I started a long reply of features Zwift never seems to fix that would increase the value of the platform but I think my major point it this.
I also have a subscription to ifit (think peleton but more outdoor rides videos vs spin, and including other workout types) which is $400 /year (canadian) for my entire household. For that fee I get frequent new content, and trainer designed Resitance controlled rides which match the video on screen.
Zwift for 2 users is now almost $600 CDN a year. (Sorry kids I canāt afford to add you).
Exceeding the pricepoint of a premium excercise equipment ecosystem should come with a premium user experience.
I am happy to pay for a good service, but I feel like Zwift needs to get better at meeting its users requests to justify the cost. I still think Zwift is based on a great idea, but as a customer I certainly donāt feel valued based on the experience in these forums.
Installing them all tonight to get ready for the free trials before I subscribe - at prices comparable to what zwift WAS. Greed seems to be the catalyst for change
Iām not sure that Iād count most of those as āhave to haveā for the majority of people. Even the majority on Zwift.
Most people I know who have Strava accounts donāt use them for anything other than broad tracking of āwhat I didā. They donāt use them for metrics, not most of them.
Most people also donāt need training plans. There are plenty of people who are ātrainingā sufficiently that they need a plan. But tons of people are just riding to ride, to get in exercise.
Same thing with a gym membershipāthis also applies to people who ātrainā, but not to lots of people who just want to ride to be active.
And I think there are a lot of people on Zwift who are not ātrainingā. I hear you about the overall costs of training, but thatās maybe some bias in the sampling, as someone who trains
indieVelo - free for now or pay to be a founding member for some extra benefits (like your kit in-game). Functionality superior to zwift for events and workouts already with a weekly update full of improvements. Graphics / worlds havenāt really been touched yet and are very basic.
MyWhoosh - free forever. Personal choice what you think about where their money comes from. A poor zwift clone, but graphics are better and improvements are coming rapidly including some USP features.
Theyāre the two I know well, sure others can recommend others!
Tried downloading both. Indievelo worked and Iāll try it this week.
MyWhoosh wonāt run after installing it (Windows). Keep getting error messages. I downloaded the Android app and it works but I cannot rely on that full-time with my poor vision.
Iād normally just let my sub run over the summer, just for a rare session due to weather, but not at this price.
Might as well cancel, just like TV subsā¦only subscribe when there is something on you want.
Iām not in love with Zwift, Even after many years I just dont get the appeal, but it just about makes indoor riding tolerable on dark nights or really crappy days. Itās not worth a lot.
Iāve had IndieVelo installed for some time but never found the reason to put in the effort to really try it. Motivation found. If it turns out OK I guess I wonāt be back. Letās see what is out thereā¦
Iāve dabbled with training platforms (Iāve had a year of Training Peaks, a year of TrainerRoad and a year of Xert). But personally, those and a gym membership would definitely be the first Iād cut before Zwift. I donāt really care much about ātrainingā as such, so I get more out of Zwift than the other things.
My local gym is around Ā£65 per month, so Zwift still represents good value compared to that. Itās also a lot more convenient.
I do pay for Strava Premium and Veloviewer. I even pay for Sauce even though I canāt use it on Apple TV.
Youāre right about these things adding up of course. I look at the streaming subs I have. Theyāre all reasonable in isolation, but once I add up Prime, YouTube Premium, Spotify, Netflix, Discovery+, Disney+, Paramount+, NowTV and probably some Iāve forgotten it comes to a veritable fortune!
But itās not really for those services to worry about how much I spend for my whole entertainment package across various services; similarly Zwift.
Like most people, I read about the price increase via social media. No such email advising of this from Zwift. Like most, its a massive increase in monthly costs and also reading that the ākids under 16ā account program has been pause also (was about to submitted something for my daughter)
This will make me take pause and consider how I use Zwift, given seems every game update introduces bugs and bugs and Zwift seem very reluctant to address long-standing issues or even fix bugs introduced in a timely manner, makes you wonder WTF is going on at Zwift HQ.
Iāve been a year round subscriber since joining back in 2016,. This might be teh first time I scale back and pause account
I have a big doubt about the total number of subscribers on Zwift. For me, Zwift does not have 3 million subscribers, we are far fewer than thatā¦ otherwise Zwift would not be in this situationā¦ Itās not new but we know that many companies can potentially lie about their figures and results, especially when all this is said to the press. It is the principle of the frog which wants to appear bigger than the ox. But if we know this fable by La Fontaine, we know that it risks ending badly. Itās like the many startup founders who exaggerate in the press and in conferences, their number of users, their growth, their workforce, the effectiveness of their solution, etc.
Itās so common that itās almost considered normal, it would be part of their role to āsellā their project in this way and no one can verify itā¦ but be careful, itās a dangerous game. When Eric Min says that he can reach 10 million subscribers, itās good, he has ambition, but just a speech to inflate his forecasts and send a strong and positive signal to investors, nothing elseā¦
Besides, inflating ambitions always raises the price of a stockā¦
The most likely outcome I see is many people (including myself) cancelling through the warmer months and maybe dipping back in during winter.
At the moment I keep it ticking over at Ā£13 per month but at Ā£18, I have now cancelled. If I feel compelled in November then Iāll resubscribe but if any of the free services do enough for me Iāll probably never look back.
A nearly 40% rise was a bad move in the UK without offering family discounts or cheaper more basic packages
So after thinking about this for a bit nowā¦ Iām actually grateful to Zwift. Whyā¦ because Iāve been in the platform for 7 years and Iāve enjoyed it. But what did I do before Zwiftā¦I rode outside. Through all seasons. The reason I started zwifting was to recover from a clavicle fracture I sustained through cycling and it is safer being indoors than outside during the winter. But it became convenientā¦ And I started swapping all outdoor rides for indoor rides. At Ā£17.99 a monthā¦ Zwift really are taking the mickey. The platform is getting stale, riddled with bugs and nothing really new and Zwift giving the community what it rather than we want. So on principle Iām going to quit. It will be hard as I find it super convenientā¦but making me get back to riding outsideā¦where I truly love to be, will be greatā¦and Iāll be saving Ā£17.99 a month.
I donāt mind an increase, but the sheer size of the price bump has me looking into alternatives.
It would have been nice for a short grace period to lock in an annual rate at the old price. Would have been able to keep users for another year (and maybe by renewal time they would lose that price shock and continue rather than reflexively dart elsewhere).
Add this into a whole bunch of bad news for your users. Maybe Zwift is ājumping the shark.ā This price jump will be hard to swallow for many users.
It makes me believe there are more issues behind the scenes to have the audacity to raise prices like this.
My wife and I are gone. $40/mo is too rich for the two of us. We already subscribe to TrainerRoad, which offers better training plans and structured workouts from my perspective. We used Zwift to entertain ourselves while doing TR workouts or for social rides with my club; The only we stay on Zwift now will be if there if the monthly $20 charge is a household license, or there is a deep household discount. Itās too bad. Iāve been using Zwift since I was a beta tester. I suppose Iāll stick with TR and turn on YouTube instead of using Zwift.
