Strava Hedge Bets on Paid Subscriptions

It’s an interesting time. Many companies are struggling to survive, and individuals are doing what they can to make ends meet, including getting rid of what they consider non-essential expenses. For some, this might mean things like gym memberships, auto-ship items, and subscriptions, but Strava is trying to build off of the support of its subscribers to keep the company growing into the future.

Don’t worry, the free version of Strava is not going anywhere, but some of the features you’ve grown accustomed to are moving to the paid version as of today. Some might not be happy, but Strava says they are looking to support those that have supported them while continuing to support the athletic community. The goal is to find the sustainability to keep Strava online for years to come.

One of the things that differentiated Strava from others out there is Segments. Others have tried, but when you think of Strava, you think of segments. Unfortunately, to fully use them going forward, you need to be a subscriber. Free users will still be able to create segments, and you’ll still get notifications when you hit a PR or K/QOM, but if you are outside of the top 10, you’ll need a subscription to dive in further. Training dashboard and log, and route designer with heat map and segment features are also moving to the paid side. To use these features going forward, you’ll need to pay $5 a month for a subscription. Honestly, that’s not much, considering that is only a cup or two of coffee per month for most people.

In a letter to Strava users, Strava founders Mark Gainey and Michael Horvath explain the reasoning behind the changes. After touting the 51 updates and improvements they have made so far this year, and the fact that advertising has not been a part of the platform, the letter explains why some of the changes were necessary. Updates will not be strictly focused on the subscription platform though, as there have been many improvements that have been made on the free side as well, like Apple Watch integration.

“Dedicating Strava to the community is also a commitment to longevity. We are not yet a profitable company and need to become one in order to serve you better. And we have to go about it the right way – honest, transparent, and respectful to our athletes.”

While Strava has over 55 million athletes, the company has 180 employees supporting the business. Moving the features to the subscription side has a lot to do with the costs of supporting those features, and allowing the company to not need to rely on other forms of income, like selling user information and advertising.

One of the positives in all of this is that navigating the subscription side is a lot smoother. Instead of the tiered Summit scheme that was previously in place, allowing for different levels of features at different prices, the new subscription is just $5 a month, or $59.99 a year. Depending on your needs, Summit could cost anywhere from $3-9 a month, or $24-72 a year. Now, you get everything for $5, or you go with the free platform.

Here is the full letter, with a link to the changes at the bottom. If you rely on many of the features in Strava for your training, or just enjoy seeing how you stack up against others, $5 a month seems worth it. I personally have an account, and will probably swap over to the monthly plan since there is no befenit as of now to stay annual, but I’m looking forward to seeing how they continue to improve the platform and create new and improved features for the users.

If you are unsure about subscribing, Strava is offering a free 60-day trial to allow you to test it out for yourself.

Dear Strava community, If nothing else, 2020 has been a year of regaining perspective. A silver lining of hard times like these is that they inspire introspection and focus – What matters the most to us? And how do we live up to that? Our answers to those questions have only gotten clearer in the past few months, and we’re now leading the company with a single purpose: rededicating Strava to our community.

We’re obsessing over our athletes – over you – and no one else.

Strava athletes deserve an affordable and constantly improving experience, and we hope you’ve noticed how focused we’ve been this year on delivering that. Our small but mighty team of 180 has released 51 athlete-facing improvements already in 2020, from Apple Watch syncing, to new maps and metrics for snowsports, to a huge update to our Routes features, and a lot more. We’ve also removed some distractions, such as Sponsored Integrations (the closest we’ve ever come to putting ads in the feed). And we returned the option to sort your feed in chronological order. We heard how much that change drove you nuts, and admit it took a really long time to respond.

The awesome team in Denver. They’ve been focused on improving segments all year, and the best is yet to come!

Dedicating Strava to the community is also a commitment to longevity. We are not yet a profitable company and need to become one in order to serve you better. And we have to go about it the right way – honest, transparent and respectful to our athletes.

This means that, starting today, a few of our free features that are especially complex and expensive to maintain, like segment leaderboards, will become subscription features. And from now on, more of our new feature development will be for subscribers – we’ll invest the most in the athletes who have invested in us. We’ve also made subscription more straightforward by removing packs and the brand of Summit. You can now use Strava for free or subscribe, simple. This focus on subscription ensures that Strava can serve athletes decades from now, and in an up-front way that honors the support of the athletes we serve today. We plan to take what we earn from these changes and reinvest straight back into building more and better features – not devising ways to fill up your feed with ads or sell your personal information. We simply want to make a product so good that you’re happy to pay for it.

Our mission is to connect athletes to what motivates them and help them find their personal best. We mean it now more than ever.

A monthly subscription costs as much as a couple energy bars, and we think that’s money well spent. But we also know, especially lately, that there are athletes struggling to make ends meet and that the free version of Strava must remain high quality and useful. Rest assured that we will always offer a version of Strava for free, and you belong in this community whether you subscribe or not. We’re betting all our chips on you, either way. We hope you’ll bet on us. We are beyond grateful for your business and your support, and thrilled to recommit ourselves entirely to you, our fellow athletes. See you out there, Michael and Mark

What exactly has changed?

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Scott Kingsley

Based in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Scott joined Bike World News as the Cyclocross Editor in 2012 before taking over as Tech Editor in 2016. He has also worked as a photographer for various pro teams and shoot races along the east coast of the US, including the 2012 US MTB National Championships, 2013 UCI Cyclocross World Championships, and 2016 UCI Road World Championships. Scott has a passion for performance and technology, with 35 years of riding and mechanic experience. He also enjoys soccer, running, teaching group fitness classes, and is the founder of Lancaster Beard Company.

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