Go Back  Bike Forums > Bike Forums > General Cycling Discussion
Reload this Page >

Strava Price up 50%

Notices
General Cycling Discussion Have a cycling related question or comment that doesn't fit in one of the other specialty forums? Drop on in and post in here! When possible, please select the forum above that most fits your post!

Strava Price up 50%

Old 01-26-23, 01:48 PM
  #1  
Black wallnut 
Senior Member
Thread Starter
 
Black wallnut's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: Ellensburg,WA
Posts: 3,175

Bikes: Schwinn Broadway, Specialized Secteur Sport(crashed) Spec. Roubaix Sport, Spec. Crux

Mentioned: 7 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 178 Post(s)
Liked 161 Times in 80 Posts
Strava Price up 50%

Strava makes yet another poor business decision. Price increase effective 2-26-2023 monthly subscription increases from $7.99 to $11.99. A 50% increase. Just a couple of years ago they were shining publicly that if subscriptions didn't increase they would be gone. Such a drastic price increase in the midst of a recession for something that is discretionary spending for most IMHO is unlikely to give them much of a net gain in proceeds.

I'm ending my subscription. Wonder how many others will as well.
__________________
Sir Mark, Knight of Sufferlandria
Black wallnut is offline  
Old 01-26-23, 03:25 PM
  #2  
Troul 
Senior Member
 
Troul's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: Mich
Posts: 7,291

Bikes: RSO E-tire dropper fixie brifter

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 6 Post(s)
Liked 2,910 Times in 1,884 Posts
many might "ride" it out until the weather breaks, & by then, forget about the automatic drafting of the increased monthly fee. Might be a tactic that the business is trying to offset for a likely reoccurring yearly slump in sales... Time for a new brand to roll in to the cyber bicycling world, robbing customers from the hotshot brand.
__________________
-Oh Hey!
Troul is offline  
Old 01-26-23, 03:31 PM
  #3  
genejockey 
Klaatu..Verata..Necktie?
 
genejockey's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2007
Location: SF Bay Area
Posts: 17,658

Bikes: Litespeed Ultimate, Ultegra; Canyon Endurace, 105; Battaglin MAX, Chorus; Bianchi 928 Veloce; Ritchey Road Logic, Dura Ace; Cannondale R500 RX100; Schwinn Circuit, Sante; Lotus Supreme, Dura Ace

Mentioned: 41 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 10244 Post(s)
Liked 11,599 Times in 5,945 Posts
Originally Posted by Black wallnut
Strava makes yet another poor business decision. Price increase effective 2-26-2023 monthly subscription increases from $7.99 to $11.99. A 50% increase. Just a couple of years ago they were shining publicly that if subscriptions didn't increase they would be gone. Such a drastic price increase in the midst of a recession for something that is discretionary spending for most IMHO is unlikely to give them much of a net gain in proceeds.

I'm ending my subscription. Wonder how many others will as well.
3.5% unemployment and 2.6% annual GDP growth isn't even remotely a "recession".
__________________
"Don't take life so serious-it ain't nohow permanent."

"Everybody's gotta be somewhere." - Eccles
genejockey is online now  
Old 01-26-23, 03:41 PM
  #4  
stevel610 
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Valley Forge: Birthplace of Freedom
Posts: 1,298

Bikes: Novara Safari, CAAD9, WABI Classic, WABI Thunder

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 364 Post(s)
Liked 456 Times in 239 Posts
Recession, if not happening yet, is baked into the equation for this year. I don't really care, just a better buying environment for those of us long term investors.

That said, when recessions happen people will often keep lower cost pleasures rather than higher priced items.

From Stravas perspective they probably figure raise the price 50%, lose 20% of customers will pay off in the end.
stevel610 is offline  
Old 01-26-23, 03:45 PM
  #5  
Black wallnut 
Senior Member
Thread Starter
 
Black wallnut's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: Ellensburg,WA
Posts: 3,175

Bikes: Schwinn Broadway, Specialized Secteur Sport(crashed) Spec. Roubaix Sport, Spec. Crux

Mentioned: 7 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 178 Post(s)
Liked 161 Times in 80 Posts
Originally Posted by genejockey
3.5% unemployment and 2.6% annual GDP growth isn't even remotely a "recession".
Instead of picking nits try to articulate justification for the huge percent increase. Do electrons cost more? Have they had substantial increased costs associated with rewriting code? Price increases are a way of life. 50% increases are not.

