TrainerRoad: What It Costs, In-Depth Review, And Best Alternatives
May 21, 2025
TrainerRoad: What It Costs, In-Depth Review, And Best Alternatives
May 21, 2025
TrainerRoad: What It Costs, In-Depth Review, And Best Alternatives
May 21, 2025
An independent review of the TrainerRoad app. We look at pricing, annual and monthly subscription costs, features, and competitors worth considering.
Is TrainerRoad really as good as people say? In this review, we explore the ins and outs of the TrainerRoad app, including its training plans, workouts, and pricing options. We also break down its core features and compare it with other competitors.
By the end of this article, you should have a clear understanding of whether the TrainerRoad app is the right cycling training app for you or whether you should consider an alternative.
What is TrainerRoad?
TrainerRoad is a cycling and triathlon training app designed to improve an athlete’s fitness through structured, data-driven training plans. The platform utilizes artificial intelligence and a vast database of ride data to create adaptive training plans that cater to each user’s unique needs and goals. TrainerRoad has a web version and a mobile app.Overview of JOIN and TrainerRoad
How much does TrainerRoad cost?
TrainerRoad offers a monthly and year subscription model.
Monthly subscription
TrainerRoad's monthly subscription is priced at $21.99. This plan provides access to all of TrainerRoad's features, including structured training plans, performance analytics, and a comprehensive workout library.
Annual subscription
For a more cost-effective option, TrainerRoad offers a yearly subscription at $209.99, which equates to $17.45 per month. This plan offers the same extensive features as the monthly subscription but at a lower monthly rate.
TrainerRoad features
AI FTP detection
This feature automatically calculates your FTP based on historical ride data from various sources, eliminating the need for frequent testing.
Red Light Green Light
This feature monitors your training to help prevent long-term fatigue and unproductive workouts. Red Light Green Light tells you when you might be overdoing it with Red and Yellow days on your TrainerRoad Calendar.
Adaptive Training
This feature analyzes the details of your performance and adjusts your upcoming workouts to optimize your progress.
TrainNow
This feature selects the best option for a structured workout based on your recent training history, without being part of a plan. It’s there for that moment when you just want to do a workout, while still making sure it fits your training phase.
Progression Levels
This dynamic metric quantifies your fitness and training progress across seven power zones. As you train and your fitness subtly changes, your Progression Levels adjust to reflect those changes.
Does TrainerRoad have a free trial?
TrainerRoad offers its users a 30 days money-back guarantee. After selecting a monthly or annual subscription, users can try the app for 30 days and contact support if they want to terminate their subscription for free.
An independent review of the TrainerRoad app. We look at pricing, annual and monthly subscription costs, features, and competitors worth considering.
Is TrainerRoad really as good as people say? In this review, we explore the ins and outs of the TrainerRoad app, including its training plans, workouts, and pricing options. We also break down its core features and compare it with other competitors.
By the end of this article, you should have a clear understanding of whether the TrainerRoad app is the right cycling training app for you or whether you should consider an alternative.
What is TrainerRoad?
TrainerRoad is a cycling and triathlon training app designed to improve an athlete’s fitness through structured, data-driven training plans. The platform utilizes artificial intelligence and a vast database of ride data to create adaptive training plans that cater to each user’s unique needs and goals. TrainerRoad has a web version and a mobile app.Overview of JOIN and TrainerRoad
How much does TrainerRoad cost?
TrainerRoad offers a monthly and year subscription model.
Monthly subscription
TrainerRoad's monthly subscription is priced at $21.99. This plan provides access to all of TrainerRoad's features, including structured training plans, performance analytics, and a comprehensive workout library.
Annual subscription
For a more cost-effective option, TrainerRoad offers a yearly subscription at $209.99, which equates to $17.45 per month. This plan offers the same extensive features as the monthly subscription but at a lower monthly rate.
TrainerRoad features
AI FTP detection
This feature automatically calculates your FTP based on historical ride data from various sources, eliminating the need for frequent testing.
Red Light Green Light
This feature monitors your training to help prevent long-term fatigue and unproductive workouts. Red Light Green Light tells you when you might be overdoing it with Red and Yellow days on your TrainerRoad Calendar.
