Best indoor training apps for cycling: virtual riding platforms and training analysis apps

A vast array of training apps are available to help cyclists train indoors, plan rides, track progress, and analyze their data. But with so many options varying in appealing features, it can be challenging to decide which ones to choose. Additionally, learning how to use a new platform can be time-consuming, and you don’t want to risk paying a subscription fee for something that may not meet your needs.

We’ve explored a wide range of training apps to assist you and have rounded up the best options here. By the end, you'll hopefully have far greater clarity on which platforms are best suited for you before you commit.

We’ll start by discussing the top training apps for indoor cycling, including those with virtual worlds and more straightforward, streamlined platforms.

If you're new to riding at home, why not check out our beginner's guide to indoor cycling. It offers plenty of hints and tips to help you get started and identify the necessary kit, with one of the best budget-friendly smart trainers as a likely hardware starting point.

For seasoned indoor riders seeking an upgrade to their current kit, our guide to the best turbo trainers will point you toward the proper setup for your needs.

Best indoor training apps for cycling

Virtual riding apps

1. Zwift indoor cycling app

Key features: The industry leader celebrates its tenth anniversary in 2024. During that time, Zwifters rode over 8.72 billion kilometers and collectively climbed 81.56 meters defining the virtual cycling discipline and creating a community. A strong sense of community participation motivates riders of all fitness and ability levels.

Over 100 volunteer organizers have supported 4,034,556 community events and Zwift-organized races and group rides, such as the Tour of Watopia and the Zwift World Series, offering ample options.

With over 100 routes, 24-7 robopacers, and an extensive library of over 1,000 structured workouts and cycling training plans, there are features for every rider type.

Best for: Cyclists who like to be immersed in a virtual world while they ride in a social atmosphere.

Long-term user’s view: I started using Zwift during the lockdown in 2020, and I still use it regularly. The app enables users to follow training plans, track power personal bests, and, when paired with Zwiftpower, view their virtual rankings from races. One of the best aspects of Zwift is the large number of other users, which creates a genuine sense of community and competitiveness.

There are countless events, races, and routes to explore, and racing isn’t the only way to challenge yourself; setting a personal best on the Alpe du Zwift is just one of the many cycling goals you can pursue on the platform. What keeps me coming back to Zwift is its game-like nature—being competitive is a significant motivation for me to get on the turbo.

Verdict: Zwift has become the go-to platform for indoor training and virtual riding. One of the standout features of Zwift is that its events and virtual worlds allow for uninterrupted training. Completing long rides of three or four hours is entirely feasible on Zwift, thanks in part to the community and the app's game-like nature, which brings elements of outdoor riding right into your living room.

Cost: $/€19.99 per month, or $/€199.99 annually

2. MyWhoosh

Key features: Founded in 2019, the app boasts industry-leading graphics, a diverse and engaging array of courses and routes, a user-friendly interface, and efficient calendar functionality, all of which are top-notch features contributing to its growing and loyal following.

The platform hosts high-stakes cycling esports events, such as the weekly Sunday Race Club series, which features a monthly prize purse exceeding $90,000 and attracts the sport's top talent and competitive amateurs. In April 2023, the $1 Million MyWhoosh Championship series showcased the largest payout in cycling esports history.

MyWhoosh is the official indoor cycling platform for the World Tour UAE Team Emirates and its star rider, Tadej Pogačar. The platform collaborates closely with the team's coaches and includes in-game training content developed by the UAE Team Emirates performance group. The unique relationship allows the public to experience the team's training regimen firsthand.

The innovative live coaching and video-on-demand training features provide users with an interactive and motivating training environment that fits their busy schedules.

The UCI granted MyWhoosh the rights to organize the Esports World Championships for the next three years, and they are also the platform partner for the supertri E Triathlon World Championship.

Best for: The platform offers all of the features and elite and amateur-level competition without the barrier to access of a monthly subscription payment

Long-term user’s view: The possibilities for MyWhoosh are limitless, thanks to its dedicated team, resources, and commitment to legitimizing esports racing. MyWhoosh aims to engage the broader cycling community while coexisting with other platforms

Verdict: The graphics are stellar, and the user-friendly interface and efficient calendar functionality set it apart. The training plans and workout offerings cater to all users, including professionals. Whether you're a racer of any ability, MyWhoosh checks all the boxes. With a steadfast commitment and substantial investment, MyWhoosh firmly establishes its place in the virtual cycling and esports landscape.

