IS STRAVA WORTH PAYING FOR?? & THE PRICE RISE!! Review of all features & my honest thoughts!

[@BenParkes]

What features would you like to see on Strava on either the free or paid version? *cough cough* dark mode

[@BikepackingAdventures]

Flyby mode enabled by default like it used to be, and better searching through old activities, it's very primitive in Strava. Bring over a few more features from RWGPS as well such as the ability to create a collection of routes and collection of activities (aka tagging). In fact overhaul the route planner, it really sucks in comparison to GWPS - its incredibly primitive.

[@grahamhowes3912]

YES! Dark mode absolutely! How does Strava not have this yet?

[@Zoe-yn6db]

PB distances for swimming

[@lilcutt4985]

Dark mode 💯

[@josephfantonial3273]

Dark mode!

[@jimgoldie4338]

Great insight sir, much appreciated. I’ve been a Strava subscriber for a while and didn’t actually realise it did a lot of the things you covered in your video. However, I wouldn’t actually use any of them!🤣 I also have a Fenix so get tonnes of data through that. I also wasn’t even aware of the price increases either and after watching your video I’m going to cxl my Strava subscription right now so thanks for this!🙌🏻

[@DEJF90]

Great video as always, Ben. Personally, I stopped Strava on 31st December 2021 to see if I would miss it. As a Garmin user, I quickly realised that Garmin Connect had everything I needed in terms of data to track my runs and swims. I do miss the social side, for sure, but not enough to re-download and subscribe to Strava.

[@cloudchaser9287]

Same, I do like features such as the leaderboards but overall I think Strava is quite overpriced....

[@danielconde13]

When a top runner thinks twice on keep paying for Strava, well, what else do you want to add?... I use Strava since 2017, and was a never a paid version user. As far as I'm concerned, the free version brings you really everything you need, and some extra interesting perks. It just strikes me as strange that some features you can access on the mobile app, but not on the desktop one. Besides Strava, and since I'm currently a Polar watch user, Polar Flow also brings a lot of features to track your performance for each activity. Bottom line is, Strava's paid features are a "nice to have", not a "must have" for me.

[@therunophil]

When I decided to get a "real" running watch I opted to pay the price for higher end Garmin but not to buy subscription for apps like Strava or Runkeeper and I never regreted it, way more data on Garmin with permanent HR, stress level, sleep tracking, recovery, training recommendations etc. I have a free Strava for the social aspect but everything training is on Garmin.

[@fergusdenoon1255]

yeah, you kinda get the feeling if Garmin improved their social aspect and connectivity, everything else would become obsolete.

[@jamesarooke]

I don't even need to watch this video to answer your question. No, Strava is not worth paying for. Not at all.

[@ndi5670]

Agreed! If you have a proper watch, you’ll have all the data points you need.

[@kierenkd]

Agree. Anything useful comes from 3rd party browser plugins.

[@Markhypnosis1]

That's a matter of opinion. I'd rather not have lots of separate sites for analysing data if I can have it all in Strava. Plus, I find the Strava segments a great tool, especially the live segments displayed on my bike computer. So for me, it's worth it.

[@apocreg11]

Disagree

[@danielwatts6023]

You did watch the video though didn't you 🥴

[@bobridestwowheels]

I do pay and have for many years, I am canceling it with the price increase.

[@immortalrob1630]

I’ve cancelled my monthly subscription. I plot routes on garmin. I wasn’t using enough of the perks to warrant the the price increase

[@ChrisDrysdale16]

Live segments and the like are what got me so hooked on running during COVID and the training log and comparative runs are what will keep me subscribed. Especially with student pricing, well worth it. However, we are getting a relatively small price increase compared to the ROW.

[@timothyfranklin4808]

Used to pay, then realised I get near enough the same features with Garmin

[@samuellarcombe4209]

You also get access to their training plans. Out of interest how come you don't have your watch HRM turned on?

[@jameskane3550]

I'm in the doubling for the increase group. The premium features aren't worth the extra expense compared to the tools I already have at my disposal from Polar, so I'm not renewing.

[@gary_runs]

Great Video as always Ben! My subscription expires September 23 so ive got a while to decide?? I probably won't renew. I could use the money to buy 2 more BP caps 😆 Looking forward to that blue cap!!

[@ds6914]

Have you considered a career as defensively oriented football manager?

