Zwift launches a $29.99-a-month tier with adaptive coaching and filmed real-world roads
Zwift Plus costs $10 a month more than the standard membership, which stays at $19.99. It adds Zwift Coach and 21 video routes, from the Alps to the Scottish Highlands.
Zwift launched a second, more expensive membership on 29 October. Zwift Plus costs $29.99, €29.99 or £26.99 a month and adds two features that standard members do not get: an adaptive training plan called Zwift Coach, and Zwift Video, a set of filmed real-world roads.
The standard membership is unchanged at $19.99, €19.99 or £17.99 a month. On Zwift’s support pages, annual Zwift Plus costs $299.99 or £269.99, against $199.99 or £179.99 for the standard plan. Plus is a full tier that replaces the standard membership, not an add-on.
New members who choose a monthly plan get 14 days free with full Plus access. Zwift says existing monthly members can upgrade free for a month as a launch offer, and annual members are being offered a limited-time 10% discount.
Zwift Coach
Coach builds a plan from a rider’s goal, schedule, experience and preferences, entered in the Zwift Companion app. Rather than relying only on structured workouts in ERG mode (where the trainer sets the resistance), it can also prescribe routes, rides with Zwift’s computer-controlled pace groups, and events. A new “Coach Analysis” tab gives feedback after each ride, and the plan adjusts when a session is missed.
Zwift says the training model is “grounded in peer-reviewed sports science” and draws on anonymised power and heart-rate data from millions of riders. According to DC Rainmaker, the coaching uses models from one of the creators of BestBikeSplit, a race-pacing tool, to assign workouts written by people. DC Rainmaker reported that artificial intelligence is used only to pick which activity fits the required load, and the5krunner likewise reported that Coach does not use AI to set training load.
There are gaps at launch. Coach does not yet prescribe outdoor rides, though it accounts for them once they are done, both outlets reported. DC Rainmaker found that runs count towards load but are not prescribed, and that data from WHOOP or Oura is displayed but not yet used to adjust the plan.
Ray Maker of DC Rainmaker found that the plan adapted sensibly when he skipped workouts, but said it was too early to judge its quality. No independent evaluation of Zwift Coach has been published.
Zwift Video
Zwift Video launches with 21 routes covering 385 km in six countries. Zwift lists the French Alps, Mallorca, Tenerife, the Western Cape, the Lofoten Islands, southern Utah, Colorado and the Scottish Highlands among them. Examples include the Col du Galibier and Sa Calobra, the5krunner reported. Zwift keeps its game features on these roads: other riders, drafting, PowerUps, segment leaderboards and experience points.
Zwift filmed the routes itself, DC Rainmaker reported, with cameras mounted on cars driven at cycling speed. Most routes take under an hour, and organised events and meet-ups on them are promised “in the coming months”. New routes will arrive in regular batches from the start of 2027, Zwift said.
The routes stream in up to 4K. The reviewer Shane Miller measured about 15 GB per 30 minutes at that setting, the5krunner reported, and Zwift blocks the video on mobile data. Offline downloads are not yet available, according to DC Rainmaker.
Why Rouvy matters here
Zwift agreed to buy Rouvy, the Czech real-route app, in April, road.cc reported. Rouvy still runs as a separate app with its own subscription, and Zwift told DC Rainmaker that “Rouvy keeps being Rouvy, and Zwift keeps being Zwift.” Zwift Video is its own footage, not Rouvy’s library merged in.
That leaves riders with a choice inside one company: Rouvy’s far larger library of filmed roads, or a smaller set of routes with Zwift’s racing and social features on top.
Is it worth it?
Maker described the video routes as feeling “premium” and like Zwift, but said: “I’m on the fence about whether I’ll upgrade my membership.” His conclusion was that riders who want “to spend an extra $10 for routes and coaching” should go ahead.
For riders who already follow a plan from a coach, TrainingPeaks or TrainerRoad, Coach adds little, and the extra $10 a month ($100 a year on an annual plan) buys 21 roads for now. For those who ride Zwift without a plan, Plus offers structure inside the app they already use. How well that structure works is something only time and independent testing will show.
