Ride with GPS vs Strava: A Full Comparison

When it comes to tracking your cycling adventures, three cycling apps consistently rise to the top of cyclists’ recommendations: Ride with GPS and Strava. Even though Komoot is another popular platform (lots of similarities with Ride with GPS), we leave it out of the comparison here as RWGPS is often considered more advanced. Ride with GPS and Strava offer both great features for route planning, activity tracking, and community engagement, but they excel in different areas even though they also share some functionalities. We try to help you choose the right platform that benefits your cycling experience the most.

Overview: What is ‘Strava’ and What is ‘Ride with GPS’?

Strava launched in 2009 and has become the undisputed king of social fitness tracking. With over 100 million users worldwide, it’s built around the concept of turning your workouts into a social experience. Think of it as the “Instagram for athletes”. It’s the app where you go to track your sports activities, share your rides, compete with friends and get motivated by the global cycling (& other sports) community. Strava is also well known for its ‘challenges’, which is a great feature to discover fellow sports fanatics and compete with them.

Ride with GPS takes a different approach. Founded in 2007, it positions itself as the premier route planning and navigation tool for cyclists. While it includes some social features, its core strength lies in detailed route creation, turn-by-turn navigation, and advanced ride analysis. RWGPS is used by serious cyclists when they need precise navigation and detailed route planning capabilities.

Quick Comparison Overview Ride with GPS vs Strava

Route Planning and Navigation

Ride with GPS: The Route Planning Champion

Ride with GPS absolutely dominates in route planning, and real users consistently praise this advantage. The platform offers one of the most sophisticated route creation tools available to cyclists:

Advanced Route Builder: The web-based route planner allows you to create routes with great precision. You can choose from multiple map layers, including topographic maps, satellite imagery, and specialized cycling maps that highlight bike lanes and paths. Many cyclists note that they find “planning routes to be much nicer on RWGPS than Strava.”

Turn-by-Turn Navigation for GPS Devices: A major advantage that users frequently mention is RWGPS’s compatibility with GPS bike computers. As one Cyql cyclist noted: “I primarily use RWGPS because they give my Wahoo computer turn by turn directions. Strava doesn’t.”

Better Route Safety: Users have reported that Strava’s route planner sometimes suggests dangerous routes. One user shared: “The one time I planned with Strava it tried to take me on a highway, no thx.” RWGPS tends to be more conservative and bike-friendly in its routing suggestions.

Strava: Route Planning with Social Advantages

While Strava’s route planning tools are more basic, they do offer some unique benefits:

Heatmap for Discovery: Strava’s heatmap feature lets you see popular streets and paths, which is particularly valuable “for planning in unknown areas.” This crowd-sourced data can help you discover the best cycling routes in unfamiliar territory.

Route Discovery Through Community: Users appreciate being able to see “where people rode from & to on the rides” when they hit segments, providing natural route discovery through the cycling community.

Limited Technical Features: However, the route builder lacks sophistication compared to RWGPS. Users consistently report preferring RWGPS for actual route creation, with Strava serving more as a discovery tool.

Bike Type-Specific Routing: Where Both Fall Short

Activity Tracking and Analysis

Strava: Social Motivation Meets Solid Analysis

Ride with GPS: Deep Dive Analysis

Ride with GPS focuses on providing comprehensive ride analysis:

• Detailed Metrics: The platform captures and displays an extensive range of metrics including speed, elevation, gradient, heart rate, power, and cadence. The analysis goes deeper than Strava’s basic offerings.
• Elevation Profiles: Ride with GPS provides some of the most detailed elevation profiles you’ll find, with precise gradient information that’s crucial for planning challenging rides.
• Ride Reports: After each ride, you get a detailed report that breaks down your performance across multiple metrics. This is invaluable for serious training or just understanding how you performed on different segments of your ride.
• Data Export: Unlike Strava, Ride with GPS makes it easy to export your data in various formats, giving you full control over your riding history.

