Garmin Introduces AI-Powered Connect Plus Subscription Service

Garmin Embraces AI Fitness Trend With Paid Connect Plus Service

Samantha Kelly is a freelance writer with a focus on consumer technology, AI, social media, Big Tech, emerging trends and how they impact our everyday lives. Her work has been featured on CNN, NBC, NPR, the BBC, Mashable and more. Garmin is jumping into the subscription game with a new AI-powered service designed to deliver smarter, more personalized insights to people who own its devices. The new service, called Garmin Connect Plus, is designed to give you more tailored, actionable insights using AI - plus extras like expert training tips and expanded LiveTrack features. Existing features and data in its Garmin Connect app will remain free, the company said in a press release. Throughout the day, users will gain access to insights and suggestions based on their health and activity data, along with customizable graphs and charts spanning various time periods to give a broader view of progress. The company claims these insights will become increasingly personalized over time. Meanwhile, the Live Activity feature - which lets users see real-time heart rate and pace data - will be shareable with family and friends once an activity is started. The service also promises more educational content and videos from trainers and social media, as well as new ways to earn exclusive badges for completing challenges. Garmin's latest effort is part of a larger trend in the tech space to integrate AI for more tailored user experiences. Wearable tech companies like Whoop, Strava and Oura already use AI to provide tailored training, summaries for user activities -- or in the Oura Ring's case, an AI chatbot, which helps users interpret collected data. Samsung and Google have similarly experimented with AI-driven insights. Garmin Connect Plus will cost $7 monthly (or $70 annually), with a 30-day free trial available.

AI-powered insights come to Garmin - for a price

In addition to the essential LED flashlight, the other major reason I always have a Garmin watch on one wrist is the comprehensive ecosystem powered by Garmin Connect. Garmin Connect, both via its smartphone app and website, will continue to provide a free, personalized experience. However, Garmin is launching another option for people who want more from their devices. Also: This Garmin watch won my heart with flagship features at an affordable price point Garmin Connect Plus is an optional subscription service for $6.99 monthly or $69.99 annually. There's a free 30-day trial to test the service and see if it satisfies your needs. Active Intelligence, powered by AI, is designed to give you insights personalized to your daily health and activity data collected by various Garmin devices. The more you use the service, the more it will be tailored to you and your goals. In addition to Active Intelligence, Garmin Connect Plus includes a new performance dashboard with customizable graphs and charts, live activity functionality where you can view indoor activity data from your watch streamed to your smartphone, additional coaching guidance when following a Garmin Run or Cycling Coach program, and enhanced social features that include exclusive Connect Plus badge challenges. Since I use Garmin watches daily, I will try Connect Plus with the free 30-day trial. The monthly fee is the same as one Starbucks latte a month, so I may continue paying for the service. However, Garmin must convince me that even a reasonable monthly fee is worth it. I rarely participate in challenges, so the enhanced social aspects are not a factor in my decision. I recently picked up a Wahoo bike trainer so I will test the indoor live activity for this workout. I also use my Hydrow for rowing and other indoor workouts and will check Garmin's capability for body weight and other exercises. I have also had success with Garmin training plans for half marathons and look forward to evaluating the additional coaching guidance included with Garmin Connect Plus. Also: This Garmin beat my Apple Watch Ultra in almost every way (and it's just as rugged) One reason I like the Garmin Connect website is the ability to dive into all the data collected by the watches, especially for tracking performance trends. The enhanced dashboards will be one of the first things I test as I find this type of data motivating and useful for inspiring me to continue with activities.

Garmin Connect Plus brings AI to your wrist, but it's not free

The main reason I always have a Garmin watch on my wrist is due to the comprehensive ecosystem powered by Garmin Connect. This service will continue to provide a free, personalized experience, via its phone app and website, but Garmin is now launching another option, called Garmin Connect Plus, for those who want more from their devices. Also: This Garmin watch won my heart with flagship features at an affordable price point Garmin Connect Plus is an optional subscription service for $6.99 monthly or $69.99 annually. There's a free 30-day trial to test the service. It has Active Intelligence, powered by AI, which is designed to give you insights personalized to your daily health and activity data collected by various Garmin devices. The more you use it, the more it will be tailored to you and your goals. Garmin Connect Plus also includes a new performance dashboard with customizable graphs and charts, live activity functionality where you can view indoor activity data from your watch streamed to your smartphone, additional coaching guidance when following a Garmin Run or Cycling Coach program, and enhanced social features that include exclusive Connect Plus badge challenges. Since I use Garmin watches daily, I will try Connect Plus with the free 30-day trial. The monthly fee is the same as one Starbucks latte a month, so I may continue paying for the service. However, Garmin must convince me that even a reasonable monthly fee is worth it. I rarely participate in challenges, so the enhanced social aspects are not a factor in my decision. I recently picked up a Wahoo bike trainer, so I will test the indoor live activity for this workout. I also use my Hydrow for rowing and other indoor workouts and will check Garmin's capability for body weight and other exercises. I have also had success with Garmin training plans for half marathons and look forward to evaluating the coaching guidance included with Garmin Connect Plus. Also: This Garmin beat my Apple Watch Ultra in almost every way (and it's just as rugged) One reason I like the Garmin Connect website is the ability to dive into all the data collected by the watches, especially for tracking performance trends. The new dashboards will be one of the first things I test as I find this type of data motivating and useful for inspiring me to continue with activities.