I think Troul in probably right though. Many will look at this as such a small dollar value cost that the percent of increase will not matter to them. They sure as hell whine when eggs jump in price.... Said with due smugness from my Ranchette where I raise my own chickens for all they provide and pork.
__________________
Sir Mark, Knight of Sufferlandria
Black wallnut is offline  
Old 01-26-23, 03:46 PM
  #6  
genejockey 
Klaatu..Verata..Necktie?
 
genejockey's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2007
Location: SF Bay Area
Posts: 17,658

Bikes: Litespeed Ultimate, Ultegra; Canyon Endurace, 105; Battaglin MAX, Chorus; Bianchi 928 Veloce; Ritchey Road Logic, Dura Ace; Cannondale R500 RX100; Schwinn Circuit, Sante; Lotus Supreme, Dura Ace

Mentioned: 41 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 10244 Post(s)
Liked 11,599 Times in 5,945 Posts
Originally Posted by stevel610
Recession, if not happening yet, is baked into the equation for this year. I don't really care, just a better buying environment for those of us long term investors.

That said, when recessions happen people will often keep lower cost pleasures rather than higher priced items.

From Stravas perspective they probably figure raise the price 50%, lose 20% of customers will pay off in the end.
Exactly. They're running a business, not a charity.
__________________
"Don't take life so serious-it ain't nohow permanent."

"Everybody's gotta be somewhere." - Eccles
genejockey is online now  
Old 01-26-23, 03:49 PM
  #7  
genejockey 
Klaatu..Verata..Necktie?
 
genejockey's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2007
Location: SF Bay Area
Posts: 17,658

Bikes: Litespeed Ultimate, Ultegra; Canyon Endurace, 105; Battaglin MAX, Chorus; Bianchi 928 Veloce; Ritchey Road Logic, Dura Ace; Cannondale R500 RX100; Schwinn Circuit, Sante; Lotus Supreme, Dura Ace

Mentioned: 41 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 10244 Post(s)
Liked 11,599 Times in 5,945 Posts
Originally Posted by Black wallnut
Instead of picking nits try to articulate justification for the huge percent increase. Do electrons cost more? Have they had substantial increased costs associated with rewriting code? Price increases are a way of life. 50% increases are not.

I think Troul in probably right though. Many will look at this as such a small dollar value cost that the percent of increase will not matter to them. They sure as hell whine when eggs jump in price.... Said with due smugness from my Ranchette where I raise my own chickens for all they provide and pork.
They're not making enough money.
__________________
"Don't take life so serious-it ain't nohow permanent."

"Everybody's gotta be somewhere." - Eccles
genejockey is online now  
Old 01-26-23, 04:07 PM
  #8  
spelger
Senior Member
 
spelger's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2015
Location: reno, nv
Posts: 2,275

Bikes: yes, i have one

Mentioned: 2 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1124 Post(s)
Liked 1,171 Times in 682 Posts
not sure how they make any money. i am not a paying user and don't recall any advertising on it.
spelger is online now  
Old 01-26-23, 04:10 PM
  #9  
Troul 
Senior Member
 
Troul's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: Mich
Posts: 7,291

Bikes: RSO E-tire dropper fixie brifter

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 6 Post(s)
Liked 2,910 Times in 1,884 Posts
if the business needs to jack up the cost that much to make enough money, that tells me the business has some internal operating flaws, too many bad modus operandi decisions, poorly managing money in general.

