Indoor cycling is the latest fitness fad. So how do you know which indoor cycling app to use? Well, we have broken down the top 5 indoor cycling apps to help you make the right choice. The 5 most popular indoor cycling apps are:
Cycling is a great way to burn calories and raise your heart rate, but cycling can also be an extremely frustrating and difficult sport to get good at. Most gyms will have an assortment of bikes that you can use for biking, but having your own is a lot more convenient.
These bikes are designed for ease of use and to use at home, and with this in mind they can be used for a variety of purposes. The most common reasons for buying a home bike include:
If you are looking for the best indoor cycling apps, which app should you buy? There are a lot of apps out there, and while the best apps will change from time to time, here is a list of the best indoor cycling apps in 2024:
Yes, we’d all prefer to ride outdoors. However, if the weather, job, or the rest of your life prevent you from doing so, riding indoors may make you fitter and faster.
Indoor cycling has also become more realistic and effective than ever before thanks to smart trainers and training applications.
Here are four of our favorite indoor cycling applications, as well as some of the finest of the rest. We’ve also included a list of everything you’ll need to get started.
Is it better to race, train, or travel?
While most indoor cycling applications have the same goal in mind – to make indoor riding more fun and effective – they may be divided into a few categories based on what you want to get out of the experience, such as intervals, racing, and interactive tourism.
Some applications, like TrainerRoad, are pure training aids, with customized programs based on power output and a particular training objective in mind.
Others utilize on-bike video from across the globe, with your pedal force driving the beautiful view – and the route driving the resistance if you have a smart trainer.
Then there’s Zwift, where you can participate in interactive rides, training, and races on gamified virtual courses, all while tracking your power-to-weight output in real time.
Which is the best option is determined by your objectives. We found Zwift and TrainerRoad to be the obvious leaders after recording thousands of kilometers and attempting as many as we could, with Sufferfest is an event that takes place every year. providing a good combination of solid training and comedy.
The most effective indoor cycling apps
Although Zwift has become the go-to training software, there are lots of other options if you want to change up your indoor riding routine.
Another tool we use while utilizing the turbo trainer is TrainerRoad, which is excellent for organized exercises and training programs.
Meanwhile, the Sufferfest continues to introduce additional elements beyond sessions, such as sophisticated analytics that many performance-minded riders value, and RGT Cycling is a company that specializes on cycling. is one of the scene’s relative newcomers.
Zwift
Zwift has arguably done more to popularize virtual riding and racing than any other app. Zwift
Zwift has unquestionably changed the indoor riding experience, having been founded by gamers with a passion for cycling (and obviously some excellent financial support).
No, Zwift wasn’t the first to provide online competition based on rider output and physics-based algorithms. Bkool and Tour de Giro were among the first to do so. Years ago, Computrainer offered the smart trainer experience – but only as part of a closed system in which you had to purchase a Computrainer.
Zwift didn’t create power-based interval training, however. TrainerRoad took the lead right away.
However, Zwift has completely dominated the game’s social interaction and visual aspects.
You may choose from a library of exercises and training programs on Zwift, or you can design your own. Zwift
It’s simple to join a group for a leisurely spin or an all-out slugfest since group rides and races are nearly always going on. Of course, you may ride alone or use one of Zwift’s numerous organized training programs and routines.
If you want to fuel that competitive fire, Zwift’s racing component has taken off as well, with classified races to join depending on your power-to-weight ratio.
Zwift is constantly adding new gamified elements to increase interactivity, the most recent being the addition of steering to all courses within the game (provided you have the right equipment).
While riding through the app’s virtual worlds, which include the fictional Watopia and routes inspired by real-world courses like Prudential RideLondon, the 2015 UCI World Championships in Virginia, and the 2018 UCI Road World Championships course in Innsbruck-Tirol, you can also chat with friends and other cyclists.
Zwift also offers an Apple TV app, and you can use Bluetooth to connect your smart trainer or power meter.
- iOS, Android, Windows, macOS, and Apple TV are the platforms available.
- Monthly cost: £12.99 / $14.99
- 7-day free trial period
- ANT+ and Bluetooth compatibility
- Solo and sociable riding, virtual racing, training and planned exercises are the main elements.
- Zwift.com is the company’s website.
TrainerRoad
TrainerRoad is entirely dedicated to training. TrainerRoad
Riding a trainer aimlessly while looking at the wall is about as entertaining as a dentist’s waiting room with no WiFi. Furthermore, if you truly want to make the most of your time on the turbo, riding aimlessly isn’t accomplishing anything for your fitness.
Doing short, controlled intervals — and then resting – on the other hand, will make you fitter and quicker.
