Runna alternatives: 6 options, free and paid

Why runners look for a Runna alternative

Runna costs $19.99/month or $119.99/year in the US after a 7-day free trial. Strava, which agreed to buy Runna in April 2025, also sells a Strava + Runna plan for $149.99 a year. For a runner who trains for one race a year, that is a real line in the budget.

The other reason is scope. Runna plans running, from 5K to ultra, plus strength plans built for runners. If your week also has two rides, a swim or a gym session that isn’t about running, you end up juggling a second plan and guessing whether Thursday’s intervals clash with Wednesday’s leg day.

What to look for in an alternative

• Price after the trial: free, monthly, or a yearly fee plus a plan you buy separately.
• Which sports share one plan: running only, separate plans per sport, or one week that counts hard days across everything.
• How workouts reach your watch: a structured workout with your paces, or an app that only records the run.
• How the plan changes: automatic adjustments, editing by hand, a human coach, or a chat.
• What happens during the run: audio cues, or targets on the watch screen.

Runna alternatives compared

The alternatives, one by one

1. Garmin Coach: free, if you already own a Garmin

Garmin Coach lives in the Garmin Connect app and costs nothing. Garmin offers plans for running, cycling, strength, triathlon and general fitness. For running you pick Garmin Run Coach, whose workouts change day to day based on your performance and health metrics, or a plan from Jeff Galloway, Greg McMillan or Amy Parkerson-Mitchell. Garmin says select plans also adjust when you sleep badly. It works on Garmin devices only, and the plans on offer depend on your model; Garmin Connect+, a paid plan, adds coaching videos.

Best for: a Garmin runner who wants a sensible free plan. Our Runna vs Garmin Coach comparison goes deeper.

2. Nike Run Club: free, with audio-guided runs

Nike Run Club is free on the App Store, with training plans (a 4-week get-started plan, half marathon plans and a 12-week marathon plan in the US, UK and seven other countries) and a library of Audio Guided Runs. It has an Apple Watch app and syncs with Apple Health; Nike’s pages don’t list Garmin.

Best for: newer runners on an iPhone or Apple Watch who are motivated by a coach’s voice.

3. MOTTIV: a free plan with strength and mobility

MOTTIV’s free plan gives you a personalized plan for one race at a time with guided strength and mobility workouts and nutrition tips, for running, triathlon, duathlon, cycling and swimrun. It has no app or device connections; Premium, at $19.99 a month or $179.99 a year, adds unlimited races, connections such as Strava and Garmin, and removes workout ads.

Best for: a runner who wants a free, structured plan with gym work and follows it on the phone.

4. Coopah: human coaches behind the app

Coopah is a running app built around its coaches. Its App Store listing describes adaptive plans, a weekly coach’s report and “24/7 expert coaching” that mixes instant AI answers with human coaches, and strength and conditioning is part of every plan. Its UK site prices it at £9.99 a month on an annual subscription after a free week. It syncs with Garmin, Apple Watch, COROS and Strava.

Best for: runners who want to ask a real coach about pacing, fuelling or shoes.

5. TrainingPeaks: buy a plan, own the platform

TrainingPeaks is a training platform rather than a coach. Premium costs $134.99 a year; plans written by coaches are sold separately, and live coaching starts at $149 a month. Structured workouts sync to Garmin, Apple Watch, Wahoo and Zwift. Garmin bought TrainingPeaks in July 2026. You pick, buy and adjust the plan yourself.

Best for: athletes who want a specific coach’s plan and deep analysis tools.

6. TextFit: multisport, on Garmin or Apple Watch

TextFit is our app. It’s an AI coach for iPhone that plans your running, cycling, swimming and strength in one week, puts the next 7 days on your Garmin or Apple Watch as structured workouts, and changes the plan when you tell it what changed. The first 14 days are free, then it’s $14.99 a month or $99.99 a year.

Best for: runners who also ride, swim or lift and want one plan that counts all of it.

Where TextFit fits

TextFit counts hard days across running, cycling, swimming and strength: at most two a week (three above eight sessions), never back to back, the long workout at the weekend. The next 7 days go to Garmin Connect or Apple’s WorkoutKit with your own paces, watts and heart rates, and “Move my long run to Sunday” in the coach chat changes the plan with Undo. How the coach builds a week lists every rule; the AI running coach page shows a full running week.

Switching from Runna

There is nothing to import. Let your Runna subscription run out, install TextFit, and describe your current fitness in your own words, for example “half marathon in 1:52, running 4 times a week”. The coach turns that into paces and builds your first two weeks; without a known threshold pace, it schedules a 30-minute run test first. Training for a marathon or half? The marathon training apps comparison covers the race-specific details.

FAQ

What is the best free alternative to Runna?

On a Garmin, Garmin Coach is free inside Garmin Connect and some plans adapt to your recovery. Nike Run Club is free with plans and audio-guided runs. MOTTIV has a free plan without device connections. TextFit has a 14-day free trial, then costs $14.99 a month, and covers running, cycling, swimming and strength on Garmin or Apple Watch.

Is there a free version of Runna?

Runna has a 7-day free trial. After that it costs $19.99 a month or $119.99 a year in the US (checked on 29 October 2026). Strava also sells a Strava + Runna plan for $149.99 a year.

Does Runna work with Garmin and Apple Watch?

Yes. Runna lists Garmin, COROS, Fitbit, Suunto and Apple Watch, and it can give live audio cues through your phone, its own Apple Watch app, Garmin and Suunto watches.

Which Runna alternative also plans cycling, swimming or gym work?

Garmin Coach has separate plans for running, cycling, strength and triathlon. MOTTIV covers running, triathlon, duathlon, cycling and swimrun with strength and mobility. TextFit plans running, cycling, swimming and strength together in one weekly plan, and counts hard days across all of them.

Is Garmin Coach as good as Runna?

For a Garmin owner who wants a free running plan, Garmin Coach covers the basics well, and select plans adjust to your sleep and recovery. Runna is a broader running app that works with five watch brands and adds audio cues, at $19.99 a month. The full comparison is on our Runna vs Garmin Coach page.

Sources

Prices checked on 2026-10-29 (US prices unless noted; they vary by country and change). Where we write “not listed”, the feature wasn’t on the pages below that day, which doesn’t prove the app lacks it. Spotted something out of date? Email support@textfit.app.

• Runna: Runna pricing, Runna homepage FAQ (devices, strength, support), Runna help: audio cues, Runna on the App Store, Strava pricing (Strava + Runna plan)
• Garmin Coach: Garmin Coach overview, Garmin Coach running plans, Garmin Coach triathlon plan
• Nike Run Club: Nike Run Club on the App Store, Nike Run Club app page
• MOTTIV: MOTTIV pricing, MOTTIV homepage
• Coopah: Coopah homepage, Coopah on the App Store
• TrainingPeaks: TrainingPeaks pricing for athletes, TrainingPeaks help: structured workout sync, Garmin newsroom: Garmin acquires TrainingPeaks

More comparisons

• Runna vs Garmin Coach: A paid coach-designed running plan against a free plan built into Garmin Connect, plus a multisport third option.
• Best marathon training apps: Runna, Garmin Coach, Nike Run Club, MOTTIV, Coopah, TrainingPeaks plans and TextFit for a marathon or half marathon.
• Triathlon training apps: TriDot, HumanGO, Athletica, AI Endurance, MOTTIV, TrainerRoad, Garmin Coach, TrainingPeaks and TextFit for swim, bike and run.