Strava, the kudos kingdom and number two in our guide for the best running apps, has announced it will be rolling out a family subscription option later this year.
If you’re a regular user of the app for activity tracking and connecting with fellow athletes on the free version, then you may be toying with whether or not it’s worth upgrading to the premium version.
Right now, you have the option to upgrade to the paid version of Strava, known as Summit, for $59.99 a year or $5 per month. Soon to come this year, all Strava members, whether you're a free user or an existing Summit member, will get the option to share the cost of a premium subscription.
But before you round up your run club buddies or family members to upgrade with you, let’s weigh up if a premium subscription is right for you.
What we know so far about Strava's Family plan
Strava is yet to announce exactly how much the Family Plan subscription will cost. However, the new annual subscription option will offer the best value for groups of up to four, with each member receiving a discount from the regular subscription cost.
In terms of when this new feature will roll out, the family subscription will launch in Australia and Canada this summer, and then gradually roll out worldwide by the end of 2024. If you don’t fancy waiting, you can take advantage of the 30-day free trial in the meantime.
What is included in a Strava membership?
As a free user of Strava, you can still very much feel apart of both the activity tracking and social side to Strava with the ability to give and receive Kudos, comment on your friends or running nemesis activities, take part in challenges and view useful stats on your workouts.
However, if you’re looking to streamline your exercise tracking into one app, it’s worth checking out what’s included with the paid for version of Strava.
- Training Plans: Customizable training plans for different activities and fitness levels.
- Route Planning: Discover routes other runners have clocked, ask Strava to build a route for you or create your own.
- Segment Leaderboards: Win a segment by competing with friends or local runners on popular roads and routes.
- Beacon: Real-time location sharing with emergency contacts during activities.
- Live Segments: Real-time feedback on segment performance.
- Power Analysis: Advanced power metrics for runners and cyclists.
- Matched Runs: Compare performances on routes you have completed before.
- Advanced Performance Metrics: View metrics like Suffer Score and Relative Effort.
- Goal Setting: Tools to set and track performance goals.
- Workout Analysis: Detailed post-workout analysis and splits.
- Personal Heatmaps: Visual representation of where you've been active over time.
Is it worth getting the Strava family subscription?
The advanced metrics in the Summit subscription, like route planning, extra safety features, training plans, goal setting and segment leaderboards, are all features which a range of Strava users can benefit from.
From competitive athletes to newbie runners to those just looking to enhance their safety while exercising outdoors — there's something for everyone. Plus, if you and your friends or family are already Summit subscribers, this should bring the cost down for all of you.
However, if you already own one of the best running watches, you might find you are just doubling up on data. Or, if you’re on a budget, the free version has plenty to keep you entertained. Alternatively, if you're more of a casual runner you might find you don't need all of the various premium subscription features.
The good thing is that you can use Strava's 30-day Summit free trial before committing to the recurring membership to see if you find the extras useful. If not, you can cancel and either save the money or put it towards a new set of running shoes instead.
