Buzz
The running app market is saturated, yet only a few truly shine. Nike Run Club provides a no-cost, engaging experience that ensures you’re never bored. Runna pushes you to complete every aspect of its well-organized plans, boosting your speed and endurance. However, the ultimate running app is the one offering superior mapping tools, detailed performance insights, and social elements that your friends actively engage with. Yes, Strava is simply unbeatable.
I acknowledge its imperfections, particularly regarding privacy. If you don’t adjust all the privacy settings, you might unintentionally share more personal data than you planned. Each new feature seems to introduce fresh privacy concerns, such as the recent weekly heatmap, which highlights individual runners in less crowded areas more prominently.
Yet, these privacy concerns arise because Strava excels in social and mapping features, which are its standout qualities. Do I believe Strava is a flawless, entirely responsible company? Not exactly. However, after tweaking my privacy settings, I’ve been enjoying the app, climbing the segment leaderboards, and utilizing its route-planning tools during my travels. Let me break down what sets Strava apart from other running apps, covering both its strengths and weaknesses, so you can decide if it’s the right fit for you.
Throughout this discussion, I’ll highlight which features are free and which require a subscription for full access. Many of Strava’s standout features are locked behind a paywall, but the free version still offers plenty of value. The premium subscription costs $11.99 per month or $79.99 annually, with discounts available for students and families.
(And yes, Strava also caters to cyclists. However, today’s focus is solely on its running-specific features.)
Strava's analytics are unparalleled
If you use a smartwatch to monitor your runs, it likely provides basic metrics like time, distance, pace, and heart rate. However, when you sync this data with Strava, you gain access to deeper insights. The app analyzes the elevation changes on your route, calculates your total elevation gain, and adjusts your pace based on the terrain’s difficulty.
It categorizes your pace and heart rate into specific zones, notes the weather conditions during your run, and estimates whether your fitness level is improving (though this metric isn’t perfect, it can still offer useful insights). Additionally, it compares your current performance to past runs on similar routes. For instance, my recent run around the lake in my local park was my fourth attempt, and Strava confirmed it was the fastest of the four.
Strava also monitors my weekly and monthly running distances. My goal this month is to hit 100 miles, and the app currently shows I have 66 miles left to achieve that. Many runners track their training load and recovery by tallying weekly mileage, and when I open the “You” tab in Strava, the first thing displayed is a graph of my weekly mileage over recent months. I can expand the view to see the entire past year, revealing that I’m currently running more miles weekly compared to the same period last year (and also that I barely ran at all during the winter).
While, in theory, most of this data is available through your watch’s companion app (like Fitbit or Apple Fitness), it’s rarely presented as effectively or as clearly. The Garmin app is an exception, but most Garmin users I know still prefer Strava for its additional features, so they use both. Let’s dive into those extra features.
What you get for free: Detailed splits, elevation gain, maximum elevation, personal record efforts, and a pace graph that accompanies your moving time, elapsed time, and fastest split.
What requires premium: Nearly everything else, including grade-adjusted pace, pace zones, matched runs, fitness score, and relative effort.
Segments offer a fun way to challenge yourself or compete with others
Whenever Strava’s privacy settings are discussed, some people question, 'Why would anyone want to share their runs publicly?' Part of the reason is that humans are inherently social creatures who enjoy sharing aspects of their lives with friends and communities. This is a significant appeal of Strava. Additionally, making your stats public allows you to engage in casual competition with others on segments, which many find enjoyable, motivating, or both.
A Strava segment is a specific section of road or trail marked within the app. Each segment has a name, defined start and end points, and a leaderboard displaying the fastest times. Some segments are steep climbs, others are popular trails, and some exist purely because someone came up with a humorous name.
For instance, in my local park, there’s a short road near a lake dam, less than a quarter-mile long, designated as the Dam You segment. The men’s record stands at 39 seconds, while the women’s record is 54 seconds. Clicking the link reveals who holds these titles.
You’ll also see who has earned Local Legend status for that segment, awarded to the person who has run it the most frequently, regardless of speed. The current Local Legend for Dam You has completed it 33 times in the last 90 days.
You might not even realize you’ve run a segment until you review your Strava stats post-run. The app meticulously tracks this. I’ve run Dam You 13 times in the past year, placing me #2,644 out of 5,454 runners on the leaderboard. Reaching the top would be a notable achievement, should I decide to aim for it. (As I explore the page, Strava even suggests setting a goal and deadline to achieve this.)
While this goal might seem daunting, exploring less popular areas can reveal more accessible segments. I’ve earned Local Legend status on a few routes near my home simply because fewer people run them. One is a steep hill I discovered by searching for the steepest grades in my area using Strava’s segment explorer. Without Strava, I might never have noticed this hill, but now it’s a favorite spot for hill repeats.
Knowing about segments adds an extra layer of enjoyment to my runs. Sometimes, I plan routes to include as many segments as possible or use them for interval training by running fast repeats. Even if I’m slower than others on the leaderboard, Strava shows how my latest performance stacks up against my own past efforts. Earning that small “PR” medal for beating my personal best is incredibly rewarding.
What you get for free: Access to segment locations and your recorded times on them.
What requires premium: Insights into all-time best efforts, comparisons of segment performances over time, access to segment leaderboards, and seeing how your efforts measure up against Local Legends.
You’ll always have a running route no matter where you are
Strava truly shines when I’m traveling. The app collects data from public runs to generate heatmaps of popular running routes. When you open the mapping tab, you’re presented with several recommended routes tailored to your location.
You can filter these suggested routes by distance, elevation (flat or hilly), surface type (paved or dirt), and difficulty level. If a route only partially appeals to you, you can customize it by borrowing elements you like and creating your own unique path.
Once you select or design a route, Strava provides details like its total distance, elevation profile, popularity, and the average time runners take to complete it.
Even in an unfamiliar town, I can quickly find a suitable route, such as a four-mile, mostly flat path starting near my hotel. If I need to locate a running track, I can activate the heatmap layer and search for oval shapes. I’ve also used these tools to discover new running spots in my hometown.
What you get for free: Access to the heatmap within the app, the ability to explore the heatmap, and previews of suggested routes.
What requires premium: The ability to search the heatmap, routes, and segments; view detailed route information; and create custom routes.
Your friends are likely already on Strava
Thanks to its extensive features, Strava has become the preferred running app for runners of all levels, from competitive athletes to casual joggers. If your friends run, chances are they’re already on Strava or will join soon. It’s the perfect app for sharing activities and exchanging “kudos” with each other.
Strava also integrates seamlessly with major apps and devices. Whether you track your runs, rides, or strength training with another app, you can sync everything to Strava. My Strava account contains years of workouts logged from an Apple Watch, a Garmin, and even a Peloton. When I wore a Garmin Forerunner 265 alongside the new Pixel Watch 3, Strava accurately logged it as a run completed by Beth and Beth together.
If you want to use the app everyone else is using, Strava is the one. If you’re looking for detailed analytics on your runs, Strava delivers (especially with a premium subscription). And if you enjoy discovering new routes in your neighborhood or while traveling, or competing against strangers, Strava is the ideal running app for you.
