SkillScan vs Thenx for the planche
Thenx teaches the planche inside a full calisthenics program. SkillScan measures whether your planche hold counts. What each one does, what it costs, and how to use them together.
Short answer
They do different jobs. Thenx is a complete calisthenics program, with daily workouts, programs, skill tutorials and a planche skill challenge, on iPhone and Android. It costs $9.99 to $19.99 a month or $89.99 to $119.99 a year and has 12,417 US ratings. SkillScan has no workout library. It measures your planche from one clip, seconds held against seconds clean under the gymnastics Code of Points, and scans are free. Thenx tells you what to train. SkillScan tells you whether the holds you're training actually count. If the planche is one goal among many, Thenx; if you want the planche measured, SkillScan; plenty of people will use both.
Side by side
SkillScan and Thenx, US App Store, read 6 November 2026
| SkillScan | Thenx | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A measuring app for the planche | A calisthenics training program |
| Skills | Planche only | Full-body strength plus skills: muscle-up, handstand, planche and more |
| Planche content | Measures each hold; paid plan writes weekly planche sessions from your numbers | Skill tutorials and a planche skill challenge |
| Looks at video of you | Yes Every scan | No Not mentioned in its listing |
| Standard | FIG Men's Artistic Gymnastics Code of Points | Not applicable |
| Progress tracking | Seconds held and clean, scan by scan | Reps, sets, personal bests, muscle analytics |
| Price | Scans free; plan $9.99/mo or $89.99/yr ($39.99/yr founding) | $9.99 or $19.99/mo; $89.99 or $119.99/yr |
| Platforms | iPhone | iPhone, Android |
| US rating | 5.0 (1 rating) | 4.8 (12,417 ratings) |
What Thenx gives you
Thenx is built to be the one app you train with. Its listing describes daily recommended workouts based on your level and goals, beginner to advanced programs, tutorials for skills like the muscle-up, handstand and planche, and skill challenges that include the planche. It logs your reps, sets and personal bests and shows which muscles you've been training. It runs at home, in the gym or at a park, with or without equipment.
Its 12,417 US ratings average 4.8, which is more than every other calisthenics app I checked. The listing doesn't mention any camera, video or form analysis, so Thenx relies on you to judge your own form from its tutorials.
What SkillScan gives you
SkillScan answers one question about one skill. You pick your tier (tuck, advanced tuck, straddle or full), film an attempt side-on and get two numbers back. Seconds held is how long you were in the planche. Seconds clean is how much of it had your elbows within 15° of straight and your body within 20° of horizontal, the smallest deduction band in the FIG code FIG MAG CoP 2025-2028 · Art. 9.2.8, 9.2.9. You also get the fault that cost the difference, the frame where your form broke, and a replay with your skeleton drawn over the hold.
Scans are free every session. The paid Next Tier Plan writes weekly planche sessions dosed from your own measured hold and re-plans after each scan. It does nothing for your pull-ups, legs or anything else.
Where they overlap
Only on the planche program. If you pay for SkillScan's plan, you get planche sessions built from your numbers; Thenx gives you planche tutorials and a challenge alongside everything else. Someone training only the planche could pick either for the sessions. Someone training their whole body will want Thenx's library either way, and SkillScan's free scans on top.
Using them together
The two fit without stepping on each other:
- Follow Thenx's planche progression and workouts as usual.
- Prop your phone side-on once a session, or whenever you test a hold, and scan one attempt with SkillScan.
- Watch the gap between seconds held and seconds clean. If it's wide, the fault SkillScan names (elbows, body line or hips) is what to fix before adding time.
- Move up a step when your clean seconds, not your held seconds, reach whatever target your program sets.
Counting clean seconds matters because isometric strength builds mostly at the joint angle you hold Lum & Barbosa 2019. Ten seconds with bent elbows mostly trains the bent-elbow position.
Which to pick
If the planche is one goal among several, or you want an app to plan your whole week, Thenx is the better buy, and it works on Android.
If the planche is the goal, and what you need is to know whether your hold counts or why it stopped improving, SkillScan measures it, and you can start without paying.
If you're on a budget and want a planche progression without a subscription, Thenics lists the planche among its free skills, and Caliverse's free tier includes base training plans. I compare all of these in the best planche apps in 2026.
Questions people ask
Is Thenx good for the planche?
Thenx includes planche tutorials and a planche skill challenge inside a full calisthenics program. If you want the planche as part of broader training, it covers it. It doesn't look at video of you, so judging your own form is up to you.
Does Thenx check your form?
Its App Store listing doesn't mention camera, video or form analysis. Form guidance comes from its tutorials.
How much does Thenx cost?
The US App Store lists monthly subscriptions at $9.99 and $19.99 and yearly ones at $89.99 and $119.99, as of 6 November 2026.
What's a cheaper alternative to Thenx for the planche?
Thenics lists the planche among its free skills, with progressions. Caliverse's free tier includes more than 200 workouts and its base training plans. SkillScan's planche scans are free, though it measures your hold rather than programming your training.
Can I use SkillScan and Thenx together?
Yes. Train with Thenx and scan a hold with SkillScan when you want to know how much of it was clean. Nothing in either app conflicts with the other.
