When you open up the Peloton app interface, you’re faced with a choice. It is a complicated choice, but it is ultimately a choice between two main paths: The All-Access Membership (which goes hand-in-hand with Peloton’s own hardware), and the App-Only subscription (using whatever equipment you’ve already got). If you choose an All-Access Membership on bikes or treadmills, you’ll unlock all of the content.
If you opt for App-Only subscription, you’ll get access to the same library, though you’ll be bringing your own gear. There is a lot of factors here beyond cost. Ultimately this choice will depend on what best fits your lifestyle, and how you like to move.
Does it feel like you’d prefer a studio-like experience at home with some dedicated fitness gear? Take one path. Do you travel frequently?
Do you prefer flexibility? Take the other. Choose the wrong path, and you might end up shelling out big bucks for a piece of furniture collecting dust.
Choose the right path, and you’ll help keep yourself sticking with those fitness goals after February.
How to Choose Between Peloton Subscriptions
Membership Options and Lifestyle Fit
First, let’s talk about the price, the monthly price. The App-Only membership cost significantly less than the All-Access plan.
Cost and Value Comparison
From that perspective alone, the app is the value proposition. But you need to look at the whole situation. Very often, the All-Access membership are designed to be bundled with the purchase of a bike or treadmill.
You’ve made the investment in the big-ticket item. The price of the subscription isn’t as important because you’re going to be using the machine anyway. With the app model, the content and the equipment is separate.
Now you can subscribe without having to invest in any metal box. That’s what makes the app model so flexible, and it’s key to the app tier.
Content Variety and Specialization
Consider what kind of workouts you do every day.
The All-Access membership covers everything. There are maps for running outdoors. Yoga.
Strength training. Meditation. Cycling.
That’s good if you want to mix things up. For example, maybe you’ll go for a ride first thing in the morning and hit the weights later that same day. This means that you won’t have to jump between services.
But many of us have specialized into a certain style of workout. Maybe you’re a runner… You just want running classes.
Perhaps you’re a yogi and don’t care about cycling stats at all. At that point, subscribing to the whole library feel like you’re buying a sports package that you’ll never watch. With an App-Only subscription, you can turn off the extra stuff.
Get the classes that you take, while ignoring everything else.
Hardware Integration and Data Syncing
The user experience is much more tied to the hardware itself. If you have Peloton hardware.
I.e., the All-Access tier; that’s where it shines. Your metrics are automatically synced when you’re using a Peloton treadmill or bike. Your heart rate, output, and cadence is visible on the screen in real-time.
Without lifting a finger, you’ll be able to view your rank on the leaderboard. With the App-Only subscription, however, you need to bring your own device(s). That could mean using a third party treadmill, a heart rate monitor, or simply your smart watch.
It works, but it does require that you manually sync your data. Some users don’t mind this additional step. Others say it shatters the “showing up” part of the habit.
If you don’t like messing with Bluetooth pairings, the dedicated hardware is worth the premium.
Space Requirements and Portability
Finally, there’s the real estate question, the practical consideration that has been known to determine the sale. There is no denying that a Peloton bike occupy a lot of space.
It is large, it is heavy, and it demands a permanent spot in your home. It needs a dedicated place in your house. With the App-Only subscription, you don’t need to buy any Peloton hardware.
You can stretch out on the floor with your phone, following along as if it were a video. You can do weights in a corner. You can listen to an audio-guided session while running outside.
You can take your workout wherever you go. Which means that whether you have a tiny apartment, travel for work or simply wish to use your living room like a living room, the app wins out. It conforms to your space rather than the other way around.
Making the Final Decision
So how do you make the final decision? Does convenience or discipline work best for you? With the All-Access membership + hardware you get a controlled fitness environment that’s been made for ease and immersion.
With the App-Only subscription you get a set of tools that have been optimized for cost efficiency and freedom. How will an environment help you show up consistently? If you think you’ll benefit from the data on the screen and the structure of the bike, then go for the hardware.
If you want the ability to save some money and be flexable enough to bring Peloton with you wherever you go, then stay with the app. In either case, the goal is the same, it’s just that you get there differently.
