Strava has launched a “family” plan that lets fitness-focused folks save some money on a subscription.
The Strava family plan costs $139.99 a year, and covers up to four people.
A solo Strava subscription costs $79.99 a year, amounting to a remarkable remarkable $179.97 saving versus four separate subscriptions.
All members need to live in the same country, which appears to be the main restriction here. Strava will not be asking for birth certificates, and the definition of family seems to be a loose one here.
“Athletes can share a Family Plan with up to three other people as long as they are not existing Strava subscribers and live in the same country,” says Strava’s statement.
Strava chief business officer Zipporah Allen also appears to suggest this plan is as much about your fitness family as your “real” one.
“Our belief is that people keep people active and the new Family Plan makes it even easier to make a fitness commitment together. It’s about more than just setting shared goals; it’s about embracing shared passions and celebrating collective progress,” says Allen.
I like to think of this as a bit of a nudge-nudge-wink-wink it’s ok to invite your Parkrun buddy or your run club friend to collaborate on this subscription. And that’s great.
A Strava subscription is not required to use the platform, but it does unlock a number of useful features.
These include access to longer-term stats, challenges, route creation, fitness goals, relative effort, more “best efforts” and other bits. Strava makes it just clear enough what you’re missing when you are on a free account to be annoying, without turning you off the service altogether.
Strava’s family plan in available in 32 countries including the UK and US. In the UK it costs £99.99 a year, versus a £54.99 solo plan.
This new plan could well, for example, push some Garmin fans who might otherwise rely on Garmin Connect for more advanced stats into giving Strava’s paid subscription a go. I’ve been using the free version of Strava for the past few years, but hope to give the premium service a go soon to see if it’s worth paying for.