Adaptive Training
This feature analyzes the details of your performance and adjusts your upcoming workouts to optimize your progress.
TrainNow
This feature selects the best option for a structured workout based on your recent training history, without being part of a plan. It’s there for that moment when you just want to do a workout, while still making sure it fits your training phase.
Progression Levels
This dynamic metric quantifies your fitness and training progress across seven power zones. As you train and your fitness subtly changes, your Progression Levels adjust to reflect those changes.
Does TrainerRoad have a free trial?
TrainerRoad offers its users a 30 days money-back guarantee. After selecting a monthly or annual subscription, users can try the app for 30 days and contact support if they want to terminate their subscription for free.
An independent review of the TrainerRoad app. We look at pricing, annual and monthly subscription costs, features, and competitors worth considering.
Is TrainerRoad really as good as people say? In this review, we explore the ins and outs of the TrainerRoad app, including its training plans, workouts, and pricing options. We also break down its core features and compare it with other competitors.
By the end of this article, you should have a clear understanding of whether the TrainerRoad app is the right cycling training app for you or whether you should consider an alternative.
What is TrainerRoad?
TrainerRoad is a cycling and triathlon training app designed to improve an athlete’s fitness through structured, data-driven training plans. The platform utilizes artificial intelligence and a vast database of ride data to create adaptive training plans that cater to each user’s unique needs and goals. TrainerRoad has a web version and a mobile app.Overview of JOIN and TrainerRoad
How much does TrainerRoad cost?
TrainerRoad offers a monthly and year subscription model.
Monthly subscription
TrainerRoad's monthly subscription is priced at $21.99. This plan provides access to all of TrainerRoad's features, including structured training plans, performance analytics, and a comprehensive workout library.
Annual subscription
For a more cost-effective option, TrainerRoad offers a yearly subscription at $209.99, which equates to $17.45 per month. This plan offers the same extensive features as the monthly subscription but at a lower monthly rate.
TrainerRoad features
AI FTP detection
This feature automatically calculates your FTP based on historical ride data from various sources, eliminating the need for frequent testing.
Red Light Green Light
This feature monitors your training to help prevent long-term fatigue and unproductive workouts. Red Light Green Light tells you when you might be overdoing it with Red and Yellow days on your TrainerRoad Calendar.
Adaptive Training
This feature analyzes the details of your performance and adjusts your upcoming workouts to optimize your progress.
TrainNow
This feature selects the best option for a structured workout based on your recent training history, without being part of a plan. It’s there for that moment when you just want to do a workout, while still making sure it fits your training phase.
Progression Levels
This dynamic metric quantifies your fitness and training progress across seven power zones. As you train and your fitness subtly changes, your Progression Levels adjust to reflect those changes.
Does TrainerRoad have a free trial?
TrainerRoad offers its users a 30 days money-back guarantee. After selecting a monthly or annual subscription, users can try the app for 30 days and contact support if they want to terminate their subscription for free.
Unlock Your Cycling Potential Today
Join thousands of cyclists who have improved their performance with JOIN's training plans.
Unlock Your Cycling Potential Today
Join thousands of cyclists who have improved their performance with JOIN's training plans.
Unlock Your Cycling Potential Today
Join thousands of cyclists who have improved their performance with JOIN's training plans.
TrainerRoad training plans review
Set up
Setting up your training plan with the Plan Builder is quite easy. The entire process takes place outside the app. Either on your mobile browser or on desktop.
You are asked for a start date of the plan and any events you’re preparing for with priority and race type. You can choose your Training Approach, which controls the intensity and total workload of your plan.
TrainerRoad will then generate your schedule, as seen below.
Training approach
Going with an Aggressive Training approach resulted in 6 workouts per week with 3 intense days a total of 8:15 hours average and TSS of 451. For what TrainerRoad calls an Aggressive Training approach, I was surprised with the low amount of hours. I normally average around 10-12 hours a week.
Adaptability
You get a suggestion on how to schedule the different workouts throughout the week, but the suggested workouts won’t adapt to your own availability. For example, if I can ride 4 hours on a Sunday but only 1 hour on Saturday and the algorithm would be aware of this, the planning could be more efficient.