Garmin adds AI and a subscription tier to its app

Victoria Song is a senior reporter focusing on wearables, health tech, and more with 13 years of experience. Before coming to The Verge, she worked for Gizmodo and PC Magazine. It was only a matter of time. Garmin announced today it's launching Garmin Connect Plus, a premium tier to its app that adds AI-powered insights and a few other expanded features. Existing and new Garmin users will be able to opt in to a free 30-day trial and then choose between a $6.99 monthly or $69.99 annual subscription. All existing health data and features, however, will remain free. "Developing a premium tier enables us to extend our investment in the Garmin Connect platform, both in terms of features that carry additional cost to provide and also in scaling out our engineering teams to build and maintain these features," says Garmin spokesperson Natalie Miller. AI is the big addition to Connect Plus. The feature, dubbed Active Intelligence, will roll out as a beta and purportedly delivers "personalized insights and suggestions" based on your health and activity data. Over time, the insights and goals are supposed to become more personalized to the individual user. That's about all the information Garmin has provided thus far about the AI-powered side of things, but it's on trend for fitness apps and wearable makers lately. Whoop was first to add an AI training coach in late 2023, while Strava also rolled out AI summaries for activities last year. Among bigger tech companies, Samsung added AI-powered insights while Google added AI-generated running workouts to its smartwatches last year. Oura also has added an AI wellness chatbot to its popular smart ring, as have several smaller wearable makers in the past two years. Garmin and Apple have thus far been the two major holdouts for wearable AI features, and with today's announcement, that leaves just Apple. Connect Plus also adds a new performance dashboard that lets users compare custom charts and graphs over a period of time to visualize progress. Subscribers will also be able to view live activity metrics on a smartphone for workouts that were started on a watch. LiveTrack will also be expanded so you can notify selected contacts when an activity starts and a personalized profile page for followers. People using Garmin Coach plans for running and cycling will also receive additional guidance from Garmin coaches. Lastly, there will be exclusive badges and frames for user's app profiles. Whether this is enough value to tempt loyal Garmin users is another question -- especially since Garmin has been vocal in the past about not paywalling features. Back in 2022, I asked Phil McClendon, Garmin's project lead for the Venu 2 Plus, about the company's philosophy regarding subscriptions. At the time, McClendon told The Verge, "We're not charging you the ability to access your data, and that's something we will continue to do and that we feel very strongly about." McClendon is no longer at Garmin, and technically this is still true since all existing features and data will remain free. However, in the years since that conversation, Garmin has occasionally softened its messaging regarding paywalls. At a 2023 press briefing for the Venu 3, Garmin leadership noted that the company had robust subscriptions outside its fitness tracker business but declined to say that there would never be a subscription. Among fans, the lack of a subscription (outside of mapping features or LTE connectivity) has always been touted as a plus. Especially since Garmin watches are, on average, more expensive than the competition. It's hard to say how fans will react given that so much will remain free, but generally speaking, introducing subscriptions is a dicey proposition. Oura, for instance, experienced massive backlash when it introduced a subscription with its Gen 3 ring. Either way, Garmin has faced increased competition these past years. Both Apple and Samsung launched rugged outdoors smartwatches of their own, while Coros has emerged as another popular brand among athletes with long battery life and advanced GPS. At the same time, Garmin's wearables division isn't exactly suffering. It recently surpassed expectations for its Q4 earnings, reporting a large 31 percent increase in fitness tracker sales and its stock hitting record highs.