Cost: Free

3. TrainingPeaks Virtual

Key features: Launched in 2023 under the name indieVelo and later acquired by TrainingPeaks, this second-generation online platform is quickly making a name for itself among the discerning competitive crowd. Designed from the ground up with an esports racing focus, it aims to meet the expectations of both competitive indoor riders and fitness enthusiasts.

TrainingPeaks Virtual strives to replicate the dynamic aspects of real-life riding by incorporating elements such as wind, braking, and cornering. Its advanced draft physics enhances the authenticity of the virtual riding experience.

With built-in dual power recording, customizable event creation, and a growing community of like-minded online racers, TrainingPeaks Virtual offers an appealing no-cost option for users.

Best for: Competitive indoor riders willing to sacrifice graphics for an authentic, no-cost racing and training option.

Long-term user's view: Don't expect to be astounded by TrainingPeaks Virtual's graphics or gamified elements. The simple appearance is a sacrifice the developers made to focus on ensuring the ride experience is authentic and engaging.

Verdict: TrainingPeaks Virtual's race-focused development path shouldn't be intimidating. The virtual cycling platform offers all the quality-of-life enhancements that everyday users desire in a powerful, streamlined package. Although it is still in the early stages of its evolution, the high standards set so far indicate exciting developments ahead.

The user interface is simple and intuitive, while the ride feel is lifelike, immersive, and engaging. TrainingPeaks Virtual is an excellent choice for any rider looking for an effective indoor cycling option, and for racers, it’s a no-brainer. The future looks bright for TrainingPeaks Virtual users, who will have the opportunity to shape the direction of cycling esports.

Cost: Free with the option to join Founder's Club at an additional cost.

4. Rouvy

Key features: Since its establishment in 2017, Rouvy has allowed users to ride, race, and train on scenic terrain from around the globe, embodying its mission to "Bring the Outdoors Home." With an extensive collection of over 1,500 augmented reality (AR) routes in 46 countries, Rouvy features real-world videos showcasing famous landscapes, iconic climbs, and actual race courses, making riders feel like they're really climbing L'Alpe d'Huez, not the simulated Alpe du Zwift.

Since 2021, Rouvy has partnered with La Vuelta a España, offering a variety of races and events daily. Users can ride stages of the Grand Tours while enjoying the action from home.

Rouvy hosts more than 320 official races and group rides each month and over 2,000 additional events created by users and the community. Each week, Rouvy introduces a new Spotlight.

Spotlight is a curated collection centered around a specific theme. It features new routes, challenges, events, and additional content to tell a unique story. Through Spotlight, users can easily explore some of Rouvy's best new offerings, keeping them engaged and active throughout the year.

There are over 291 Rouvy-created workouts, and the community added more than 550,000 to the training database.

Best for: Riders who enjoy the feeling of being immersed in the realism of stunning scenery.

Long-term user’s view: Riding in a real environment and exploring cycling's storied and picturesque vistas from the comfort of your home is great fun. However, the major downside is the lack of community and events on Rouvy, which can leave you feeling a bit isolated and bored during your rides, despite the well-crafted virtual surroundings.

Verdict: Rouvy is a solid indoor cycling app option, particularly for riders who prefer to train on "real" roads. While it has a smaller community than other platforms, its user base is steadily growing, and we can expect Rouvy to continue to evolve and become a popular training environment.

Cost: ROUVY offers various subscription options, including single, duo, and group plans, which are available on both a monthly and yearly basis. The price for a single user is $14.99 per month.

5. BKOOL

Key features: One of the most realistic cycling simulators on the market | Custom training plans | Four different kinds of content - Workouts, Spinning Classes, Velodrome, Routes

Best for: Realistic in-game dynamics | Simulated real-world routes

Long-term user’s view: BKOOL, the official hoster of the Giro d'Italia Virtual race, has a couple of unique features, including virtual velodromes and arguably the most realistic in-game dynamics of any virtual riding platform.

It also hosts virtual version of races like the Strade Bianche, the Milano Sanremo and Il Lombardia and counts Remco Evenepoel, Chris Froome, and Alberto Contador as ambassadors.

