Strava Doubles Its Price, But Refuses To Tell You

[@soloman01uk]

I liked the video because you used a VPN to create accounts in different countries to see what the prices are for us. That my friend is going above and beyond for your subscribers. You also do amazing reviews so keep up the awesome work.

[@tecnociclista5342]

Yeah, very cool. It shows 49.99 for Spain.I've had Premium in Spain since 2015 and always paid 54.99...wonder if that means a price-decrease for Spain?

[@mitchlewis535]

I agree. Great job Ray!

[@grantschoen1726]

I thought the exact same thing, legendary!

[@esgee3829]

you'd be surprised how much digital service providers differ in rates charged for same exact service by country/region. pretend you're in turkey or argentina...you're welcome

[@esgee3829]

also, i think strava is just trying it's best to comply with russian regulation in providing as little information as possible. but they didn't shut down the reddit machine. they've have just strava proved it to me. i see no problem with that

[@ddunlop]

This looks a lot like a print subscription model or cable tv. Basically variable pricing, charge your most loyal customers more over time, and also give steep discounts for new customers or people that invest the time to call up and renegotiate their price. That's the only reason I can think that they can not tell you what the cost is, because it varies per person.

[@PeerensClement]

Exactly. This makes me think that they have some metrics behind all this: The more you use their premium features, the more your price will increase, because they think you rely on them and won't cancel anyway. For those who barely use the premium features, they probably won't increase the price, because those people would cancel, so best not anger them.

[@brezdog4623]

@@PeerensClement I think they might rue that decision. Suspect a lot will scrap premium.

[@joelmontesdeoca6572]

Interesting theory. I'm thinking that they are doing a quiet study by pricing different users and seeing how they react. Stakeholders: "Let's increase prices by 100%" Sales: "We can't increase by the much.." Stakeholders: "Why not?" Sales: "It's too much of a price change and nothing new to offer." Stakeholders: "But how do you *know* that? We are Strava, everyone loves us!" ** That afternoon the analytic team starts preparing to correlate price increase to subscription retention." **

[@charlesmansplaining]

I am fortunate to live in an area that gives me a choice for my Internet provider between Comcast and Verizon. Every time Verizon has a price increase I call and tell them I will switch to Comcast, then they offer me a better rate than I would have gotten if I would have just kept my mouth shut. The hardest thing about this is the wait time on the phone because it takes forever to get a person on the phone. Big corporations suck. I don't use Strava, I pay less than $60 a year for RWGPS and have been satisfied with that service.

[@marcelgta594]

@@charlesmansplaining comcast….i am from europe, and every year, during the summer,i rent a house in the us for a few weeks which is on comcast. That ‘customer service’ , what a joke that is.

[@willfromfreeport]

I let mine lapse in August or September when I saw it jump to $79.99, but gave in around New Year when they offered $59.99 for the year.

[@paulribbons1047]

In the UK, the terms and conditions clearly state they will not increase without notice, so unless it is different in the US, We in the UK should be ok Below is the actual written text from their terms and conditions Auto-Renewal Subscription fees will be billed automatically at the start of the monthly or annual period, as applicable. These fees will auto-renew until your subscription is downgraded or terminated. Your subscription fee will be the same as your initial charges unless you are otherwise notified in advance. You may cancel your subscription at any time, as described below.

[@bengrenon01]

excellent video, amazing that you can pick up all this good info, thanks!

[@mattsoutherden]

Are they A/B testing the price increases to try to see which cohorts terminate the most? By my understanding, A/B testing the same product would potentially be Price Discrimination in the EU, which could be why they are keeping silent on this.

[@adamsoft7831]

This is my first thought too. No fixed price means they can't announce the price.

[@w.baillie2923]

Thanks for the memories Strava.

[@timetorunchannel]

Because I subscribed through Apple it shows me my price increase from 59.99 to 79.99 annually there. That’s weird that they had to submit that info to Apple but not to the people paying them. It also allows to cancel now and still gives access to the subscription until the end/renewal date.

[@HealthySGRetiree]

Separately, they refuse to include the “un-kudo” function despite being requested by users for ages. So much for customer satisfaction in the eye of Strava management

[@mattpotter8725]

As a UK citizen, and our currency, the pound, did have a problem when Liz Truss was made Prime Minister and dropped against the dollar, but I don't remember any other company increasing their fees because of it, surely that decision is made annually by their pricing team, isn't an index linked price (or at least you wouldn't think or hope so or it would have to change every week). The pound did bounce back a little after she was removed maybe not back to where it was, but not as far as it had dropped. Putting all that to one side though this doesn't explain why Strava can't tell you their prices, the world. I think Strava is run by investors now, hedge funds or equity investors that expect a certain return on investment year on year to pay back the money they've put in (which to a certain degree is fair), but from a user's point of view increase in prices above and beyond any inflation that the company has had to incur unless they've got shiny new, can't do without features, they shouldn't be raising prices past this. I used to use Strava a lot, I have a Garmin GPS watch and upload to Garmin Connect, which then got passed through to Strava. I had a subscription, then felt I wasn't using the features enough to make paying with it, so I cancelled, then they brought in the fact that access to your own data for your own runs and rides need a subscription. I just stopped using the site and now just use GarminConnect, it does all I need. To me Strava's model seems wrong, and their communication is appalling. I would have no problem paying for features of I'm training for a marathon or a race, and to be able to see other people's data, runs and rides, yeh I have no problem having to pay. But they are, or at least were, getting all my data for them to use, all my created segments, that is worth something to them, even if it's not hundreds of dollars (or pounds) per month. It's also the fact they don't give advance warning. If they said in a few month's time a certain features will be out behind a certain tier paywall I might not like it but I'd be happy, but I think there is an expectation that no one will notice, and that people will just swallow it. It's no way to run a forward thinking business. They need to hire people who know about pricing, who knows the fitness market, what people will and won't pay for, otherwise I think they will decline and eventually disappear because you know what I don't miss Strava one bit.

[@jwine001]

I am seeing 79.99 for the year which is 6.7 per month… here in US…

[@JohnBooth]

Thanks, I forgot I quit riding on the road 2 1/2 years ago and really dont need the paid version.

[@joecant7147]

Just sacked off my subscription out of principle. Thanks for the video!

