Even if you buy a Peloton bike, you still need a membership to access the company’s classes—but maybe not if you’re also a Fitbit user. Peloton announced this week that they will begin offering their digital classes to Fitbit Premium members, starting in September. Details are sparse at the moment, but here’s everything we know.
What types of Peloton classes will be available to Fitbit Premium members?
If you’re used to thinking of Peloton as an exercise bike, you may have missed that the company offers many types of video classes on its devices and via its app. This means you could conceivably watch the video for a cycling class while you’re on an exercise bike at your gym, or pick up some dumbbells and do a strength class in your living room.
For this partnership, Peloton says they will give Fitbit Premium members access to classes covering:
Strength
Pilates
Running
Boxing
Cycling
Barre
“And more”
How will I be able to access these classes?
Peloton didn’t answer my questions about the specifics, but the announcement indicates that “[n]ew content will be added to the app incrementally,” suggesting that they mean the Fitbit app. The Fitbit app already includes a library of workouts available to Premium members, so the plan may be to add Peloton content to this library.
No word yet on whether the Peloton content will eventually include everything you could get from the Peloton app, or whether it will be a limited or rotating selection.
Who gets access to these classes?
Peloton said the classes will be available to Fitbit Premium members in the U.S., U.K., Canada, and Australia, and that it’s a “multi-year” partnership.
The announcement also noted a “select group of Peloton classes will be available to Fitbit users without a Premium subscription, as well.” The companies have not announced any details about this yet, such as how many classes this selection will include.
How does the cost of Fitbit Premium compare to the cost of the Peloton app?
If you’re wondering whether it’s worth upgrading to Fitbit Premium for the classes, well, I’d say wait and see just how much content Fitbit Premium users actually get access to. But if you’d like to do the math right now:
Fitbit Premium is $9.99/month, or $79.99/year. Fitbit devices come with a free 6-month subscription to Premium.
Peloton App+ access is $24.99/month, and gets you access to Peloton’s full library of classes, including as many cycling, treadmill, and rower classes as you want to take.
Peloton App One access is $12.99/month, and its biggest limitation is that you’re limited to just three bike, treadmill, or rower classes each month. The other classes, like strength, HIIT, yoga, and outdoor running, are unimited.
Whether it’s worth switching from the Peloton app will depend on how much of its content makes it to Fitbit Premium users. If it ends up being a pretty full library, or if you only want to take the occasional class, Fitbit Premium will be the better deal on paper. But the companies aren’t spilling all the details yet, so we’ll have to wait and see.
Do Peloton members get anything from this partnership?
There was one sentence about current Peloton members in the announcement: “Throughout the partnership, Peloton Members will receive special Google Pixel Watch and Fitbit Charge 6 device offers.”