[@jaytok7]

samsung user, so i use samsung health..for a casual runner, it does the Job 🤙🏼

[@Aelox3]

Awesome video, thanks man! 🔥

[@JK-NOT-JK]

Love Strava - thanks for the video. Currently pay for it and use for jogging and cycling. Don't see it as good value and may cancel at renewal pending how much they increase it by. Key use is the social aspect. I'm amazed Apple / Microsoft / Google hasn't knocked up a rival. But it's terrible for looking at efforts by sport, month on month, year on year etc. And I'd like ability to export my support stats for all activity without having the micro detail, so I could add to excel for better [for me] time and activity based reporting.

[@dom_leary]

I’m cancelling mine when I see the prices go up, it’s a reminder I’m probably not getting value out of it. Garmin plus runalyze are better for deep analysis tbh

[@swenderich]

I have a free Strava account for the social aspect of it. For analysis purposes I have a TrainingPeaks subscription, which in my opinion is far superior to Strava for this purpose.

[@symonchester]

I have a Garmin and have all the data I need so I don't see any need for paying for Strava personally, I just use it as a backup for my Garmin data... It's just another social media app really

[@StefanTerndrup]

Been subscribing to Strava for about 3 years now, but if I get a price hike that is too big when I am due to renew in the spring, I am done with it. They are not bringing any new features in and it is getting very slow in the UI and loading. Which tells me like if I have heard rumours about, they have troubles with coding etc.

[@ianrichardson3329]

Pound a week.. love Strava... on it every day

[@petraalma29]

Love Strava, have been a subscriber for years and will likely continue, though it’s good to revisit your subscriptions some times so will look at the new prices. What irks me is that I have had to learn about the price increase via KZbin and not a word from Strava. Another recent source of irritation is these constant notifications along the lines of ‘Yay, you’re well on the way towards your weekly goal’ when I have just run 6 miles on Monday to start my week off. What’s that all about? I am well aware of my weekly goal, am not a new runner, it’s just annoying. Do they send the same notifications to the elite? ‘Well done Eliud, you are smashing it this week’ 🤣🤣

[@alanshrimpton6787]

I'm a subscriber and NZ doesn't get a mention. I'll unsubscribe to strava if it goes up. I'll keep using Runalyze for my historical data and the weekly lay out in that is great.

[@WayeOfLife]

I've been a subscriber for years.. but thinking of stopping once my current year is finished (October).. I love Strava and would love to continue to but am now looking at how much of my subscription features I can do on Garmin connect. What is good with this Strava price hike is that is it getting me to question what I use it for. I love being able to use it for posting.. but at that price?

[@zdmmccorkell202]

I considered subscribing but they keep putting the price up. If it was a £1 a month or something sensible then yeah, possibly but a runner like me doesn’t need massive analytics. My Garmin info is just fine. Unfortunately for Strava they’ve over priced it, massively.

[@StephenAndrichuk]

I quit when they made leaderboards private. Now I just use WKO5

[@LouieBaLLz]

This video reminded me to cancel my sub to Strava since my renewal fee is now $79.99, up from $59.99. Bye Bye Strava. It was fun while it lasted.

[@TomLarkin_]

Yes, it's a bit too expensive. Yes, they are not going about these increases in the best way. And yes, the data is also all there, somewhere, in Garmin Connect, or Runalyze, or wherever else I use for free. But ultimately, the Strava app and site are brilliant. They present the data in a way that is so far ahead of everyone else, and as a result, it makes my training (and therefore my life) better. I tried going back to a free account when the last increase came in and realised how much I value all the features, so only lasted a couple of weeks before signing up again. And chances are, I'll keep paying again this time. It's clearly going to be quite hard work to get Strava profitable, and I don't know what the answer is. Neither do they by the looks of it. It doesn't look like these price rises are the answer, judging by the reaction. Their big problem is that everyone values Strava at a different level and everyone has a different ability to pay.

[@geridsyanriyulius9696]

Save your money, buy a Garmin for lifetime..❤

[@barriehobbs4533]

I find it difficult enough finding time to do the training sessions. Garmin gives you all the basic information you need and rather than spending endless hours on deep dives into data or giving kudos i'm better off doing a strength session or better warm up and cool down.

[@chrisshaw2810]

Integrity is important, and I really appreciate that you have 'given kudos' to DC Rainmaker (whose videos on the subscription controversy seem to be those that broke the news). That being said, you have taken the opportunity to put up a video which includes this issue but is about Strava in general - which is much appreciated - thank you.