Duration for the workouts each day can be changed manually, but thats involves quite some guesswork from your side. Now your doing the coaches job, which should be left to your training app.
Plan phases
The plan has 3 phases: Base, Build, Speciality. Throughout the phases you’ll have Recovery weeks with a 3 week on - 1 week off pattern. This is a well-known and researched way of structuring the training, which works for most people.
Desktop vs mobile
Viewing your TrainerRoad training plan on desktop offers the better user experience, the mobile app does not manage to show all the complexities and features of TrainerRoad.
This complexity can be seen as a strong point for some, as TrainerRoad offers a lot in their package for experienced cycling amateurs. However, some might prefer improving their cycling ability with a simple and actionable experience.
Training plans
Next to the custom training plan, they offer standard plans for each phase, such as a General Base, Sustained Power Build and a Criterium Road Race Specialty. There really are lots of options here. While that’s nice it might be hard to find the plan you need if you don’t have any experience and do not use their Plan Builder.
You can choose Low-Mid-High volume and most plans have a duration of 8 weeks.
Name | Phase |
|---|---|
General Base | Base |
Traditional Base | Base |
Polarized Base | Base |
Sprint Triathlon Base | Base |
Olympic Triathlon Base | Base |
Half Distance Triathlon Base | Base |
Full Distance Triathlon Base | Base |
Short Power Build | Build |
General Build | Build |
Sustained Power Build | Build |
Sprint Triathlon Build | Build |
Olympic Triathlon Build | Build |
Half Distance Triathlon Build | Build |
Full Distance Triathlon Build | Build |
Polarized Build | Build |
Rolling Road Race | Speciality - Road |
Climbing Road Race | Speciality - Road |
Criterium | Speciality - Road |
40k TT | Speciality - Road |
Gran Fondo | Speciality - Road |
Short Track Cross-Country | Speciality - Off-Road |
Cross-Country Olympic | Speciality - Off-Road |
Cross-Country Marathon | Speciality - Off-Road |
Cyclocross | Speciality - Off-Road |
Gravity | Speciality - Off-Road |
Sprint Distance Triathlon | Speciality - Triathlete |
Olympic Distance Triathlon | Speciality - Triathlete |
Half Distance Triathlon | Speciality - Triathlete |
Full Distance Triathlon | Speciality - Triathlete |
Maintenance | Speciality - Enthusiast |
Time Crunch 30 | Speciality - Enthusiast |
Time Crunch 45 | Speciality - Enthusiast |
TrainerRoad training plans review
Set up
Setting up your training plan with the Plan Builder is quite easy. The entire process takes place outside the app. Either on your mobile browser or on desktop.
You are asked for a start date of the plan and any events you’re preparing for with priority and race type. You can choose your Training Approach, which controls the intensity and total workload of your plan.
TrainerRoad will then generate your schedule, as seen below.
Training approach
Going with an Aggressive Training approach resulted in 6 workouts per week with 3 intense days a total of 8:15 hours average and TSS of 451. For what TrainerRoad calls an Aggressive Training approach, I was surprised with the low amount of hours. I normally average around 10-12 hours a week.
Adaptability
You get a suggestion on how to schedule the different workouts throughout the week, but the suggested workouts won’t adapt to your own availability. For example, if I can ride 4 hours on a Sunday but only 1 hour on Saturday and the algorithm would be aware of this, the planning could be more efficient.
Duration for the workouts each day can be changed manually, but thats involves quite some guesswork from your side. Now your doing the coaches job, which should be left to your training app.
Plan phases
The plan has 3 phases: Base, Build, Speciality. Throughout the phases you’ll have Recovery weeks with a 3 week on - 1 week off pattern. This is a well-known and researched way of structuring the training, which works for most people.
Desktop vs mobile
Viewing your TrainerRoad training plan on desktop offers the better user experience, the mobile app does not manage to show all the complexities and features of TrainerRoad.
This complexity can be seen as a strong point for some, as TrainerRoad offers a lot in their package for experienced cycling amateurs. However, some might prefer improving their cycling ability with a simple and actionable experience.