[@grettaava1155]

Garmin segments or Endomondo should take this as a cue to enter the void

[@iancrichton]

It says mine in the UK is going up in Feb to £8.99

[@ritrattoaziendale]

I had (and still have!) a very strange experience: I'm from Italy and I'm yearly paying member since 2018, last spring I casually found out I've been moved to monthly fee for no reason, pretty sure I didn't do anything from my side. I was of course very mad about it, so I entirely cancelled my subscription because I felt I've been robbed...and I forgot I cancelled it! So when I watched your video I went to my account info to see if something was changed (I forgot I've cancelled), and I incredibly found out that my subscription has indeed expired, on October 2022, but my Strava account still works and acts as I'm a paying member, up to still having the orange arrow on my avatar. So I'm not paying them in 4 months, but my account privileges are still the same as i was paying.

[@stevetee4145]

See Hambini’s latest video on this subject for more information. It appears Strava is up the financial creek. I wouldn’t sign up for a a year in case they go bust. I hope they don’t.

[@mootje333]

Wouldn't be surprised if they moved 80% of their free features to premium after the cancelation storm...

[@TheSportsman1977]

Strava will get the hint when a huge customer base go, "well, thanks but ill cancel then!"

[@MrAnon-2024]

Yep, I’ve cancelled my yearly subscription following this video.

[@EJGilb]

I have left them a 1 star review on the app store and will not renew my subscription. Poor form Strava.

[@CorySlykerman]

Thank you!!

[@HikingFeral]

This is why I would never pay for their service. They keep trying to create value where there is none and I aint down with that bruv.

[@tootalltube]

16 Jan 2023 - my South African annual renewal EU 33

[@stephenlloyd85]

Seems they're moving to a flexible pricing model. How much you use it is how much you pay. Region, usage maybe even bike value etc. They'll have a good idea of yoir demographic based on travel and exact location. I've never seen the value in their sub price, happy with garmin connect whilst they provide the best equipment.

[@smachsimo]

I live in Canada and I cancelled as soon as I got the email. What Strava doesn’t get is I got the subscription to support them not because I enjoy their premium features, but a close to 100% increase, not thank you. Strava has been sitting on their laurels celebrating that pros are using their service while Wahoo, Zwift, Peloton and others have been disrupting the industry

[@KaneElson]

Exactly. I never really used any of the premium features but paid for a subscription to support an ad free and stable platform. They have done almost nothing revolutionary in the time I have been subscribed so it is clearly time to jump ship with this chaotic comms situation.

[@CyclespeedTours]

Me too. I paid for a few years to support them, but you can just see it getting more and more corporate and 'all about the money', so no more from me.

[@RussellSmith-nv2je]

This exactly. I bought the premium just to support them.

[@mfren6253]

The Beacon feature was the main reason I subscribed yearly. Find My Friends basically does the same thing for me. Doesn’t the iPhone 14 have gps location also?

[@ClintonAllenAnderson]

Also Canadian... Also cancelled my subscription. Deleted the app. Good riddance Strava

[@merseypicsvids]

For those of you who are thinking of keeping Strava for the premium features like Beacon (tracking and crash notification for selected contacts), I can tell you it definitely doesn't detect you going from 21mph to a dead stop. Learnt that the hard way.

[@mettflow2648]

you have to go faster

[@merseypicsvids]

@@grahamo22 Didn't for me when I got hit head on by a car while riding

[@merseypicsvids]

@DBRising All good. Just don't ride on the road anymore. Off road doing gravel now. It's ok. Fun, but not the same. Just I thought the built in features of Strava/Garmin would save me the hassle of lying on the roadside trying to unlock my phone's pincode to ring my wife, but sadly not. It was literally the sole reason for me to upgrade to premium, but ultimately didn't do what it said when it counted most.

[@hankepton943]

Great, hilarious, and weird video. I have been sitting here during the whole video trying to imagine why Strava would decide it's in its best interest to be so cagey about the whole thing.

[@micharudzki9319]

It's simple, because of the being dominant player on the market :) and if I am remember from the past they where one of the first in that area.

[@jeremywj]

I think Strava was hoping to kind of roll out these new prices without much attention brought to them, probably to minimize the number of people that will cancel. However, it is now turning into a PR nightmare for them and probably leading to more cancellations than they otherwise would have got because of people being upset about how they are handling this.

[@ellisstate]

I canceled Strava Premium years ago when a feature disappeared. It was on a segment my phone would show my real time progress gassing my own best time. Then it would give me voice prompts with the split difference about 7/8 through the segment. Did they get that back ever?

[@baddriversofcolga]

It seems to me that they're testing to see how much they can bump the price up and still retain users.

[@TLK22]

@@ellisstate It has this feature on my Garmin watch if the segment is starred on Strava but there is no voice prompt.

[@GCPerformance18]

Never payed for strava, no once. The app gives me everything I need for free, and my gps unit gives me everything else I wanted. They dug themselves into a big whole with this one

[@JAlexanderCurtis]

This is great information. Strava Premium has always been a weird subscription for me. I have been paying annually for just shy of 10 years. I use the premium features occasionally, but like you said, not enough to fully justify the newer subscription prices. I think Stava is in trouble because they are moving the price of the subscription from "its cheap enough I'll keep it just in case" to a price thats high enough I need to really use it to justify it. I think a lot of people have been paying to just use the occasional premium feature at the equivalent of $5 a month (if paying annually) which isn't breaking the bank. But when you start asking for upwards of $100 a year, its expensive enough that I'm not just going to keep it unless I'm really squeezing value out of it, and sadly Strava Premium is nice, but not a necessity. I mostly use the route planning feature. It is incrementally better than Garmin's version of the same tool. Aside from that, I look at the premium metrics occasionally, it's nice. Same with the fancy map designs you get as Premium. Its cool. But I don't need ANY of these things. FIrst of all, Garmin (which is what records all my activities and sends to Strava) already offers all of these features FOR FREE! They have heatmaps, they have route planning, they have all the advanced metrics/stats. Now granted, Strava is maybe slightly prettier and nicer at all of these things, but marginally so. Is it worth $100 a year for "slightly nicer" when the alternative is all the same data and tools for free from Garmin. I think Strava was smart sitting at $60 a year. It was a good price to have "just in case" and "just to support the company". But with these new prices, its not worth it, and I'll sadly be canceling after a decade of being a premium subscriber.

