https://communityhub.strava.com/insider-journal-9/an-update-to-our-developer-program-13428
The gist of it is that Strava just killed its free API, and will now require developers to have a subscription.
At Strava, we care deeply about developers, and the health of the developer ecosystem. There are now 241,000 Strava API developers, up from 185,000 last year. Starting today, all current and future applications will automatically receive access to the Standard developer tier. This allows you to serve up to 10 athletes and start building immediately, completely eliminating the previous queue.
This essentially kills thousands of tools people build using the free API.
If you’re looking to move away from Strava, so far I’ve found four open source alternatives:
- CubeTrek - Open-source GPS track manager with 3D topography visualization for outdoor activities.
- Endurain - Self-hosted fitness tracking service for running, cycling, and more with full data control.
- RunnerUp - An open source run tracker for Android.
- Geo Activity Playground - Data analysis and visualization based on GPS tracked outdoor activities.
- OpenTracks - A privacy-focused sport tracking application for Android that records GPS tracks and supports Bluetooth sensors without any internet access or ads.
EN SHI TTI FI CA TION
Hey guys, just so you know. In the future
If private company = company will fuck you over to your and their own detriment.
Public companies are almost more likely to do this, no? They have shareholders to appease instead of just private interests.
Pretty sure he meant something like “not a nonprofit or government entity.”
They mean go use NGOs.
For profit companies should be illegal
Build a product -> make it free or very affordable -> create dependency -> collect user data to improve product resulting in more dependency -> create a near market monopoly if possible -> make it paid only or make the free version a lot worse so users have to pay -> cross fingers that no alternative emerges or just buy it and shut it down if you can.
Always the same pattern.
Always the same pattern.
not sure who is worse, the users. who enable this stupidity, Fool me once… or the developers who deny it will happen .
For my use case on my bike, a Nokia XR20. phone in a DIY case with a Quad lock mount to show maps and record rides. My normal phone for recording hikes etc
Imo it’s mainly the low key developers using some free API and dreaming it will always stay free. This kind of developing is often basically volunteering for big private companies. Users just use whatever is big, easy available. They have less choice. Developers know what they are putting their effort into, re-enforcing it even more while gaining little from it.
Because of investor pressure to generate actual meaningful revenue, Strava is going to rapidly enshittify leading up to their IPO and after it. The unfortunate thing is that they’ll largely get away with it, because there’s really no alternative for users to move to.
The alternative is stop using. Like every other platform that enshitified, once you know you can live outside the ecosystem, you can live free.
Hell, Runkeeper was a thing with a social network before strava and still exists.
It even gives cadence which strava doesn’t do (at least not the free tier), but the Apple cult picked up Strava and it became the runner’s status symbol as Apple devices are yoany people in America/Sweden/etc… and then that spread over the rest of the world.
Another great alternative is Geoactivity Playground if you use Strava to get overall statistics for your rides. You can import a Strava export or simply put some GPX files in a folder. It’s great:
It seems watches like Garmin Watches are not affected by this:
Two things that aren’t changing: every Strava athlete can still access and download their data for free, at any time – and wearable and device integrations are not affected .
Yeah, until they need to squeeze more blood from the stone
I use endurain since day one and it’s growing fast and good. Dev is very dedicated and progress is significant and solid.
Said so, I always despised Strava and never used it. But I use Garmin platform since I own many garmin devices for run bike and more … And after all these years Garmin stuff, also on software side, keeps being non enshittified
Good find, here’s the repo too: https://codeberg.org/OpenTracksApp/OpenTracks
Maybe something to do with the location leaks from private strava accounts? Public figures and aircraft carriers and such. It may provide some kind of control to put this behind some kind of control. Not solving the problem though.
Wait so is this going to affect my Garmin sending info to Strava?
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Oh so they want me to pay a Garmin sub and a Strava sub? Fucking hell. The enshitifacation contimues
From the linked article:
Two things that aren’t changing: every Strava athlete can still access and download their data for free, at any time – and wearable and device integrations are not affected.
Acronyms, initialisms, abbreviations, contractions, and other phrases which expand to something larger, that I’ve seen in this thread:
Fewer Letters More Letters AP WiFi Access Point CA (SSL) Certificate Authority SSL Secure Sockets Layer, for transparent encryption
2 acronyms in this thread; the most compressed thread commented on today has 14 acronyms.
[Thread #332 for this comm, first seen 3rd Jun 2026, 14:10] [FAQ] [Full list] [Contact] [Source code]
Can you explain what Strava is?
RunnerUp is an app ive been using for a while and it does the basic gps tracking for your activities and even has an option to tell you if your pace is slower or faster than you set. You can connect it to your Strava account to upload data to if you want, but otherwise the data is on your device. I don’t know about smartwatch compatibility, but I use the phone app and just put my phone in my Nathan’s Belt.
I missed this one. Was it like Heroku used to be or something?
I was a happy user of Endomondo before underarmour killed it.
I want it back. I hate using strava.
It says all apps will have automatic access to the standard tier. How is that killing anything? It sounds more like they’re removing an approval process.
Edit: ok but further down it also says “subscription required”. I’m confused.
Starting today, all current and future applications will automatically receive access to the Standard developer tier. This allows you to serve up to 10 athletes and start building immediately, completely eliminating the previous queue.
Then on june 30th
Subscription required for existing Standard Tier developers. A Strava subscription will be required to access the API as a Standard Tier developer. Active developers* without a current subscription are entitled to 3-months free. If you’re eligible, you will have received a code via email. Extended Access Tier developers are not affected.
So do all future applications automatically receive access or is a subscription required??? Repeating what it says does not provide any clarifying information!
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