Garmin's New Paid Tier Is Filled With AI, but Actually Seems Useful

Garmin Connect+ offers a host of AI-powered services and stats, and they're cheaper to access than some of the competition. If there's anything we've been learning these last couple of months, all good things must end. Fortunately, Garmin isn't putting an end to its free tier, but it is introducing a premium plan called Garmin Connect+. The perks will sound familiar if you subscribe to apps like Strava. And because its 2025, the paid features added to Garmin Connect+ all have something to do with AI. For $7/month or $70/year, Garmin Connect+ will unlock personalized "Active Intelligence insights," which seems to be Garmin's attempt at a moniker for AI offerings. These features include suggestions based on your health and activity data history, a performance dashboard to compare your progress, and training guidance for runners and cyclists. The subscription also includes bonus LiveTrack notifications so that trusted family and friends know you've started a run, plus some unique social features, including special badges for completing activity challenges. The company clarifies in its press release that this is about growing its platform. Garmin is competing with other fitness and training apps, like Strava, which offers many of the same features for nearly double the price of Garmin's offering. And while longtime Garmin users may be disappointed to hear the brand embracing a trend we're all barreling toward, at least this one offers useful features. AI can be a hard sell right now because of general consumer reluctance, but it's not as gimmicky as it may sound in the fitness world. I use Strava's AI summaries and find them informative and encouraging, as the bot always positively spins the fact that I did any activity at all. But Strava costs me $12/month, which is a ton for someone who isn't hiking more than four miles a week. Garmin's cheaper subscription price is already making me consider jumping ship to save on the cash. Garmin users can sign up for a 30-day trial to try out the features before opting in. Or, if you're already in the Garmin ecosystem, you can ignore it all and stick with the free health data and abilities already offered, including performance metrics and buildable courses for rides and runs.

Garmin Connect just got a lot more powerful, but only if you're willing to pay

Last chance to score Samsung's best smartwatch for cheap as it drops down to just $130 Summary Garmin introduces Connect+ premium plan with AI-powered features and advanced dashboards. Active Intelligence gives daily insights and training advice based on your fitness data. Existing Garmin Connect features remain free; Connect+ costs $6.99/month with a trial. Garmin makes some of the best smartwatches on the market, especially if you're focused on fitness tracking. Unlike other fitness-focused brands (looking at you, Oura), Garmin doesn't charge a subscription to use its devices. But that's (sort of) changing now. Garmin has announced a new Connect+ premium plan that introduces AI-powered features, advanced dashboards, and more, to its existing Connect app. Related Why do Garmin smartwatch batteries last so much longer than Wear OS-based ones? The battery life on a Wear OS watch can't compare Posts 5 The Garmin Connect app already offers a ton of features and data for fitness enthusiasts, but the company is taking things to the next level with the new Connect+ subscription. The highlight here is Active Intelligence, Garmin's new AI feature that offers personalized insights based on your health and activity data. You'll receive daily recovery summaries based on your sleep, along with personalized advice on whether to push harder or take it easy. Then, throughout the day, you'll get dynamic guidance on recovery, training, and movement -- tailored to your goals and updated as the day progresses. Existing Connect app features will remain free to use Source: Garmin In addition to AI-driven coaching, Connect+ adds a more powerful Performance Dashboard, which visualizes your fitness data through detailed charts and graphs. It also includes features like LiveTrack, which notifies selected friends and family when you start an activity, and Live Activity, which lets you view real-time heart rate, pace data, reps, and workout videos when you start an indoor workout using a compatible smartwatch and phone. It's worth noting that none of the existing Garmin Connect features are being removed. Garmin confirmed in its press release that all current tools will remain free. Connect+ is simply an added offering for power users who want even more from their devices. The Connect+ subscription costs $6.99 per month or $69.99 per year, and Garmin is offering a 30-day free trial for those who want to test it out before committing.