However, the app suffers from a lack of community and socialization. It has no built-in ability to make in-app progress, though you can purchase jerseys, bikes, and rider features. Overall, BKOOL is not as advanced as Rouvy or Zwift.

It contains more routes than its competitors, but the graphics quality is often low and varies significantly across the app. BKOOL also lacks fitness tracking, meaning that regularly riding indoors requires a great deal of self-willed motivation.

Verdict: BKOOL is one of the cheapest cycling simulators, but lower quality and less engaging features come with the lower price. The brand still has a long way to go to reach similar levels of quality as those found on Zwift and Rouvy, but its physics engine, the bit of software that powers the in-game dynamics, gives users a relatively realistic ride feel.

Cost: There are three different types of premium subscriptions available:
Monthly subscription: 11 € / month.
Annual subscription: 110 € / year in a single payment. This type of plan saves two months compared to the monthly option.
Family plan: €129/year. 43 €/year per person. Designed so that you can share your BKOOL Premium subscription with your family members, always using the same IP connection.

There's also a free 30-day trail offered for new members.

Virtual training apps

1. TrainerRoad

Key features: TrainerRoad caters to a specific group of indoor cyclists who prefer a more analytical and structured training approach. A standout feature of the app is its automated Training Plan Builder. Upon signing up, the app prompts users to input key information, such as their target races for the season and available training time. Based on this information, the app generates a customized training program tailored to users' needs.

TrainerRoad employs a data-driven method that analyzes a vast amount of athlete data to track changes in Functional Threshold Power (FTP) without requiring exhaustive tests. It offers plans for various types of rides, including road cycling, gravel riding, gran fondos, triathlons, mountain biking, and cyclocross, while also addressing general fitness goals alongside race-specific objectives.

With a database of over 250 million logged activities from athletes in more than 150 countries, TrainerRoad stands out with its collection of over 25 million specific workouts. This "planned vs. actual" data informs the platform's AI and machine learning models, providing unique insights that give TrainerRoad a competitive edge in AI-driven cycling coaching.

Best for: Riders looking to add structure to their training sessions without paying a coach.

Long-term user’s view: The cycling training plans can be rather intense, with a higher proportion of hard interval sessions than other apps, which turns some users off. The ability to include outdoor rides and the app’s machine-learning-powered adaptive training plan algorithm go some way to reducing this overreaching issue. However, the app lacks the personal attention and ability to adapt to changes in mood, stress, or daily life that can affect an athlete's overall wellness, something only a human coach can provide.

Verdict: Ask yourself: Are you the focused type of rider who thrives on structure and prefers having someone else handle the details without the complexity or cost of a coach? If so, TrainerRoad is likely an excellent fit for you.

On the other hand, if you’re motivated by the social aspect of cycling, enjoy measuring your fitness against others, and appreciate the distraction of gamification, then a virtual cycling platform such as Zwift or MyWhoosh is where you'll find the most satisfaction.

Cost: $21.99 per month or $209 yearly.

2. Wahoo X - Wahoo Systm

Key features: 4DP test | Off-bike training videos

Best for: Riders looking to improve their fitness beyond increasing their FTP.

Long-term user’s view: The 4DP test is the foundation of Wahoo SYSTM. Originating from the former Sufferfest app, this test has riders complete maximal sprints and a one-minute, five-minute, and 20-minute effort. From this test, riders get a performance profile and utilize it to tailor training sessions. Wahoo SYSTM integrates outdoor training into its platform. Support for multiple sports is now available, too, but the platform feels incomplete compared to Sufferfest, though it’s still a work in progress.

Verdict: Moving beyond FTP and training based on a more comprehensive performance profile is excellent for the racing cyclist, but the platform is still slightly less developed than its competitors. That said, the off-bike workout and mental training features are unique and their benefits may come in handy when the going gets tough in a race.

Cost: $14.99 / ~£12.50 per month

Training and analysis apps

1. Training Peaks

Key features: A vast library of plans and workouts to choose from | Accompanying educational content to guide training

Best for: Coached athletes | Athletes who enjoy setting their training and analyzing their centralized historical training and racing database

Long-term user’s view: I have used TrainingPeaks since I started cycling in 2017. It hasn’t changed much in that time, with minimal new features added. TrainingPeaks is essentially a glorified spreadsheet. The app has a reasonable amount of analysis, and many graphs are available, but its beauty is in its simplicity. The app is easy to understand, integrates well with almost all devices, and allows you to view the most relevant information. Many coaches use Training Peaks to manage their coached athletes.