[@BenParkes]

Yes, Ray's video was really interesting.. and just highlights how bad Strava seem to be with communication.

[@philipwood7673]

I ditched Strava (or at least, posting my runs on there) a few months ago because I found that the awareness that I would be sharing the details of my run/race/workout was affecting the way I ran, and sometimes I would spend a significant chunk of time during the actual run thinking about what I would title the activity and trying to come up with something amusing to put in the description rather than actually focusing on the run itself (e.g. how does this pace feel? could I really run a 10k at this speed?). The final nail in the coffin was realising that I was spending all this mental energy on thinking about what to post when 99% of the people who would see it would spend a maximum of 0.5s looking and are mostly in a scroll-kudos-scroll autopilot mode.

[@sarahmarie_e]

I totally get this! I too catch myself thinking of titles while running. (so embarrassing!!) I deleted IG and FB a while ago... I don't know why I didn't consider Strava. Better late than never!

[@Burps___]

If Strava was affecting your mental health like that, I dont blame you for ditching it. 🧠

[@bernardkenealy3711]

Yeah i am steering into this territory too. Not so much with 'what to name my run' but defo overthinking how my sessions will 'look' to the people i follow. Recently started running Easy by HR and didnt want to originally because of what people would 'think' of me running slowly. Also spending too much time mindless scrolling on Strava

[@simongamez]

I can relate to this! I struggle with this a lot, specially last year, when I trained for my first 10km race. I do it not for people to see it (no one follows me and I don't share it) but to document my running experience and not forgetting how that run felt, but then... I spend minutes even hours thinking and remembering every aspect of my run, just to write it down, and thinking about the title and what photos to post. I really fear forgetting and I've become obsessed with documenting my runs.

[@Pistolsmoke24]

Exactly. I do t even look at my Strava feed, and I have literally zero followers since I got it haha. I just like seeing my progress.

[@TonyJamesRunning]

Paid strava is worth it just for the beacon feature. So many times my wife has checked were I am & had food ready for when I finish a run 😜

[@BenParkes]

Ha, that’s a great use of beacon!! Your wife sounds lovely 🙌

[@gshick]

Same! My wife won’t let me run or ski in the backcountry without beacon on

[@Yannousmood]

If used on the phone the beacon option became free a few month ago

[@TonyJamesRunning]

@@BenParkes she is, but she was too busy sat in Starbucks in Berlin writing her 42nd novel to come & run with you lol

[@kiely4561]

You want your wife to know where you are 24/7? Lol

[@Simon-ch4eo]

I keep all my Strava records private. As deleted all social media some time ago due to anxiety, finding as more apps are becoming social based (including LinkedIn) I’m having to come off more and more, great vid idea as always, not sure it offers much more than Garmin connect though?

[@BenParkes]

Looking after mental health is always number 1.. I’ve had a few extended breaks from posting over the years as well. Hope you’re in a ok place now Simon. I touch on the Garmin bits later in the video 🙂 all the best!

[@Simon-ch4eo]

Hi Ben, yep seen the whole thing now got a bit overexcited commenting before viewing it all! 😊 I agree the route planning interface isn’t quite as good, I do automatically sync to Strava just in private mode (and free mode) I do like a stat! I find social media stressful and have never put my finger on why, in general I like tech so try not to introduce any social media stuff if possible! But then I’m not running a business 😂Hope you are doing well, love the vids and credit them along with “jog on” in getting me into consistent running 3 years ago. Chasing that sub 4 marathon in April, 4:02 last year! I like the feeling of competing against myself rather than comparison so appreciate all your vids! Take care, Simon

[@Invictus4318]

I deleted all my social media accounts (Facebook, insta, Snapchat) back in July 2022 and honestly I’ve never felt better. It drives me mad when I see my partner scrolling through endlessly. I whole heartedly believe that the world would be a far better place without Facebook, twitter, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat.

[@Fraser365]

I pay for Strava, primarily because I love comparing my runs and seeing the gradual progression in pace/lower HR/faster segements etc. While I can get this information from Garmin, I find Strava a lot easier to compare and easier on the eye. The ability to compare two efforts on the same route/segment is seamless with Strava.

[@peterwoodford2376]

I use Garmin Connect to create courses for my Garmin Forerunner 245 and my Garmin 520 bike computer. And free Strava. Done!! 😂

[@bobbydiner0]

Just joined Strava the other week. Never considered paying however; I joined for the “social media” aspect. I get the data I need from Garmin Connect.