Garmin jumped on the AI subscription bandwagon and users are rightly angry

Summary Garmin's new paid subscription model, Connect+, has received user backlash. Garmin users are not willing to pay a monthly fee after spending so much on Garmin smartwatches. Many users are delaying upgrading their Garmin watches in response to the new paid subscription. Garmin recently introduced a new paid tier for its Garmin Connect app, offering more detailed and personalized AI-powered insights based on your health and activity data. However, less than 24 hours after its debut, the move has sparked backlash, with many users expressing frustration over the brand's shift to a subscription-based model under the guise of AI. Related Why do Garmin smartwatch batteries last so much longer than Wear OS-based ones? The battery life on a Wear OS watch can't compare Posts 5 The Garmin subreddit is buzzing with frustration as users express their anger over the company's shift to a paid subscription model. After spending hundreds of dollars on Garmin's premium watches, many are upset about being asked to pay an additional $7 per month for more in-depth "AI" health analysis. One Reddit thread, with over 6.5k upvotes and 370+ comments, is packed with criticism from unhappy customers who feel let down by Garmin's latest move. "I wouldn't object if Garmin introduced an affordable subscription model that provided all major software updates (including the operating system) for all of their watches in the future -- not just limited updates for premium models or select features for a few years. Many of their newer watches likely have hardware capable of supporting such updates. However, this is clearly not the direction Garmin is taking. Instead, software updates will continue to be used as a tool to push new hardware releases. What we're seeing now is an attempt to extract even more money from customers, testing how far they can go with this strategy. Ultimately, we'll end up with the worst of both worlds -- having to buy new hardware just to qualify for subscriptions that unlock features we should already have, alongside a few cosmetic app updates as a consolation," says the original poster. Unlike Fitbits and other smartwatches, Garmin watches typically cost $800 or more, with higher-end models exceeding $1,500. That's already a steep price, especially considering the features they offer. So, Garmin now asking for an extra $7 monthly (or $70 yearly) for more detailed health insights from its users feels like a slap in their face. In comparison, Fitbit can get away with its paid subscription model because its wearables are available for as little as $100. Many users have decided to hold off on upgrading their Garmin watches later this year, thanks to the new paid subscription model. Garmin should pay heed to user feedback about Connect+ Close Before all the backlash, a Garmin spokesperson provided the following statement to TechRadar: "The Garmin Connect app is a free, personalized experience, and that's not going away." The company statement is accurate, as the introduction of Connect+ does not affect any existing health features available in Connect. But it does not justify its existence, especially after users spend hundreds of dollars on Garmin's expensive watches. The paid tier gives users access to features like LiveTrack, Performance Dashboard, which visualizes their fitness data through charts and graphs, and Live Activity. Garmin is also offering a 30-day trial so that users can determine if Connect+ is worth spending money on. You might assume this outrage from Garmin users is temporary and that they'll eventually overlook the paid Connect+ subscription. But if last year's Sonos app fiasco is anything to go by, it's that user frustration can snowball into something big, potentially spiraling into a major issue that could do major damage to the company's reputation.

Garmin launches 'Garmin Connect+' paid plan with AI insights

Built on more advanced insights into what the user's health data actually means, Garmin's new Garmin Connect+ plan will use AI to develop personal insights and training guidance. Garmin wearables have long offered insights into health and fitness when data is collected. That's the norm, as most wearables come with an app that tells you what it's reading, and some apps like Samsung Health with the Galaxy Watch are free to use with even advanced features. Oura, on the other hand, has infamously locked data behind a paid monthly service been if you buy the ring, even if that data is robust. Today, Garmin Connect+ was announced as an additional paid plan users could sign up for in addition to the free basic package. The paid plan will give personalized insights powered by AI, training guidance, and expanded LiveTrack features. In essence, more advanced and robust features will need to be paid for. Garmin goes into detail about each feature, and it boils down to more detailed insights into how your body is reacting to daily life and how much energy you're using. Garmin also plans on offering activity tracking for workouts in the same way other smartwatches track activity. This is expanded on with instruction workout videos. The LiveTrack functionality is neat, as it will notify others when you've begun training. This can be a good safety precaution in varying circumstances. The new Garmin Connect+ plan will be available for $6.99/month or $69.99/year. Garmin Connect will still be available to users for free. That includes existing data and features in the app prior to the rollout.

Garmin sparks outrage with Connect+ subscription paywall -- have your say

Last week Garmin announced the launch of Garmin Connect+, a new subscription service that adds some features to the Connect app, including an AI tool that summarizes your health and activity stats, While Garmin stressed that all existing features will remain free with the Connect app, the new tools will cost users $6.99 a month or $69.99 a year, and the Garmin user base is not happy about the subscription service. A post on the Garmin subreddit calling for users to boycott the new service has 10,000 upvotes, with many commenters saying the introduction of Garmin Connect+ will put them off buying a Garmin watch in the future. We want you to tell us what you think of Garmin Connect+, so dive into the comments below to let us know if you'll be signing up or not, and whether it's changed your opinion on Garmin as a whole. Garmin Connect+ is a subscription service that introduces new paywalled features to the Connect app if you sign up for it. Other smartwatch and fitness tracker brands have had subscription services for a while, like Fitbit Premium, and Garmin does already charge for some services like Garmin Outdoor Maps+, but this is the first time Garmin has charged for new features within its app that have traditionally been free. Garmin Connect+ costs $6.99 / £6.99 a month, or $69.99 / £69.99 a year. A free 30-day trial is currently available to let users sample the new features you get with the service. Several new features were launched with the service, with the most intriguing being the AI-powered Active Intelligence, which provides personalized insights and suggestions based on the sleep, health, and activity data tracked by your device. There's also a new performance dashboard on the Garmin Connect website, which shows more stats on your workouts, and you can now see live stats from an activity on your phone as well as on your watch. Connect+ users also get expanded LiveTrack features, with the option to notify selected family and friends when you start an activity, and can earn more badges in the app through unique Connect+ challenges. No one likes to pay more for features, especially ones that show or use your own activity and health data, and while other companies like Fitbit and Whoop have introduced subscriptions, it's worth noting that Garmin watches tend to be a lot more expensive than those devices. Top watches like the Garmin Fenix 8 cost over $1,000, and users might well expect to get all of Garmin's in-house features for that outlay. In addition, while all of the existing features on Garmin Connect are set to remain free, many users are concerned that new features that launch in the future might end up behind the paywall. We'll have to see how that pans out in the coming years. So far other manufacturers of the best sports watches like Coros, Suunto, and Polar have not introduced a subscription service for this kind of data, so the new Connect+ paywall could push some users towards those brands instead of Garmin.

