Yesterday, after (many) years of people asking, Zwift has finally added an annual payment option. In doing so, they became the final company to add in annual pricing for their product, joining the rest of the industry. Of course, the writing was on the wall back in September when Zwift rolled out deals with Wahoo which included 1-year of Zwift for $99 with new hardware.
So, for those who missed the news, here are the new Zwift pricing options:
USD: 149.99 (plus tax)
EUR: 149.99
UK: 129.99
CAD: 189.99 (plus tax)
JPY: 15,000.00 (plus tax)
AUS: 199.99 (plus tax)
You can switch your subscription over today, and it’ll take effect at the next monthly renewal date. For those who subscribed via Apple device (using Apple as the payment middleman), it’ll require you to technically cancel your subscription and then renew it directly with Zwift. But given the cancellation wouldn’t have taken effect until the end of your month, it won’t affect your account.
Still, this post is mostly about seeing where everyone stands:
Trainer Platform Pricing:
First off, yes I know, I know, I’m behind on some sort of updated trainer app comparison post. There’s few things in life I hate more than writing up that post. Which, I’m probably not supposed to say, but it’s the bane of my existence. Mainly because it takes forever to do all the rides on every app (usually a few rides), then forever to get all the right screenshots/photos, then forever to try and consolidate those thoughts into just a few paragraphs for each app. After which, companies get all upset that I haven’t mentioned some hidden feature, or that they weren’t included at all. On the bright side, I get to avoid the Dutch rain and winds.
In any event, here’s a quick recap of where all the trainer apps stand in terms of pricing for USD. In most cases, for EUR pricing, it’s at parity (e.g. $12 = 12EUR).
Also, for the few apps that didn’t have USD pricing, I simply converted at today’s EUR to USD exchange rate. Further, I didn’t include some Black Friday deals (like Rouvy at $112/year), just so I don’t have to redo this table in a few days. And finally, I took the pricing listed on each page, in the case of Zwift they state “plus tax”, whereas almost nobody else stated that on their main page. Reality might differ (and would then in turn differ based on your location).
Indoor Cycling App Pricing Comparison List
| Platform-App | Annual Price | Monthly Price | Annual Savings |
|---|---|---|---|
| BigRingVR | $99.60 | $10.00 | $20.40 |
| Bkool | $120.00 | $12.00 | $24.00 |
| Elite My E-Training | $22.00 | N/A | N/A |
| Fulgaz | $125.99 | $14.99 | $53.89 |
| icTrainer | $24 | $2 | N/A |
| IndieVelo | Free | Free | N/A |
| Join | $99 | $11 | $22 |
| Kinetic.Fit | $60.00 | $10.00 | $60.00 |
| Kinomap | $89.99 | $11.99 | $53.89 |
| MyWhoosh | Free | Free | N/A |
| Peloton | $129.00 | $12.99 | $26.88 |
| PerfPro | $129 (one time fee) | N/A | N/A |
| Rolla | Free | Free | N/A |
| Rouvy | $149.00 | $14.99 | $30.88 |
| Tacx App | $99.99 | $9.99 | $19.89 |
| TechnoGym | $98.51 | $9.84 | $19.57 |
| TrainerDay | $39.95 | Free/$3.99/mo | $7.93 |
| TrainerRoad | $189.99 | $19.99 | $49.89 |
| Wahoo X/SYSTM | $149.00 | $14.99 | $30.88 |
| Xert | $99.95 | $9.99 | $19.93 |
| Zwift | $149.99 | $14.99 | $29.89 |
As you can see, things are actually pretty close across the board – with TrainerRoad the clear outlier. Of course, they’ve long positioned themselves as the premium training option for more serious cyclists, and their ‘optional price increase’ last year somewhat solidified that for long-time grandfathered-in users.
Of course, not all platforms are created equal. Some of that is obvious from the pricing they set for themselves above, and some of it is optimistic on the part of various companies. Still, for most people, it’ll depend on how you prefer to ride indoors. For some people, watching blue blocks in ERG mode is all they care about. While others want virtual world racing, and another group wants real-world outside videos. To each their own!
With that – thanks for reading!
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I Miss icTrainer on the list.
They Doubled the Price during Corona.
In you dont need 20 year old Poor grafics, try it.
There is also a 60 day discount around: PLP23
Thanks – just added it in!
