ZWIFT vs ROUVY vs MyWhoosh – Indoor Cycling Apps reviewed and recommendations. Over the past few months we have been testing indoor cycling apps. In a number of cases then doing some retesting! We continue to test competitor cycling trainer apps but these are our top 3. Read through our comparison of the best indoor cycling apps to find out which is best. Included in our list is a free option so you don’t need to be limited in your training if cost is a serious factor.
I’m a massive fan of indoor cycling training having been an owner of a turbo trainer for the past 10 years. Now on my third smart turbo trainer an Elite Direto. I use indoor cycling apps every week all year round as enjoy the structure of the training and helps where I am time poor for training.
Read on for details on all three cycling apps. My choice from these as the best indoor cycling trainer is ZWIFT. The biggest reason for recommending it is the stability of the platform with the breadth of cycling content available. MyWhoosh continues to see improvements and as a free alternative always recommend people start with this but ZWIFT is my number one choice. Read on to find out why and areas where others are better.
Read my recommendation of the best smart turbo trainer 2024 for the best kit for indoor cycling training.
Summary of ZWIFT review
Trivelo Score – 4 / 5
Mark who tested ZWIFT for us is a full convert to ZWIFT. Previously he was a vocal hater of the indoor cycling app. ZWIFT delivers allowing you to get on and ride quickly. It is also super reliable with no crashing or loss of data mid ride. You can be online and riding compared to getting winter clothing on in minutes. It has a huge mountain range available on routes which are simply not reachable without huge travel commitments. I live in the UK and the mountains you can ride we simply do not have in the UK.
Marks biggest positive is the ability o realistically ride courses in the Alps. From using ZWIFT he can prepare himself for the long climbs. Even if you are a confident road cyclist using ZWIFT is well worthwhile. Mark is a multi-disciplined cyclists but finds the ability to do very focused interval work in a controlled manner is a huge strength for using ZWIFT.
ZWIFT is one of the finest indoor cycling trainers. Against everything we have tested it is the top indoor cycling trainer.
Read the full review of ZWIFT from Mark for more details.
Pros And Cons of ZWIFT
Pros
- Stable software with an intuitive interface
- Huge array of worlds and places to ride
- Massive community of users all over the world means you are rarely alone
Cons
- Only get 14 days as a free test
- Your indoor training world becomes dependant on having access to the internet
- You can’t upload real routes which certain other apps allow
Best Price for ZWIFT
To start using ZWIFT subscribe and connect to your smart turbo trainer at home. How much does ZWIFT cost? You can have an initial 14 day trial and then it is £12.99 per month on a subscription basis.
Video review of ZWIFT
See video from Mark with his review and thoughts on setting up ZWIFT.
Summary of ROUVY review
Trivelo Score – 3 / 5
I found ROUVY quick to set up and get going with my first indoor cycling ride using a smart turbo trainer. It includes a series of workouts tailored to your needs so perfect for anyone looking to improve. With regular interactive rides with other riders it ensures you don’t lose interest. It suffers from having limited social interaction with others and group rides are somewhat sparse in attendance. I liked the good connectivity with other apps like Strava and Garmin Connect which means workouts are quickly shared. I didn’t like the need to continually bounce out of the app onto the website and log in for details.
Plenty of good challenging rides that works well for anyone happy improving independently while using a smart turbo trainer. It still suffers from the odd crash and the connection between the app and the website can be frustrating. If you like the real road virtual simulator feel when riding it really stands out. Nobody else has managed to get the realistic virtual rides into indoor cycling training like ROUVY.
Read the full review of ROUVY that I completed this year with updates from the major October release.
Pros And Cons of ROUVY
Pros
- Good connectivity with smart turbo trainer
- Mobile app UI is simple and intuitive
- Gamification to improve with levels
Cons
- Limited numbers of users on group rides and social interaction
- Mobile app is missing key information that pushes you out to the web interface
Best Price for ROUVY
Buy the Rouvy App for £14.99 per month subscription
Video review of ROUVY
See my video with my review and thoughts on setting up ROUVY.
Summary of MyWhoosh review
Trivelo Score – 4 / 5
I found MyWhoosh really quick to set up and get going with my first indoor cycling ride using my Elite smart turbo trainer. The interface is really neat although I found it a bit too small to use in reality from an iPhone. The stability issues from a laptop lead me to use it purely from a smart phone size screen. Demanding graphics make it subject to crashing on a laptop. As I am a bit fickle with recording my rides I didn’t want to risk losing any results!
MyWhoosh includes a series of workouts, routes and group rides. The features are very close to ZWIFT and ROUVY with the obvious difference that MyWhoosh is currently still free. I really liked the interface with cutting edge graphics. The steering function is a bit of a novelty I wasn’t that bothered about where you can guide your avatar across junctions. I also found the resistance connection lagged more than some others with the workload not as firm as ZWIFT or ROUVY.
Read my full review of MyWhoosh where I go into more details on the indoor cycling app.
Pros And Cons of MyWhoosh
Pros
- Good connectivity with smart turbo trainer
- Mobile app UI is brilliant and very engaging
- No costs either up front or subscription and regular prize money available
- Strava ride connectivity to sync workouts
Cons
- Web interface is not very stable given demands graphics place on devices
- Data is hard to read from a mobile phone with upcoming gradient data hard to see
- Turbo trainer connection resulted in lower resistance than others
- No Garmin Connect connectivity to sync workouts
- Eats up lots of storage – iPhone app was 2.5GB of memory to run
Best Price for MyWhoosh
Download MyWhosh for free
Video review of MyWhoosh
See my video with my review and thoughts on setting up MyWhoosh.
Indoor Cycling Apps User Interfaces Compared
To start with ranking the apps for the user interface for the central dashboard and for the rider interface when cycling.