[@rob_h_7]

I paid a one-off fee of £20 to get global maps on Komoot. This solved my route planning out for a lot less than what Strava want to charge us (who knows how much that is these days)

[@mummypaige]

this is why you are one of the best - honest, transparent and no commercial agenda...thank you !

[@aidanoc19]

A few thoughts, when £50+ quid popped up as renewal price in the year, my gut instinct was that's too much in one whack in holiday season . I considered the monthly option but when I saw £8.99, I was gobsmacked. There's not a single feature you've described that'll persuade me to depart with that level of subscription. Strava's issue is this. They had a free service that became a ubiquitous reference for how people compared to each other on known routes. The 'If it's not on strava, did you even do it?' factor but they weren't profitable. So they took the one feature everyone liked, the segment leader boards and put it behind a pay wall. Realising that was actually a cynical move, like making you pay for email, they came up with a rake of other features for paying users in at attempt to justify the fee. These features range from interesting but not essential, like your personal heat map, to one's you'll probably rarely, if ever use. Also do we need to analyse our runs in that detail, 52 weeks a year? No, half the time we're ticking over and the free app is fine for that. The only thing I really missed was the annual summary display but I ain't paying £54 for that. Good point about getting similar metrics elsewhere. I actually think they'll struggle to grow their business as too many users wont pay. One final thought, can you, like some gym memberships pay for a month or two, then cancel? Think it could just be about worth it for a major goal race, e.g. a marathon training block for 8 to 10 weeks, then opt out again.

[@mattpotter8725]

I cancelled when they put the segments, and even more importantly comparing your own runs against each other, behind the paywall. If I was part of a running club, running a lot, on some kind of training plan, wanted to compare my times against others then I think asking people to pay its fair (up to a point), but when it's my own data, data that isn't even collected by their own devices then I think this is a bit rich. If you are preparing for a race then you can dip in and out, but it is more costly per month then an annual subscription, but cheaper if you only want it for say 2 months a year, so you'd have to do the cancellation of his many months that would be, whether you can still afford it after their price hikes, and then do the maths as to which is cheaper (off the top of my head and if £8.99 is monthly and £55 is the annual fee then it you're needing the features less than 6 months then dip in for a month then cancel is the way to go, otherwise the extra £1 more for 6 months isn't really worth the pain, especially as I get from time to find you forget to cancel or need it slightly longer than the month). They got their users when many features were free. I can only see those figures going down as more people find the free alternatives are adequate. I don't even use the free version of Strava now and have stopped syncing my data across so they aren't getting that off me either. I just use GarminConnect, which is free having bought a Garmin watch. It does everything I need it to do. I don't miss Strava one bit.

[@feezee82]

You make a lot of good points, but one thing to keep in mind, is that nothing is actually ever free. Even when Strava was free, the company was still paying for employees, for servers, databases, etc. Those are not cheap. So sooner or later, they had to start charging money to make up for their costs.

[@aidanoc19]

@feezee82 I do get the whole issue that Strava had to cover costs with a fee and unlike Garmin or even Whoop, they can't give you a piece of hardware. Their USP has always been the segments, so they can offer a tonne of other stuff but whether they make money will boil down to, are the subs worth it to maintain the segments features, IMHO of course.

[@maidbe]

i've tried the free trial version and concluded that there's nothing really worth paying for. then i forgot to cancel on time and they took my money away. ok, fair play. now i have the subscription and i've been desperately trying to justify the money spent. all these things you've talked about, segments, routes, even the beacon - those are all unnecessary (and some of them are simply boring)... your presentation was what kept me going to the end of the video, but after it all... nah, it's really not worth it. also, you forgot to mention, or you're unaware maybe, whoever is using strava on their phone, the app will most likely crash at some point. if you're using the watch, then you'll probably have the same features as the ones strava is offering. but you ain't paying fortune for those.

[@WendyInTheWild]

Strava recently gave me a free month's trial. I couldn't find a single feature that was any use to me. So, I definitely wouldn't pay for Premium.