Community and Social Features

Strava: The Social Powerhouse

Strava is the mainstream app for any sports enthusiast including cyclists. Strava’s community features are unmatched in the cycling world, though user experiences vary significantly:

• Critical Mass Effect: The platform’s value often depends on having friends who use it. As one user put it: “Strava has a critical mass of friends on it, making it of greater interest than other sites that few (or no) friends use.” If your cycling buddies aren’t on Strava, much of the social value disappears.
• Local Community Matters: Users report that “if you have a local club on Strava it might be more fun with the social side of things,” but without local connections, the social features lose their appeal.
• Segments: While segments are Strava’s signature feature, user engagement varies widely. Many casual cyclists report they “don’t use the segments on Strava much,” while competitive riders find them highly motivating.
• Underutilized Features: It’s worth noting that Strava hasn’t significantly updated its core features in years.

Ride with GPS: Smaller but Focused Community

Ride with GPS is more geeky, for real hardcore cyclists. RWGPS takes a different approach to community with:

• Limited Social Features: The platform “nominally has some social and segment related features, but they appear to be relatively underused in practice.” When users upload rides that hit segments, “much of the activity on it is relatively old.”
• Route-Focused Sharing: The community centers more around route sharing and technical discussions rather than social fitness motivation.
• Less Social Pressure: Without the constant activity feed, RWGPS feels less focused on social comparison and more on practical cycling needs.

Mobile App Experience Strava vs Ride With GPS

Strava Mobile App

Strava’s mobile app is polished and user-friendly:

• Clean Interface: The app is intuitive and easy to navigate, making it simple to start tracking rides, view your feed, and interact with other users.
• Quick Recording: Starting a ride is as simple as hitting the record button. The app handles the rest automatically.
• Photo Integration: It’s easy to add photos to your rides directly from the app, and the social features make sharing effortless.
• Offline Limitations: The app requires an internet connection for most features, which can be limited in remote areas.

Ride with GPS Mobile App

The Ride with GPS mobile app prioritizes functionality:

• Navigation Focus: The app is designed primarily for navigation, with clear turn-by-turn directions and easy-to-read maps.
• Offline Maps: Premium users can download maps for offline use, crucial for rides in areas with poor cell coverage.
• Route Management: You can easily access and start following routes you’ve created on the web platform.
• Less Polished Interface: While functional, the app doesn’t feel as modern or polished as Strava’s offering.

Pricing and Value Strava vs Ride With GPS

Strava Pricing

• Free Tier: Strava’s free version includes basic activity tracking, the social feed, and access to segments. Many users find this sufficient.
• Strava Premium ($60/year): Adds advanced analytics like heartbeat monitoring, training plans, route planning features, and safety tools. However, user feedback suggests limited additional value, with one user noting: “I paid for one year out of the last 5 & the only addition seemed to be heatmaps, which other web applications can create for you too.”

Ride With GPS Pricing

• Free Tier: Quite limited compared to Strava’s free offering, though adequate for basic route viewing.
• Basic Membership ($60/year): Users consistently recommend this tier, noting there’s “generally very little reason to pay for a Premium membership instead of a Basic one.” The Basic plan includes full route planning features and turn-by-turn navigation.
• Premium Membership ($100/year): Adds offline maps and weather overlays, but most users find the Basic plan sufficient.
• User Perspective on Value: Many cyclists appreciate RWGPS’s “pay as much as you want” model and find that getting a Basic membership is quite worth it if you do much route planning and route building.

Privacy and Data Control

Strava Privacy

Strava has faced scrutiny over privacy issues, particularly with its heat map feature revealing sensitive locations. However, the company has implemented several privacy controls:

• Privacy Zones: You can create privacy zones around sensitive locations like your home or workplace.
• Activity Privacy: Individual activities can be marked as private.
• Follower Controls: You can control who can see your activities and limit followers to people you approve.

Ride With GPS Privacy

Ride with GPS takes a more conservative approach to privacy:

• Default Privacy: Routes and rides are private by default, giving you complete control over what you share.
• Granular Controls: You have detailed control over what information is visible and to whom.
• Data Ownership: The platform emphasizes that you own your data and makes it easy to export everything.