Training plans
Next to the custom training plan, they offer standard plans for each phase, such as a General Base, Sustained Power Build and a Criterium Road Race Specialty. There really are lots of options here. While that’s nice it might be hard to find the plan you need if you don’t have any experience and do not use their Plan Builder.
You can choose Low-Mid-High volume and most plans have a duration of 8 weeks.
Name | Phase |
|---|---|
General Base | Base |
Traditional Base | Base |
Polarized Base | Base |
Sprint Triathlon Base | Base |
Olympic Triathlon Base | Base |
Half Distance Triathlon Base | Base |
Full Distance Triathlon Base | Base |
Short Power Build | Build |
General Build | Build |
Sustained Power Build | Build |
Sprint Triathlon Build | Build |
Olympic Triathlon Build | Build |
Half Distance Triathlon Build | Build |
Full Distance Triathlon Build | Build |
Polarized Build | Build |
Rolling Road Race | Speciality - Road |
Climbing Road Race | Speciality - Road |
Criterium | Speciality - Road |
40k TT | Speciality - Road |
Gran Fondo | Speciality - Road |
Short Track Cross-Country | Speciality - Off-Road |
Cross-Country Olympic | Speciality - Off-Road |
Cross-Country Marathon | Speciality - Off-Road |
Cyclocross | Speciality - Off-Road |
Gravity | Speciality - Off-Road |
Sprint Distance Triathlon | Speciality - Triathlete |
Olympic Distance Triathlon | Speciality - Triathlete |
Half Distance Triathlon | Speciality - Triathlete |
Full Distance Triathlon | Speciality - Triathlete |
Maintenance | Speciality - Enthusiast |
Time Crunch 30 | Speciality - Enthusiast |
Time Crunch 45 | Speciality - Enthusiast |
TrainerRoad training plans review
Set up
Setting up your training plan with the Plan Builder is quite easy. The entire process takes place outside the app. Either on your mobile browser or on desktop.
You are asked for a start date of the plan and any events you’re preparing for with priority and race type. You can choose your Training Approach, which controls the intensity and total workload of your plan.
TrainerRoad will then generate your schedule, as seen below.
Training approach
Going with an Aggressive Training approach resulted in 6 workouts per week with 3 intense days a total of 8:15 hours average and TSS of 451. For what TrainerRoad calls an Aggressive Training approach, I was surprised with the low amount of hours. I normally average around 10-12 hours a week.
Adaptability
You get a suggestion on how to schedule the different workouts throughout the week, but the suggested workouts won’t adapt to your own availability. For example, if I can ride 4 hours on a Sunday but only 1 hour on Saturday and the algorithm would be aware of this, the planning could be more efficient.
Duration for the workouts each day can be changed manually, but thats involves quite some guesswork from your side. Now your doing the coaches job, which should be left to your training app.
Plan phases
The plan has 3 phases: Base, Build, Speciality. Throughout the phases you’ll have Recovery weeks with a 3 week on - 1 week off pattern. This is a well-known and researched way of structuring the training, which works for most people.
Desktop vs mobile
Viewing your TrainerRoad training plan on desktop offers the better user experience, the mobile app does not manage to show all the complexities and features of TrainerRoad.
This complexity can be seen as a strong point for some, as TrainerRoad offers a lot in their package for experienced cycling amateurs. However, some might prefer improving their cycling ability with a simple and actionable experience.
Training plans
Next to the custom training plan, they offer standard plans for each phase, such as a General Base, Sustained Power Build and a Criterium Road Race Specialty. There really are lots of options here. While that’s nice it might be hard to find the plan you need if you don’t have any experience and do not use their Plan Builder.
You can choose Low-Mid-High volume and most plans have a duration of 8 weeks.
