Strava responds to barrage of criticism to price increase

On Tuesday, Strava informed users that they will be raising membership fees by 50 per cent in 2023. That means the cost to join will jump from $7.99 to $11.99 a month.

As you can imagine, The Internet was not at all impressed about the news, especially following the news that the popular training program would be giving a 25 per cent off coupon for memberships at the end of 2022.

For now, the new pricing will only apply to new users in the U.K. However, the plan will be grandfathered in meaning you won’t see a price rise until the following month or year.

@Strava @StravaSupport : come on then. Justify this 50% price increase ? I’ll be cancelling my monthly subscription. Laughable #strava #stravapriceincrease #stravapisstake pic.twitter.com/2p8rfQQoUg

— Ben (@BendyBen999) January 10, 2023

The increase follows news that Strava laid off 38 employees in November. Here in Canada, the price hike is expected to kick in on Feb. 6. The news was widely criticized on Twitter from users who have been members for years. The company finally commented on the news on its website on Friday.

“As we continue to invest in your experience, our prices may change to better reflect new features and market conditions. The decision to change our price was not taken lightly and we want to share why this is happening,” the statement read. “Our priority is giving you a unique experience for a holistic view of your active lifestyle. This happens through delivering you value on a daily basis through new features, product updates and services. In the past 10 years, Strava has added countless new features including support for more than 40 sport types, Beacon, route recommendations, an online route builder tool, global and personal heatmaps, segment leaderboards and custom goals and progress.”

The statement concludes by saying that costs have been relatively fixed for a while.

“While our subscription price has largely remained constant for the past years, we also take local market conditions into consideration. When costs and plans are adjusted, we’re always working to improve your experience and invest in the value delivered to you on a daily basis. Pricing decisions will continuously be evaluated to ensure we are offering the best value of our growing features to our community.”