Garmin adds premium Garmin Connect+ tier with AI features - but promises your free experience 'is not going away'

Garmin has introduced Garmin Connect+, a new Premium tier designed to paywall new features for the best Garmin watches in its free Garmin Connect app. Launching today (March 27), priced at $6.99 / £6.99 / AU$12 per month or $69.99 / £69.99 / AU$120 annually, with a one-month free trial available, Garmin Connect+ offers new features including AI-powered insights, a Performance Dashboard that allows you to view historic graphs, and improvements to Garmin's LiveTrack service. Garmin's AI insights, called 'Active Intelligence' - the naming is similar to Strava's Athlete Intelligence - are designed to provide Connect+ users with "personalized insights and suggestions throughout the day based on health and activity data, powered by AI" according to a Garmin press release. "As customers use Garmin Connect+ more, the insights will become more tailored to them and their goals" Garmin adds. "The AI providing these insights and suggestions was built to help keep users' data secure and is currently releasing in beta." It sounds like Garmin is putting user security at the forefront of its new service - the company has in the past had issues with the leaking of sensitive information, during a ransomware attack in 2020. Garmin is also keen to address concerns about the incoming paywall, as a Garmin representative emailed me the following: "The Garmin Connect app is a free, personalized experience, and that's not going away." The Performance Dashboard that's listed as a Garmin Connect+ feature is confirmed to be different from the Performance Stats tab that's currently free on Garmin Connect, which also allows you to view data graphs based on your historic performance. I've reached out to Garmin, and the company confirmed that "all existing features and data in Garmin Connect will remain free. Nothing will be moved or blocked behind the GC+ paywall." Other new features available to Connect+ users include live training guidance during workouts, such as guidance on strength sets with videos, and expanded LiveTrack features such as notification via text. Social features such as exclusive badges and challenges for Connect+ members are also included. Back in 2023, in an article titled 'I hope Garmin's new subscriptions-based maps service isn't the start of a trend', I wrote: "'Garmin's free Connect service makes its watches some of the best-value devices on the market. A move towards a larger subscription service would cheapen and devalue the brand, and possibly drive a huge portion of its user base away and into the waiting arms of Apple." Just like Fitbit, Garmin has opted to bring out premium features and charge an extra price for access to them. It's encouraging that Garmin isn't making its devices less useful, or locking anything we used to get for free behind a paywall - this is just an optional extra, like Garmin's Maps subscription service. The big difference between Fitbit and Garmin, however, is the prices of their devices. A Google Pixel Watch 3, the most expensive device on our Best Fitbit guide, costs $399 / £349 / AU$669, while the Garmin Fenix 8 starts at $999 / £949 / AU$1,699 (although you can pick up a cheaper watch, such as the very good Garmin Forerunner 165, for around $299.99 / £249.99 / AU$489.99). If someone told me that after buying a Fenix 8 I couldn't get a particular feature without paying an additional premium on top, that watch would either be going out the window or (more likely) straight back to the store. Garmin will have to be careful to advertise its free and paid-for features accordingly. I've always lauded Garmin Connect as a shining example of a free companion app, one that makes its expensive watches an excellent-value prospect in the long run. Hopefully the free features we're used to will remain free, otherwise I can see a lot of angry exercisers jumping ship to other brands.

Garmin adds AI features to a new premium subscription tier

Garmin has new AI features for its fitness app, but you'll have to pay to access them. On Thursday, the smartwatch maker popular with sports and fitness enthusiasts announced Garmin Connect Plus, a new paid subscription tier for its Garmin Connect smartphone app. The main selling point for the app's premium version, which shows health and fitness data, is a suite of new AI features. The features, dubbed Active Intelligence, provide "personalized insights and suggestions throughout the day based on health and activity data," according to the press release. The more subscribers use Garmin Connect Plus, "insights will become more tailored to them and their goals," the announcement continued. Garmin didn't share much else beyond how AI will provide insights and suggestions, or what those insights and suggestions are. But Garmin has deemed Active Intelligence worthy enough to charge for it, which is a departure from its previous stance on paywalls. Access to Garmin Connect data has been free compared to competitors like Whoop, Fitbit, and Oura, which require paid subscriptions or offer a premium tier. In 2023, Garmin launched Outdoor Maps Plus, charging $50 for access to more advanced mapping features. Looking back, it's a sign that Garmin was already moving away from its free-data-for-all attitude. That said, existing health data and features on the Garmin Connect app will still be free. So rest assured, the data you're already tracking won't be put behind a paywall -- for now, at least. Garmin faces steep competition in the health and fitness market. There are the above-mentioned wearables -- Whoop, Fitbit, and Oura. Plus, Google Pixel, Samsung, and Apple all have their own smartwatches with health, fitness, and AI-powered features. Meanwhile, Strava is increasingly popular as a subscription-based fitness app. If you want to try out Garmin Connect Plus, the company offers a free 30-day trial. After that, it's $6.99/month or $69.99/year to access the premium features.

