Strava’s Year in Sport stats round-up is now only available to subscribers, some users with free plans expressing disappointment at no longer being able to access the feature. However, the fitness app insists its “core benefits” remain “as accessible as possible”.
The Strava Year in Sport stats round-up of a user’s activity from the past 12 months is along the lines of similar features offered by other apps, such as Spotify Wrapped. However, while many, like Spotify, give all users the round-up regardless of if they use the free version or pay for a subscription, Strava has put its Year in Sport behind a paywall as a paid feature.
2025 Strava Year in Sport (credit: Strava)
It is a move which has been met with disappointment and frustration from some users online.
“How pathetic does an app need to be to put their ‘Year In Review’ behind a paywall when EVERYONE ELSE does theirs for free as a thanks for using their app?” one upset Strava user wrote on Facebook.
“I think it’s fair to be annoyed when something that was previously free gets put behind a paywall,” another added. “I’m certainly not expecting everything to be free but it’s nice to keep some of the features for free users.”
As an explanation for the Year in Sport no longer being a free feature, Strava has suggested: “With the relaunch of our subscription this year, we wanted to clarify the core benefits of Strava — uploading activities, finding your community, sharing and giving kudos — remain as accessible as possible.
“The benefit of the subscription ensures that myriad activities get transformed into insights that can be tracked, assessed and benchmarked along a fitness journey. The added layer of insights and storytelling, including Year in Sport and monthly stat cards for example, are now unlocked via subscription.”
While some have been frustrated by the decision to require users to be subscribers to access the Year in Sport, some have made the point in the online debates discussing the update that it makes sense to prioritise improving the offering for subscribers.
Strava Premium annual subscription (credit: Strava)
“I’m quite surprised people are mad about this,” one person wrote on Reddit. “Everything can’t be free, then people can’t get paid. I use Strava most days, it’s pretty much ad-free, I feel like it’s worth the money.”
Another popular comment on that Reddit thread suggested the Year in Sport is “a low-effort summary” when compared with some other app’s round-ups and that “there’s never any interesting insights”.
It has been a busy year for Strava, the tech giant restoring users’ ability to include URL links in activities and posts. The move to restore URL-posting functionality came following a backlash over the decision to remove it, notably from those raising money for charity or who want to link to social media or other community resources.
In the second half of the year, the company’s CEO Michael Martin revealed the social fitness giant plans to go public to make “more and bigger acquisitions”. Strava also briefly took legal action against Garmin, alleging its rival had committed patent infringement over its use of segments and heatmaps, a lawsuit which was quickly dropped.