Wellness · checked 2026-10-19

Can I vibecode Strava?

KINDA· weekend project

For one person, the paid layer on top of recording is analysis over your own files: maps, splits, best efforts, a training-load curve, a heatmap and goals. An agent can build that from FIT and GPX files in a weekend with no Strava API at all, and ready-made versions like Endurain and Intervals.icu already exist. What you can't rebuild is the network: segment leaderboards ranked against everyone else, friends, kudos, and route suggestions drawn from millions of other people's tracks. If those are why you pay, a build replaces the dashboard and not the reason.

$11.99/moprice

$144you'd save a year

weekendbuild time

—people replaced it

Before you start

What you need on hand.

DifficultyIntermediate · Some system setup or keys.

TimeA weekend; the training-load maths and the heatmap take the longest

Claude Code, Codex or CursorAny of them can run the prompt.
Python 3.12fitparse, gpxpy and FastAPI install with pip; nothing compiles.
Your activity filesRequest a bulk export from Strava settings, or copy .fit files off your watch. The export arrives by email after a few hours.
A heart-rate or power settingTraining load needs a max or threshold heart rate, or an FTP, set in the app.

Before you buildFree Strava still records and shares your activities, and Intervals.icu gives free training analysis. Try those before building.

1. Install one agent: Claude Code, Codex, Cursor.
2. Make an empty folder and open it in the agent.
3. Paste the prompt below, press enter, and answer its questions as it builds.

The prompt

Build me a personal training log to replace the analysis side of Strava. Requirements:

- Python 3.12 with FastAPI, Jinja pages and a little vanilla JS on http://127.0.0.1:4880;
Leaflet with OpenStreetMap tiles for maps and Chart.js for charts.
- Import: watch ./inbox and read .fit, .fit.gz, .gpx and .tcx files (`fitparse`, `gpxpy`),
including the activities/ folder of a Strava bulk export plus its activities.csv for names
and gear. Store everything in SQLite at ./data/training.db (SQLAlchemy): activities, samples
thinned to one point per 5 seconds, laps. Skip duplicates by start time and duration.
- Activity page: the track coloured by pace or heart rate, elevation, pace/power/heart-rate
charts, splits per km or mile, and best efforts for 1 km, 5 km, 10 km, the half marathon
and 20-minute power.
- Dashboard: weekly and monthly distance and time, personal records, monthly distance goals
with progress, and a training-load curve: TRIMP from heart rate, or TSS from power with FTP
set in settings, drawn as fitness, fatigue and form.
- Heatmap: every track on one map with a sport filter, built as a single GeoJSON layer.
- Routes: click points on the map, snap them to roads or trails through BRouter
(BROUTER_URL in .env, default the public server), show elevation and export GPX.
- My own segments: select a stretch of one activity, and list my times over it across all
activities, matching tracks within 25 m of the stretch.
- Single user. No accounts, no telemetry, local-first. Outbound calls: map tiles and BRouter.
- Out of scope: the Strava API, live recording, feed and kudos, other people's segments, a
mobile app.
- README: how to request a Strava export (Settings, My Account, Download your account), and an
honest note that leaderboards and route suggestions from other people's data stay with Strava.

Opens your agent with the prompt filled in, you press enter. Or copy it and paste it into an empty folder.

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Then keep going

Next prompts, same folder.

The first prompt builds the core. Run these one at a time in the same folder to grow it into your own Strava.

Extend the training log in this folder. Requirements:

- Add a `sync-garmin` command that pulls new activities from Garmin Connect with
  `garminconnect`, using GARMIN_EMAIL and GARMIN_PASSWORD from .env, and saves each original
  .fit file in ./inbox so the normal import picks it up.
- Remember the last synced activity id in ./data/training.db; run it from cron or on demand.
- Stop with a clear message if Garmin asks for a verification code; never retry in a loop.
- Update the README, including that this unofficial route can break when Garmin changes.

Add a weekly summary to the training log in this folder. Requirements:

- Every Monday at 07:00 local time, send an email through SMTP settings in .env with last
  week's distance, time, longest activity, new personal records and training-load change.
- Include a small PNG map of the longest activity, drawn with `staticmap` from the track.
- Schedule it with APScheduler inside the FastAPI process, and add a
  `send-summary --dry-run` command that prints the message instead of sending it.
- Update the README.

Add training plans to the training log in this folder. Requirements:

- Create a plan for a race date: weekly distance targets that build for 3 weeks and ease
  in the fourth, editable per week in the UI.
- On the dashboard show planned against actual distance for each week, with the gap in
  kilometres.
- Store plans in ./data/training.db and export a plan to an .ics file with one all-day
  event per week.
- Out of scope: day-by-day workouts and adaptive coaching.
- Update the README.