Garmin's new subscription is causing chaos: Here are the six features behind the new paywall

To say that Garmin has upset its users with its new subscription service would be putting it mildly. The company recently announced Garmin Connect+, a new paid premium tier of its Connect app that features some shiny new paywalled features, including AI-powered insights and a performance dashboard for all of the best Garmin watches. It hasn't gone down well. Thousands of furious Garmin fans have taken to Reddit over the news, demanding customers take a stand. The uproar has been so intense that you might have actually missed what the subscription entails, so if you're at least a little bit curious or you'd happily give the free trial a go, here's what you get from Garmin Connect Plus for $6.99 / £6.99 / AU$12 per month or $69.99 / £69.99 / AU$120 annually. Garmin Connect+ gets you AI-powered training insights. Garmin says you'll get personalized suggestions based on health and activity data. Previews showcase friendly summaries about your sleep, battery, and more. As you'd expect from AI, the insights will reportedly get better over time. Here's an example: You fell 1 hour and 23 minutes short of your sleep need, but you still managed to charge your battery 57 points. You're ready for exercise today, but balance it with rest to avoid bottoming out. Connect+ features a comprehensive view of training data, available on the website, that lets you compare your fitness and health data over time. Showcased examples include your running duration comparison, time in power zones, average pace, and distance over time. Your smartphone will now give you real-time heart rate, pace, reps and videos for your indoor workouts (such as strength and yoga) when paired with a compatible smartwatch. As you use Garmin Run Coach or Garmin Cycling Coach, you'll get expert guidance from coaches, including educational content and videos. Starting an activity on a compatible device will now notify your friends and family via text, and you can create a personalized LiveTrack profile page for people to follow. This seems to have changed the existing text feature for Garmin users, and we've got some concerns that this might have pushed some of the existing LiveTrack features behind a paywall. We've reached out to Garmin to confirm. Finally, social features include exclusive badges, some of them worth an increased amount of points, and badge challenges that you can use to personalize your profile. The Garmin Connect+ subscription isn't enormously expensive, but it's not cheap either. As you can see, you don't get an enormous amount for your money, and Garmin hasn't exactly been forthcoming on the details about these features - this is really all the information we have right now. As such, it's possible we'll get more detailed insight about some of these features over the coming days and weeks. On paper, Garmin Connect+ looks pretty thin, and while that's not the main reason people are objecting to its rollout, I have to imagine that it's a factor.