Ictrainer costs are the wrong way around, annual v monthly
Interestingly (in the UK at least), Wahoo X is £14.49 per month if you purchase it through the Apple App Store, but £12.99 if you purchase directly through the Wahoo site. Guess that’s the App Store tax at work!
I like the intro 🤣
Bain of your existence
Perhaps bane is what you’re looking for? Unless you really dislike baths…
Ain’t nobody around here got time for a bath. 🙂
Thanks!
If there are 2 people in the family, then the annual FulGaz subscription is an even better deal, as with an annual membership you get a free account for a family member.
What about software apps like PerfPro, one time fee and more or less same as TrainerRoad.
Hmm, hadn’t really thought about non-subription apps (virtually none left), I’ll add it in.
Thanks for this! Im looking for options other than peloton. Peloton is actually going up to 24/month if you want more than 3 cycling classes a month.
Outstanding article and very helpful, thank you!
You should check out Join. It’s growing fast.
Wow! I haven’t used TrainerRoad in a while (I’ve become more of a runner than a cyclist), but I didn’t realise the price had gone up so much!!
It was always a _bit_ more expensive than Zwift but that’s quite a lot more now!
I want to put in a plug for TrainerDay which is just $4/mo, but packs a ton of great features. TrainerDay consists of a trainer app that runs on iOS and Android and a web-based training plan builder that is science-based and incredibly flexible. It syncs to all the major platforms and has a super-responsive developer who answers questions in the forum daily.
Having used TrainerRoad and Wahoo X/ SYSTM/ SUF/ Whatever-it-will-be-called-next, I can’t imagine going back to paying that much when TrainerDay does everything I need.
One example of a great TrainerDay feature is the ability to ride in HR Mode, which adjusts your power target to keep your HR in the zone of your choice. Works great for long Z2 rides.
Thanks Ben 🙂
Found this. Early state, but who knows….
link to cr4nkup.com
You also forgot the GTBike V mod for GTA V (link to gtbikev.com). Once off purchase for the game, and then free for life. It has come on in leaps and bounds.
Surprised that more people don’t just use mywhoosh. Have been using it for a while and while not on par yet with Zwift is getting closer by the month. The main issue is the long download times..seems to want to do a few GBs every time. When folks ask me how to get started I always recommend MyWhoosh just to see if they even like indoor cycling. With them taking over the ESport World Championships seems like it’s here to stay. Haven’t heard it even planning to go paid.
I tried it once, finished my ride and poof the app crashed, and my ride was lost. Is that a common occurrence or a one off? In 3 years, I’ve had zero Zwift crashes.
“The main issue” is that MyWhoosh benefits the UAE, an oppressive government.
My powerful computer can’t handle it. Only 12fps. This app needs a PC monster. I mainly use AppleTV on ZWIFT, ROUV. THIS is the cheapest and more convenient option of a mini box than buying a large computer.
Tried so many apps but keep coming back to Big ring. Not the fancy graphics of others but wide choice of cycling places, realistic environments and just works all the time. the downside his not BLE connection but easy enough to get over that.
I am not a BR worker etc ha ha I mentioned before about Mywhoosh, Bkool, Zwift etc that I use but so fake .. and frankly boring after a while.
Book’s real life rides are so shoddy compared to BigRing.
With the new Annual option on Zwift, are you able to still do the pause membership for X number of weeks? I find that nice if I can remember for times of outdoor biking, vacations, injury, etc. If I am recovering from injury or training less on bike, its easy enough to just use Trainer on dumbmode/fluidmode and watch shows/movies… shift gears as needed for more/less resistance , for zn1 or zn2 days/weeks I don’t need muuch :-/
Watch GPLama’s video on YouTube which answers this question and others about the annual plan. The answer is no, there’s no way to pause.
You’re missing Velocity. vqvelocity.com
Created by Robbie Ventura, and used by some big coaching groups, like Purple Patch, Vision Quest, 80/20 Endurance, and more. They also acquired PerfPro.
Thanks Jim-
Looking at the website though, I don’t see any prices listed, nor any way for a consumer to download the app?
Am I missing something?
Cheers!
