Strava vs Runna
Pick Runna for a more guided training experience, but Strava for broader community and tracking features.
Runna excels in providing structured training plans and coaching support, making it ideal for users looking for guided workouts. Strava, while strong in community engagement and tracking, has faced criticism for its customer support and app reliability.
Head to head
you want a more established app with a larger community and don't mind navigating upsells.
you prefer structured training and coaching support for your running goals.
Evidence note: While both apps have their strengths, Runna's focus on training plans gives it a slight edge, though Strava's community aspect is notable.
Frequently asked
What are the subscription costs for Strava and Runna?
What reviewers actually said
Built only from these 120 real reviews (foreign ones translated). Superscripts jump to the quote here. Apple has no per-review links, so [ref] opens that app's reviews on the App Store.
- [R24] Strava Used to be good, a bit overrated now: This app feels kind of bloated now with marketing for other products, AI, etc. subscription prices have gone up quite a bit and this app outgrew my needs.
- [R21] Strava Good app, but too much upselling: I’ve used Strava for years, mainly as a training log, but with a little Social boost of seeing what others are doing, and giving/getting a thumbs up. It games the system a little, slightly helping me get out more. But lately it is constantly trying to upsell me. There are some nice extra features with a paid subscription, but these days it seems like it asks me
- [R62] Runna Half marathon training: I am the type of person that has to be told what I need to do to be better. Runna is a coach that keeps you on pace, target time, and pushes you there. I love it and can’t wait to run my first half with it in my ear!
- [R68] Runna Game changer: I used to train with groups. This marathon training, I decided to go solo. This app is like having your own running coach. It provides strength, flexibility and running programming and schedules everything into a workable routine.
- [R6] Strava App that just feels behind and unintuitive: Navigating this app is frustrating. Compared to what’s out there, it just seems unintuitive and like you have to go through additional steps that don’t make sense to find basic information you are looking for.
- [R43] Strava Horrible UI: Just a clunky pop up filled mess. I couldn’t even get to see what it offered because I couldn’t get to the features buried under a pop up to subscribe at every screen.
- [R63] Runna Amazing, when it works.: Many times, the app does not properly communicate with my Apple Watch so I cannot actually start the Runna workout on my watch-face. (It starts to load, but then never actually starts the workout on my watch, and I end up having to use the default Apple Watch tracking feature while also using the Runna app on the phone screen, which probably isn’t as accurate and doesn’t g
- [R70] Runna Apple Watch Compatibility Issues: Good training program however very frustrating compatibility issues with Apple Watch Ultra 2. Every time a run was completed on the watch the run would have to be manually synced to the runna app in order for it to be shown as completed. Sometimes would have to attempt a sync several times before the workout successfully migrated to the iOS app. I talked to seve
- [R4] Strava App bug: Extremely frustrated. I just purchased the yearly subscription, and the app stopped working almost immediately. I reached out to support hoping for a quick fix, but all I got was a generic bot reply, no human has responded, and the issue is still unresolved. If you’re going to charge for a full year upfront, the least I’d expect is functional support when things break. Would not recommen
- [R25] Strava App not working after update: Downloaded latest update and the app stopped working. I’ve contacted the support center and had no responses in 2 weeks. I’ve deleted the app, redownloaded it, and every time I open the app, it either shows a white screen with a text bar at top saying “something wrong. Try again.” When I try again, it is a completely black screen. Again, I’ve reached out to the suppor
- [R106] Runna One month not being able to sync workouts: I’ve been using Runna for some time now and syncing workouts to Strava. Since May 19, my workouts haven’t been recording routes, cadence and other analytics. Also, I haven’t been able to sync anything to Strava. I contacted the tech team and been passed on to 4 different people. I’ve been explaining to each one that I tried EVERYTHING the troubleshooting
- [R9] Strava Stop with the subscription requests: Holy moly. The app is good but for heavens sake, every prompt I make pulls up a subscription prompt! I don’t need to subscribe… you’re doing too much.
- [R42] Strava It’s OK and free is OK but the request $80 for a year is outrageous: It’s been OK for the free portion. I’d be happy to purchase a yearly premium membership but $80 is just outrageous A few of my friends in my run group feel the same way You folks want $320 a year from the 4 of us but you’re getting zero dollars. How about drop it to $40 and get $160 out of us?!
- [R64] Runna $20/month after week 2: Simply trying to go from couch to 5k. Nobody in their right mind with no running experience is going to pay $20/month after week 2. Misleading. Sad.
- [R73] Runna Only if you pay: The app is essentially featureless unless you pay for it. Free features are almost non existent.
- [R1] Strava Atrocious customer support!: Their AI bot “Miles” has no ability to solve anything and closes chats with you. There is no way to talk to customer support. Even when the bot says someone will be in touch you just get an email saying they can’t help you. I am a paying subscriber and you are ducking answering any questions or actually helping me with the fact that you are letting another user in a di
- [R67] Runna IMPOSSIBLE TO CANCEL: DO NOT GET THIS APP! The training plans are fine, but it is virtually impossible to cancel, you have to jump through 3rd party hoops and depending on how you sign up you can’t change your email. It is a logistical nightmare, better off with something else.
- [R100] Runna Terrible refund and cancellation process: Links don’t work, customer service is a bot that sends you in loops of entering codes, links, etc. Free trial more of hassle don’t waste your time and money.
Synthesized from 120 recent App Store reviews · updated July 2026 · View on the App Store