Garmin adds a paid subscription tier. Here's what it means for you

Table of Contents Table of Contents How much does Garmin Connect+ cost? Can you still use all the features in Garmin Connect? What's new in Garmin Connect+? Is Garmin Connect+ worth trying? Garmin has just announced Garmin Connect+, a new paid subscription for users who want to squeeze a little more out of their Garmin smartwatch experience. The premium tier adds new features and AI-powered insights, and it's available as of today. While not unexpected, this decision might make some users worry about whether they'll still get the full scope of features that Garmin Connect used to provide. Below, I'll walk you through all the changes so you can make an informed decision as to whether you should subscribe to Garmin Connect+ or not. Recommended Videos How much does Garmin Connect+ cost? Garmin Connect+, or Garmin Connect Plus, costs $6.99 per month or $69.99 per year. Garmin offers a 30-day free trial that allows you to see whether the premium plan is worth paying for or not. If you don't want to upgrade to Connect+, no worries -- the Connect plan will stay free. Garmin Connect+ is available as of March 27, 2025. Can you still use all the features in Garmin Connect? The good news is that all existing features in Garmin Connect will stay free. This means that the features you're used to, including trackers for your health and fitness activities, will stay the same with no further changes. Garmin Connect+ was made as an addition to the existing app and doesn't replace it. What's new in Garmin Connect+? Garmin teased a bunch of new features in the new paid subscription tier, although a lot of them are still pretty vague -- we'll have to test them ourselves. Here's all that's coming your way if you subscribe to Garmin Connect+. AI-powered insights No one is surprised to hear about more AI being added everywhere, so the fact that AI is a staple in Garmin Connect+ is not shocking at all. However, the exact nature of AI in Garmin is still a little unclear. The company refers to this as "Active Intelligence, powered by AI." Active Intelligence will help your Garmin watch gather insights based on your health and activity data, and will then be able to give you more personal suggestions as a result. "As customers use Germin Connect+ more, the insights will become more tailored to them and their goals," said Garmin in the press release. It's worth noting that the AI portion of Garmin Connect+ is currently in beta, but it seems to be available for testing to paid users. LiveTrack gets a boost LiveTrack makes up an important part of Garmin Connect, allowing you to keep your family members and friends notified when you're doing a workout, including a link to help them track your location. This includes a bunch of different workouts, such as runs, hikes, and bike rides, and relies on GPS, so it works even in remote areas. With Connect+, this key feature evolves in a way that makes it simpler to use. You'll be able to get Garmin to auto-generate LiveTrack links and send them out the moment you head out for a workout. You can also set up your own LiveTrack profile to share with others, which will make it easier for them to see all your activities in one place. New challenges and badges Who doesn't love a boost to the aesthetic side of things? To that end, Garmin Connect+ lets you add new frames to your profile, but also earn badges for completing various challenges. Garmin teases that you'll get a badge for completing the Running Climbs challenge, which includes recording a total of 500 meters of ascent throughout a month of running. There's also the Power Cycling challenge, which will have you cycle as hard as you can -- you'll need to log at least four hours of biking in power zone 3. Comprehensive look at your performance Garmin Connect+ will whip up customizable graphs and charts for you, helping you keep track of your fitness and health data. I'm assuming this will later on tie-in with the AI-powered part of the app, but this is just a guess right now. Over time, these performance charts should become a useful insight into your wellness journey. Extra training tools While you're recording an indoor workout on your Garmin smartwatch, you'll get access to real-time data on your phone all the while recording the workout. This includes things like heart rate and pace data, the number of reps you've completed, workout videos, and more. Is Garmin Connect+ worth trying? Without having tested the feature, it's hard to judge just how useful it'll be in the long run. The good thing is that with a 30-day free trial, most users will be able to make that decision for themselves, risk-free. The additions provided in Garmin Connect+ may not be groundbreaking, but they target important areas of wellness. LiveTrack helps you stay safe and connected; AI-powered insights could prove to be useful over time; badges are fun and they help gamify the idea of working out, which can often help. With nothing to lose, I say go ahead and give it a try for 30 days and see whether it's worth the $6.99/month price tag.