Originally Posted by spelger
not sure how they make any money. i am not a paying user and don't recall any advertising on it.
Nothing is "free".
__________________
-Oh Hey!
Troul is offline  
Likes For Troul:
Old 01-26-23, 05:00 PM
  #10  
3alarmer 
Friendship is Magic
 
3alarmer's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Sacramento, CA
Posts: 22,932

Bikes: old ones

Mentioned: 304 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 26249 Post(s)
Liked 10,231 Times in 7,100 Posts
.
...I guess we have passed the age of peak Strava. Can't say I will notice much difference. I never held any KOM's.
__________________
3alarmer is offline  
Old 01-26-23, 05:03 PM
  #11  
3alarmer 
Friendship is Magic
 
3alarmer's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Sacramento, CA
Posts: 22,932

Bikes: old ones

Mentioned: 304 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 26249 Post(s)
Liked 10,231 Times in 7,100 Posts
.
...if they take a tip from Elon Musk, they can turn it into a cash cow by selling KOM's, the way Twitter is selling verified accounts.
__________________
3alarmer is offline  
Likes For 3alarmer:
Old 01-26-23, 05:36 PM
  #12  
msu2001la
Senior Member
 
msu2001la's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Chicago, IL, USA
Posts: 2,870
Mentioned: 2 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1455 Post(s)
Liked 1,477 Times in 867 Posts
It's $4/mo more. It's mildly annoying, but I don't think there's going to be a mass exodus from Strava over this.
In the context of cycling expenditures, this is extremely minor.
msu2001la is offline  
Likes For msu2001la:
Old 01-26-23, 05:39 PM
  #13  
spelger
Senior Member
 
spelger's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2015
Location: reno, nv
Posts: 2,275

Bikes: yes, i have one

Mentioned: 2 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1124 Post(s)
Liked 1,171 Times in 682 Posts
Originally Posted by 3alarmer
.
...I guess we have passed the age of peak Strava. Can't say I will notice much difference. I never held any KOM's.
i did, once for a few days. when i was out in FL i rented a ride and got a KOM heading on a flat road. i'ts hilly around here in Reno so flat was easy. the KOM was easy to get and actually did not even know it was a segment until ride was done. the guy i took it from did not take long to get it back. i don't consider it a real KOM though since it only went up maybe a foot or two at most.
spelger is online now  
Old 01-26-23, 05:59 PM
  #14  
genejockey 
Klaatu..Verata..Necktie?
 
genejockey's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2007
Location: SF Bay Area
Posts: 17,658

Bikes: Litespeed Ultimate, Ultegra; Canyon Endurace, 105; Battaglin MAX, Chorus; Bianchi 928 Veloce; Ritchey Road Logic, Dura Ace; Cannondale R500 RX100; Schwinn Circuit, Sante; Lotus Supreme, Dura Ace

Mentioned: 41 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 10244 Post(s)
Liked 11,599 Times in 5,945 Posts
Originally Posted by Troul
if the business needs to jack up the cost that much to make enough money, that tells me the business has some internal operating flaws, too many bad modus operandi decisions, poorly managing money in general.


Nothing is "free".
They're suffering the same thing that happens to any number of companies that start out free, "to build a user base", but then reach the point where they need to bring in money. Many a company has run aground on those rocks.
__________________
"Don't take life so serious-it ain't nohow permanent."

"Everybody's gotta be somewhere." - Eccles
genejockey is online now  
Likes For genejockey:
Old 01-26-23, 06:46 PM
  #15  
Mtracer
Full Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2022
Location: Albuquerque NM USA
Posts: 453
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 202 Post(s)
Liked 274 Times in 179 Posts
It’s my understanding they hadn’t raised their rate in over a decade. Also, it a much more modest price increase for a yearly subscription. I think mine will be going from $60 to $80. Still a 25% jump.

I think the larger increase for monthly is to encourage people to just get an annual subscription. And I honestly can’t see why anyone does a monthly subscription.

As for Strava’s business decision, the bottom line is none of us know squat about their operation. They have a huge number of users and likely have a good idea what pricing will work best for them. Of course, they could get it wrong. Remember “New Coke”. But if they screw-in up, they can readjust their pricing.

