Comparison · Checked on November 3, 2026
OpenAthlete vs Runna
Runna is a very good app. You pick a race, it builds a plan written by coaches, adjusts it as you go, and sends each run to your watch. The phone experience is polished, and for a first half marathon it takes most of the guesswork away.
It also costs $119.99 a year, has belonged to Strava since April 2025, and keeps its plan logic to itself. OpenAthlete works the other way round: a free calendar you or your coach control, free plans to start from, and AI that writes sessions when you ask.
A better pick if
Runna
You want a plan that adjusts itself in a polished phone app, without thinking about it.
A better pick if
OpenAthleteYou want to own your plan, maybe with a coach, see your load, and not pay a subscription for it.
At a glance
Runna and OpenAthlete, side by side
Every claim about Runna 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
OpenAthlete- Who owns it
RunnaStrava, since April 2025[1]
OpenAthleteAn independent developer in Grenoble. No investors.
- Open source
RunnaNo
OpenAthleteYes, AGPL-3.0[2]
- Self-hosting
RunnaNo
OpenAthleteYes, free, from one Docker Compose file[2]
- Price for athletes
OpenAthleteFree, every feature. Supporter is optional: €5/month or €50/year
- Training plans
RunnaAdaptive plans from 5K to marathon, written by coaches[3]
OpenAthleteYou build the blocks, alone or with a coach. Free plans on this site import straight into the calendar.
- Room for a human coach
RunnaNo coach accounts[3]
OpenAthleteYes: invite your coach. It's free for them up to 5 athletes.
- Planned workouts sent to the watch
RunnaApple Watch, Garmin, COROS, Fitbit[3]
OpenAthleteGarmin, Suunto, COROS. No Apple Watch.
- Sports
RunnaRunning[3]
OpenAthleteRunning, trail, cycling, swimming, triathlon and 50+ other sport types
- Native mobile apps
RunnaPolished iOS and Android apps[3]
OpenAthleteInstallable web app today. iOS and Android apps coming soon.
Sources
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 Spotted something out of date?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
Free
Calendar, workout builder, watch sync, analysis and training load cost nothing. Runna is $119.99 a year, or €139.99 with Strava.
A human in the loop
Invite a coach. They see every session, your answers to the post-run questions, and any pain you report.
You see the load
Fitness, fatigue and form, projected over the weeks ahead. You see a block ramping too fast instead of taking the app's word for it.
More than running
Trail, cycling, swimming, triathlon and 50+ sport types on one calendar.
Where Runna is better
Plans that adapt themselves
Runna reworks your plan as the weeks go by. OpenAthlete has no automatic plan generator: you, your coach, or an AI assistant through MCP adjust the calendar.
The phone app
Runna is built for the phone, and it shows. Our iOS and Android apps are in testing; until then, OpenAthlete is an installable web app.
Apple Watch
Runna sends runs to Apple Watch. OpenAthlete doesn't.
Price
What a self-coached athlete pays in a year
The paid tier of each product, at list price. OpenAthlete's free plan already has every feature.
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.
OpenAthleteFree plan, every feature
€0/year
OpenAthlete SupporterSupporter: AI on our keys, unlimited athletes
€50/year
RunnaYearly plan
$119.99/year
Strava + RunnaStrava and Runna together
€139.99/year
Checked on November 3, 2026. USD prices are before tax, as published; euro prices include VAT. Bar lengths convert at about 1 USD = 0.87 EUR.
Moving over
Switching from Runna
What really comes across, and what doesn't.
Create a free account
Athlete, coach or both. No card, no trial clock.
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.
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.
Rebuild your key sessions
Planned workouts and plans from Runna don't come across. Save your staple sessions once as templates, or describe one in a sentence and let the AI structure it.
Bring your athletes, or your coach
Invitations go by email, both ways. Each athlete connects their own watch, so their activities follow them.
About Runna
Mid-plan? Finish the block on Runna, then start fresh: pick a free plan on this site for your distance and goal time, and import it into your calendar.
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: calendar, structured workouts sent to Garmin, Suunto and COROS, training load and analysis. Free running, trail and triathlon plans on this site import straight into it.
No. The AI writes or edits single sessions from a sentence, and an assistant like Claude or ChatGPT can plan a whole block through the MCP server. Nothing reshapes your plan behind your back: you or your coach decide.
Not directly. OpenAthlete connects to Garmin, COROS, Suunto, Polar and Strava, and reads FIT, GPX and TCX files. If your Apple Watch runs reach Strava, they can come in from there.
Yes. Connect it and OpenAthlete imports every activity, plus your full history on request. Nothing is posted back to Strava.
Other comparisons
Try OpenAthlete next to Runna
Free, every feature, no card. Connect your watch and compare on your own training.
Free forever. No credit card.