[@mhawkesworth]

100% with you here. $60/yr or $5/month seemed like a reasonable price if I wanted something like routes every so often. Now it's shifting to a price level that competes with other things I pay for and in doing a comparison of how much I use ESPN+ or other services, Strava quickly loses.

[@jakeyoutdoors2588]

Exactly this! Will very likely cancel if price increases.

[@brezdog4623]

100%

[@brendanoregan4791]

100% agree with you. I am happy to pay the current rate to support Strava. The only feature I use a lot is route planning. I have cancelled my subscription and will see what happens when it’s due to renew in March. If it goes up I cannot see myself reactivating it.

[@zacharyerskine4277]

I agree with you. I really only use the route planning features for premium. And quite frankly I don't even know what features I have been paying for. However, like you I kept it as $60 was an OK price to have the app premium features "just in case". Crazy to think if you had zwift, trainer road and strava you'd be looking at around $500 a year in 3 apps now adays.

[@davidandhometech]

Thanks Ray. Would love to see a video showing pro's and cons of Strava alternatives.

[@garysmith7814]

Just canned my Strava subscription as a result of this video - thank you! The added value of Strava subscription services has always been a bit marginal for me and this tipped me over the edge.

[@daddycox82]

Doing the same.. @garmin build a Strava type app and we all move over.

[@MrScrofulous]

That's always been their biggest problem. The free version has too much functionality.

[@MrAnon-2024]

Me, too. Cancelled my yearly renewal.

[@MrScrofulous]

@@MrAnon-2024 So you throw a little tanty, cancel you sub, which equals a coffee a month, and Strava will cease to exist. It's yet to make a profit, you know.

[@MrAnon-2024]

@@MrScrofulous yep, that about sums it up 😂😂

[@adnev47]

Strava lost my respect after they started moving a lot of the features you got for free, to the subscription side. I felt like they didn’t really improve the subscription, rather just devalue the free version. So these latest tactics seem to fit the trend.

[@agoatmannameddesire8856]

I cancelled Strava Premium years ago and have never missed it. Strava makes infuriating decisions at times, and doesn't give users a choice in them. Hopefully the broader fitness-tech community coalesces around another platform now.

[@thecrowfliescrooked]

bunch of money grabbers offering a drug to ego driven people.

[@sbyrstall]

Agree. They don't even fix the issues that do exist.

[@njsfer]

I did the same. The only thing that I like on Strava is segments. I like to use them to motivate me on my fartlek. But they have serious issues since ever that they never fixed. Like, for example, someone going for a bike ride and doing 21k in less than 1h:55min (would be a world record) while reaching peak speeds much faster than Usain Bolt's top speed, and not automatically flag the activities. This would make them unable to count for segments. Or something like, in those monthly challenges, someone climbing 20km of elevation gain in one day - that's impossible.

[@finder2267]

I canceled after being a long time subscriber years ago. Here are my issues. 1) besides segments, strava offers nothing I do not get for free on with Garmin Connect (training and Xert much better values.) 2) Segments are broken. This is an easy fix for climbing segments. Look at the MF'in speeds strava! if the grade 5% and said rider is traveling at 40mph they are in a car! clear that from the leaderboard automatically and make the user prove they were riding if they dispute it. 3) Segments are broken. We no longer know who was on an E-Bike as this is just a dropdown you can change. So what do segments really matter if it is full of cheats? I do not see value in Strava besides the platform's community portion, which is another story these days!

[@thecrowfliescrooked]

@@finder2267 what also annoys me is most likely anybody who sings the high praises of Strava on KZbin probably receives it for free. Gcn.

[@tricepilot]

This video is going to put a lot of pressure on Strava because it educates people like me who otherwise would not have noticed the price increase until after it hit my wallet. The same thing happened on KZbin when Daniel Batal exposed Wondershare Filmora's initial refusal to honor lifetime subscriptions. Yes, Strava can charge whatever they want but the lack of full transparency about the matter will come back to bite them. Users will be upset about that. A bunch of people will assess, like you did, what they actually use Strava for. The real kicker is I just looked at my account page, and it says it will renew in July 2023 for $59. If you're saying that the actual price increase has yet to be posted, and after watching how much digging you had to do to find that out, then my level at being pissed at Strava will be stronger than my need for the site/service. The lack of open dialog, transparency, and honesty just as in the Filmora video editor debacle (where public outcry forced them to reverse course and honor their lifetime subscriptions) will come back to bite them in the saddle area.

[@robb1267]

Absolutely bananas. This should be a business school case for 'how to alienate your customers and drive your revenue DOWN'

[@awright16789]

I already think Strava was that case study before this. Give them a suggestion to make something better, then beg them to make it better. Finally give up knowing they just don't care. That's the Strava way!

[@ifitrollsrideit530]

@@awright16789 Yeah was that weird point a few years ago when the previous CEO decided to replace the sports analytics features with "inspirational" blogging content. They have improved since then with the return of a founder to the helm but still, there's not been a huge amount of useful progress in the last few years.

[@sepg5084]

Why does Strava need to explain why they are raising their price? There is only one answer, profitability. It would be the answer of any for-profit company. Strava is a business, not a government service.

[@veganpotterthevegan]

People thought the same thing when Strava started charging anything. They thought the lost ad revenue wouldn't be exceeded by the monthly fee. How many members are going to actually stop paying?

[@dallan7740]

@@veganpotterthevegan I think a few will cancel based on the price hike. For me, I don't use any of the premium features, but I figured I would go for premium cos I wanted to support them. If they're acting like jerks, with unexplained price hikes then I'll definitely cancel and I know a few of my friends will do the same.

[@prof_hu]

Moving the segment leaderboards behind a subscription was the first "cheap" move from strava. I'm 100% sure that this feature was the single thing which helped to build their user base in the first place. I was thinking about leaving strava entirely back then, but stayed because of the social aspects. This year they moved the "your year in sport" feature behind the paywall. All the while even the most basic features are full of bugs and when they introduce something new or update an existing feature it is usually worse than before and/or breaks something else. I hate the new picture gallery (no more fullscreen mode? why?). And when they finally introduced picture rearrangement to the web version, they broke picture uploads (no bmp files - like device screenshots - can be uploaded in the browser version anymore). Oh, and the features of the app and the web version are so inconsistent, I sometimes wanna cry. An example is club events. There is no way to see event comments in the app.

