What TrainingPeaks does well, who owns it now, and which alternative suits a coach, a team, a bike fitter or a self-coached rider, as of October 2026.
TrainingPeaks alternatives each suit a different reader: a coach with many athletes, a team with staff, a bike fitter or a rider who coaches themselves. intervals.icu, TrainerRoad, Xert, JOIN, Vekta and Velograph each fit one of those best. Every product below is described from its own pages as of October 2026, without prices, starting with what TrainingPeaks does well.
What does TrainingPeaks do well?
TrainingPeaks does the coach's side of training well. Since the late 1990s it has let one coach work with many athletes, and its coach search and training plan store connect coaches with athletes. Planned workouts reach devices from many makers, and it covers running and triathlon as well as cycling.
It grew out of Joe Friel's coaching business. His son Dirk Friel and the engineer Gear Fisher built a web-based training log, and by the company's own account it became the first online log that let a coach work with an unlimited number of athletes. As of October 2026 it offers:
- For coaches: a coach account with a head coach, assistant coaches, athlete groups, shared plans and messaging.
- For planning: a calendar, a structured workout builder, an Annual Training Plan and a store of plans written by coaches.
- For analysis: fitness, fatigue and form on its Performance Management Chart, interval and climb detection, and WKO, a desktop program sold separately, for deeper power modelling.
- For devices: its upload page lists thousands of devices and apps that work with it, among them Garmin, Wahoo, COROS, Polar, Suunto, Hammerhead, Apple Watch and Zwift. It also has its own indoor riding app, TrainingPeaks Virtual.
If your coach already works there, or you want a plan from a coach you trust, it is a sound choice.
Who owns TrainingPeaks?
Garmin owns TrainingPeaks. Garmin announced on 22 July 2026 that it had acquired TrainingPeaks and TrainHeroic, a strength training platform, both based in Louisville, Colorado. On 29 October 2026 TrainingPeaks' upload page still listed devices and apps from many makers, Wahoo, COROS, Polar and Suunto among them.
Garmin's press release does not say how TrainingPeaks will be run. An ownership change is still a good moment to check what you rely on.
Why do people look for a TrainingPeaks alternative?
People look for a TrainingPeaks alternative when they need something it is not built for: an AI coach without a human coach, bike fits beside their rides, roles for team staff beyond coaches, or open access to their own data. That says more about their needs than about TrainingPeaks.
- Planning on your own. TrainingPeaks' help centre said in October 2026 that planning future workouts and its fitness chart need Premium. The free Basic account logs workouts and works with a coach.
- Bike fits. Bike fit records were not found on its pages or in its help centre.
- Your own tools. Its API is open only to approved developers and not for personal use, its developer page said in September 2026.
- Team staff. Its roles are built around coaches, so teams with bike fitters, mechanics and physios look for a role for each.
Which TrainingPeaks alternatives are there?
The main TrainingPeaks alternatives for cyclists, as of October 2026, are intervals.icu, TrainerRoad, Xert, JOIN, Vekta and Velograph. They differ less in their charts than in who they are built for and in how much the software plans for you.
| Platform | Built for | How training is planned | For coaches and teams |
|---|---|---|---|
| intervals.icu | Endurance athletes and coaches, many sports | You or your coach plan, with detailed analysis | Coaching groups with admin, coach and member roles |
| TrainerRoad | Cyclists and triathletes on structured workouts | Its AI chooses each day's workout | Each rider has their own account |
| Xert | Cyclists who train with a power meter | Daily targets and a plan towards a goal | Coach communities and live group sessions |
| JOIN | Cyclists of every level, on a phone app | Each day's session fitted to the time you have | One plan for riders |
| Vekta | Endurance coaches and their athletes | The coach plans, and AI summarises every session | Free coach accounts, admin and coach roles |
| Velograph | Riders, bike fitters, coaches and teams in cycling | A person plans, and the AI coach proposes | Squad board, roles for coaches, managers, fitters, mechanics and clinicians |
intervals.icu
intervals.icu says its core platform is free with no trials or time limits, with fitness, fatigue and form, the power curve and a calendar with a workout builder. It suits riders and coaches who like to shape their own analysis. Velograph reads rides from intervals.icu and sends planned sessions back to it. See intervals.icu and Velograph.