While some individuals (including the majority of the BikeRadar crew) have the mental toughness to lead themselves through workouts in their basements, the majority of people (including the majority of the BikeRadar staff) do not. But what if you had a coach or an app guiding you through the details and all you have to do is pedal? That is something we are capable of.
TrainerRoad is a simplified fitness application for your smartphone, tablet, or PC. You may drop in and perform exercises a la carte, subscribe to a training plan customized to your goal race, or it will import your workouts and keep you on track if you’re already hooked into a plan on TrainingPeaks or Today’s Plan.
The user interface is straightforward and easy to use: just follow the power (and occasionally cadence) goals for the time allotted. The bar graphs indicate what’s coming up, while the text explains why it’s coming up.
There’s no fluff here; simply fitness.
- iOS, Android, Windows, and Mac OS X
- Monthly fee: $19.95; annual fee: $189
- 30-day money-back guarantee during the free trial period
- ANT+ and Bluetooth compatibility
- Primary characteristics include: Interval exercise and training programs should be prioritized.
- Trainerroad.com is the company’s website.
The Sufferfest
Sufferfest is a workout that mixes organized interval training with racing footage. Sufferfest is an event that takes place every year.
The Sufferfest exists between between TrainerRoad’s straight-faced exercises and Zwift’s virtual-reality interaction.
Before there were apps, the brand began with pro-race videos.
The fundamental theory remains the same — intervals make you faster – but the implementation is more fun.
Attacks from races are spliced together with leisurely scenery imagery, while roaring motors and gunfire signal shifts in speed.
It’s all about monitoring and increasing power output over time, much like TrainerRoad and Zwift and a slew of other apps.
While the first two are based on FTP (Functional Threshold Power), The Sufferfest takes a somewhat different approach with its 4DP training.
The Sufferfest also provides downloadable training programs, mental training, and even some guided yoga and strength training sessions in addition to the videos.
- iOS, Windows, and macOS are the available platforms.
- Monthly cost: $14.99; yearly cost: $129
- 14-day free trial period
- ANT+ and Bluetooth compatibility
- Workouts and training programs are the main characteristics.
- TheSufferfest.com is the website for The Sufferfest.
RGT Cycling
Virtual recreations of famous real-life routes, such as the Passo dello Stelvio, are available from RGT Cycling. RGT Cycling is a company that specializes on cycling.
RGT Cycling (Road Grand Tours Cycling) is a rival to Zwift, except it provides virtual cycling on actual roads.
On virtual reconstructions of famous routes like Mont Ventoux, the Paterberg in Flanders, and the Passo dello Stelvio, you may conduct rides, organized training, group rides, and races.
Premium users can also submit their own GPX files, which the program will convert into a virtual route that you may ride in-game.
Read our full guide to RGT Cycling for more information.
- iOS, Android, Windows, macOS, and Apple TV are the platforms available.
- Cost: Free (premium features cost £9.99 / $6.99 / €8.99 per month).
- 14-day free trial period
- ANT+ and Bluetooth compatibility
- Virtual reconstructions of actual routes, training, and racing are the main elements.
- RGTCycling.com is the website for RGTCycling.
Apps for indoor cycling training
There are a slew of indoor training applications available, including a handful developed by companies to go along with smart trainers.
We’ve discovered that branded applications are often less polished and user-friendly, but there are a few outliers that have made the list below.
Rouvy
Rouvy provides augmented reality virtual cycling, in which your avatar bikes across footage of real-world routes. Rouvy
Rouvy combines virtual cycling with interval training.
The firm just introduced augmented reality cycling, which enables you to race your friends in a similar way to Zwift, except instead of a completely animated environment, the app overlays real-life video with avatars, road signs, and finish flags.
Read our Rouvy guide for additional information.
- iOS, Android, Windows, macOS, and Apple TV are the platforms available.
- Monthly cost: $12
- 14-day free trial period
- ANT+ and Bluetooth compatibility
- Video routes, augmented reality routes, and training are the main elements.
- Rouvy.com is a website that provides information on Rouvy.
Bkool
The virtual world of the Spanish trainer brand has hundreds of courses and has comparable social and racing elements to Zwift.
Outdoor courses with real-world video are also available, as well as the option of focused interval training.
- iOS, Android, Windows, and Mac OS X
- Monthly fee: €9.99
- 30 day free trial period
- ANT+ and Bluetooth compatibility
- Virtual racing, virtual routes and video routes, and training are the main elements.
- bkool.com is the company’s website.
Kinomap
Kinomap has added new functionality that changes the resistance on your smart trainer based on the terrain in the video. With over 200,000km of video courses from around the world, Kinomap has added new functionality that changes the resistance on your smart trainer based on the terrain in the video.