[@RabidMortal1]

This is simply Strava's new feature for 2023. They've run out of programmers and are simply left with a team of accountants and business execs. So, new normal.

[@jawee6144]

Jokes aside, it took me nearly two months to see a simple login issue resolved.

[@forrestegan]

Thanks for bringing this to our attention. I’ve been premium since Dec 2014…based on this tactic, it may be my last. As a cyclist, I like having my favorite Strava segments on my Garmin…but that’s not necessary by any means as I won’t be challenging many KOM records at my age. All my rides get uploaded to Garmin Connect, so I can always review them there. I’m not really sure what I’ll be missing, but being retired on a limited income I wasn’t even sure it was worth $59.99/year. I predict this is going to backfire and their revenue will drop after all the new pricing is in effect.

[@ldorman]

The thing with Garmin is that it is free as you pay for the hardware. You can add your friends (if they use Garmin) and you can do silly challenges aso. Strava removed same free features I used back in 2019 and this is when I canned it.

[@pugbrz9472]

Yep, same. I’m getting my premium features through connect. Strava is irrelevant, where it used to be the gold standard.

[@bergzmtb391]

Yeah Garmin connect could add in some features and should be able to wipe the floor with strava but unfortunately people seem hung up on using strava. As far as actual training data is concerned Garmin connect is far superior especially if you use a Garmin watch along with a Garmin cycling computer. Garmin should be pushing it own segments, and maybe even only allowing segment times to be added to official leader boards if they are recorded with heart rate and power meters, but that’s another topic

[@ldorman]

@@bergzmtb391 Power Meters are quite expensive not to mention for the average joe bloke useless in my opinion. HR, cadence and speed is all what I use and never really needed more. The data collected from there gives me enough info to make my own targets on the 3 different bikes I ride. Maybe if you compete professionally the power meter helps you to analyse and get out the best, but for normal people - I simply don't see a reason.

[@bergzmtb391]

@@ldorman Yep, I was more thinking that the guys at the top of the leader boards would probably be the kind of guys who would be prepared to pay for this type of equipment to verify their rides. Trying to rule out e-bikes, But like I said, completely off topic I guess,

[@froggy0162]

I really enjoyed ditching Strava. Felt like I was riding for me again!

[@CyclingLifePT]

I ditched Strava when they removed some stats from the app. It became a piece of junk to me.

[@mattpiercy1970]

I predict eventually Strava will issue a statement that says "We are sorry, we got it wrong, we should have been more transparent about our price increases". They will play the 'we made a mistake' card. Their truthful statement should read "You caught us out, we had our hand in the till. We tried to be sneaky and get away with it, but it backfired". Of course they will never be that honest.

[@conan_der_barbar]

like all companies do

[@mattpiercy1970]

@@conan_der_barbar I'd agree with you that many (all) companies try to get away with what they can. I've not seen many companies blatantly avoid announcing a price increase or be able to explain what it is when asked. In this regard Strava is breaking new ground.

[@smellysam]

Being sneaky on the Internet is like trying to go to nude at a public event... Even if the Marketing dept tells you it will be fine and they have a plan, it won't. People will see you, take pictures and comment on Reddit.

[@jameseastwood402]

Yeah I kinda think this is now a deliberate tactic. They shouldn't be let off the hook.

[@romeoiipunzalan1079]

F U Strava... Free Unpaid that is...

[@fgoehner]

I’ve been seeing less and less value with Strava, I can’t justify it anymore especially when garmin Connect is free

[@environm3ntalist549]

Yeah, it's just a way for people to try and boast about 'look how far I ran/cycled/swim' as if anyone actually cares. It's a waste of productive time.

[@adrian-vdr]

I think Garmin Connect is included in the pricing of the devices themselves, we just see it as a separate service but I'm sure we're paying more than enough for its usage. But I see your point.

[@wojciechk607]

yep, and also I found that in my area in garmin connect I see more and more segments named and be exactly like those from strava ;-) so I can use live segments (kind of) on my device

[@hankschrader2353]

I think one of the benefits I saw in Strava was that you can add sub levels on equipment. So you can track components for bikes for example. I don’t use it anymore so I don’t really care.

[@StornofuerKasse3]

@@hankschrader2353 but with a little twist you can do it on garmin connect too. I do it, because i never knew about that strava feature by just simply adding a "new chain" to the activty and make it a favourite, so it is easier to find. The rest is a little bit of work in excel and i have the same result as on strava.

[@AndySaiden]

When Strava KOMs are filled with people driving 100km/h and the company can't even come up with an algorithm to auto flag these users. That was the last straw for me.

[@mabozza85]

Exactly!

[@Nathan-1234]

KOMs were the only reason I had premium.... it was a lot of money for such a minor thing before the increase :/

[@AndySaiden]

@@Nathan-1234 With the price increase and no new features I struggle to see why people would bother to continue to pay for premium.

[@mabozza85]

@@AndySaiden totally agree.

[@jaycahow4667]

I use to have hundreds of KOMs but gave up on them for multiple reasons: 1) Like you said many were bumped accidentally by people in vehicles especially those beside hiways 2) E-bikes are going to make them worse less anyways as they become more popular 3) Group rides (which have significant advantage) are bundled in with single riders (like me) 4) No weather accountability (KOMS set on really windy days unlike other sports) 5) No traffic rule accountability (people ridding through Stop signs and Red lights and Cutting corners) 6) Many segments setup in unsafe areas or through intersections with traffic control They seemed cool for awhile but now I think they are a joke. I just check my own times now...........

[@GamingDinonuggie]

Thank you for getting that info out to all of us. With Strava in such chaos over this, it make me wonder if there are bigger issues yet to come.

[@andrewmcalister3462]

The contrast between Strava, and the respect and openness with which TrainerRoad handled their price increase for legacy customers could not be greater.

[@jacobhauzen8557]

I’m an executive at another company and I couldn’t tell you how irresponsible and frankly sneaky it is to not let your customers know that you are increasing your prices. Even if your not giving them any new features. I would never raise my prices until I let customers know and I think 95% of companies do. It’s just a simple letter prior to releasing your prices.

[@robb1267]

@@jacobhauzen8557 Not only that, but also that they're not telling customers what the new price is!

[@alex.pozgaj]

How so? I just went to TP site - they are also showing the price only after you make an account there and try to make a purchase. The price they are showing at the front page is not the price I have to pay in Austria (20% VAT is missing, which I am pretty sure is not even legal in Austria).

