Almost exactly two years since the last time TrainingPeaks increased prices, they’ve announced today an increase for annual Premium subscribers (only) by 8%, going from $124.99/year to $134.99/year. This change will only take effect once your subscription renews, as well as for new renewals, from April 2nd, 2025. If you renew prior to that, you’d be under the existing pricing. And to reiterate that both monthly ($19.95/month) and quarterly ($49/quarter) remain the same.
Of course, there are undoubtedly many reasons for this. Like all companies, inflation is a reality. Both in terms of national/global costs, but also local costs (TrainingPeaks is based in the greater Boulder, CO area). Equally, TrainingPeaks also likely feels that some of the newer features, like TrainingPeaks Virtual (the renamed IndieVelo since the acquisition), is adding a pretty substantial feature into the Premium subscription package. Though I wouldn’t overthink the IndieVelo piece driving costs much here, I suspect TrainingPeaks would have increased prices regardless.
A two-year cycle since the last price increase seems reasonable, if we use Netflix price increases as the calibration baseline. I’m not sure if that’s the right approach or not, but it’s one method. Netflix just announced a price increase last month, and it was 1 year since the last Premium Tier price increase (8%), and 3 years since the last Standard Tier price increase (16%).
As I said two years ago, I’ll give credit to TrainingPeaks again for doing this properly. A bit over 30 days notice, with a reasonable enough price increase, and clear communications via e-mail. All users have (or are currently receiving) an e-mail with the details. Note that if you’re in Australia, Canada, or Switzerland, TrainingPeaks will continue to have applicable location taxes applied as well to your monthly billing.
Lastly, TrainingPeaks has confirmed that TrainingPeaks Virtual (IndieVelo) will only remain free through the end of March. Starting in April, it’ll require a Premium subscription to TrainingPeaks. Note that IndieVelo Founders members received a 1-year TrainingPeaks Premium subscription back this past fall (which had to be started/redeemed by Nov 30th, 2024).
Once the free level goes away in a month, TrainingPeaks Virtual would still be substantially cheaper than the $199USD on Zwift, though, I think we’d all agree it’s got far more features than TPV. That said, the TrainingPeaks subscription of course includes the foundational training log piece, which has always been worth what it costs. This just gets you an indoor cycling platform atop that, for pretty close to free.
With that, thanks for reading!
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The only issue I see as an end user is that they have not really added any features or functionality to their core product in years. And their apps and website are in dire need of a refresh.
Fully agreed! Basically no feature development for years. It still works okay and there is no real alternative for structured training plans so u fortunately I’ll stay.
TP have actually added loads of features for coaches, especially their new strength training workout builder. There also been a slow evolution of their UX design. Nothing radical but small meaningful improvements
You can just use the non pro version to load the plan and then sync it to intervals.icu. You can even transfer complete training plans that you have bought on training peaks to intervals.icu
Intervals of course has way more features when compared with TrainingPeaks
“You can even transfer complete training plans that you have bought on training peaks to intervals.icu”
How? I pay for both, but have never found a way to transfer a plan to Intervals from TP.
Can we renew early to avoid the price rise?
Did you read the article?
Price increase on a program/app that you use on your own device, if anything the price should go down.
To me, that’s kinda like saying that because you own your house, you shouldn’t have to pay the water, electricity, or gas company for their services. ;)
Zwift definitely doesn’t have more features than TPV. More worlds, and more human users, sure. More features – absolutely not.
Not sure I see that. In a software world, tons of things are considered features that might not be super obvious. That’s everything from gamification features, to routes, worlds, and events. All of which are vastly bigger than TPV.
Sure, there are certain areas that IndieVelo does better (e.g. sensor pairing), but beyond that, there are very few features they have that Zwift doesn’t. Yet boatloads of things TPV doesn’t have that Zwift does.
My initial reaction was the same as James’s. What specifically are some of the boatloads of features that Zwift has and that are supposedly missing from TPV? Other than Worlds, I cannot really think of anything – but my use case is not necessarily representative, so I am probably missing things.
I’m sure Ray or others can think of more, but off the top of my head, it’s important to remember that a lot of people are motivated by the social aspects and shiny things.
Events, group rides, races, and teams that they are already tied to. Asking people to move to a different platform means losing those “friends” and the history that they have. I’m also not aware of any big events like Tour de Zwift. Plus things like “Ride across Italy” and the Tron challenge. History – people have spent years on Zwift earning all those things and that builds deep brand loyalty, even if they publicly complain.
Drops, levels, more customizable bikes, gear, and avatars. All of the little things like “Ride around the volcano 10, 25, 50 times and earn a badge”.