My $20 more a year is trivial.
Mtracer is offline  
Old 01-26-23, 07:00 PM
  #16  
Troul 
Senior Member
 
Troul's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: Mich
Posts: 7,291

Bikes: RSO E-tire dropper fixie brifter

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 6 Post(s)
Liked 2,910 Times in 1,884 Posts
the additional cost to the customer could mean giving up the wax, & going back to using grease on there chain. Can't be having that!!111!
__________________
-Oh Hey!
Troul is offline  
Likes For Troul:
Old 01-26-23, 07:25 PM
  #17  
_ForceD_
Sr Member on Sr bikes
 
_ForceD_'s Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2015
Location: Rhode Island (sometimes in SE Florida)
Posts: 2,306

Bikes: Several...from old junk to new all-carbon.

Mentioned: 13 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1012 Post(s)
Liked 759 Times in 408 Posts
If they end things and do in fact go under…if I’m mid-ride will they automatically pause it for me?

Dan
_ForceD_ is offline  
Likes For _ForceD_:
Old 01-26-23, 08:34 PM
  #18  
tempocyclist
Senior Member
 
tempocyclist's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2021
Location: Australia
Posts: 815

Bikes: 2002 Trek 5200 (US POSTAL), 2020 Canyon Aeroad SL

Mentioned: 1 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 309 Post(s)
Liked 664 Times in 324 Posts
Originally Posted by genejockey
They're not making enough money.
Originally Posted by spelger
not sure how they make any money. i am not a paying user and don't recall any advertising on it.

I was under the impression they weren't turning a profit, but who knows for sure. Subscriptions would be their biggest income source.

No "direct" advertising but the challenges are essentially thinly-veiled adverts. They do bring in a fair bit of cash via their third-party challenges. It costs a packet to host one.

Here's some information I dug up:

- Strava generated $167 million revenue in 2021
- In January 2022, Strava had around 95 million active users
- Almost two billion activities were completed on Strava in 2021
- In December 2020, Strava was valued at $1.5 billion


I think my annual subscription is "only" going up by around 10% at the next renewal. Varies a lot depending on country and when you paid last.
tempocyclist is offline  
Old 01-26-23, 08:48 PM
  #19  
tempocyclist
Senior Member
 
tempocyclist's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2021
Location: Australia
Posts: 815

Bikes: 2002 Trek 5200 (US POSTAL), 2020 Canyon Aeroad SL

Mentioned: 1 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 309 Post(s)
Liked 664 Times in 324 Posts
UPDATE: Just checked. My annual subscription is going up from AU $81.99 to AU $99.99 when it renews in around 3 months time.
tempocyclist is offline  
Old 01-26-23, 09:33 PM
  #20  
Koyote
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2017
Posts: 7,767
Mentioned: 37 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 6882 Post(s)
Liked 10,873 Times in 4,637 Posts
Originally Posted by Black wallnut
Strava makes yet another poor business decision. Price increase effective 2-26-2023 monthly subscription increases from $7.99 to $11.99. A 50% increase.
Looks like the annual subscription is increasing to $79.99 per year, which is $6.66 per month. Why would anyone be paying on a monthly basis?
Koyote is offline  
Likes For Koyote:
Old 01-26-23, 10:45 PM
  #21  
veganbikes
Clark W. Griswold
 
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: ,location, location
Posts: 13,278

Bikes: Foundry Chilkoot Ti W/Ultegra Di2, Salsa Timberjack Ti, Cinelli Mash Work RandoCross Fun Time Machine, 1x9 XT Parts Hybrid, Co-Motion Cascadia, Specialized Langster, Phil Wood Apple VeloXS Frame (w/DA 7400), R+M Supercharger2 Rohloff, Habanero Ti 26

Mentioned: 54 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 4252 Post(s)
Liked 3,866 Times in 2,579 Posts
Originally Posted by msu2001la
It's $4/mo more. It's mildly annoying, but I don't think there's going to be a mass exodus from Strava over this.
In the context of cycling expenditures, this is extremely minor.
$4? That is almost $96 away from a hundred dollars and multiply a hundred 10 times and that is a thousand! Holy Moly a lot of money.