[@HannahC]

I currently pay for Strava. But thinking about cancelling when it renews in the summer. I started paying so I could have Strava Beacon via my phone but then I know that’s now free. The only real thing I think I use from the paid features is the route planning - so useful for long runs… but then I know I can do that from Garmin Connect (even if it isn’t quite as easy!). But then the yearly increase isn’t quite so much as when you pay monthly. But then with marathon training coming this summer, the route planning may be helpful for long run planning 🤷🏻‍♀️

[@danielconde13]

Beacon has become a free feature for quite sometime now.

[@dionblundell9733]

Cheers Ben. Thanks for that. My experience is that for 3 years i subscribed to strava. Each year I requested that they add the ability to add a shoe via the app. Support compeletely ignored the request. Instead they focused on fine grain segment stuff, rather than getting the basics right. This forced me to go into their website to add a shoe. Really? Really. That's what drove me to go to the free version. I've used the free one for 2 years now and the only feature i find useful that I miss is the training calendar overview. Really don't find strava useful for anything other than the social. Garmin does metrics better for the few times a year in actually interested

[@bh5817]

It annoys me so much they still haven’t added this to the app

[@tekstar78]

I would rather spend the money on a decent heart rate monitor, better running watch, maybe money towards a better or even extra pair of running shoes. And the list goes on. I can only see myself subscribing to strava if I had money to waste or if like Ben it was useful for my work.

[@alphaperez]

I signed up for the free trial and forgot to cancel before I was automatically renewed for the annual subscription. Yes, I enjoy the premium features. But I have cancelled the subscription, so it will not be renewing again. For me, I have never found the route finder helpful at all. Strava should make tools so that content creators like Ben Parkes can make $$$ on Strava - it was a massive key to success at other social platforms.

[@dliedke]

It will be the end of Strava like this

[@springbok7902]

Great vid. One extra feature no-one appears to be aware of... "Recovery" app is free with Strava Subsrciption! Great for pre and post runs, recovery from injuries etc.

[@HuesingProductions]

I've received a lot of Strava E-mail messages (almost spammy) in the last weeks to switch to the subscription model and it started to annoy me deeply. Furthermore the subscription is currently to expensive for me.

[@rob_h_7]

Me too, I’ve never seen anything like it.

[@paulcook7426]

I've thought this for a while. To me, it comes across as begging to the extent their business model is in trouble.

[@jamiexavier6654]

Hi Ben thanks for putting this video together. Ever since Strava introduced the subscription the topic of whether to pay for it or not has been discussed many times. Of all the social media platforms out there I spend most of my time on Strava and when they introduced the subscription I happily signed up ( pay per month ) and have remained so even with the price increase. How I see it is that I use the app alot and find it useful not only for tracking my runs but also the social element and seeing how people are getting on etc. ultimately though paying a subscription it more than likely keeps someone in a job.

[@over1498]

Ah I remember the good old days when companies had to add new features to justify a price jump. Now it just seems inevitable that they will occasionally go up for the rest of eternity for no other reason than that the company will fail if they don’t.

[@patbriggsmbr]

They have just increased cost by not just a few pence but £2.00. Unreal, it’s most certainly not worth nearly £10.00 a month. Not a chance.

[@uras1]

Ive just checked my google account for what ive been paying and ive actaully been charged twice a year for the last 3 years. Each payment has been 81.99 on every charge. I'd suggest to others to check your billing account

[@ChristianRunsNY]

Mine is going from $59 - $79USD. It's crazy that it is all over the place by country. Monthly price doubles in the US as well.

[@MKNYC_]

Now that I have an Apple Watch ultra, the Apple Fitness app shows more info than the premium Strava data. Plus I have a lot of issues with the Strava App and Strava Apple Watch integration. In short, it’s lack of customization that frustrates me. Can’t customize data screens on the Apple Watch, no dark mode, can’t customize data screens on the activities section of the app, no flybys on the app. There is cool stuff online but I have no interest in going to their website to view anything, it should be entirely on the app. So I’m paying 80 bucks a year for segments basically, pretty stupid. I’ve turned off auto renew.

[@robertmuckle2985]

I dumped Netflix this year cause they kept raising prices, but the quality/quantity of choices was getting less. I almost quit Strava premium when they arbitrarily switched off 'Flybys', which was one of their best features...as now very few people even know it exists. Now they want me to pay $99.99 can dollars, and this move may just be the straw!🤬

[@ObsessiveCyclist]

Pretty disappointed to find out about the doubling of my Strava sub from apple who were advising of a change to my monthly payment. Not a dicky bird from Strava. Bad form.

