design and timeless, muted colors are pleasing to the eye and won’t seem out of place. Plus, most equipment stores inside of the cabinet so there’s minimal clutter. 

I personally think the Tonal looks a bit clunky on the wall, and it doesn’t seamlessly blend into regular home decor like Tempo’s sleek design does. 

Subscription Terms 

Tonal and Tempo both require monthly memberships to access workout content, which is essential for making use of the devices. Tonal’s is $49 per month, and Tempo’s is $39. If for some reason you want two Tonals or two Tempo Studios, you’ll have to pay a separate membership fee for the second unit. 

However, you can create multiple profiles with one membership. Tonal allows you to create unlimited profiles to use with one trainer. This means if you have a family of five, everyone can keep track of their own progress within their own profile. 

Tempo, on the other hand, has a limit of six accounts per membership subscription. That’s probably still plenty for the average household, though.

Pricing

Tonal’s pricing is simple: The trainer costs $3,995 and the suite of smart accessories costs $495 on top of that. So, you’re looking at $4,490 for the full package—which I recommend getting in order to get the most out of your Tonal. 

Tempo offers tiers based on the amount of equipment that comes with the Studio frame. You can currently choose from three packages: 

• Tempo Studio Starter Package ($2,495): 5-millimeter workout mat, two 7.5-pound dumbbells, four collars, 75 pounds of weight plates
• Tempo Studio Plus Package ($3,245): everything in the Starter, plus a barbell, two extra collars, competition plates, a heart rate monitor, and a folding weight bench
• Tempo Studio Pro Package ($3,995): includes everything in the Plus, as well as weight plate storage, a folding squat rack, adjustable kettlebell system, and 45-pound plates

Then there’s the Tempo Move, a tiny version of the Tempo Studio that uses your iPhone camera for the 3D sensing smart features, for $495. I don’t think the Tempo Move can be placed into a direct comparison with the Tonal, though. 

(Pssst: We have the best Tonal coupon and Tempo discount codes.) 

Company Policies

Return policies, warranties, and customer service aren’t the sexy things everyone wants to hear about smart home gyms, but they’re definitely not something to glaze over. Ultimately, these factors can and should play a big role in your purchasing decision. They may or may not help in this case, though, considering Tonal and Tempo have very similar company policies. 

Tonal vs. Tempo: Final Verdict

Not to beat a dead horse here, but I’ll say it one more time: Tonal and Tempo are both good choices—different, but good. Here’s a final look at some of the most important specs on the Tonal home gym and Tempo home gym to help you make your decision. 

FAQs

To wrap up, here are some answers to commonly asked questions about Tonal, Tempo, and smart home gyms in general.

Amanda Capritto, CPT, CES, CNC, CF-L1, CSNC

Amanda is a content writer and journalist with extensive experience in the health, fitness, lifestyle, and nutrition niches. Before joining Garage Gym Reviews, she worked as an independent writer for various brands and outlets.Her work has appeared in national and global digital publications, including Health.com and Shape.com (Meredith Corporation), CNET (Red Ventures, formerly ViacomCBS), LIVESTRONG (Leaf Group), Verywell Fit and The Balance (DotDash), SlickDeals (Goldman Sachs/Hearst), Health Journal, and more.Now, Amanda brings her expertise in fitness to the GGR team by testing equipment and writing authentic, honest reviews on everything you might need to stock your home gym.

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