Before you upgrade to Strava Premium, it's worth asking one question: will you actually use the extra features?

For some people, the free version of Strava is more than enough. If you simply want to record activities, share runs or rides with friends, and join the occasional challenge, you may not need a subscription.

However, if you're training for a race, working towards a fitness goal, or enjoy analysing your workouts in more detail, Strava Premium unlocks a huge collection of tools designed to help you train smarter and stay motivated.

PS: if you’re just looking for a Strava discount : code CHLOE will give you 20% off your annual subscription.

What is Strava Premium?

Strava Premium (also called the Strava subscription) expands on the free version by adding advanced training analysis, route planning, goal tracking, safety features, AI-powered insights, and exclusive community tools.

Strava is used by over 150 million athletes across more than 190 countries, making it one of the world's largest fitness communities for runners, cyclists, walkers, hikers, swimmers, and many other sports.

Best Strava Premium Features

1. Set Goals and Track Your Progress

One of the biggest benefits of Premium is being able to set personalised goals.

You can create goals for:

Weekly distance
Monthly distance
Annual mileage
Time spent exercising
Elevation gain
Activity count
Segment goals (where supported)

Instead of simply logging workouts, Strava helps you work towards something measurable.

The Progress tab gives you an overview of your long-term training by tracking your Fitness score using heart rate, perceived exertion, and power data where available. It's an easy way to spot trends, monitor consistency, and celebrate milestones as your fitness improves.

If you're someone who enjoys ticking off goals and staying accountable, this feature alone can be surprisingly motivating.

2. Athlete Intelligence

One of Strava's newer Premium features is Athlete Intelligence.

It uses AI to analyse your activity data and provide personalised summaries and insights after your workouts.

Rather than digging through graphs and statistics yourself, Athlete Intelligence highlights useful information about your performance and helps you understand how your training is progressing over time.

It's designed to help you train smarter by making your workout data easier to interpret. I personally really enjoy reading what Strava AI has to say about my workouts, but always take this with a pinch of salt as the app doesn’t have full context.

3. Race Performance Predictions

If you're training for a race, Premium includes Performance Predictions for the 5k, 10k, half and full marathon. These predictions are based on your previous running activities and are designed to estimate your current race potential.

This can help you:

Set realistic race goals
Establish suitable training paces
Track improvements in running fitness over time

It's a useful feature if you're preparing for your next event and want objective estimates based on your training history.

Based on my experience, Strava has always predicted my race times very accurately, within a few seconds!

4. Advanced Training Analysis

This is where Strava Premium really separates itself from the free version.

Subscribers get access to a wide range of training metrics, including:

Relative Effort
Fitness & Freshness
Training Log
Matched Activities
Monthly cumulative statistics
Grade Adjusted Pace (GAP)
Custom heart rate zones
Workout analysis
Pace analysis
Power analysis (for compatible power meter users)
Best Efforts (mobile only)
Running and cycling training plans

These tools make it much easier to understand not only how much you're training, but also how effectively you're training.

For runners and cyclists following structured training plans, these analytics can be particularly valuable.

5. Better Route Planning

If you like exploring new places, route planning is one of Premium's strongest features.

You can:

Create your own routes
Generate suggested routes
Use personalised Community Routes based on real athlete activity
Download routes for offline use
Explore your Personal Heatmap
View Global Heatmaps
Use mapping layers to help plan your next adventure

Instead of guessing where to run or ride, Strava recommends routes based on where other athletes actually train.

Whether you're travelling somewhere new or simply want to find a quieter road or scenic trail close to home, these features make route discovery much easier.

As someone who moved to another country and travels a lot, it’s been incredibly useful to figure out where to run and hit the ground running as soon as I arrive somewhere new.

6. Segments and Leaderboards

Segments are one of Strava's most popular features, and Premium unlocks much more detailed analysis.

Subscribers can access:

Overall segment leaderboards
Filtered leaderboards
Detailed segment comparisons
Segment effort analysis
Live Segments on the mobile app and compatible devices

Filtered leaderboards let you compare performances across different time periods, clubs, followers, age groups, and weight categories.

If you're motivated by competition—or simply enjoy trying to beat your own personal bests—Premium provides much deeper insight into your performances.

7. Group Challenges

Training with friends can make staying consistent much easier.

Premium lets you create private Group Challenges where participants work towards a shared goal within a set timeframe.

Everyone can follow each other's progress, making it a fun way to stay accountable whether you're preparing for a race, completing a monthly mileage challenge, or simply encouraging one another.

8. Safety Features

Premium subscribers can use Strava Beacon on compatible devices, allowing trusted contacts to follow your live location during activities. Beacon is also available for free within the Strava mobile app.

Other activity features include:

Live performance data
Weather information displayed on activity pages

These additions make it easier to review your activities while also providing extra reassurance during solo workouts.

Is Strava Premium Worth It?

Whether Premium is worth paying for depends on how you use Strava.

The free version is probably enough if you:

Record occasional activities
Like sharing workouts socially
Don't need detailed training analysis

Premium is worth considering if you:

Train regularly
Are working towards race goals
Enjoy analysing your data
Want better route planning
Use segments frequently
Like setting goals and tracking progress
Want AI-powered workout insights
Prefer structured training tools

The more consistently you train, the more value you'll typically get from the subscription.

Is there a Strava Premium Discount Code?

If you've decided Premium is right for you, you can save 20% on an annual subscription with code CHLOE.

With the discount, the annual subscription is reduced from $79.99/year to $63.99/year, plus any applicable taxes. Sign up here.

Final Thoughts

Strava Premium isn't essential for everyone, but it adds a significant amount of value for runners, cyclists, and other athletes who want more than basic activity tracking.

Features like Athlete Intelligence, Performance Predictions, advanced training analysis, route planning, goal tracking, and detailed segment insights can help you better understand your training and stay motivated over the long term.

If you're already using Strava regularly and have been thinking about upgrading, it's a great opportunity to save with my discount.

Use code CHLOE to get 20% off your annual Strava Premium subscription right here.