[@MrLeovdmeer]

@@alex.pozgaj In the Netherlands consumer prizes have to be incl VAT. I gues in Austria to. Mabye in the whole of Europa.

[@TheRealMichaelB]

@@alex.pozgaj TP or TR? - A ready made source of confusion in that they both are subscription services (potentially) relevant to this theme

[@llgmota]

As always another great video and yes, very frustrating what Strava is doing. I signed up using Apple subscription, my renew will be in May and it’s already showing the increase to $79.99. Well… I canceled my subscription and I am sure when they realize all the customers that they are losing, their retention team will get very busy!

[@papis408]

Same here $79.99. Cancelled

[@davidmcturk321]

I just cancelled my subscription having been a customer for many years

[@mtbkev8935]

Just cancelled also. I don’t use the features much. Like you I paid just to support them but this is sneaky and doesn’t help them retain loyal supporters.

[@Oldmtbdad]

Apple subscription’s seems to show the price increase better probably due to the App Store requirements. Mine renews Feb 4th at $79.99. So I have already canceled. I went with the increase a few years ago but this is too much.

[@AntonioGGATX]

Same here. $79.99 and I just cancelled.

[@Showmetheevidence-]

I’ve noticed strava’s choke hold on their accounts… free ones getting more and more restricted. To the point where I’m just going to use suunto (my watch) - and keep my data there. I’m ok wit;ph transparent fees, but if you’re already selling & using my data AND then charge me while still selling my data….!? See ya!

[@rodp7803]

I was paying because I wanted to support them but I honestly don't even know what extra features I am getting over a free account. With a bump in price like this, I'd rather just cancel.

[@dan110024]

Kind of the same reason why I paid years ago. But the service went downhill and the app was terrible with few updates. I stopped supporting them when they stopped caring.

[@buckroger6456]

A few years ago, they took most of the free features and slammed them behind a paywall. So unless you pay, you can't see where you stack up against your friends, where you rank if your not in the top 10, and loads of other small things that were once part of the free service. All this stuff is par for the course with them, and I won't be shocked if they move the whole free service to a subscription in a few years and say it's to pay for servers and such.

[@xgalvan1]

Year end reviews, local legends, unobtainable top 10s, e-bikes taking koms…. What’s not to pay for!?

[@ChrisP978]

They are doing exploratory pricing, they are testing different prices around the world at different amounts and seeing what the cancellation rate turns out to be (basically what the market will bear). They'll probably do this for a couple of months before they lock down final pricing.

[@markwebster243]

Well they lost me plenty of years as premium now down to basic 🤷🏻‍♂️.

[@EUrunner]

Usually, when you do this kind of research, you limit it to a small group of users, like 0.05% or so. It wouldn't make sense to roll out such a price update for the whole world to test it.

[@AaronJones]

100% feels like an A/B test but on a weird scale and approach.

[@MikeBaloga]

This is pretty risky deploying a pricing strategy globally without transparency. They couldn't rely on market research and insights to inform this decision? I find that hard to believe.

[@RideWithGerben]

In my experience A/B testing is done with a relatively small population of users. Not the entire subscriber base. This is an odd way of figuring how the market will react. Feels like Strava is strung for cash.

[@HansterHorst-mo7wh]

You mentioned that Strava has not had a price increase for a long time, but a few years ago they had different subscription tiers that were cheaper than the full version. The Strava cancelled the tiers with little information. I assumed Strava was not seeing value in the casual users. The tier I was using did everything I wanted and I couldn't justify to pay a lot more for the full version which was not offering me anything I would be using extra, so I fell back to the free version. Technically this was not an increase in price, but I would have ended up paying a lot more 😀

[@RickCorp]

Yup, I actually deleted the app when they did that. In the past year I got back on because a run club was posting schedules there, but just used the free features. I don’t who does their marketing for them.

[@louki8022]

Yes, I remember aswell. I accepted the new subscription model as they stated, that they would do it very rarely. But 25% is to much for me 😥

[@MatthieuDelcourt]

Same here

[@FreerideQuebec]

Strava sent me a message saying that it was the last day to have a special 99.99$ price yearly subscription in Canada (it was 59.99$ last year) Okay, it's expensive but I like the features. 3 weeks later the regular price is still 99.99$ and my mtb bro got a special 76.99$ price the next day after I paid for mine. Fuck Strava

[@nickthequick]

"Throughout the EU, sellers must indicate product prices clearly enough for you to easily compare similar products and make informed choices - no matter how they're packaged or how many units are sold together. Companies are legally obliged to be completely clear about the price you'll have to pay when they advertise or sell something to you. Complete price information The price quoted in an offer must include all taxes and delivery charges. If there might be extra costs that can't be calculated in advance, you must also be told about that upfront."

[@jimmccorison]

I wish the US did that. If we did it would be a hoot watching the expressions on the faces of the CEOs of the cable, cell phone, etc. companies.

[@keaixiaomeinv]

Damn I love the EU sometimes.

[@mattpotter8725]

That didn't seem to have stopped Strava doing this though did it? DC is in The Netherlands and they won't tell him. I'm no lawyer but does EU law state that future prices have to be communicated, open, and transparent for everyone to see? Or we long as you can see what you are paying now that satisfies EU law and you can make your personal choice to stay or go with a competitor? When I read this though I did think here comes an EU class action, but it's Strava big enough for them to bother? And with the servers probably based outside of the EU do they have jurisdiction in this matter? I'd say they do but what do I know?

[@mattpotter8725]

@@irfuel That's what I had guessed, they do the bare minimum to not be acting against the law (from their point of view) and because even if it is in a grey area between what is legal or not anyone wanting to take them to court would be put off because of the cost, and because there's the argument that, well, you could just leave, but use them.

[@f.coppexcycling9658]

Based on this lack of transparency (which indeed would be illegal in my country) I have cancelled my subscription which was running since 2011.

[@mattypnufc]

Ludicrous. Only last month were they offering a really good deal for new users too, but screwing the premium users over is a sure fire way to end the platforms premium model. Especially with the lack of communication/openness.

[@oestevao]

25% off, i nearly signed 😂

[@saskhiker3935]

This unfortunately is the model for all tech products. Suck you in with a proce that people can afford then goiging you once they have you hooked in.