Interval training is also available on Kinomap, with two options based on power goals or set resistance.
- iOS and Android are the platforms used.
- Free / €9.99 per month / €79.99 per year / €229 for a lifetime subscription
- 14-day free trial period
- ANT+ and Bluetooth compatibility
- Video routes, training, and multisport functionality are the main features.
- Kinomap.com is a website that provides information about movies.
FulGaz
FulGaz utilizes point-of-view footage of famous rides from across the globe. Courtesy
FulGaz provides high-definition point-of-view films from across the globe, including anything from renowned peaks like the Tourmalet to popular group ride routes like Sydney’s Akuna Bay.
The software adjusts the video speed and difficulty on your smart trainer based on your weight and power output.
- iOS, Android, Windows, and Apple TV
- Monthly fee: £9.99 / yearly fee: £85.99
- 14-day free trial period
- ANT+ and Bluetooth compatibility
- Video routes and training are the main elements.
- fulgaz.com is the company’s website.
Fit Kinetic
Kinetic Fit mixes interval training (using colorful and blocky bar graphs) with video integration, making it a hybrid of many of the applications mentioned above.
This eliminates the need for a second screen or navigating away from the exercise to view pre-selected YouTube playlists or even movies downloaded to your smartphone while riding.
The free ‘core’ membership offers one initial training plan and a variety of exercises, while the premium ‘smart’ subscription adds 27 more training programs, video features, and third-party smart-trainer assistance.
- iOS, Android, Windows, and Mac OS X
- Cost: Free for the first month, then $5 each month
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- ANT+ and Bluetooth compatibility
- Training is the most important aspect.
- kinetic.fit is the name of the website.
Tacx Instruction
You may ride to footage of renowned real-life routes like Mont Ventoux with Tacx’s training software. Tacx
If you have a Tacx smart trainer, such as the Neo 2T or Flux S, you can download Tacx’s own training software, which includes videos of real-life roads like Mont Ventoux and the Paterberg, as well as training programs, customizable workouts, and the option to duplicate your own routes using GPS data.
Users may utilize the free service to design unique workouts, analyze training statistics, and watch two sample videos. To access the entire collection of videos, training programs, or to input your own GPS data, you’ll need to join up for a Premium or Premium HD membership.
Unfortunately, it’s only compatible with Tacx smart trainers, so you’ll have to search elsewhere if you don’t have one.
- iOS, Android, Windows, and Mac OS X
- Cost: Free / €9.99 monthly or €99.99 annually (Premium) / €13.99 monthly or €139.99 annually (Premium) / €13.99 monthly or €139.99 annually (Premium) / €13.99 monthly or €139.99 annually (Premium (Premium HD)
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- Only Tacx smart trainers are compatible with this device.
- Training and real-life videos are the main elements.
- Tacx.com is the company’s website.
What you’ll Need to Get Started with Indoor Training
You can get started with a few simple pieces of equipment, but if your budget allows it, there are several more items that can substantially enhance your indoor riding experience. Immediate Publication
We’ve broken down the finest Zwift setups for every price, and much of it applies to other indoor cycling applications as well, but the fundamental equipment needed to utilize indoor cycling apps is…
One of the following three gadgets:
- Smartphone
- Tablet
- Computer
One of the following three tools:
- a wise coach (best for realistic ride quality and automatic resistance control for intervals and road gradient, but pricey)
- a wattmeter (great for accurate data that transfers to outside workouts, no automatic resistance control unless paired with a smart trainer)
- With a speed/cadence sensor, it’s a classic trainer (affordable but virtual power is calculated so not as realistic, and no automatic resistance control)
This is one of the two wifi connections available:
And then there’s this:
- Your bicycle
- To keep you cool, there’s a huge fan!
To get the most out of the exercises in most of these apps, you’ll need to know your FTP (or Functional Threshold Power).
If you don’t know what your FTP is, don’t panic; the applications will all be able to assist you figure it out. Just keep in mind that finding out usually requires a 20-minute all-out effort or a ramp test, so don’t expect it to be easy.
As the world of indoor cycling continues to grow, so does the number of apps available. From apps to help you improve your form, work on your cadence, and check your heart rate, there are more than enough to pick from for any user.
Some of these apps are designed to be standalone training programs, while others are designed to integrate with other cycling-focused apps like Strava.. Read more about best indoor cycling apps 2024 and let us know what you think.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best indoor bike training app?
The best indoor bike training app is the one that you feel most comfortable with.
What is the best cycle training app?
Cycle training apps are designed to help you improve your cycling skills. They usually have a variety of different levels, and can be used for both indoor and outdoor riding.
Which cycling app is most accurate?
The most accurate cycling app is Strava.