Here's Everything You Get With Garmin's New Connect+ Subscription

Garmin is now offering a $6.99/month subscription called Connect+ that provides "premium features," including AI, on top of what you already get for free with the Garmin Connect app. So far, nothing is being paywalled, but it feels like the end of an era. Garmin watches were some of the last few wearables where you pay for a device and then all of its features are free to use forever. (The hardware has impressively long lifespans, too.) I signed up for Connect+ to see what's inside, so let's take a look. The new Connect+ subscription costs $6.99/month or $69.99/year. It only adds features on top of what you already get with the Garmin Connect app; no existing features are being paywalled. Garmin did tease that "premium enhancements may be made to existing features," leading users to speculate that any new features that come down the line may be limited to paid members. Garmin is in the habit of adding new features pretty frequently, and often enables them even on older watches. In the past year alone, we've gotten strength coaching, a new type of run coaching, and the ability to detect your lactate threshold heart rate without a chest strap -- all things that just appeared on my watch or in my app one day. I wouldn't expect watch firmware updates to be affected -- this is a premium subscription for the phone app -- but I have to wonder if there will be fewer of those new app feature rollouts for free users going forward. Connect+ is not Garmin's first subscription offering, by the way. They have long offered a slate of services for various special purposes, including hiking and hunting maps, marine charts, search and rescue insurance, dog tracking, kids' smartwatch tracking, and more. But this is definitely Garmin's first foray into a premium subscription for health and fitness features, in the same vein as, say, Fitbit. Garmin says the Connect+ subscription will come with: Until now, a workout you do on your Garmin watch stays on your Garmin watch, at least until you finish the activity. At that point, it syncs to your phone, where you can view and edit the details. But with Live Activity, you can now use the Garmin Connect app while you're doing an activity on your watch. That's especially useful for strength workouts, which previously required you to edit weights and reps through an awkward interface on the watch after each set. To test this out, I did a few quick workouts on my Garmin Forerunner 265S. One was a mini workout of kettlebell swings and sit-ups that I created on the app, and sent to the watch. I started the workout on my watch. Nothing happened on the phone -- I might have expected a notification -- but when I opened the Garmin Connect app on my phone, there was a tile on the home screen for a Live Activity. I tapped it, and there was the same workout I was doing on the watch. I could see my heart rate, the time elapsed, and which exercise I was supposed to be doing. I didn't see the promised exercise videos right away, but it turns out you need to swipe left on the heart rate graph. There you can see an exercise video (or a rest timer, if appropriate). Swipe again, and you'll see your heart rate zone. The bottom half of the screen shows your stats in progress, including your reps, sets, heart rate, and a timer. Importantly, if you've turned off rep counting or weight editing on your phone (because they're so annoying in normal use), you'll want to turn them back on for this. The watch counted my kettlebell swings, and at the end of each set prompted me to edit my reps and weight. This editing screen came up on both the watch and my phone, and of course it was easier to edit that information from the phone. Live Activity definitely improves the usability of the watch for strength workouts. I don't entirely see the point for running workouts, but maybe there's a use case I haven't thought of yet. One of Garmin's better-kept secrets is its web dashboard. You can log in here and view all your activities and data -- essentially a web view of everything that's in the app. The Performance Dashboard is a new item in the sidebar of the web dashboard. To set it up: Some of the charts on the performance dashboard are also available from the free Reports tool, although Reports will only show you one chart at a time. The Performance Dashboard is definitely a better tool if you're looking to really nerd out about your data. For example, I can get a simple report from the Reports tool that shows my running mileage over the past six months. It gives me a bar chart with one bar per month. The Performance Dashboard, on the other hand, can give me a bar for each week, and I can select a custom timeframe instead of just selecting one of a few options. There are also more options for types of data you can view. Do you know how your watch will ask you at the end of each run how hard it felt? You can now see that on a graph called "perceived effort over time." There's good news here for people who want AI in everything, and for those of us whose reaction is "oh god, not here too" (this meme sums up my personal stance). The AI ("active intelligence") is the one feature of Connect+ that requires you to opt in, even after you have subscribed to the whole package. But I did it, dear readers. I opted in for you, so I could let you know what the AI can actually tell you about your training -- and whether it's any better than Strava's notoriously clueless AI. Unfortunately, there's not much to say at the moment. My home screen "insight" (which you can turn off, by the way, even with AI enabled) at first just told me to check back later. My recent runs don't have any AI commentary attached. Garmin says that "As customers use Garmin Connect+ more, the insights will become more tailored to them and their goals." As I was finishing up this article, I noticed that I now have a home screen insight. It tells me that I achieved 255 intensity minutes this week, exceeding my goal of 150. (I guess I set a goal for that at some point? OK.) Then it tells me consistency is good (not wrong) and gives a few sentences of encouragement. The AI feature is labeled as a "beta," with a thumbs up/thumbs down icon that lets me rate the insight I just read. I can say that it's interesting, not interesting, or "report a concern" if it's inaccurate, discouraging, or poorly written. (You can also give a custom response.) I'll keep an eye on these notes and report back as the AI gets to know me better. To turn on the AI features, you need to click through an agreement where you allow the AI to access your training and health data (so that it can run its analyses). This also allows your data to be used as training data for the AI. I asked Garmin if this means that the AI is only trained on people who opt-in. A spokesperson confirmed: "We only train with data from users who have consented." The existing model was trained on users who previously granted permission for their data to be used for product improvements. Garmin has a brief AI transparency policy here. You can revoke permission at any time in your Connect+ settings, which will also turn off your access to AI features.

Garmin launches Connect+: How much it costs and what features are hidden behind the paywall - Softonic

Garmin launches Connect+, a $6.99/month subscription with exclusive AI tips, advanced LiveTrack, custom dashboards, and premium coaching content for fitness enthusiasts. Garmin has officially unveiled Connect+, a new premium subscription tier for its fitness ecosystem, following the footsteps of competitors like Fitbit Premium. For $6.99 a month or $69.99 annually, Connect+ opens access to a suite of enhanced tools designed to elevate training, wellness tracking, and user engagement. Connect+ introduces AI-generated tips through a feature called Active Intelligence, currently in beta. These real-time insights aim to guide users toward better fitness outcomes, though Garmin has yet to specify how frequent or actionable these tips will be. Garmin's already popular LiveTrack safety tool now becomes even more seamless. Connect+ users can automatically share real-time location updates with trusted contacts before starting a workout. Also, the app now supports dual-screen viewing, allowing users to monitor extended wellness data on their phones while exercising. The subscription also adds access to special challenges and digital achievement badges, such as the "Running Climbs" badge for accumulating 500 meters of ascent in a month. Additional training tools include exclusive educational videos for those using Garmin's Run Coach or Cycle Coach plans. Another perk is the new Performance Dashboard, offering expanded options to customize charts and track long-term trends. This could appeal to athletes seeking deeper data insights and greater visual clarity. Garmin insists the core Garmin Connect experience remains free "for now," but Connect+ clearly targets users wanting a more immersive, data-rich experience. A 30-day free trial is currently available.