Name | Phase |
|---|---|
General Base | Base |
Traditional Base | Base |
Polarized Base | Base |
Sprint Triathlon Base | Base |
Olympic Triathlon Base | Base |
Half Distance Triathlon Base | Base |
Full Distance Triathlon Base | Base |
Short Power Build | Build |
General Build | Build |
Sustained Power Build | Build |
Sprint Triathlon Build | Build |
Olympic Triathlon Build | Build |
Half Distance Triathlon Build | Build |
Full Distance Triathlon Build | Build |
Polarized Build | Build |
Rolling Road Race | Speciality - Road |
Climbing Road Race | Speciality - Road |
Criterium | Speciality - Road |
40k TT | Speciality - Road |
Gran Fondo | Speciality - Road |
Short Track Cross-Country | Speciality - Off-Road |
Cross-Country Olympic | Speciality - Off-Road |
Cross-Country Marathon | Speciality - Off-Road |
Cyclocross | Speciality - Off-Road |
Gravity | Speciality - Off-Road |
Sprint Distance Triathlon | Speciality - Triathlete |
Olympic Distance Triathlon | Speciality - Triathlete |
Half Distance Triathlon | Speciality - Triathlete |
Full Distance Triathlon | Speciality - Triathlete |
Maintenance | Speciality - Enthusiast |
Time Crunch 30 | Speciality - Enthusiast |
Time Crunch 45 | Speciality - Enthusiast |
Unlock Your Cycling Potential Today
Join thousands of cyclists who have improved their performance with JOIN's training plans.
Unlock Your Cycling Potential Today
Join thousands of cyclists who have improved their performance with JOIN's training plans.
Unlock Your Cycling Potential Today
Join thousands of cyclists who have improved their performance with JOIN's training plans.
TrainerRoad workouts review
With over 4500 workouts, TrainerRoad has a great variety in workouts. However, take this with a grain of salt. They use workout variants indicated by their naming convention such as Slide Mountain -2 or -1. The bigger the number after the ‘-’, the less intense the workout variant.
Workouts are focused around the usual training zones like Active Recovery, Endurance or VO2max. The workout is displayed in all blue, which makes it hard to judge the zones at a glance.
For each workout, TrainerRoad shows the workout level, a 1-10 rating of a workout’s relative difficulty within its training zone. For example, Tempo 1.0.
The workouts are easy to follow in ERG mode on your indoor trainer, but you can also do the workout outside.
They also indicate how difficult the workout will be for you based on your current fitness. For example, a workout can be Achievable, but if your looking for more of a challenge you can try Productive, Stretch or even Breakthrough.
When you browse through the workout list, you can come across some really intense workouts with lots of varying intervals. Like the one displayed below. I haven’t seen them be part of my plan, and that makes sense because I don’t see the point in doing them. They are unrealistic to perform and probably won’t help you improve in the long term.
Pros and cons summarized
Pros
Lots of training plans available, additional to the Plan Builder
Enough workouts to keep variety
Scientific background with lots of resources on their website
Cons
Not as adaptable as I’d hoped
Quite complex with lots of features
Mobile version is not enough to get the most out of TrainerRoad
Expensive at 21.99$ a month
How does TrainerRoad compare to JOIN?
TrainerRoad is one of the best known training plan applications out there. They provide training plans to cyclists and triathletes in much detail.
Ease of use
To experience all of TrainerRoad’s complexities and details, you really need their web version. The mobile app is just not capable of showing you everything, which is unfortunate.
JOIN aims to offer a training plan solution that remains easy to understand and accessible for everyone, easily from your phone. The app is visually pleasing and concise, especially designed to help you focus on the most important aspects of training.
An example is how JOIN displays your workout. JOIN uses colors coded to your zones, which helps you differentiate between workouts better instantly. As you can see in the comparison below, JOIN shows tempo zones as green while this differentiation does not happen in TrainerRoad.
Workouts
The simplicity and effectiveness is also reflected in the workouts in JOIN. TrainerRoad has some workouts with lots of intervals with varying intensities. Sometimes its questionable whether that actually helps you improve. The workouts in JOIN are easy to understand and to the point, helping you improve in a simple yet effective way.
Adaptability
TrainerRoad’s adaptability is different compared to JOIN. In TrainerRoad the duration for the workouts in your schedule can be changed manually, but this is not based on your availability. So this involves quite some guesswork from your side. In JOIN, you set your weekly availability (see image below) and it will remove this guesswork and suggest you the best type of workout for your availability.