Direct integration with TrainerRoad, Fascat, and others. These new integrations will make those users see Zwift as the preferred platform of the training app that they’re addicted/loyal to.
Honestly, a lot of that stuff doesn’t motivate me personally, but it motivates a lot of people, and it’s a big differentiator. Also, a lot of people just don’t seem to care about integrity in racing, which is the one big differentiator TPV has in my eyes.
Indeed, these are a lot of the types of items I’m talking about.
Again, this isn’t anything against George and his team. They’ve (well, mainly he) done a mind-boggling amount of work with a single person, compared to hundreds of people at Zwift. Nothing takes away from that.
But equally, one has to remember *WHY* they have a million people on their platform. As much as it breaks my heart, it’s not because they do power pairing better (because, they don’t), it’s because they have more pavement, more events, more bike customizations more teams, more integrations (both into Zwift, as well as critically out of Zwift – such as to Garmin), and of course, more people.
Again, George has an incredible number of features, but many of them are more tech focused than general user base focused. They appeal to people like me (geeky), moreso than the general population. That only gets you so far (as every single eventually failed platform has shown to date). A fun thing to do, is to go ZwiftInsider.com, and work your way through the ‘New Update’ posts each month, working backwards. And ask yourself: Does TPV have this feature? And do it for every event, new road, new tiny thing that you might not care about, etc… And you’ll quickly realize, the answer is no.
And certainly, you can do the inverse, with George’s release notes, but you’ll find (again), most of those features are technical in nature, and with limited wide appeal (I just went through the last 5 release notes, and moreso than ever, this confirms this).
Again, there’s nothing wrong with that. Given TP’s greater structured training/etc focus, it makes sense for now. But, and this is a BIG BUT, if TP wants to grow TPV into a legit Zwift competitor, they need to start looking at the things Zwift is doing, and figure out how to appeal to wider audiences. That’s not really debatable.
I agree with Ray. But, to me, stated more simply, Zwift keeps you on the trainer. Every winter I get a little board with Zwift and grab a month or two here and there of the competition. I see it also as funding the competition to keep Zwift honest. Again this winter, I tried MyWoosh, TPV, Kinomap, and Tacx. I may grab a month of Rouvy still. Nonetheless, Zwift is mostly vastly superior to each of those. Sure the sensor pairing in TPV is great but just how many times do you want to ride the ice mountain with absolutely nothing to look at? Please TPV put a little more time into graphics! And, Kinomap and Tacx, getting the gradient and the film to always coincide must be hard for them. On film you are 50 yards downhill and the trainer is still pushing out 10% uphill grade. And then MyWoosh, lots of worlds and things to see but poor execution on trainer control and video is best I can describe. Obviously, I’m not talking “features” but those things that keep most people interested in staying on the trainer. Overall, Zwift just does a much better job than all the rest. I’m not a Zwift fanboy and wish one of the other apps would grab my attention span better but they just don’t.
Thanks, interesting and point taken on #1 the social aspect and #2 the gamification elements (those 2 are not totally mutually exclusive).
I can see the appeal of the social aspect #1: Races/events, more teams, group rides, being able to stay in touch with people across geographies has value. And there is a critical mass effect/virtuous circle effect to this.
Not particularly important to me, but definitely an advantage of TPV.
The gamification (#2) is a double-edged sword. To me it actually _turns me away from the platform/keeps me off the trainer_ because it removes so much of the realism:
– I want realistic physics (e.g., drafting is bad enough on Zwift to start with, Boosts/Powerups completely ruin it)
– Zwift levels feel arbitrary and based on gameplay, not training or performance. My levels are my FTP and power curve…
– Similarly I have no interest in drops or credits
Not denigrating what Zwift has got. Clearly it appeals to lots of people. But to me it is mostly faff (other than the social/group features) or actually detrimental compared to the much more realistic TPV.
There is there is overlap of course: Zwift does have training features (especially with the improved TR integration, albeit at a cost)while TPV also has shiny, colorful fluff. But to me ultimately Zwift is a game and TPV is a training tool.
I am afraid that there is a bigger market and audience for the former…or at least a big enough critical mass that gets _enough_ training benefit from Zwift while either enjoying or putting up with the game stuff.
As much as I’d like to see TPV succeed and give Zwift real competition, tying it to yet another subscription is going to cripple it’s growth IMO. To be a viable competitor it needs users. To get users, you can’t ask them to sign up for another service that at monthly pricing is the same as Zwift (though a bargain at the yearly rate).
I think they need cheap short term passes, so that for instance, a promoter can have a weekend of races and the barrier to entry is cheap and easy, and isn’t a commitment to another recurring monthly charge.
