Garmin Unveils Paid AI Capabilities with New Garmin Connect Plus Subscription
Garmin is incorporating artificial intelligence into its fitness application—but utilizing these new functionalities will incur a fee.
On Thursday, the well-liked smartwatch brand among athletes and fitness enthusiasts launched Garmin Connect Plus, a new premium subscription level for its Garmin Connect mobile application. This enhanced version of the app, which showcases users’ health and fitness metrics, presents a range of AI-driven tools as its primary highlight.
These features, collectively termed Active Intelligence, are designed to offer “tailored insights and recommendations throughout the day based on health and activity metrics,” according to Garmin’s official statement. The more users interact with the app, the more customized these insights will be to their specific objectives and routines.
While Garmin has not disclosed many specifics about what these AI-generated insights will encompass, the company is sufficiently confident in their worth to require a subscription. This represents a departure from Garmin’s earlier model, which provided free access to health and fitness information—unlike competitors like Whoop, Fitbit, and Oura, which have consistently mandated paid subscriptions or premium options.
This is not Garmin’s initial move toward monetizing advanced features. In 2023, the company introduced Outdoor Maps Plus, a $50 enhancement that offered improved mapping functions for selected smartwatches. That decision hinted at a wider strategy of launching paid add-ons.
The positive news for current users: all existing health information and standard functionalities within the Garmin Connect app will stay free—for the time being. Thus, if you are already utilizing the app, your current experience will not alter unless you opt for the upgrade.
Garmin’s decision emerges in the context of intense competition in the wearable and fitness technology arena. Competitors such as Whoop, Fitbit, and Oura continue to expand, while tech giants like Google, Samsung, and Apple present their own smartwatches laden with health and AI capabilities. The fitness application Strava is also gaining momentum with its subscription-driven approach.
For those interested in Garmin Connect Plus, the company is providing a 30-day free trial. Following this period, access to the premium functionalities will cost $6.99 monthly or $69.99 annually.