Peloton Fitness app review: Is it worth it without the bike?

Once fitness-forward folks realized that we’d be in the pandemic (and in our homes) for the long haul, home gym equipment started flying off the shelves. By April of 2020, the delivery time for Peloton Bikes and Treads skyrocketed as people began to really build out their home gyms. It’s been more than two years since then, but it seems as though at-home workouts are here to stay.

Though Peloton demand has slowed down significantly since the height of the pandemic, the cult-favorite fitness brand is still trying to convince new customers to join them with the release of the Peloton Guide, and lowered pricing on all of their connected fitness equipment.

While the OG Peloton Bike is now priced at $1,195 (previously $1,495) the Bike Plus is $1,995 (previously $2,495) and Tread will run you $2,345 (previously $2,495) you truly don’t need to spend all this money to get the motivating Peloton experience — and the sense of community that comes with being a regular class participant.

With the Peloton app, you can get access to thousands of classes across over 10 workout categories, and while you can use your own non-Peloton treadmill or stationary bike, plenty of the classes on the app require very little or no equipment.

How much is the Peloton app?

If you already own a Peloton Bike or Tread, then you get access to the Peloton App is included in your $40 monthly all-access membership (although this pricing is set to go up to $44 starting June 1, 2022).

If you don’t own one of the pricey cardio machines, you can subscribe to get the workouts from your mobile device, laptop, or smart TV for just $12.99 per month. The price covers unlimited classes for one profile, basic metrics tracking (if you have a compatible smart watch), achievement tracking, and live group workouts. If you’re a new user, you’ll also score a 30 day trial of the app for free.

Can you use the Peloton app without the Peloton bike?

There are so many classes to take through the Peloton app, even if you don’t have the bike (or any bike). You can stream live and on-demand workouts from your smartphone, tablet, or smart TV to turn your living room, or any room, into a workout studio. While this app does have Apple TV, Fire TV, Roku, Android TV, and Chromecast functionality, some users report that casting workouts is sometimes glitchy, and overall the app is more reliable from a phone or tablet.

Note that you won’t be able to use the live leaderboard feature for cycling or running classes unless you own the Bike or Tread, so don’t let that feature drive your decision to become a Peloton App subscriber. The Peloton app subscription only covers a single user profile, too (unlike the multiple user profiles you can get with the bike or tread all-access membership), so don’t count on sharing your Peloton app like you share your Netflix password.

Peloton App vs Peloton guide

If you’re wondering whether to get the Peloton Guide or just subscribe to the app, there are a few key differences. Purchasing the new Peloton Guide for $295 will give you access to the same classes you can get on the Peloton App without the guide, but with extra high-tech features.

The Guide connects to your TV and allows you to see yourself reflected next to instructors on the screen to monitor your form. It’ll also track your movements automatically, and give you personalized recommendations and progress tracking. If you don’t care for these few extra features and just want to take the classes, skip the extra $295 and just subscribe to the app.

What’s the Peloton vibe like?

Peloton’s community of die-hards have occasionally been described as cult-like, and it’s easy to see how people get so obsessed with the platform. When you take a class for the first time, you’ll realize that Peloton has become so beloved for one thing: the trainers. All of Peloton’s coaches are charismatic, magnetic, and intensely motivating, and each one brings something different to the mat (or bike, or run). With more than 30 different certified personal trainers leading the classes, there’s someone that will give you the exact type of motivation you need. If you’re searching for the tough-love cycling trainer, go for Alex Toussaint’s classes. Looking for a concise yoga instructor to fuel your practice? Try out a class with Anna Greenberg.

Peloton instructor options
Credit: Screenshot / Peloton

If you’re a total beginner when it comes to working out, it might take a few sessions to get used to Peloton’s vocabulary and the words used to describe specific workout movements. It’s also very much an established community, so you might not feel as included as you could be during your first class. When I started, listening to instructors shouting out regular users and their milestones was a bit intimidating, and I felt somewhat out of place, like I was late to the Peloton bandwagon. But once you figure out the lingo, understand Peloton’s achievement framework, and get a feel for the instructors, you’ll never look back — and you’ll be waiting for a trainer to call out your own milestones.

