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OpenAthlete

Comparison · Checked on November 3, 2026

OpenAthlete vs Nolio

Nolio is the platform French clubs know. It's a Grenoble company, a partner of the French athletics federation, and it says 4,500 coaches and 60,000 athletes use it. The free athlete tier is generous, the apps are native, and club pricing is built for associations.

We're from Grenoble too, so that's not the argument. The differences are elsewhere: the code is open and you can host it yourself, AI is built in with your own key, and above five athletes a coach pays €50 a year, whatever the roster.

A better pick if

Nolio

Your club needs association pricing with several coaches on one account, your athletes want store apps now, or you rely on the exercise videos.

VS

A better pick if

OpenAthlete

You coach alone or in a small team, want AI on your terms, and a price that doesn't climb with the roster.

At a glance

Nolio and OpenAthlete, side by side

Every claim about Nolio links to the page we read it on. Where we couldn't check something, there's no row.

  • Yes
  • Partly
  • Not offered, or not listed on the vendor's own pages
Who owns it

NolioA Grenoble company, partner of the French athletics federation (FFA)[1]

OpenAthleteAn independent developer, also in Grenoble. No investors.

Open source

NolioNo

OpenAthleteYes, AGPL-3.0[2]

Self-hosting

NolioNo

OpenAthleteYes, free, from one Docker Compose file[2]

Price for athletes

NolioFree tier with sync, structured workouts and analysis. Premium €6.90/month[3]

OpenAthleteFree, every feature. Supporter is optional: €5/month or €50/year

Planned workouts sent to the watch

NolioYes, on the free tier[3]

OpenAthleteFree: Garmin, Suunto, COROS. Not Polar.

Coach plans

NolioStarter €19.90 (3 athletes), Classic €29.90 (25), Pro €39.90 (30 and 2 coaches), per month[3]

OpenAthleteFree up to 5 athletes, then €50/year for as many as you like

Several coaches

Nolio€12/month per extra coach[3]

OpenAthleteAn athlete can have several coaches, each on their own free account

Club plans

NolioClub Starter €29.90 and Club Classic €49.90 per month, for associations[3]

OpenAthleteNo club account yet. Several coaches per athlete and group chat exist.

Built-in AI

NolioNone advertised on its site[1][3]

OpenAthleteYour own key (OpenAI, Anthropic, Mistral…) on every plan, or an allowance with Supporter. MCP server for Claude and ChatGPT.

Native mobile apps

NolioiOS and Android[1]

OpenAthleteInstallable web app today. iOS and Android apps coming soon.

Exercise video library

Nolio200+ videos, from strength to Hyrox[1]

OpenAthleteNo

Federation partnership

NolioFFA (French athletics)[1]

OpenAthleteNone

Sources

  1. [1]nolio.io/en
  2. [2]github.com/openathleteorg/openathlete
  3. [3]nolio.io/en/pricing

Checked on November 3, 2026. List prices as each vendor shows them: USD before tax, euros with VAT. Spotted something out of date? Write to contact@openathlete.org and we'll fix it.

Strengths

Each one is better at something

Where OpenAthlete is better

  • AI, with your key

    Write “10 km easy then 6 × 400 m at 5K pace” and get a structured session with your athlete's zones. After each activity, a short read and a few questions that log effort and pain for you. Nolio doesn't advertise AI.

  • The price above five athletes

    Classic at €29.90/month comes to €358.80 a year for 25 athletes; Pro for 30 is €478.80. OpenAthlete is €50 a year, flat.

  • Run your training from Claude or ChatGPT

    The MCP server lets an AI assistant read an athlete's training and plan up to 60 sessions straight into the calendar, then onto the watch.

  • Open source, self-hostable

    AGPL-3.0. A club can run its own instance for free, with single sign-on and invite-only signups.

Where Nolio is better

  • Club plans, several coaches

    Club Starter and Club Classic include several coaches and dozens of athletes for associations. OpenAthlete has no club account yet: each coach has their own.

  • Apps in the stores

    Native iOS and Android apps. Ours are in testing; until then, OpenAthlete is an installable web app.

  • Exercise videos

    200+ videos for strength, Hyrox and CrossFit work. We have none.

  • The FFA partnership

    If your club lives in the French athletics federation's world, that partnership counts.

Price

What a coach pays in a year

Move the slider to your roster size. List prices from each vendor's pricing page.

Free isn't a trial

Every feature is free, on our servers and on yours. If OpenAthlete saves you a subscription, Supporter (€50/year) adds AI on our keys and unlimited athletes, and pays for the servers. A coffee helps too.

Become a SupporterBuy us a coffee
15

OpenAthlete

Supporter, unlimited athletes

€50per year

  • TrainingPeaks

    $1,700.28

    Athletes on Premium, needed for workouts to reach their watch

  • Nolio

    €358.80

    Coach plan for this roster size, monthly billing

  • Final Surge

    $468

    Coach plan, monthly billing (17% less if paid yearly)

List prices on each vendor's pricing page, checked on November 3, 2026. US dollar prices are before tax; OpenAthlete prices include VAT. Sources: TrainingPeaks, Nolio, Final Surge.

Moving over

Switching from Nolio

What really comes across, and what doesn't.

1

Create a free account

Athlete, coach or both. No card, no trial clock.

2

Connect your watch accounts

In Settings > Connectors, press Import all activities. Strava and COROS bring your whole history (COROS serves 50 files a day, so it takes a few days). Garmin and Suunto bring the last 30 days; Polar, new activities only.

3

Upload older files

For anything older, upload FIT, GPX or TCX files from your watch app, many at once, up to 20 MB each. FIT and TCX keep their laps. Files already imported are skipped.

4

Rebuild your key sessions

Planned workouts and plans from Nolio don't come across. Save your staple sessions once as templates, or describe one in a sentence and let the AI structure it.

5

Bring your athletes, or your coach

Invitations go by email, both ways. Each athlete connects their own watch, so their activities follow them.

About Nolio

Nolio mentions full record access and an API on Premium; we haven't tested a file export from it. Your accounts are the simpler start: Strava or COROS bring your whole history, Garmin and Suunto the last 30 days, and FIT files cover the rest.

What OpenAthlete doesn't do (yet)

  • Store apps: iOS and Android are in testing. Today it's an installable web app.
  • No plan marketplace, no athlete billing.
  • No club or team account. An athlete can have several coaches, and that's it for now.
  • No workouts sent to Polar. No Wahoo, Zwift or Apple Watch.
  • Metric units only.
  • No automatic plan generator: the AI writes sessions, you build the plan.

Questions

OpenAthlete is free with every feature, including coaching up to 5 athletes and workouts sent to Garmin, Suunto and COROS. Supporter (€50/year) adds AI on our keys and unlimited athletes.

Yes, through OpenAthlete's MCP server, on every plan. The assistant can read the calendar, activities, load and records, and plan up to 60 sessions at once. Changes show up in the calendar and reach Garmin, Suunto or COROS watches.

Yes, with limits. There's no club account: each coach has their own, and an athlete can have several coaches. One Supporter account can hold every athlete, or each coach above five athletes pays €50 a year. A self-hosted instance has no limits at all.

Yes. The app speaks French, English, Spanish, Italian and Brazilian Portuguese.

From heart rate (Banister TRIMP) or session RPE, then fitness, fatigue and form, projected over the sessions you've planned. Every metric says what it measures and where it stops being reliable.

Other comparisons

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