Runna

Runna: how Strava’s running coach app works

Runna is a subscription running app that builds a training plan around your goal, sends each session to your watch and changes the plan as you complete it. It was founded in 2021 by Dom Maskell and Ben Parker, launched in March 2022, and has been owned by Strava since April 2025. Runna still runs as a separate app with its own subscription, and Strava also sells the two together as one plan.

Plans run from a first 5K to a faster marathon. Runna works with Garmin, Apple Watch, COROS, Suunto and Amazfit watches, and it is Strava’s answer to Garmin’s free coaching and its purchase of TrainingPeaks.

How Runna plans work

You start by building a runner profile: your current running, the days you can train and the goal. Runna turns that into a weekly plan of easy runs, speed sessions, a long run and recovery runs, each with pace targets. Strength and mobility sessions sit alongside the running.

The plan moves as you train. Completed sessions feed back into Runna, later paces and sessions adjust to match, and a predicted race time updates as your fitness changes. The plan is generated and adjusted automatically by the app, and whether that counts as AI is the most searched Runna question on this site. The full answer is in the Is Runna AI? guide listed below.

Strava ownership and price

Strava bought Runna in April 2025 and The Breakaway, a cycling training app, the following month. Strava chief executive Michael Martin said at the time that Runna would remain a standalone app, and it has. Integration has come through shared features instead: Strava’s race discovery uses Runna’s race database, and Runna was one of 14 integrations in Strava’s May 2026 strength overhaul.

Runna Premium cost $119.99 a year or $19.99 a month in the US at the time of the acquisition. The Strava + Runna plan, launched in July 2025, costs $149.99 a year in the US and £119.99 in the UK and includes the paid tiers of both apps. Strava’s own pricing page puts Strava alone at $79.99 a year. You cannot hold a standalone Runna subscription and the bundle at the same time.

Strava had more than 180 million registered users by late 2025. It confidentially submitted a draft S-1 to the SEC in early 2026 and had not listed by the end of September. The Strava IPO analysis covers what a listing could mean for subscribers.

Strava plus Runna against Garmin plus TrainingPeaks

Runna gave Strava a reason for runners to open the app before a run rather than only after it. Garmin moved the other way in July 2026, buying TrainingPeaks and TrainHeroic to put a coaching platform behind its hardware. Garmin already gives plans away: Garmin Coach and Daily Suggested Workouts are free on compatible watches.

The two camps meet on the wrist. Runna supports every Garmin watch that supports Garmin Coach, so a Runna subscriber on a Forerunner follows a Strava-owned plan on Garmin hardware, and the finished run goes from Garmin Connect to Strava. For a Garmin owner, the buying question is whether Runna’s plans are worth paying for over the free plans already on the watch. Strava has answered with Instant Workouts, and Garmin with a more social Connect.

Runna and injuries

In February 2026 the Wall Street Journal reported physical therapists seeing a wave of Runna-related injuries. That report and a first-hand test of a Runna marathon plan are covered here. The problem areas were pace progression, intensity distribution and recovery. Runna’s academic review with Loughborough University, announced in August 2026, covers the same three areas.

Watches that work with Runna

Runna’s watch support pages list five brands. Premium subscribers get the next two weeks of workouts synced to the watch every Monday. Only run workouts sync; strength sessions stay in the app.

  • Garmin: every watch that supports Garmin Coach.
  • Apple Watch: supported.
  • COROS: Pace, Pace 2, Pace 3, Pace 4, Pace Pro, Nomad, Apex 2, Apex 2 Pro, Apex 4, Vertix 2, Vertix 2S and Dura.
  • Suunto: 3, 5, 9, 9 Baro, Peak, 5 Peak, 9 Peak, 9 Peak Pro, Race and Vertical. Suunto Run is not supported.
  • Amazfit: supported.

Polar, Samsung Galaxy Watch, Pixel Watch and other Wear OS watches are not on Runna’s list. Runna recommends turning off auto lap and auto pause for structured sessions. Plans failing to sync to Suunto Race S are covered in Fix Files #14. Compare watches in the running watches hub.

All Runna articles

Runna guides (coming soon)

  • Is Runna AI? How its training plans actually adapt
  • Is Runna too aggressive? The injury question answered
  • Runna review 2026: predicted vs actual race time
  • How much does Runna cost? Runna vs Strava bundle
  • Runna vs Garmin Coach: free plans or paid coaching?
  • Runna vs ChatGPT: can a chatbot write your plan?
  • Runna on Garmin, Apple Watch, COROS and Suunto: setup and sync fixes
  • Nike Run Club vs Runna: free vs paid running plans

Runna news and features

Strava, Garmin and coaching platforms

Quick answers

Is Runna owned by Strava?
Yes. Strava bought Runna in April 2025. Runna still runs as a separate app, and Strava sells a combined Strava + Runna subscription.

How much does Runna cost?
Runna Premium cost $119.99 a year or $19.99 a month in the US at the time of the Strava deal. The Strava + Runna bundle costs $149.99 a year in the US and £119.99 in the UK and includes Strava’s paid tier.

Does Runna work with Garmin?
Yes. Runna supports every Garmin watch that supports Garmin Coach. Runna Premium syncs the next two weeks of run workouts to Garmin Connect every Monday.

Which watches work with Runna?
Runna lists Garmin, Apple Watch, COROS, Suunto and Amazfit. Polar, Samsung Galaxy Watch and other Wear OS watches are not on the list, and Suunto Run is not supported.

Is Runna AI?
Runna generates your plan and adjusts it automatically as you complete sessions. The Is Runna AI? guide explains how the adjustments work.

Does Runna cause injuries?
In February 2026 the Wall Street Journal reported physical therapists seeing a wave of Runna-related injuries linked to pace progression, intensity distribution and recovery. Runna’s review with Loughborough University covers the same three areas.

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