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HQ.training vs intervals.icu

Deep free analytics, or a whole coaching business

intervals.icu gives athletes the fitness chart, power curves and interval detection free, from a small London team, and data-minded cyclists love it. HQ is free for athletes as well, and adds what a coaching business runs on: a phone app that runs the session, strength with video, AI planning and a store.

Start free See pricing

What this page says about intervals.icu comes from intervals.icu’s own site and its founder’s posts on the official forum, read on 13 October 2026. Prices and features change, so check theirs before you decide.

The short version

HQ is the better pick if

  • You want a phone app with a workout player, voice cues and GPS recording; intervals.icu is a web app for now.
  • You coach strength too: HQ has a sets-and-reps builder with 184 exercise videos.
  • You want to sell plans and courses, or run a gym, from the same account.
  • You want Apple Health and Withings connected directly.

intervals.icu is the better pick if

  • You want the deepest free analysis: interval detection, W′ balance through every ride and charts of your own.
  • You want planned workouts pushed to Garmin, Wahoo or Zwift.
  • You want an open API and the third-party apps and AI coaches built on it.
  • You coach individual athletes and want to pay nothing for it.

HQ.training and intervals.icu, side by side

  • Included
  • Partly, or at extra cost
  • Not offered
HQ.training intervals.icu
Athlete price Included: Free Included: Free; Supporter is $4 a month, billed quarterly or yearly
Coach price Included: $19 a month for any number of athletes, or $39 with more AI Partly, or at extra cost: Free for individual athletes; coaching groups need Supporter, and some features need the athlete to be a Supporter too
Fitness, fatigue and form Included: Fitness, fatigue and form for every athlete, free, with four weeks projected Included: Free, the classic performance management chart
Analysis Partly, or at extra cost: Fitness, fatigue and form, time in zone, weekly volume, and power and pace curves with eFTP and critical power; no custom charts yet Included: Power and pace curves, eFTP, critical-power models and custom charts
Structured workouts Included: Typed shorthand or drag-in blocks, by zone, % FTP, % LTHR, pace or RPE, in each athlete’s own numbers Included: A text builder with power, heart rate, pace and cadence targets
To the watch Partly, or at extra cost: Download as .fit, intervals or strength, for the watch, or .zwo for Zwift; automatic delivery to Garmin and Apple Watch is in testing; COROS supports running and cycling delivery through its own sign-in; move or delete sessions in the COROS app Included: Pushes planned workouts to Garmin, Wahoo, Zwift and others
Strength Included: Supersets and circuits, 184 exercises with video, and your own videos Not offered: Weight lifted can be logged; no sets-and-reps builder
Devices Partly, or at extra cost: Garmin, Apple Health, Oura, WHOOP, Fitbit, Withings, Renpho; COROS through its own OAuth sign-in; Eight Sleep (unofficial beta with sleep reports and supported Pod controls); LARQ water intake through unofficial account sync or Apple Health export; .fit, .gpx and .tcx uploads for other watches Partly, or at extra cost: Garmin, Wahoo, COROS, Polar, Suunto, Oura, WHOOP and more; no direct Apple Health
Phone app Partly, or at extra cost: iPhone app in testing, with a workout player, voice cues and GPS; Android next Partly, or at extra cost: A web app with push notifications; a native app is in progress
Messaging Included: Direct messages, and a comment thread on every session Included: Chats and groups
AI Included: An AI plan builder and assistant for coaches, included with a usage limit; for athletes’ own training on Athlete + AI Partly, or at extra cost: None of its own; third-party AI coaches use its API
Selling Included: Sell plans, courses, videos and coaching subscriptions; HQ adds nothing to Stripe’s card fee Not offered: No payments or plan sales for coaches
API Partly, or at extra cost: A personal API key reads your workouts and health metrics, and a coach’s athletes; no apps built on it yet Included: An open REST API with webhooks
Gym tools Included: Timetable, memberships, check-in and point of sale on the Gym & Studio plan Not offered: Not offered
Quiet accounts Included: Your account keeps syncing however long you’re away Partly, or at extra cost: Free accounts unseen for 90 days stop processing new files, unless coached or a Supporter

What sets them apart

Free on both sides

Both give athletes the fitness chart free. intervals.icu goes further on analysis; HQ goes further on the day itself, with a phone app that runs the session step by step and records the route.

A coaching business

intervals.icu has no way to take payments or sell plans. HQ’s store sells plans, courses, videos and monthly coaching with nothing added to Stripe’s fee, and the Gym & Studio plan runs classes and memberships.

Strength

On intervals.icu a strength session is a weight total. On HQ it is supersets and circuits with a video for each exercise, ticked off set by set.

Where intervals.icu is ahead

Depth of analysis, workouts pushed to the watch, an open API with hundreds of apps built on it, and a price of nothing for most people.

Moving from intervals.icu

  1. Connect your devices

    Connect Garmin, Apple Health, Oura, WHOOP and the rest, and your recent history arrives with them.

  2. Bring older files

    intervals.icu lets you download each activity’s original FIT file. Upload those to HQ.

  3. Coaching? Invite your athletes

    A coach account is 14 days free, then $19 a month for any number of athletes, who never pay.

Questions

Can I track water intake from a LARQ bottle?
Yes. Pair your LARQ Bottle PureVis 2 directly over Bluetooth in the HQ.training iOS or Android app, without LARQ’s cloud or Apple Health. See estimated water intake and a seven-day chart on your private profile, with optional bottle calibration. Account sync and Apple Health export imports are also available.
Can I connect Eight Sleep?
Yes. The unofficial beta imports your own sleep reports, stages and reported biometrics, and provides a private Pod dashboard. Temperature, schedule and alarm controls are supported; base, pillow and audio controls depend on what your hardware and account report. It works without Apple Health. Sleep Agent, Health Check alerts, proprietary Autopilot algorithms and device setup remain in the Eight Sleep app. Physical Pod 5/6 validation is still pending.
Is HQ’s analysis as deep as intervals.icu’s?
Not yet. HQ has fitness, fatigue and form, time in zone, weekly volume, and power and pace curves with eFTP, critical power and critical speed, but no interval detection or custom charts. For analysis, intervals.icu is still the stronger tool.
Does HQ have an API?
Yes, a young one. A personal API key reads your workouts and health metrics, and a coach’s key their athletes’ too; gyms get more, with webhooks. Unlike intervals.icu’s, no other apps are built on it yet.
Is HQ a native app?
The iPhone app is native and in testing, with Android to follow. Everything also works in the browser.

Sources

What this page says about intervals.icu comes from intervals.icu’s own site and its founder’s posts on the official forum, read on 13 October 2026. Prices and features change, so check theirs before you decide.

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