I think that is a valid comment. Or alternatively keep a IndieVelo/TPV only subscription tier (without all the advanced TP functions) at 1/2 or 2/3 of the pricing.
That said, maybe TP has done their homework and knows something like that lots of its users are on Zwift/Rouvy/etc for training (but not necessarily the social/game aspects) and could be migrated over to TPV.
Hazarding a guess, but I suspect the TP subscriber base tilts towards the training-focused crowd (structured work-outs, coaching, etc.) as opposed to gamers.
*raises hands wildy* YES! This is me. I use TrainerDay for my structured interval workouts and TPV for the Climber’s Delight route when I need an “organic” feeling experience. I find the gamification built into Zwift to be entirely offputting and the social aspects completely unnecessary. I used it for a little under a year when I got a subscription with my Kickr Core, but I did not renew it.
The only feature I miss from Zwift is the climbing portal, it would be nice to have some variation in the climbs.
Im really happy with my mywhoosh subscription for zero $/month and the price increase for yearly subscription to zero $/year. :-)
Sure, mywhoosh is not the best but for zero $ is acceptable.
I’m still amazed that intervals.icu does not take more users from TP, as it’s free and offers a very comparable set of features, if not wider, yet being still quite easy to use and apprehend.
Should MyWhoosh devs include sync from intervals.icu for scheduled WO and activities, this would make a solid offering.
I love Intervals.icu, but TP has a significant advantage in that you can buy training plans there and have them easily imported to your calendar. I pay for both services, but mostly only use intervals for post ride analysis, where it’s far superior to TP. On the downside though, try taking a training plan you bought on TP, downloading and uploading all of the workouts into Intervals, and putting them into folders, structured weeks and months, etc., and then moving that into your calendar. It’s a nightmare. On TP it’s as simple as picking the start date for the plan.
Also, coaches use TP, and getting them to incorporate Intervals into their business would mean using different platforms for different clients.
I’m a coach and I use intervals.icu over TP.
I prefer the model, the approach and the features. It may look as good but I found it much more efficient.
If you search the intervals forums. There is a post that links to some software that a member made. It allows you to transfer all your training peaks plans to intervals.
It keeps the same structure. So you can load it to your calendar the same way you can at TP. Once I found the post it took my 5 minutes to transfer over around 40 TP plans.
They also announced a price increase (+16%) for coaches today via email:
“We want to let you know about an upcoming price change to your subscription.
Starting with the May billing period, the price for your current Coach Edition subscription will increase from $19 USD/month to $21.99 USD/month.”
+16% is not reasonable but creedy from my perspective especially as i also pay for a premium account and as a coach you have no free TPV as i remember!
When was the last time TP raised the fee for coaches?
Hi Ray,
Maybe dumb question, but what do you see as added value for premium trainingpeaks vs. free sites like intervals.icu ?
Thanks!
Hey Ray – my wife and I are heading to Amsterdam in April with the kid (10yr old). Planning on some tulips and Van Gogh museum. Any places you’d recommend? Kid friendly food places? Easy city bike rental rides for the family?
Awesome!
We lived in the southern portion of the city, so most of the things are kinda centered around that. Of course, the most popular museum in the city for kids is easily the Science Museum (Nemo), just a short walk from central station). Awesome for kids.
Beyond that, in the Bos, there’s a couple of great spots for kids to eat, notably either of the two farm spots. For Dutch pancakes, I’d recommend this post: link to maps.app.goo.gl
It’s got a giant play area with zipline, various outdoor games, outside eating (and inside if horrifically raining), and a gazillion pancake options. Plus you can feed deer.
Meanwhile, the goat farm is relatively nearby. It’s got more outside related things, though no pancakes (but other food you can buy, all made there). You can feed baby goats, and lots of fun: link to maps.app.goo.gl
I’ve gone more times than I can possibly count to either. Both are free to get in, they just make their money on food.
For bike rentals, they’re everywhere. Though if you want cargo bikes (and, you might with a 10yo), then Black Bikes is probably the easiest, as they have lots of locations. Not a ton of cargo bikes per location, but easily enough found: link to black-bikes.com You can also rent a giant Dutch Klog (shoe) that’s a cargo bike too (seen here from a while back: link to x.com
Another cargo bike option is link to cargoroo.nl – but I haven’t used them myself, just seen them everywhere.
Thanks so much!
I agree with another poster in that MyWhoosh is awesome. It ticks all the training boxes if you want to train. If you want to race then they need a few more people on there and the ability to set up your own races but the GUI is just gone in leaps and bounds