App navigation and searching for classes

The app functionality is super clean — you’ll be able to find a workout that checks any box you’re looking for. Once you select one of the 11 workout genres, you can further break down your workout search. Filter by length, ranging from five minutes up to 90 minutes depending on the activity selected. There are also options to filter by music genre, instructor, difficulty, and class type.

Here’s an example of what you’ll see as you’re searching for classes:

The app features 11 different class genres: strength, yoga, cardio, meditation, running, outdoor (audio), cycling, stretching, Tread bootcamp, Bike bootcamp, and walking. The durations range from five minutes to an hour, so there’s pretty much a workout for every occasion — giving you more motivation to sweat, even if you’re short on time. You’ll also be able to use the handy stack feature, which allows you to make what is essentially a workout class queue. Select a warm-up class, a workout, and a stretch, or mix and match strength classes for a customized full-body workout.

Class types are determined by what activity you’ve selected. For example, if you select Cardio as your main genre, the class types offered are Warm-Up, HIIT, Music HIIT, Family, and Dance cardio, but obviously, Yoga will have completely different class types.

While you can’t download pre-recorded classes to take them offline (wilderness yoga is a no-go), there is a feature that allows you to preload classes to prevent buffering — and reduce your data usage. You will still need an internet connection to start preloaded classes, though.

Finding live classes is simple, too. From the “featured” page (access it from the star icon on the bottom left), you’ll be able to see live and upcoming live classes for the day, across all genres. Click on the “classes” icon on the bottom center of the screen to view the live schedules for each class genre for the whole week. Filter by yoga, cardio, or other class type, or by length, instructor, class type, or difficulty. You can also add classes to your personal schedule by clicking the circle on the right of the class you want to take. This is super useful if you need some motivation to set aside the time for a workout. I found that creating a weekly routine where the workout is scheduled ahead of time kept me more accountable, and led to me actually taking the class (instead of drinking wine and re-watching Game of Thrones every evening).

View live and upcoming classes from the featured dashboard.
Credit: Screenshot / Peloton

Full schedule of live classes, organized by genre
Credit: Screenshot / Peloton

Motivating features

If just knowing you’re paying for a fitness app subscription isn’t enough to get you off the couch, the Peloton app offers some interactive tools to keep you coming back for workouts again and again. The first is called achievements, which keeps track of your workouts and gives you badges when you meet certain criteria. This includes badges for number of classes taken (ie, 10 yoga classes, or 50 cardio classes), badges for certain events like Latino Heritage Month, daily, weekly, and monthly streaks, and more. Setting a goal to fill your achievements page with badges is great for trying out a variety of workouts.

If you have a group or community-driven motivation style, opt into one of Peloton’s challenges. The main challenge that most users opt into is titled “The Annual,” and it logs your minutes spent active in the app, assigning you a different tiered badge at the end of the year based on your total workout time. There are also shorter challenges, like the monthly one that prompts you to work out at least 10 days in one month, or the class-specific challenges that will ask you to take a certain number of running, cardio, or other genres in one month.

Peloton challenge dashboard
Credit: Screenshot / Peloton

Peloton achievement dashboard
Credit: Screenshot / Peloton

Is the Peloton App worth it?

It’s hard to get access to board-certified personal trainers, thousands of live and on-demand classes, and a dedicated community in one place, much less for under $15 per month. After trying almost every kind of workout the Peloton app has to offer, I’d say that the monthly digital membership is an amazing deal for the price.

You’ll have to self-motivate to get on the mat or get out for a run (there’s no fancy bike or treadmill that will entice you to get a workout in), but the achievements and workout metrics you can see in the app will give you a little push to stay on top of those fitness goals.