Peloton, best known for its exercise bikes, is undergoing a major rebrand and doubling its software efforts by launching three membership tiers to its mobile app.
The fitness brand now wants to focus more on providing "fitness offerings" that anybody can do at their home or at the gym without having to purchase the company's expensive hardware. Looking at the official trailer, it appears all you need is yourself, a mobile device, and maybe some weights. The app's three new tiers are Peloton App Free, App One, and App Plus; all of which vary in terms of price and what they offer.
As the name suggests, Peloton App Free won’t cost you anything to use. It offers access to over “50 classes curated across 12 of Peloton’s” exercise types. This includes strength training, cardio workouts, and meditation plans. Some classes will be part of a rotating set that’ll change on an “ongoing basis” to keep things interesting. It's unknown, though, how often they will update. A company representative told us “an update cadence has yet to be fully decided”.
Premium tiers
Peloton App One is the first of the paid tiers. For $12.99 a month (about £10 and $20 AUD) or $129 annually (about £100 and $200 AUD), you get “unlimited access to thousands of classes across” all sixteen of the brand’s exercise types. This includes everything under the Free tier as well as exclusive content like Yoga classes. Members “can also take up to three equipment-based [classes]” covering indoor bikes, treadmills, and rowers. And to top it all off, App One offers on-demand, live classes nearly every day of the week.
App Plus, as you probably already guessed, is the highest tier. For $24 a month (about £20 and $36 AUD) or $240 annually (about £200 and $360 AUD), users gain unlimited access to everything in “Peloton’s vast library”; except for two: Lanebreak and Scenic classes, both of which require specific equipment. App Plus even has exclusive “specialty content” in the form of Challenges, Programs, and Collections.
Beyond the app update, the company is also rolling out Peloton Gym to all five of its exercise tiers. This feature consists of written workout plans aimed at helping you build your strength with an accompanying video to help guide you. According to the post, you can perform those workouts at your own pace so no need to rush through them.
Availability
In a recent report by The Verge, Peloton spokesperson Ben Boyd states current Peloton subscribers will be “automatically upgraded to App Plus Membership without a change in price until December 5th, 2023.” After that day, users can choose to pay an “increased price or move [down] to a cheaper tier.” The representative from earlier confirmed this with TechRadar.
The three tiers are currently rolling out to the Peloton app in “all of the brand’s five global markets.” The other two tiers, Peloton Guide and Peloton All-Access, will stay at their current price points.
It'll be interesting to see if Peloton’s gamble pays off. Moving away from the indoor bikes that made them famous is certainly a risky move. However, considering the fact Peloton recently recalled over two million exercise bikes over safety concerns, maybe it’s a good idea to begin diversifying a bit.
Whether you’re planning on exercising more or are already exercising frequently, we recommend buying a fitness tracker to keep tabs on your progress. Be sure to check out TechRadar’s list of the best fitness tracker for 2023.