Verdict: Training Peaks was initially founded on the concepts of TSS (training stress score) and CTL (chronic training load), but it has evolved well beyond these two metrics. While the ATP (annual training plan) feature and TrainingPeaks's metrics offer valuable insights, they have limitations since human physiology is often more complex. The app encourages more training, but increased volume doesn’t always yield better results.

That said, it serves as a solid starting point for managing your training load. There’s a reason Training Peaks is the market leader: it offers user-friendly data analysis features and an excellent training session-building tool that allows users to create sessions based on various metrics tailored to their preferences.

Cost: $19.95 / ~£16.50 per month, or $124.99 a year for the Premium subscription.

2. Strava

Key features: Market-leading route planning | Social network | Strava KOM leaderboards for segments

Best for: Riders who like to compare their performances with others | Interacting with others via kudos and comments

Long-term user’s view: It wouldn’t be possible to write a piece like this and leave out Strava. With 95 million active users, it is used by cyclists worldwide. The beauty of Strava is that it incorporates almost every feature of every fitness app in this list apart from providing a virtual training world. Price increases in recent years don’t seem to have deterred many riders from the platform, and the addition of fitness tracking and performance analysis (provided you’re using the desktop version) has been welcome.

Verdict: Strava has something for everyone, with training analytics, leaderboards, route planning and recommendations, and a social element, meaning it’s truly a jack of all trades. If you only have enough room in your budget for one app, Strava is the option that gives you the most bang for your buck. The downside is that the mobile app is slightly limited, with most of the value of premium features coming from the desktop version.

Cost: $11.99 / £8.99 monthly with an available family plan option.

Read more: Six fitness tools on Strava recommended by a cycling coach, and their ‘training value’ explained

3. Garmin Connect

Key features: Free | Physiological estimates including threshold heart rate and VO2 max

Best for: Best free option

Long-term user’s view: Garmin Connect will set you back a grand total of zero pounds and zero pence, and for this, you get route planning, training plan building, and fitness tracking. It’s fair to say that Garmin Connect won’t be enough for more serious riders, as the depth of analysis available is relatively limited. The app estimates VO2 max and threshold heart rate, paces, and powers. Anyone with a Garmin device will be familiar with being told they’re being “unproductive” at seemingly random points in time, and the app’s physiological threshold estimates have not proved accurate for me. Specifically, I found that it underestimated the impact of low-intensity training.

Verdict: The only free option that offers a host of analysis features. However, the announcements this app makes about your fitness can be somewhat spurious, and if you don’t have a Garmin device, you’ll have to upload each file manually. That said, this is your best bet if you’re looking for a free option.

Cost: Free

Read more: Five free fitness features on Garmin Connect that cyclists should be taking advantage of

What is the best indoor cycling app?

Choosing an app isn’t a zero-sum game in the ever-evolving world of virtual cycling and esports. There are several options, each with its unique and standout qualities. While indoor riding and turbo training may not be for everyone, the convenience, comfort, cost, competition, and sense of community make them a far more appealing prospect than they were a decade ago.

Modern indoor cycling offers an excellent way for time-crunched athletes to train. It keeps you warm and dry, and tailoring sessions to meet your specific goals is much easier. Completing intervals and tracking progress becomes more accurate, and you won’t have to worry about traffic, road surfaces, or other external factors that could disrupt your ride.

Ultimately, the perfect indoor training app for your needs will come down to personal preference. However, to get the most out of your rides over the long term, finding an app that keeps you motivated is essential. Fortunately, it’s easy to switch platforms if you want to try something different, and you’ll typically have a free trial period before committing to a monthly payment.

Alternatives to using indoor cycling apps at home

Cycling indoors might not be the most enjoyable for some people, but during the winter, it can be the optimal way to complete rides without needing all of the winter kit and a winter bike to match.

Another option is to use a turbo at home to follow a routine without bothering with an app, though it might not be the most interesting. Some indoor cycling converts would rather watch paint dry than drone away in that sensory deprivation when so many virtual cycling options are available.

Group cycling classes are another option—either at home with a Peloton indoor exercise bike or a more social gym class.