Wahoo is pushing deeper into software with a new three-tier subscription model for its app, as the cycling and indoor-training brand looks to compete more directly with Garmin and Strava.
The new structure introduces free Base, £4.99-per-month Core and £14.99-per-month Pro tiers, with increasingly advanced training analysis and coaching features available at each level.
It marks a shift for Wahoo, which has traditionally been best known for hardware such as its ELEMNT bike computers, KICKR smart trainers and heart-rate monitors.
The company now wants its app to become a training platform in its own right, bringing together performance data, training insights and coaching across cycling and running.
Wahoo's three subscription tiers
| Base | Core | Pro | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly | Free | £4.99 | £14.99 |
| Annual | Free | £49.99 | £149.99 |
| Workout recording | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Device connectivity | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Route planning | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Live tracking/sharing | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Training insights & trends | – | ✓ | ✓ |
| Performance analytics | – | ✓ | ✓ |
| Training load & fitness tracking | – | ✓ | ✓ |
| Indoor/outdoor workouts | – | ✓ | ✓ |
| SYSTM | – | – | ✓ |
| Daily workout recommendations | – | – | ✓ |
| Structured training plans | – | – | ✓ |
| Video workouts | – | – | ✓ |
| Strength, yoga & mobility | – | – | ✓ |
The free Base tier provides the core Wahoo experience, including workout recording, device connectivity, app integration, route planning and live tracking.
Core costs £4.99 per month or £49.99 annually and adds deeper training analysis, including performance metrics, training load and fitness tracking, alongside indoor and outdoor workouts and activity history.
Pro costs £14.99 per month or £149.99 annually, adding Wahoo's SYSTM training platform, daily workout recommendations, structured training plans, video workouts, and strength, yoga, mobility, recovery and mental-training content.
The free tier means existing users of the Wahoo app shouldn't need to start paying simply to record rides, connect devices, plan routes or use live tracking.
The more advanced analysis appears to be where Wahoo is looking to generate subscription revenue, iincluding its Four-Dimensional Power (4DP) athlete profiling for cyclists and newer Three-Dimensional Pace (3DP) system for runners.
What about existing Wahoo subscribers?
This is one area Wahoo hasn't made clear in its announcement.
The company currently charges £14.99 per month or £149.99 annually for its Wahoo subscription, which includes SYSTM and premium app features.
The new Pro tier costs exactly the same in the UK, but Wahoo hasn't said whether existing subscribers will move automatically to Pro, or whether any features will change between tiers.
Wahoo is following Garmin and Strava
The move reflects a wider shift in the fitness industry, with hardware companies increasingly trying to monetise the software and analysis sitting behind their devices.
Garmin has been moving in this direction with Garmin Connect+, its paid tier, adding features such as enhanced analysis, AI-powered insights and training guidance to the existing Connect ecosystem.
More significantly, Garmin recently acquired TrainingPeaks and TrainHeroic, giving it ownership of established platforms covering endurance coaching and strength training.
Strava has also continued to add features to its subscription offering, with more advanced training, route and performance analysis available to paying users.
Wahoo is expanding into running
Wahoo is also using the new platform to expand beyond its traditional cycling audience.
Its Three-Dimensional Pace (3DP) system profiles runners across threshold pace, maximal aerobic pace and anaerobic capacity.
It takes a similar approach to Wahoo's 4DP cycling system, which looks beyond a single FTP figure to identify an athlete's strengths and weaknesses.
Wahoo has also added Coros integration and says its software now provides a more connected training experience across cycling and running.
That wider focus is important to Wahoo's ambitions. Rather than simply being an app for owners of its cycling hardware, it increasingly wants the Wahoo ecosystem to follow athletes across their entire training lives.
With Garmin, Strava and now Wahoo all putting emphasis on subscriptions, analysis and coaching, the battle for endurance athletes' money is increasingly moving off the handlebar and into apps.
