5 Dietbet Alternatives: Weight Loss Challenges Compared

Megan Mahoney

26 Sep 2025 — 7 min read

Dietbet is a program where participants bet money to achieve a weight loss goal.

It works for some, but there are some drawbacks to the program, and it doesn’t work for everyone.

Here’s an overview of other Dietbet alternatives and why they might be better choices for you.

What is Dietbet and How Does It Work?

DietBet is a weight loss betting program where you wager money (usually about $20 - $40 per month) on your ability to lose weight within a specific timeframe. If you hit your goal, you split the pot with other winners. If you don't, you lose your bet.

There are two main challenge types:

Kickstarter: Lose 4% of your body weight in 4 weeks (average bet $35)
Transformer: Lose 10% of your body weight in 6 months ($35/month or $175 upfront)

To participate, you submit photos of yourself on a scale and the scale readout during weigh-in periods. A referee reviews each submission to prevent cheating. Winners typically lose 9.4 pounds (Kickstarter) or 25.8 pounds (Transformer) and earn around $59 on average.

The Drawbacks of Dietbet

Problem	Why This is a Problem
Weight loss vs body recomposition	If your goal is body recomposition, Dietbet won’t support your goals.
Weigh-ins incentive unhealthy behaviors (purging/excessive fasting)	While purging and fasting is against the rules, there isn’t really a way to police unhealthy behaviors.
Low stakes ($25 - $40 per month)	The average bet is between $25 and $40, which may not be significant enough motivation.
Monthly weigh-ins are too infrequent	Quitting good habits for the weekend may not seem like a big deal, but it can dramatically hurt your progress. As a result, you’ll find yourself behind in your goals at the end of the month.

A Comparison of Dietbet Alternatives

Alternative #1: Wearable Challenge

While Dietbet rewards participants for losing pounds (which can lead to extreme dieting), Wearable Challenge focuses on staying within a target blood sugar range.

Participants wear a CGM for 14 days and stake $20/day to stay under 120 mg/dL (a low yet healthy blood sugar level).

If you indulge in high sugar/carb foods and your glucose spikes over 120 mg/dL, you lose your $20 for that day. Otherwise, it’s free to join.

Wearable Challenge is highly effective because the CGM data makes it impossible to cheat.

And, $20/day is a meaningful stake that motivates you to finish the challenge.

How Wearable Challenge Works:

Step 1: Join Wearable Challenge and Connect Your CGM

If you don’t have a CGM yet, we’ll give you links to get one.

Step 2: Stake $20/day for the 14 day challenge to stay under 120 mg/dL

If you eat excessive sugar or carbs and your glucose level spikes above 120, you’ll lose your $20 daily stake.

Step 3: Participate in the community

Losing weight is challenging, so you also have access to a community through a secure SMS chat.

Dietbet vs Wearable Challenge

Here’s a more detailed overview of how Wearable Challenge differs from weight loss challenges like Dietbet:

Dietbet	Problem	Wearable Challenge Solution	Benefit
Success based on pounds lost	Incentivizes extreme dieting Doesn’t account for body recomposition	Focuses on a daily action item: Stay under 120 mg/dL	Builds healthy habits.
Low stakes ($20 to $40 per month)	Losing $20 or $40 for the whole month might not be as painful as resisting temptations.	$20 daily stakes is meaningful	Painful to quit (and lose $20/day) than finish.
Monthly weigh-ins	Accountability is too infrequent. A weekend splurge doesn’t seem like a big deal, but it will catch up	$20/day stakes mean daily accountability	Every day counts, which trains consistency and helps you reach your goals faster

Join Wearable Challenge today to unlock the best version of yourself.

Alternative #2: HealthyWage

HealthyWage is a weight loss betting platform.

You can either set your own weight loss goal and experience the journey solo or join an ongoing challenge.

The solo weight loss goals have you input your current height, weight, and goal. Then, you place a monthly bet (e.g., $60 for six months) and it will calculate the prize you’ll win. You can potentially win more than what you put in due to the pots.

Note that you can’t bet anything that will put you below a BMI of 19.

Additionally, unlike Dietbet, where most challenges are one to six months, six months is the minimum time commitment for HealthyWage.

If you don’t want to do your own challenge, you can also join a group challenge in HealthyWage.

Most group challenges are either 4-6% body weight loss challenges or step challenges (e.g., “increase your steps by 25%”).