[@Themata]

I got an email this morning offering 2 free months (a 16% discount, so still a net higher price than it was last year)

[@jaimehpaiva]

Luckily my annual subscription was renewed before the increases, but this will be my last year as a premium subscriber. Was already considering reducing one of my memberships (Strava, SYSTM, Komoot and Zwift) and now I know. Thanks for the video. Great stuff

[@jgrefrath]

We can always count on you to research everything thoroughly and approach things from the cyclist's perspective. Thanks!

[@BikepackingAdventures]

Strava has been gong downhill since they removed fly-by (now you have to opt in) and they also removed the ability to search for and see other's people routes/activities. That was REALLY useful when going on holiday you could literally do your research and see where other people where riding before you go. Also didn't they pull the plug on Relive?

[@jaycahow4667]

Totally agree that they screwed up on fly-by. I understand the reasons but they should have made it opt-out out instead. If people were so worried about their privacy and too lazy to setup a privacy zone then they could opt out. When Strava started it was great to see every ones rides, now it seems like most people lock down to just followers or completely which takes a lot of the fun out of the use.

[@aaronmontgomery6977]

nah making flybys opt-in was the right choice. many people didn't even know about the feature and it's pretty creepy to allow that to happen to people unknowingly.

[@jaycahow4667]

@@aaronmontgomery6977 Don't agree. There were lots of ways for Strava to have announced or promoted the Flyby option. I get lots of uninvited e-mails from them all the time. It was in use for quite awhile before they dropped it. If people want to be ignorant about a product they use that is their problem. Strava caved and took the easy and cheap way out. I see little difference from viewing other peoples rides off Segment lists even when they have their accounts locked down. All rides on Strava can pretty much be viewed if you spend some time learning the product.

[@AuxHex]

Garmin Connect has a route heat map. And since Garmin products are super popular, I use it to find trails all the time. Strava can burn in hell for what I care.

[@osfan25]

Strava sometimes can't help but get in it's own way and the fly-by incident was just another case of this.

[@MrKoshV]

I never saw the value in the paid Strava service. There are lots of premium features that I would like to use. But in limiting me from them I spend less time on the app. Which is good in general. I don't need to waste more time on apps

[@MihailStacanov]

less features more value outdoor time 😂

[@moxnix]

I'm with you ..

[@KaushikNSanji]

They even made "Year in Sport" a part of the premium features!

[@multispeciesangler]

Since they removed this feature, there's even less of a chance I'll ever pay them again.

[@nrjonesy]

It's scraping the barrel for added paid features when they know they've added very few in the last few years. Even simple features like being able to exclude a run with dodgy GPS from your estimated best efforts without deleting the whole run seems completely beyond them.. I still have a faulty 400m run that is a world record beating PR???!!! go figure?

[@lifewithastrid]

Yeah it's crazy, like it's not like there's super special information in it?! They offered me a two month free trial this week again so I just got it for my year in sport, and now cancelled again straight away. I still have access until halfway March now. 👍🏻 No way I'm gonna pay €70 for it. Garmin is all I need when it comes to stats.

[@DollarDude]

After the increase, I give it about a year before Strava starts taking features that were free and walls them behind a premium subscription.

[@usman5140]

They’ve been doing that aggressively. They put the year end review behind a paywall last year.

[@TheoreticalCyclist]

This is ridiculous! Thanks to let us know! For the most of us free version is the way to go. However the Elevate chrome extension adds some nice features to free strava accounts, worth trying.

[@Burps___]

Per posts on Reddit, Strava is considering 6 months free then paid subscriptions only.

[@ryanstarrett]

Yeah I'm nervous about them ditching the free. Would definitely have to use a new app entirely.

[@Burps___]

@@ryanstarrett Please let me know which app has social networking (workout tracking apps abound) if you find one. I meet a lot of runners from Strava. Thanks

[@markd.9538]

@@Burps___ That would be a bad, bad mistake. The free teir is the entrance to Strava's sales funnel. To choke it off would hurt them in massive ways. They have not thought this plan through. Beyond that, Garmin Connect does have social features - I'll just jump there and reconnect with my run buddies if the Strava free tier goes away. They'd lose any chance of me (and everyone like me) ever rejoining premium.

[@Burps___]

@@markd.9538 I'm sure they know their business, but I understand you. The conjecture on Reddit (insider info?) is that Strava will have 6 months free, and then a low tier equal to what many are using now for only $1.50 a month, or discount to $15 annually. The notion is that many will get "hooked" during the free time and then join to continue. I will admit, in defense of Strava, that most athletes use the free version now...I believe the goal is to get them to jump onboard the lowest supported tier. If Garmin Connect has social features rivaling Strava, few Garmin athletes woud be on Strava, which is not the case, so Strava holds some uniqueness that might have athletes paying a small premium to use. 🤷🏻‍♂

[@denisdrc5836]

Ray, I hope you see this, because I'll tell you nuts: Strava decided to stop providing their service in my country, and as I had a subscription, I asked them to refund for the months that I paid, but couldn't use anymore, and they basically told me to f*** off. So they literally stole my money!

[@alhambrabiker1476]

@@andreii.6094 exactly!

[@PikaChu-kw6cs]

I hope you enjoy the same attitude from Strava towards you now

[@alhambrabiker1476]

@@PikaChu-kw6cs and I hope that you enjoy the same strava attitude towards you

[@PikaChu-kw6cs]

@@alhambrabiker1476 I do, since i have never paid them

[@alhambrabiker1476]

@@PikaChu-kw6cs and I have never paid them either

[@Jarek.]

Will wait for the "final" price for me. And then will decide. The truth is that - as a lot of the folks in cycling community - I don't see so much value in Strava premium services, I just wanted to recognise their work and appreciate what they are doing for us, cyclists. Even though no new (useful) features since inventing KOMs 😀

[@jeremywj]

Yeah, I mostly paid for the same reason - to support them. However, they have done nothing in the 4 years I've used Strava to really improve it so I'm not sure why I'm even paying to support them anymore. Now with this price increase, I think I've decided to cease supporting them. Had they improved their service in the last few years enough to justify this, I would pay without question.

[@SoCaladventure]

100% same for me! I appreciate some of the premium features, but not enough to deal with this BS.

[@jeffvalore5010]

Same. I've been a paying Strava member for about 3 years because I liked the product, and the couple paid features were a bonus. But thinking back; I can't think of a single change to site or added features in the last couple years. Makes me wonder if any software engineers actually work there other than just keeping the services running.