Prices are going up it happens. I probably wouldn't leave over $4 and certainly don't know that I would want an ad service but then again you could just make it like a traditional race and sell ad space on barricades and jerseys and such and would be maybe annoying a little but not totally obtrusive?
veganbikes is offline  
Likes For veganbikes:
Old 01-26-23, 10:59 PM
  #22  
base2 
I am potato.
 
base2's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: Pacific Northwest
Posts: 3,073

Bikes: Only precision built, custom high performance elitist machines of the highest caliber. 🍆

Mentioned: 28 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1764 Post(s)
Liked 1,578 Times in 910 Posts
Just cancelled mine.
Maybe I'm a cheapskate but the fitness freshness graph is the only feature of actual value to me...& I know how I feel on a particular day. ​​​

The pricing ker-fuffel is as a valid excuse as any to take action. ​Honestly, the last 2 years it's renewed automatically & I had forgot about it until the notification email that a renewal had happened. I've never bothered to fight it.

"Yay, fitness friend! You rode your bike to the bus stop or walked to the mailbox! Hooray! Kudos for you! Oooohhh, aaaaaaahhh." Pbbbbth.

It probably doesn't help that I'm a social media cave-man who thinks MySpace circa 2003-2005 was the high-water mark for the industry.

Last edited by base2; 01-26-23 at 11:06 PM.
base2 is offline  
Likes For base2:
Old 01-26-23, 11:29 PM
  #23  
mstateglfr 
Sunshine
 
mstateglfr's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: Des Moines, IA
Posts: 16,538

Bikes: '18 class built steel roadbike, '19 Fairlight Secan, '88 Schwinn Premis , Black Mountain Cycles Monstercross V4, '89 Novara Trionfo

Mentioned: 123 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 10902 Post(s)
Liked 7,391 Times in 4,148 Posts
Originally Posted by Black wallnut
Instead of picking nits try to articulate justification for the huge percent increase. Do electrons cost more? Have they had substantial increased costs associated with rewriting code? Price increases are a way of life. 50% increases are not.

I think Troul in probably right though. Many will look at this as such a small dollar value cost that the percent of increase will not matter to them. They sure as hell whine when eggs jump in price.... Said with due smugness from my Ranchette where I raise my own chickens for all they provide and pork.
it's been mentioned in the thread, but is worth repeating-

- Just buy the yearly subscription. The increase is much smaller and Sttava even said they want to osh people away from monthly.

- the price hasn't increased in years. Like years and years and years. At what point is a company allowed to increase prices?
mstateglfr is offline  
Likes For mstateglfr:
Old 01-26-23, 11:43 PM
  #24  
mschwett 
Senior Member
 
Join Date: May 2021
Location: San Francisco
Posts: 2,028

Bikes: addict, aethos, creo, vanmoof, sirrus, public ...

Mentioned: 2 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1272 Post(s)
Liked 1,382 Times in 707 Posts
Originally Posted by mstateglfr
- the price hasn't increased in years. Like years and years and years. At what point is a company allowed to increase prices?
never, because people on the internet in completely different lines of work know everything about strava’s business/costs/etc better than strava.

sure, they’ll lose some subscribers. more will stay, some will switch to annual, they’ll have a more consistent revenue stream. and most of the ones who don’t pay will probably still be on the platform contributing to the critical social mass, KOMs and etc.
mschwett is offline  
Old 01-26-23, 11:47 PM
  #25  
Eric F 
Habitual User
 
Eric F's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2020
Location: Altadena, CA
Posts: 7,800

Bikes: 2023 Niner RLT 9 RDO, 2018 Trek Procaliber 9.9 RSL, 2018 Storck Fascenario.3 Platinum, 2003 Time VX Special Pro, 2001 Colnago VIP, 1999 Trek 9900 singlespeed, 1977 Nishiki ONP

Mentioned: 5 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 4836 Post(s)
Liked 7,827 Times in 3,707 Posts
Originally Posted by Koyote
Looks like the annual subscription is increasing to $79.99 per year, which is $6.66 per month. Why would anyone be paying on a monthly basis?
Agreed. This is simple economics.

For me, the value of the app/network features is easily worth it to me. Hell, I can’t remember the last time I paid less than $7 for a weekday lunch.
__________________
"Swedish fish. They're protein shaped." - livedarklions
Eric F is online now  
Likes For Eric F:

Thread Tools
Search this Thread

Contact Us - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service -

Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Use of this site indicates your consent to the Terms of Use.