TrainerRoad
TrainerRoad's AI chooses each day's workout, finds your FTP from your rides and marks days to rest or avoid intensity when it detects fatigue. Each rider needs their own account, and it has no studio or multi-rider licence. It suits a rider who trains to structure, much of it on a smart trainer. See how TrainerRoad compares.
Xert
Xert, from Baron Biosystems in Toronto, models your fitness from every ride as a Fitness Signature, so it needs no set tests. Its Adaptive Training Advisor sets each day's targets, and Forecast AI plans day by day towards a goal. It suits a power-meter rider who likes numbers. See how Xert compares.
JOIN
JOIN, from JOIN Sports in Amsterdam, fits each day's session to the time you have and reshapes the coming days when you skip one or feel tired. It sends the day's workout to Garmin, Wahoo, Hammerhead, Zwift and ROUVY by itself. It suits a busy amateur who wants little to set up. See how JOIN compares.
Vekta
Vekta, from the French company GRAIG SAS, reads critical power, W′ and durability from everyday riding and writes a summary of every session for coach and athlete. Coach accounts are free. It suits a coach looking after many riders. See how Vekta compares.
Velograph
Velograph is built for cycling and keeps a rider's bikes and bike fits beside their rides. The free Rider plan keeps bikes, bike fits and rides with power analysis and fitness, fatigue and form, with no end date. Rider Plus, a paid plan, adds training plans, race tools and Ask, the AI coach, which proposes sessions for a person to approve. Studio and Team are paid plans for bike fitters, coaches and teams, and the rider decides what each person sees. Our page for riders says what a rider gets on their own.
AI Endurance and Stride, two more AI-led apps, are described in our guide to AI cycling coach apps.
How do you choose a TrainingPeaks alternative?
Choose a TrainingPeaks alternative by the job you need done: a coach with many athletes, a team with staff, a bike fitter and a self-coached rider each need something different. Then check that your rides arrive by themselves and that you can take them with you when you leave.
| You are | Look at first | Because |
|---|---|---|
| A coach with many athletes | TrainingPeaks, intervals.icu, Vekta | Built around a coach's roster |
| A team with coaches, fitters and mechanics | Velograph | A squad board and a role for each kind of staff |
| A bike fitter | Velograph | Fits are kept in the rider's Passport and stay with the rider |
| A self-coached rider who wants a plan made | TrainerRoad, JOIN, Xert | The software sets or chooses each day's session |
| A rider who wants to explore the numbers | intervals.icu | Analysis you can shape yourself |
Our guide to cycling coaching software goes deeper on a coach's week, and a cycling performance platform explains why a rider's data ends up in so many places.
Can you use TrainingPeaks and Velograph together?
You can use TrainingPeaks and Velograph together: they do not connect, but a Garmin or other bike computer can send each ride to both. A coach can keep planning in TrainingPeaks while the rider keeps bike fits and ride analysis in Velograph, which reads rides through intervals.icu, Strava or FIT files.
Strava rides are shown to the rider only and are never used by the AI. If intervals.icu already collects your rides, our guide to intervals.icu and Velograph shows the setup step by step.
How were these platforms checked?
Every fact about another product comes from its own website, help centre or press release, read in October 2026. TrainingPeaks and intervals.icu were checked on 25 October, with the main facts read again on 29 October, and TrainerRoad, Xert, JOIN and Vekta on 29 October.
Velograph publishes this guide and is one of the platforms in it. Each comparison page lists its sources with the date they were read, and the list of comparisons shows them all. Velograph's plans are on the pricing page.
Velograph is not affiliated with, sponsored by or endorsed by any team, rider or company named in this article. Names are used only to refer to publicly reported work.