How Ride With GPS and Strava can be used in your Cycling Club and Community

Both Ride with GPS and Strava offer valuable features. Therefore, Cyql seamlessly integrates with both platforms to improve your group riding experience.

Ride with GPS is best when group leaders need to create detailed routes for club rides. Through Cyql’s integration with RWGPS, ride leaders can easily plan precise routes for their group rides as an extension to the Cycling GPX Routes from Cyql. This is particularly valuable for clubs that explore new areas or organize challenging rides.

Strava’s community features complement this by providing the social motivation that keeps club members engaged. The platform’s activity feed helps members stay connected to each other’s riding activities, while segments can create friendly competition within the club. Many successful cycling clubs use Strava’s group features to celebrate member achievements and maintain an active community presence.

Cyql’s seamless integration with both platforms means you don’t have to choose between them. Club members can benefit from RWGPS’s superior route planning for organized rides while still enjoying Strava’s social features for individual activities. However, for clubs wanting to maintain accurate leaderboards and ride verification, Cyql uses Strava data to verify rides and populate club stats boards. By doing so, we at Cyql can guarantee accurate tracking of member activities for challenges, goals, and club achievements.

Cyql taps into the strengths of both platforms: detailed route planning from RWGPS and verified activity tracking from Strava, all managed through Cyql’s club management features.

Integration with Other Devices and Services

Strava Integrations

Strava plays well with almost every fitness device and service:

• Device Support: Compatible with virtually every GPS bike computer, smartwatch, and fitness tracker on the market.
• Third-Party Apps: Integrates with training platforms like TrainingPeaks, Zwift, Rouvy, Cyql and countless other fitness services.
• Automatic Sync: Most integrations work seamlessly in the background.

Ride with GPS Integrations

Ride with GPS focuses on core cycling devices:

• GPS Computer Support: Works well with major GPS computer brands like Garmin and Wahoo.
• Limited Third-Party Integration: Fewer integrations than Strava, but covers the essentials for serious cyclists, including Cyql.
• Route Export: Easy export to various GPS devices and formats.

The Verdict: Which Platform Should You Choose?

There’s no absolute winner in the Ride with GPS vs Strava comparison because they serve different key purposes. User feedback consistently shows that cyclists who prioritize route planning and navigation gravitate toward RWGPS, while those seeking social motivation and community engagement prefer Strava. Both Ride With GPS and Strava are integrated within the Cyql platform.

Choose Strava if:

• Your cycling community is already there: As users consistently report, Strava’s value depends heavily on having friends and local cyclists on the platform
• You’re motivated by segments and competition: Though not everyone uses them, segments can provide significant motivation for competitive riders
• You want a free solution that covers the basics: The free tier offers excellent value for recreational cyclists
• Social motivation drives your cycling: The activity feed and community features can provide real motivation
• You’re new to an area: Strava can be valuable for meeting other cyclists and discovering popular routes

Choose Ride With GPS if:

• Route planning is a priority: Users consistently prefer RWGPS for creating detailed routes
• You use a GPS bike computer: The turn-by-turn navigation integration with devices like Wahoo and Garmin is superior
• You want better battery life during recording: Users report significantly better battery performance
• Detailed ride data matters to you: The analytics and data quality are preferred by serious cyclists
• You ride in areas with poor cell coverage: Offline capabilities are more robust
• You don’t need social features: If you’re not interested in the social aspects, RWGPS focuses on the cycling fundamentals

The Realistic "Both Platforms" Approach

Based on user experiences, many cyclists find the optimal solution is using both platforms. Each platform excels in different areas, and the cost of both subscriptions is still reasonable compared to high-end cycling equipment. Using RWGPS for planning and navigation and Strava for social features and route discovery addresses the limitations of each platform. Modern GPS devices make this hybrid approach easy through automatic uploads to multiple platforms. For newcomers to cycling platforms, consider starting with Strava’s generous free tier to understand your needs, then adding RWGPS if route planning becomes important. Many experienced cyclists successfully use both platforms, leveraging the strengths of each to improve their overall cycling experience.