For example, if you have less time than planned on a day, you might get an intenser workout or no workout at all because JOIN notices you have more time further in the week.
Goal setting
Lastly, if you want to train for a specific event like a gran fondo or multi-day stage race, you have training plans for that in TrainerRoad. However, JOIN offers almost every event out there with a training plan specifically designed for the event.
Even if you decide to do the bambino fondo or the gravel version instead of the main gran fondo event, we’ve got you covered. Can’t find your event? Just input some details like distance and elevation, and you’ll get a training plan tailored to your custom event.
Free trial
JOIN is free to try. Take advantage of the free trial to generate a custom training plan tailored to your goals and test out JOIN’s superior adaptability. You’ll be joining the thousands of cyclists already training with JOIN (and rating the app 4.7/5).
Want to test it for your self? Try JOIN for free
TrainerRoad workouts review
With over 4500 workouts, TrainerRoad has a great variety in workouts. However, take this with a grain of salt. They use workout variants indicated by their naming convention such as Slide Mountain -2 or -1. The bigger the number after the ‘-’, the less intense the workout variant.
Workouts are focused around the usual training zones like Active Recovery, Endurance or VO2max. The workout is displayed in all blue, which makes it hard to judge the zones at a glance.
For each workout, TrainerRoad shows the workout level, a 1-10 rating of a workout’s relative difficulty within its training zone. For example, Tempo 1.0.
The workouts are easy to follow in ERG mode on your indoor trainer, but you can also do the workout outside.
They also indicate how difficult the workout will be for you based on your current fitness. For example, a workout can be Achievable, but if your looking for more of a challenge you can try Productive, Stretch or even Breakthrough.
When you browse through the workout list, you can come across some really intense workouts with lots of varying intervals. Like the one displayed below. I haven’t seen them be part of my plan, and that makes sense because I don’t see the point in doing them. They are unrealistic to perform and probably won’t help you improve in the long term.
Pros and cons summarized
Pros
Lots of training plans available, additional to the Plan Builder
Enough workouts to keep variety
Scientific background with lots of resources on their website
Cons
Not as adaptable as I’d hoped
Quite complex with lots of features
Mobile version is not enough to get the most out of TrainerRoad
Expensive at 21.99$ a month
How does TrainerRoad compare to JOIN?
TrainerRoad is one of the best known training plan applications out there. They provide training plans to cyclists and triathletes in much detail.
Ease of use
To experience all of TrainerRoad’s complexities and details, you really need their web version. The mobile app is just not capable of showing you everything, which is unfortunate.
JOIN aims to offer a training plan solution that remains easy to understand and accessible for everyone, easily from your phone. The app is visually pleasing and concise, especially designed to help you focus on the most important aspects of training.
An example is how JOIN displays your workout. JOIN uses colors coded to your zones, which helps you differentiate between workouts better instantly. As you can see in the comparison below, JOIN shows tempo zones as green while this differentiation does not happen in TrainerRoad.
Workouts
The simplicity and effectiveness is also reflected in the workouts in JOIN. TrainerRoad has some workouts with lots of intervals with varying intensities. Sometimes its questionable whether that actually helps you improve. The workouts in JOIN are easy to understand and to the point, helping you improve in a simple yet effective way.
Adaptability
TrainerRoad’s adaptability is different compared to JOIN. In TrainerRoad the duration for the workouts in your schedule can be changed manually, but this is not based on your availability. So this involves quite some guesswork from your side. In JOIN, you set your weekly availability (see image below) and it will remove this guesswork and suggest you the best type of workout for your availability.
For example, if you have less time than planned on a day, you might get an intenser workout or no workout at all because JOIN notices you have more time further in the week.
Goal setting
Lastly, if you want to train for a specific event like a gran fondo or multi-day stage race, you have training plans for that in TrainerRoad. However, JOIN offers almost every event out there with a training plan specifically designed for the event.
Even if you decide to do the bambino fondo or the gravel version instead of the main gran fondo event, we’ve got you covered. Can’t find your event? Just input some details like distance and elevation, and you’ll get a training plan tailored to your custom event.