[@jacob.williams]

I started paying in 2012 for the same reason. They certainly upped their game over the years, but I’m not sure I’ll stay beyond my current subscription.

[@cyclocop1773]

Same here, I wanted to support the platform financially but I don't like to be taken for a mug.

[@neilashton9459]

Seems likely Strava is facing the same problem as a lot of these interactive services in having more or less reached a saturation point in terms of subscribers. There isn’t really much additional audience for new features so growth will be stagnant or negative. So raising the price was inevitable and clearly the push is for annual subscription where the increase was much less (my monthly doubled to $11.99 but an annual “only up by $20 to $79).

[@peterhoburg]

Cancelled my Strava.

[@JadenFeddock]

My current price is still the same (no increase) but hopefully Strava never sees this comment! 😂 Can’t believe you had to go to such lengths just to find the price!!

[@mikeprytherch8875]

As somebody from the UK your lack of respect is appalling… I’m joking I laughed my head off, brilliant video Ray very entertaining (the pound is £ not € mind), I don’t think they need to tell us why it’s increasing, but they have to tell us by how much, the issue for me is this… at a few pounds (£) it falls into the ah it’s not much I’ll pay it category, it is now falling into the “considered purchase” category, hence the reason The Girl has been cancelled, Strava are in deep trouble

[@andrewcain5433]

UK based and looks like I'm facing a 41% price hike, I've got 7 months to decide though if I'll continue or not.........the dust may have settled by then?

[@EmptyMind469]

That’s why they should tell us why 😉.. are new features coming in? Are new investments being made? Or do they need to keep the lights on? So we can all assess if it makes sense to pay up.. the €5 per month I pay is fine for now. If goes up without any reason, why should I keep paying? Not an essential service for me and I bet the same for the great majority of users.

[@mikeprytherch8875]

Here you go a statement from them... I wasn't bothered about why it is increasing as it is the same old stuff every company says "As we continue to invest in your experience, our prices may change to better reflect new features and market conditions. The decision to change our price was not taken lightly and we want to share why this is happening. Our priority is giving you a unique experience for a holistic view of your active lifestyle. This happens through delivering you value on a daily basis through new features, product updates and services. In the past 10 years, Strava has added countless new features including support for more than 40 sport types, Beacon, route recommendations, an online route builder tool, global and personal heatmaps, segment leaderboards and custom goals and progress. These additions are made based on your valuable feedback, what we are hearing from the active community and research. While our subscription price has largely remained constant for the past years, we also take local market conditions into consideration. When costs and plans are adjusted, we’re always working to improve your experience and invest in the value delivered to you on a daily basis. Pricing decisions will continuously be evaluated to ensure we are offering the best value of our growing features to our community. Price changes will vary depending on region and preferred platform."

[@scriptosaurusrex]

@@andrewcain5433 you can cancel renewal now without losing access in the meantime. That way, when renewal is due you will have to actively opt in, which may help make a more convinced decision.

[@fergy1ful]

I live in the UK so this is very helpful. I'm ok until July but I guess the new Strava sport of 'bend over' will hit me. Reminders set, cancellation decision to be made.

[@madmalkav6540]

I failed to see the value of Strava with the old price, it always felt like a weird Facebook for runners to me, none of the features they offered are interesting or competitive.

[@peterliuify]

Dude this is some good reporting

[@hamilton237]

They need to take some notes from trainerroad on how to communicate with their users about pricing...and features...and feedback...and everything really.

[@imagistatheimagista1870]

Yep. WTF?!? Just got a notification that my subscription is increasing from $59.99 to $79.99!!! Ok, yes inflation is high but no where near that price increase. I’m in the US and have been a premium subscriber for 5yrs. This is a fairly offensive price increase. 😡

[@manfrommontreal]

Mine went from 59.99 to 74.99, cancelled it! Great video, thanks for the info.

[@andrewcain5433]

You should cancel your subscription and continue using the premium features on your wife's account. Meanwhile I'm weighing up what to do, my subscription lasts until July and my increase is 41%. My UK price has gone from £39 to £54.99, no email informing me of this change, just the detail in my current subscription.........my just analyse my Data via Garmin Connect.

[@brandonjpeters7906]

Appreciate the news! Just cancelled my strava auto-renewal. I made my account through Apple account and it was set to renew at a 50% increase…

[@anthonyscrivener2267]

My annual subscription is open until September but I still canceled the auto renewal and left "DC Rainmaker" as the reason. I implore others to do the same.

[@clinlashway9147]

My Strava premium subscription is paid through Apple. Probably because I subscribed originally using my iPhone. Going to manage my subscriptions in iTunes, it shows my current subscription as $59.99 but also lists the renewal rates as $11.99 monthly and $79.99 annually. Oddly they repeat these two options 6 times. In my case, I make use of the premium features regularly and while a jump from $60 to $80 is 33%, it's not crazy given they have held this constant for a long time. It also appears that by doubling the monthly rate, they really are just wanting to get people to commit to an annual subscription. I suppose there are people who would only use Strava seasonally (like I do Zwift), but since it works for outdoor and indoor rides, I would think the majority of people use it year round and the monthly rate shouldn't really be much of a thing. Unless of course you forget to cancel the monthly subscription. But, you know, who would forget to do that?

[@kellyfoss6635]

Through apple subscriptions, it shows I pay $89.99 for an annual subscription (was surprised it was that much when I subscribed this summer but couldn't do anything about it because the subscription went through.) But it shows that an annual subscription is $79.99 so why the difference. I also find it strange that the options are repeated so many times. I clicked on one to see it and bam, it renewed my subscription for another year and refunded what was left on my old subscription. So annoying!

[@Pshady]

So much is moving to subscription services, like adobe. Previously we bought something once and that was that. I don’t need Strava Premium or zwift taking money every month.

[@MateHegyhati]

Omg... You should have started with: "Folks, grab some popcorn, I'll wait a minute." I can't wait to see the QC episode about this. Will be fun. Regardless: I'm not a very active Strava user. I have it as a backup, and the only feature, that Strava has opposed to Garmin Connect, that I miss is Flyby. However, since the default setting changed a few years back, basically noone uses it (at least in my area), so it kinda lost its purpose. Still, I'm sad, that Strava continues to make decisions that bring it closer and closer to a cliff...