What you lose

Segment leaderboards that rank you against other people
The feed, kudos, clubs and friends
Route suggestions and popularity heatmaps built from everyone's activities
Automatic uploads from watches, bike computers and phone apps
Saved routes with offline maps on your phone

Why people still pay

Strava is where the people you train with already are, and segment competition and kudos only exist there. Reddit threads about leaving keep coming back to the same split: if you only want analysis, free tools do it, but runners and riders with a club or a group on Strava stay for the leaderboards and the route and heatmap tools.

Moatnetwork effects proprietary data execution polish

Do the math

Strava or your own copy?

Over

Your usage

Count my time12h ×$/h

Strava, 1 yr$144

Your own copy, 1 yr$38running + build session

You keep$106pays for itself in the first month

Estimate · Runs on your computer for free. A small VPS adds about $5 a month if you want it reachable from your phone. The build is token usage on your agent plan.

Leaving Strava

Take your data, then cancel.

1 · Take your data out of Strava

1Sign in on strava.com, hover your name at the top right and choose Settings, then the My Account tab.
2Under "Download your account" click Get Started, then Request download.
3Strava emails a link to the address on your profile; it can take a few hours.
4Strava's article calls the result an archive of your account without listing the files. Outside guides describe an activities folder with .fit, .gpx or gzipped files plus an activities.csv; check your own archive, since photos and descriptions may be missing.

2 · Cancel Strava

1On the website: profile picture at the top right, Settings, My Account, Cancel Subscription.
2In the iOS or Android app: the You tab, the gear icon, Your Strava Subscription, then Manage Your Subscription; you can also cancel from the App Store or Google Play.
3Cancel on the same platform where you subscribed, and at least 24 hours before the renewal date.
4You keep subscription features until the end of the paid term, and your activities stay.

Refunds: for web subscriptions, contact Strava Support within 14 days of purchase; after that they aren't refundable. Apple and Google handle refunds for app purchases. Cancelling after a renewal doesn't refund it.
Developer Hub data isn't in the standard export and needs a separate request while the account is active.
Cancelling keeps you on the free tier, so you can still use the feed and keep your friends while you test a replacement.
Third-party apps may show your Strava data only to you since Strava's November 2024 API changes, and Strava's terms bar using API data in AI models. Build from your export files instead.

Checked 2026-10-19 against Strava's docs: 1, 2, 3, 4

The escape hatch

Don't feel like building it? These are already free.

EndurainOpen sourceAGPL-3.0 self-hosted fitness tracker that imports Strava and Garmin Connect data or .gpx, .tcx and .fit files; its maintainers have a temporary feature freeze.★ 2.3k · active Oct 2026 · docker to self-host
WebVisit ↗FitTrackeeOpen sourceAGPL-3.0 self-hosted outdoor activity tracker with GPX import, maps and statistics.★ 1.2k · active Oct 2026 · docker to self-host
WebVisit ↗Intervals.icuFreeFree hosted training analysis with fitness and fatigue curves, power and heart-rate analytics, and sync from Strava and Garmin; an optional $4 a month Supporter plan.they host it
WebVisit ↗

All 6 free alternatives to Strava ›

The numbers

Strava pricing

Plan	Monthly	Annual, per month	What you get
Free	$0	$0	Record activities and join the community feed.
Individual	$11.99	$6.67	Routes with offline maps, segment leaderboards, advanced training analysis and workout insights, custom goals and challenges, Fitness Score.
Family	—	$11.67	Individual features for four accounts.
Student	—	$3.33	Individual features at half price for verified students.
Strava + Runna	—	$12.50	Individual features plus Runna's custom running plans and coaching.

Free tier: No segment leaderboards, route planning or training analysis on free. Teachers, military members and medical professionals get 25% off individual plans, which can't be combined with other discounts.
Billing: Individual is billed monthly or yearly with a 30-day trial: you are charged after it unless you cancel at least 24 hours before, and Strava emails a reminder two days earlier. Family, Student and the Runna bundle are annual only. Tax is extra. If you subscribed in the iOS or Android app, Apple or Google bills you and you cancel and ask for refunds there.
Hidden costs: Billed monthly the subscription costs about 80% more than the annual rate, so $11.99 a month is the price of staying flexible. Prices differ by country.
Source: www.strava.com

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Questions

Strava, briefly

Not answered here? Tell us and we'll add it.

Ask a question ›

Free lets you record and share activities and join the community; routes, segment leaderboards, advanced analysis and Fitness Score are subscription features.

Kinda. The core is a weekend build with the prompt on this page, but real gaps remain: Segment leaderboards that rank you against other people, The feed, kudos, clubs and friends.

About $11.99 a month on the Individual subscription plan, $143.88 a year (checked 2026-10-19).

Segment leaderboards that rank you against other people; The feed, kudos, clubs and friends; Route suggestions and popularity heatmaps built from everyone's activities; Automatic uploads from watches, bike computers and phone apps; Saved routes with offline maps on your phone. If any of those matter to you, keep paying.