Free trial
JOIN is free to try. Take advantage of the free trial to generate a custom training plan tailored to your goals and test out JOIN’s superior adaptability. You’ll be joining the thousands of cyclists already training with JOIN (and rating the app 4.7/5).
Want to test it for your self? Try JOIN for free
TrainerRoad workouts review
With over 4500 workouts, TrainerRoad has a great variety in workouts. However, take this with a grain of salt. They use workout variants indicated by their naming convention such as Slide Mountain -2 or -1. The bigger the number after the ‘-’, the less intense the workout variant.
Workouts are focused around the usual training zones like Active Recovery, Endurance or VO2max. The workout is displayed in all blue, which makes it hard to judge the zones at a glance.
For each workout, TrainerRoad shows the workout level, a 1-10 rating of a workout’s relative difficulty within its training zone. For example, Tempo 1.0.
The workouts are easy to follow in ERG mode on your indoor trainer, but you can also do the workout outside.
They also indicate how difficult the workout will be for you based on your current fitness. For example, a workout can be Achievable, but if your looking for more of a challenge you can try Productive, Stretch or even Breakthrough.
When you browse through the workout list, you can come across some really intense workouts with lots of varying intervals. Like the one displayed below. I haven’t seen them be part of my plan, and that makes sense because I don’t see the point in doing them. They are unrealistic to perform and probably won’t help you improve in the long term.
Pros and cons summarized
Pros
Lots of training plans available, additional to the Plan Builder
Enough workouts to keep variety
Scientific background with lots of resources on their website
Cons
Not as adaptable as I’d hoped
Quite complex with lots of features
Mobile version is not enough to get the most out of TrainerRoad
Expensive at 21.99$ a month
How does TrainerRoad compare to JOIN?
TrainerRoad is one of the best known training plan applications out there. They provide training plans to cyclists and triathletes in much detail.
Ease of use
To experience all of TrainerRoad’s complexities and details, you really need their web version. The mobile app is just not capable of showing you everything, which is unfortunate.
JOIN aims to offer a training plan solution that remains easy to understand and accessible for everyone, easily from your phone. The app is visually pleasing and concise, especially designed to help you focus on the most important aspects of training.
An example is how JOIN displays your workout. JOIN uses colors coded to your zones, which helps you differentiate between workouts better instantly. As you can see in the comparison below, JOIN shows tempo zones as green while this differentiation does not happen in TrainerRoad.
Workouts
The simplicity and effectiveness is also reflected in the workouts in JOIN. TrainerRoad has some workouts with lots of intervals with varying intensities. Sometimes its questionable whether that actually helps you improve. The workouts in JOIN are easy to understand and to the point, helping you improve in a simple yet effective way.
Adaptability
TrainerRoad’s adaptability is different compared to JOIN. In TrainerRoad the duration for the workouts in your schedule can be changed manually, but this is not based on your availability. So this involves quite some guesswork from your side. In JOIN, you set your weekly availability (see image below) and it will remove this guesswork and suggest you the best type of workout for your availability.
For example, if you have less time than planned on a day, you might get an intenser workout or no workout at all because JOIN notices you have more time further in the week.
Goal setting
Lastly, if you want to train for a specific event like a gran fondo or multi-day stage race, you have training plans for that in TrainerRoad. However, JOIN offers almost every event out there with a training plan specifically designed for the event.
Even if you decide to do the bambino fondo or the gravel version instead of the main gran fondo event, we’ve got you covered. Can’t find your event? Just input some details like distance and elevation, and you’ll get a training plan tailored to your custom event.
Free trial
JOIN is free to try. Take advantage of the free trial to generate a custom training plan tailored to your goals and test out JOIN’s superior adaptability. You’ll be joining the thousands of cyclists already training with JOIN (and rating the app 4.7/5).
Want to test it for your self? Try JOIN for free
Training
Improve Your Cycling Performance
Discover valuable training tips to enhance your cycling performance.
Training
Improve Your Cycling Performance
Discover valuable training tips to enhance your cycling performance.
Training
Improve Your Cycling Performance
Discover valuable training tips to enhance your cycling performance.