[@cameratool]

Strava has had cost mismanagement issue for years. Supposedly they were losing money four years ago. A few servers and a couple of administrators cost how much? Think about Strava's expenses vs Netflix.

[@toadlguy]

I was thinking of dropping paid Strava this year anyway. I was mostly using it for on device segments - but, meh, I usually just look at them later anyways. This has definitely made my decision for me.

[@Burps___]

I’ve met so many fellow athletes through Strava …most that I would not have met running solo or just running in my two local clubs…so I will swallow their US price increase which is $79.99 annually for me 👅

[@MrLuigi-oi7gm]

Looking on the positive side, I really appreciated you taking the time and effort to uncover the new prices. That is some serious dedication to your users and I am confident I am not alone in my appreciation. Thank you! 👏👏👏 It will be interesting to see how many users currently subscribe to the premium plan with their eyes wide shut and find that the price hikes give them 20-20 vision and they cancel their paid subscriptions. With the COVID boom in cycling participation apparently over, Strava's price hikes seem I'll advised. But I openly admit that like Hambini, I am just a 5-year old who knows little to nothing. 🤷‍♂️

[@Karollenart]

Lol 99$ is definitely too much for what Strava offers. They provide no real updates. 99$ would by my most expensive subscription out of all my anual subscriptions such as newspaper or movie streaming subscriptions...

[@FrictionMr]

Mind blowing. They’ve been promoting the paid subscription to me via ads, pop ups in app etc with sales or offers for a while now but always in a less than clear manner. This kind of confirms I don’t want to pay a company that doesn’t value me enough to tell me how much I’ll owe including when that is going to change.

[@EmptyMind469]

Prices didn’t go up for a decade pretty much because there was no inflation for a decade. Nevertheless would not expect their business model to be hit hard by inflation now. I guess they started loosing revenue from people canceling their superfluous subscriptions and increasing for the rest is the way to compensate (at least they thought.. remember that they have financial sponsors). It does not justify the mess portrayed in the video though. Maybe they are over the fence now and may even be loosing more revenue from the backlash. My subs is €60/year.. 5 bucks per month is quite fair for their product IMO. I’d be happy to take a 5-10% increase. Anything above that, I’m canceling. Let’s see in May..

[@jimpeyton1459]

Kafka could not have written a better scenario. After recent heart procedure I haven't been paying too much attention to Strava, but this will change when I'm cleared to start training again next week. I received my renewal message but frankly ignored it because it didn't flag a price increase. 🙃 So...will this stonewalling backfire? You bet your ass. Update: Checked my account: Membership Status: Subscriber since November 1, 2017 Your annual membership will renew on January 1, 2024 for $59.99 Will the new rate somehow appear in 2024? We shall see. As another said, I am looking forward to the QC episode where you may express yourself more vividly

[@salamandersushi]

Strava was barely worth it when it was free.

[@HinduReal]

@DC Rainmaker: I think the last sentence of their first email that mentions different prices per platform is key. As someone else here stated: they set different prices for different user segments. Would be interesting to test the new account creation from different devices to e.g. see whether Apple users will be charged more than windows/Android users etc. Also, maybe the T&C's of Apple and Google wrt pricing of in-app purchases vs. web purchases also play a role in there secrecy. If I'm not mistaken, at least Apple doesn't allow devs to charge more in app then on web.

[@CorridaNoAr]

Brazil - my renewal date is feb 4th and it´s going to be R$ 119,90 (the old price) - as you noticed, it will be increased to R$ 149,90

[@Ronniezim]

I think they’re definitely going to perform dynamic pricing based on data they’re collecting on users.

[@sexandtheswiss]

Why is Spain cheaper than other EU countries? Fewer users? All Euro countries should be the same, and it should be the USD amount exchanged into Euro, maybe a tad higher give or take the daily exchange rate. An increase in the GBP amount due to the GBP crashing is acceptable, but again it should be transparent and fair.

[@stevenshahan9216]

I'm more surprised that people have a subscription for this.....What next a subscription to monitor your bowel movements?

[@brianpeters9755]

Thank you! I just checked. My monthly cost was $7.99/month and going up 50%, to $11.99/month on 1/15/23 (in two days). So glad to catch your video before the large price increase. I have cancelled my Strava subscription noting the reason was the price increase. Love Strava, but may have to reconsider only a few summer months when I do most of my riding.

[@GardenHard2012]

Not even that just get it at the end of the year and all your stats gets sorted for you.

[@juicyfruit100x]

Free version is just fine

[@ErikS308]

I deleted Strava after using them since their inception because they started playing the pronoun game with their coms and basically going woke. Go woke, go broke. Over 15 years of data, down loaded and deleted.

[@fabiopbb]

I always loved Sports Tracker. Great service, never understood why they didn't grow as much as Strava. So much potencial.

[@dliedke]

Thanks for providing the new prices by country using the VPN. Very useful! I will cancel my subscription because I don't trust a company that is no transparent at all

[@Rieger81]

Great update Ray as always. Interestly, I cannot access my payment history (In the UK if that means anything) although being premium since 2014. As its my main source of history I was happy to pay, but as you say I'm starting to question why I need it just to store it...

[@jaycahow4667]

Cannot access mine in US either.

[@AI-xi4jk]

As a non paying Strava user I’ve noticed that many features became restricted to subscription only. They used to be free, so what I can get from Strava now is just likes, splits and segments with some HR. Even as a non paying user I don’t care about it anymore. I can’t even see my end of year report. On the other side as a software developer I used to download data from their API and analyze it much more thoroughly than what they were offering (I tried premium just to compare). I was able to get my best 400m, 1000m, etc regardless of a split and many other things. If you are into it you can try to compare various factors like shoes, weather (important for me), maybe time of day, etc based on your data. I was also calculating fatigue, fitness. Just to say their premium subscription is not that feature rich as it could be.

[@HTUENR]

22% increase here. Not much in the scheme of things, but won't be renewing because of the way Strava has implemented it. They will probably increase prices next year for countries that missed out this year.

[@ba1996]

Cancelled. Future Komoot use - pay once done. I remember when Strava began taking away features from free - making them pay. I signed up - still thought it was lame. Price was OK. Same folks for sure. This time - they crossed two lines - one - the value line - price higher than value delivered - two principle line - not gonna get done that way again. I got the email, which was weird - then started digging and it was weird. Carry on!