[@DuncanEpping]

One of the most useful graphs I track throughout free strava and CRPlots. They track “meters per heartbeat” and it basically shows you your efficiency over time. Very useful to track over longer periods to see if you get faster at the same heartrate

[@kizzmiazzz]

how/where exactly can u track that?

[@ollvi]

Would never pay for this, it's so broken. Doesn't even let me to create segments, what a dog shit

[@ThatFlowState]

I've paid for Strava in the past but stopped after they started moving previously free features behind the paywall while long existing bugs were ignored. Route creation is the only feature I'd use and I've switched that to Komoot which surpasses Strava in my experience. For deep data analysis TrainingPeaks offers a lot more (at a higher price) or I use the free Elevate extension.

[@ScrappyCoCo0]

I've been using Strava for half a year now (free) and I have no reason now to get a subscription. All I use it for is tracking my routes and viewing friends' activities. No leaderboard stuff yet.

[@davidwilliams912]

They say if you didn't record on Strava you didn't do it! Personally, I like the features that it has. I sync it with my Garmin and Vdot coach also. I like to keep up with other runners and bikers on Strava and I follow you.

[@BrutalEntity]

I've been a subscription user for a few years now but I may ditch it. For making and discovering new routes I tend to use Komoot. Unlike Strava Komoot has always offered me a discount on their premium package after cancellation, it's usually £59 a year which I feel is a tad expensive.

[@MrMarkbuckle]

Hi Ben, I see you mention you don't use a HR monitor. I have recently started training exclusively in Low HR, trying the MAF method as an experiment. What is your opinion on HR based training, and why do you not use HR data in your runs?

[@swimrunmatt]

I've paid the £6.99 per month for Strava for the last 5 or 6 months and when I heard about this price rise, it made me consider whether I was actually using the extra features enough to justifiy paying. I've decided that I don't use them enough, so I've cancelled now. I've continue using free Strava, as I really like it, but I just wasn't using the extras 'enough'.

[@ivefabris7690]

As its said in the video and other comments, most of the features you pay on Strava you get for free with Garmin connect..

[@darrellbenge9235]

I use garmin for all my data now and have stopped loading to strava as I found I didn't need both. Apart from segments does strava on subscription do anything that I don't get on garmin connect?

[@antoniopadilla6343]

Thanks for the information. I just the activate app on my Apple Watch SE2 , I just upload on my social media

[@steve7882]

Interesting video. East African runners generally don’t use it and do fairly well without. Personally never used it even though do a reasonable mileage, typically 2700 miles per year, I suppose never missed what I never had.

[@gustavogo2915]

💪

[@bradpowell633]

Garmin connect is enough for me, I only use Strava to share my runs. Great breakdowns though, thanks Ben 👍🏃‍♂️

[@LARKRunningUK]

I get the same (if not better data) from my Coros app. I appreciate I have had to invest in the watch but for me Strava subscription will just repeat the same data I already have access to. The few benefits of setting goals and segments etc isn’t worth £50+ for me. If I only had a phone I may be more inclined to get the subscription…..

[@eahughey]

For less serious folks if you have a Samsung Galaxy phone and Watch you can use samsung health and get similar data with heart rate monitoring without having to purchase a subscription. I think Apple offers the same. Strava is for more serious riders and therefore purchasing a subscription is not for me.

[@GuestAcc_1]

I only use Strava to use the flyover feature for routes that I have already taken. Of course, Relive also has this feature, but the flyover on Relive is too zoomed out, so the small road I'm on can't be seen. Is there a similar application that can display flyovers like Strava and Relive?

[@LuisBecerra79]

Instead of charging that much, maybe they should have tried to get sponsors or something. I wouldn’t mind seeing some ads of running brands 🤷🏻‍♂️.

[@willbutcher9712]

New hat style Ben? Looks good….. coming soon?

[@BenParkes]

Yes. End of Feb hopefully! Thank you 🙂

[@BrianRouse]

My subscription renewed in January, just outside the window of the new rates. I’ll be canceling next January; the pay features aren’t worth it to me.

[@rafalobo5308]

I have a Huawei watch and it uses Huawei health app, totally free and with plenty of data, if you run it is super complete, with cadence, stride, speed, you name it, and it's free. Just think, Netflix is £10.99, strava is £8.99. Now you are thinking you are comparing apples to pears, and you are right. One charges you for films and series that costs millions and needs to keep all the servers running 24/7. The other, ok, I think you get it by now.

