Apps Like StepBet (But Better): What Each Actually Pays
First, credit where due: StepBet works. Stake about $40 on six weeks of personalized step goals, finish, and split the pot with the other finishers. The format has survived a decade because loss aversion beats motivation.
"Better" depends on what StepBet doesn't do for you. It counts steps, not runs. It keeps 15% of every pot. And its running-specific sibling, RunBet, shut down in 2021. Here is every real alternative in 2026, compared on the thing that actually differs: the money mechanics.
The 60-second version
Bar length = the platform's stated cut of winnings on a 0–25% scale. HealthyWage doesn't publish a cut — its margin lives inside the prize its calculator offers you, so there's nothing honest to draw.
| App | Model | Realistic money |
|---|---|---|
| StepBet | Stake ~$40 on 6 weeks of personalized step goals; finishers split the pot. | Typically a few dollars to ~$10 profit per won game. 15% pot cut, waived if too many win ("No Lose Guarantee"). |
| DietBet | Bet on losing 4% of body weight in 4 weeks, or 10% in 6 months; winners split the pot. | House keeps 10–25% of the pot depending on bet size. Weight-loss only. |
| HealthyWage | Individual weight-loss wager over 6–18 months; prize set by their calculator. | Prizes up to $10,000; the margin is inside the offer, and the commitment is months long. |
| WayBetter | $10–$100 entries on pot-split habit games — nutrition, fitness, sleep, quitting smoking. | Same split-the-pot logic across 20+ weekly games; optional memberships from $7.99/mo. |
| Charity Miles | Sponsors donate to a charity you pick for miles you log. | $0 to you — real money to the cause. Not an earnings app. |
| RunMatch (ours) | Race friends for a pot, or set solo stakes on your own runs. Strava GPS-verified. | You set the amount. No pot cut; 3% fee only at withdrawal. First verified mile pays you $10. |
StepBet in 2026: same game, new owner
The mechanics haven't changed: most games are six weeks, most stakes are ~$40, and the app reads your step history to set personalized daily "Active" and harder "Power" goals. Hit your goals every week (week one is a warm-up) and you split the pot of everyone who didn't — minus StepBet's 15%. If an unusually high share of players win, they waive their cut so winners at least get their money back.
What did change: in the last two years StepBet and DietBet were sold by WayBetter to Appex (operating as FitnessAI) — accounts and games carried over, and payouts now come from the new owner. A paid membership today mainly buys you up to three simultaneous games; older articles claiming a "WayBetter membership" boosts your StepBet winnings are describing an era that's over.
For runners: what replaced RunBet
The most-searched "app like StepBet but better" was StepBet's own sibling: RunBet, the running version. WayBetter shut it down in January 2021 and it never came back. That left runners with a step-counting app or nothing — which is the gap we built RunMatch into.
RunBet
Same stake-and-split format as StepBet, but on GPS-verified runs instead of steps. Pulled from stores in January 2021; in 2026 there is no official successor, and the apps now using the "Runbet" name are unrelated.
RunMatch
OursRunMatch is the running-specific stakes app — and yes, it's ours, so here are the mechanics rather than adjectives:
- 1Every run is GPS-verified through your Strava account — real miles, not wrist shakes.
- 2Race friends for a pot, or set solo stakes where a missed goal forfeits your money to a recipient you choose — a friend, your sister, anyone. Nobody profits from your failure except someone you picked.
- 3We take nothing from the pot. The only fee is 3% when you withdraw, and payments run on Stripe end to end. 18+, iOS.
Skeptical? Good instinct for this category — here's the full "is this legit" breakdown.
The other real alternatives
Four more apps run genuine money mechanics in 2026. None are running apps — they're listed because if your actual goal is weight loss or a different habit, one of these may fit better than anything above.
DietBet
Weight-loss pots under the same new owner as StepBet. Kickstarter: lose 4% of your body weight in 4 weeks. Transformer: 10% in 6 months. Winners split the pot after DietBet's cut — which scales with your bet size.
HealthyWage
The big-swing version: name your weight-loss goal, a timeframe of 6–18 months, and a monthly bet, and their calculator quotes you a prize — up to $10,000. Their own App Store copy claims an average prize payout of $1,386. The margin is inside the quote, and you're committing to months, not weeks.
WayBetter
The company that invented StepBet sold it — and kept building. Its own app runs 20+ pot-split games a week across nutrition, fitness, sleep and mindset, with entries from $10 to $100. Its quit-smoking game, QuitBet ($30, four weeks), still runs too.
Charity Miles
Not a stakes app and doesn't pretend to be: sponsors donate to a charity you pick for the miles you log, and the app is free. There's no fixed per-mile rate anymore — sponsorship terms vary by deal. If "my run did something" beats pocket change for you, it's the honest pick.
Which should you actually pick?
Match the app to the goal, not the marketing:
- Walking or step goals, proven format → StepBet. Same game it's always been, new owner, 15% cut.
- You're a runner and want real stakes on real miles → RunMatch. Strava-verified, no pot cut, and we pay your first mile $10. We're biased; the mechanics aren't.
- Weight loss is the actual goal → DietBet for 4-week sprints, HealthyWage for one big long wager.
- A habit beyond steps — sleep, food, quitting smoking → WayBetter.
- Miles that help someone else → Charity Miles.
- Just challenges with friends, money optional → see our 7 best apps for running challenges with friends.
Common questions
Run 1 mile. We'll pay you $10.
The running-specific stakes app. GPS-verified through Strava, no cut of your pot.
Get RunMatch on iOSOne $10 first-mile reward per new account · 18+ · Terms apply