I’m pretty sure they have reached out to you, but not sure if you received the emails. They are entirely web based, (only iOS app on phone and iPad). They have Drew Hartman on their staff, (founder of PerfPro), and it’s a different business model, as it is B2B, not B2C. They focus on coaching groups and organizations, for more intimate and personalized/engaged experienced with a coach. If you email me, I am happy to make an intro with the staff. JimVanceInc at g mail. They are blowing up.
Have you considered crowdsourcing your app review from among your user-base or does that stray too far from the site’s ethos?
You could still be the primary contributor and, obviously, the editor.
Don’t forget this one DC Rainmaker
link to cr4nkup.com
Rgds Ollie Payne
It’s nice to see an annual Zwift option now, which might entice me to join again. I used a nifty hack several years ago to get an “annual rate”: Zwift used to sell gift cards for an annual subscription, and I used the DCR membership discount through a seller to buy the gift card at a discounted rate. I was bummed when Zwift stopped selling membership gift cards!
…when I find out there’s a perk for being a DCR Supporter not even I knew about! 😂
Willing to start an indoor training business here… which cycling app/platform would be ideal?
20 riders per session, using a mix of standalone smart trainers, dumb rollers, and also “bring your own powermeter equipped bike” option.
Contact me at TrainerDay, we can help you out. Offer a discount to your members or something.
Perfect timing. Thanks!!
I really enjoy TrainerRoad and I think it really works if you follow the plan, but with those prices it’s becoming very difficult to justify it versus the other options… specially if you mostly use it during winter months.
As someone mentioned: Join link to join.cc
Great info put together in one post. I never realised how many platforms there are already on the market actually.
Just as an extra thing, I would love to see also Black Friday offers in such a visual, that would be great. I know Rouvy is having -25percent (I know because I made use of it) but I am sure others have good deals too and if someone is hesitating which app to use for the coming winter season, it would be good to see who is offering the most savings during this crazy sales time of the year.
Kinetic.fit had its app removed from Google Play probably for misuse of, or lack of an update to, the YouTube API. You can still find the latest APK on other sites, like link to apkpure.com
The prices currently on your table ($60.00 ; $10.00) don’t match what’s on the site link to kinetic.fit : $9.99/month or $24.99/quarter.
Odd, shows $60/year here: link to kinetic.fit
Anyone know which free desktop apps let you control erg mode on a trainer?
I currently use ErgVideo, since a workout file plays like a video player timeline. You can click anywhere in an interval and change things on the fly. I like doing this while I ride Zwift so I can cater intervals to line up with the course I’m riding. Any other apps that can do something similar? I’d love to find one that can do free ride intervals.
Sticking to a training plan and fitting it to a course in Zwift really helps keep me more engaged than importing a workout into Zwift and pressing start.
Hi. What do you think about link to wattattack.ru
Thanks for the list, and most importantly, thanks to the folks in the comments section who pointed out some apps that were left out of the original list. Some great options were listed which I had never heard of until reading through this article.
I can’t believe that someone still offers a one-time purchase license in the year 2023 (PerfPro) or that something like TrainerDay is so inexpensively priced.
This will help as I transition off of TrainerRoad (common theme here) and move to other programs which offer most of the same benefits at a much lower price point.
What about ergvideo? I use it almost as often as zwift, with my tacx neo. I use videos i bought awhile back but they do subscriptions now, $10/month i think.
Thanks for taking the time to put this together, I appreciate the thoroughness with which you write. One of the things I do think is worth noting are the family and group pricing discounts that some platforms offer. My wife and I both subscribe and some of the different platforms have steep family or group discounts which is appealing to us.
Hi Ray, thanks as always for this info. One thing that would be cool is if you were to do a current comparison of the apps from a functionality standpoint, as well as what they do (there are some that are full blown immersive riding experiences, while some, eg. Join, appear to be training apps that don’t provide any tailored functionality for indoor trainers.
I’ve been playing with several over the years (the weather is good enough here that mostly I couldn’t justify paying for one, and certainly not an annual membership). But, because of their re-do of a free month, I tried Rouvy again, and found that they had massively improved it. Rouvy uses actual video from real roads, and augmented reality to place cyclists on those roads. A couple years ago, it was pretty wonky. Now it works quite well, to the point that I decided to do a month to month membership while it rains here. The real roads really works for me; others might prefer the more gamified approach of MyWhoosh or Indievelo (I’ve never tried the big Z).