Splitting out to the user interface into three parts. Starting with the dashboard.
Rider Dashboard
- ZWIFT
- MyWhoosh
- ROUVY
ZWIFT comes out on top really differentiated with the best dashboard for all your data and content. The App works without any secondary website interface and is really clean and engaging. MyWhoosh comes in second with a clean dashboard. It has a standalone function like ZWIFT and is simple to navigate. I particularly like the way individual training plans include details on the rider who created it. Lovely personal touch. ROUVY comes in last. The new dashboard released in October 2023 is a massive step forwards. It now includes better information on favourite rides and downloaded rides that you previously had to hunt for. It comes in last because you frequently have to log back in and you have to move between the website and app. This is really annoying and neither of the others suffer from this.
Below is the dashboad for ROUVY that has been updated making a number of improvements.
Cycling data while riding
- ZWIFT
- ROUVY
- MyWhoosh
The second user interface reviewed is the rider data you get when you are doing an event or training session. ZWIFT again comes out on top with a selection of data components around the central rider visual that gives you key data. The key data you need is really easy to spot and well placed. You can quickly glance and get wattage data and incline information. It has the most gaming feel about it that many people love but put simply it also has the best information for your ride. ROUVY comes in second and in some regards is better than ZWIFT. The virtual rider videos are awesome to watch and really help make the ride go quickly. The screen is less cluttered as ROUVY have gone for a more real feel. It lacks the prominence that ZWIFT have gone for of key data but is well structured. MyWhoosh comes last here as the screen makes it hard to see data such as incline that is key to ensure correct gearing. The map position of location is also confusing to understand how far along the ride you are.
Below is the rider data from ZWIFT with a full spectrum of data to use.
Stability of the cycling apps
- ZWIFT
- ROUVY
- MyWhoosh
The final element of the user interface we have ranked the apps for is the stability of them. When you are using the apps how often does it crash or have an issue that interupts training. ZWIFT is the clear winner here and a bomb proof platform. It rarely has any issues reported and deilvers. ROUVY has historically had issues with crashing but since the October this is significantly better. I’ve only experienced the app crash on me twice since the update. MyWhoosh comes in last with lots of reports of issues. The main gripe being the demands on the hardware you run it on. I ended up installing on an iPhone as the only way to reliably test it. The app is super processor hungry and has some bugs to work through so tends to crash more often. For this reason we rank it last for this.
Route data screens from MyWhoosh below.
Indoor Cycling Apps Training Plans Compared
Ranking the three apps for training. In reality all three offer some really great training options to keep indoor cycling engaging and enjoyable. Ranking them for this function is much closer than the user interfaces.
- ZWIFT
- ROUVY
- MyWhoosh
ZWIFT comes out on top with the biggest range of courses across 12 worlds. Watopia alone having 76 routes in it and always available. ZWIFT rotates the worlds driving more rider concentration across the routes. They also schedule regular group events for you to join that have the most engagement of any of the apps. There are a wealth of workouts in addition to this to choose from.
ROUVY comes in second. ROUVY has over 100 routes to choose from and a limited range of training specific features. The routes are the real gold of ROUVY that are real representations of famous rides all over the planet. They also schedule in group rides but these are limited and from my use of them some only have a handful of riders on them. Generally there are between 5 and 10 rides set up each day.
MyWhoosh comes in last with the fewest routes to choose from but this is growing. From an initial series of routes they have been adding more ever since. Overall there are 50 routes across 5 worlds with these time restricted to drive more engagement. MyWhoosh does however have the biggest range of training sessions. There are hundreds of these with specific training types if you just want structured cycling training.
Below is the training plans from MyWhoosh with the selection of options available.
Indoor Cycling Apps Social Interaction Compared
Cycling indoors on a turbo trainer can be demotivating so social interaction from your cycling app can be valuable. Below is my rank of the cycling apps compared for social interaction.
- ZWIFT
- MyWhoosh
- ROUVY
ZWIFT have focused on the social interaction of the app since launch and lead by some margin on this. You can interact with others directly while riding and there are entire clubs set up that exist purely in ZWIFT. ZWIFT also has a companion app that allows to engage with others and connect to build a real community. The experience is orientated to support social interaction and connectivity between riders.
MyWhoosh comes in second as they are building in gamification elements into the ride trying to replicate some of ZWIFT. There are a much smaller pool of riders and you cannot communicate with others so much more immature.
ROUVY comes last in this area as while you can see others when you are riding and compete against them interacting is not a real feature. It is hard to differentiate between computer generated real riders that is a real shame and would be good to see this developed. I personally get more motivated knowing when I am chasing down another real rider. If this was more obvious would be a great feature.
If you want a further option to consider read my review of the Elite My E-Training indoor cycling app. £19.99 a year for the app built by the Elite turbo trainer gurus. Be warned it has some serious flaws but read on to find out more.
Summary of ZWIFT vs ROUVY vs MyWhoosh
We have no affiliation with ZWIFT and purely completing this to help you find the best indoor cycling app. ZWIFT has been the number one indoor cycling app for many years. In my view from reviewing all products when you compare ZWIFT vs ROUVY vs MyWhoosh there is only one winner. ZWIFT on all key assessments comes out as the winner. The only assessment it does not lead on is the costs as MyWhoosh is free. For anyone starting with indoor cycling training I would recommend start with a look at MyWhoosh as there is no cost. But accept if you experience issues and want more then ZWIFT is the best choice.
1 Comment
Jules · April 4, 2024 at 3:00 pm
I’ve been using ZWIFT for years and love it but had never heard of MyWhoosh. Thanks for pointing me at this to take a look although will be hard to break away from ZWIFT.