[@roman2374]

I like the idea of painting a route but I’m not paying strava for this. I already use apple fitness, Nike Run Club, Down Dog Fitness Apps and already feel I need to declutter the amount of apps I use. I would like to have something great for cycling but I don’t do it enough (mostly on an indoor trainer) for it to be worth getting this, the apple cycling on the new watches does good enough of a job for my level of cycling.

[@ndi5670]

In reality, Strava is not even needed. A proper watch provides all the necessary data points.

[@mauriciorosales1259]

Problem is their free version is too good, and paid is marginally better. I’ve been paying to support the ecosystem, but with the increase just cancelled. Maybe I’ll renew but why bother in February (I’m a cyclist), and it’s all zone 2 slow riding this time of year on Zwift

[@wizard0078]

In my country it's 80 bucks a year. Wouldn't even pay that if i was rich

[@yorckpercy]

I don’t get all the fuss. Ppl easily spend 54 bucks in a pub on a regular, a lot more for streaming services and so much other bullshit, but start to cry when after all these yrs the company raise the price for its service. Somewhat ridiculous. The only thing I understand are the complaints abt Strava’s horrible communication.

[@trailsandbeers]

I don't pay for Strava as it has nothing I need that isn't in the free version. For route planning and live tracking I use Garmin Connect which is free.

[@DanielADickey]

I wish Strava would fix the personal heatmap bug on Android where I can't see it because it says I don't have any activities even though I have lots visible on the website. I will NOT be paying for Strava until they fix this bug. I feel like I've been waiting almost a year now.

[@timjacobsen3141]

I paid for the Strava prescription for the first couple of years but a few months ago I stopped paying for it. Strava used to free and now its $80 a year. Ridiculous! Free Strava is fantastic! #makestravafreeagain

[@eddiegaul1903]

I thought about subscribing to Strava this year but decided to hold off. This video offered some good advice and all the benefits I really use -- GarminConnect already offers. Also Strava analyzes your fitness by mostly looking at your Heart Rate monitor. My Garmin does a terrible job (in my opinion) of recording my heart rate so the fitness analysis Strava would give me would be off. I have a pretty good self-coaching sense, so I decided to save my money and I pretty much run the same route nearly every day (I live next to a 40+ mile bike trail). As always, great video / advice Ben.

[@lenniehendrix]

Im only on Strava to check out what the rest of my running club gets up to. Im also on Fetcheveryone which has much better everything for free.

[@rawhid2000]

Wow! Already had to question the value with last years increase! @$79.99 USD it looks like I’ll be saying goodbye to this paid app.

[@drtimoneill]

Weirdly my subscription says it'll renew for 39.99 GBP. So less than yours? I've been a subscriber for 6 years tho so maybe a loyalty 'bonus'?

[@richardbrown1573]

Great video as always Ben! I use Strava most days and utilise a lot of the analytics and additional features so am planning to keep on using it. All the best for your training!

[@BenParkes]

Thank you Richard! Hope all is well with you in NZ!

[@guzgrant]

Classic underwritten business model . Start off free or cheap to ward off competitors and garner monopoly of the market until a certain aspired metric of users is accrued and implement price hikes . Assured that any potential alienation’s are covered by the remaining localities which are usually born out of convenience or habit .

[@laurentitolledo1838]

I stopped using Strava the millisecond they removed support for ANT+ sensors...

[@richard_runs]

It’s nice for social, but I go straight to Garmin where the data was recorded if I need accurate stats, rather than use Strava’s rehashed figures. Certainly wouldn’t pay for it.

[@AndrewPawley11]

Don't use it, never mind considering paying for it. For 99% of people all this generates is data fog. It's just more trouble than its worth.

[@galenkehler]

The features are worth it, but the base functionality is not. Until they fix the activity flagging, and such contamination of the leaderboards with ebikes, it's a no.

[@ian757]

I don’t think the paid for Strava features are worth paying for. Any Garmin watch can do almost all the same and certainly everything you need.

[@JamieFitzWindowCleaner]

The least you could've done is put the Eastenders theme tune at 10:00, come on bro.

[@ericleszkowicz898]

I may switch over to ride with GPS just because I find their group planning much better than Strava’s.

[@user-fs1uc8yv8i]

Approx 1€ a week for an app with NO ADDS that I almost use daily seems fair to me. They can't make money out of thin air !