To win, HealthyWage requires two verified weigh-ins, one at the start and one at the end of a weight loss challenge. You can either do it yourself following their standards or through a professional with a VerifyMe! form.

Alternative #3: stickK

stickK is a commitment contract platform that uses financial stakes to help you stick to any goal, including weight loss and fitness targets.

Here’s how you can use StickK for health/fitness:

Set Your Goal: Define any health target (lose 20 pounds, exercise 4x/week, etc.)
Choose Your Stakes: Decide how much money you'll forfeit if you fail
Pick Your Timeline: Set your own deadline (weeks, months, or ongoing)
Add Accountability: Choose supporters to verify your progress and/or referees to judge success
Designate Consequences: Choose where your money goes if you fail (charity, anti-charity, or friend)

Key differences from DietBet:

No Earning Potential: You can only get your money back, never earn more
Self-Reporting: You track and report your own progress vs. DietBet's photo verification
Any Goal: Not limited to weight loss - can be exercise, nutrition habits, etc.
Personal Stakes: Individual commitment vs. group pot dynamics
Flexible Timeline: Completely customizable vs. DietBet's fixed challenge periods

StickK works best for people who are motivated by loss aversion and want accountability for specific behavioral changes rather than just weight outcomes.

Alternative #4: Competish

Competish is a weight loss challenge app where you invite your friends and family to sign up for a group with you.

While competing with friends and family can be beneficial motivation, it can also be demotivating. For example, if your friends quit a challenge, you might also feel a decrease in positive peer pressure and motivation to keep going.

You have the option to set the duration of the challenge, though Competish recommends 4 to 12 week challenges.

You’ll also set a buy-in among and compete to lose the highest percentage of weight over that set period of time.

To hold participants accountable, they must submit daily weigh-ins with photo verification. While the frequency is useful, daily weigh-ins isn’t an ideal accountability tracking method because weight may fluctuate from day to day.

Participants can also engage in group chats with fellow competitors for support, encouragement, and friendly banter.

From the stakes that you set, there are two ways that you can win both weekly and for the overall competition.

For the weekly competition:

Weekly Match-up: You're paired with a new participant (“buddy”) each week.If you lose a higher percentage than them in that week, you win this prize.
Top Loser: At the end of the week, the person who lost the most weight out of their competitors will win the top loser prize.

For the overall Competition:

Biggest Loser: The person who loses the most weight out of the entire challenge will win a grand prize.
Runner-up: The person who loses the second most amount of weight at the end of the challenge wins this prize.

Key features at a glance:

Daily weigh-ins with photo verification to track progress
Weekly match-ups with prizes for top performers
Group chat for motivation and social support
Daily reminders to encourage consistent participation

Alternative #5: Sweatcoin

Sweatcoin is a free step-tracking app that converts your steps into “coins” that you can redeem for products and services.

Unlike betting platforms, you aren’t staking a bet. You can earn sweatcoins, but you don’t stand to lose anything. Also, the earning potential is quite low. For example, to earn $1,000, one user calculated it would take over 32 million steps, which could take years of consistent walking.

There also aren’t any set challenges. Instead, you can simply turn the app on any time you want to earn sweatcoins.

The platform works entirely through automatic GPS step tracking on your phone, requiring no manual logging or effort from users.

However, the accountability has significant limitations - only outdoor steps verified by GPS count toward earnings, and only 40-50% of your actual steps are converted to Sweatcoins. This system can also be gamed through driving or cycling, reducing its reliability as a fitness accountability tool.

There are no financial stakes involved since the app is completely free, and the community features are minimal with basic social elements but no group challenges or active engagement.

Key differences from DietBet:

No Financial Accountability: Free earning model vs. DietBet's betting structure
Exercise-Only Focus: Step counting vs. DietBet's weight loss goals
Digital Rewards: SweatCoins for products vs. real money winnings
Low Earning Potential: Only 40-50% of steps count, making meaningful rewards nearly impossible to achieve

The Next Step to Achieve Your Fitness or Weight Loss Goals

If your goal is to lose weight, body recomposition (build muscle), or simply learn to live healthier, join Wearable Challenge.

We built it because there wasn’t a single challenge that focused on nutrition, required virtually zero effort to participate, and was impossible to cheat.

If you’re serious about transforming your health, join Wearable Challenge.

It’s completely free to join and with $20 daily stakes, you’ll finally become the best version of yourself.

Your future fitter self thanks you for joining Wearable Challenge today.