Why IntervalCoach uses Intervals.icu, not Strava directly

IntervalCoach connects through Intervals.icu rather than connecting to Strava directly. There are two reasons for this.

Are Intervals.icu and IntervalCoach the same thing? Do I pay for both?

They are two separate products from two different companies, and they are paid for separately. Intervals.icu stores and calculates your training data. IntervalCoach reads that data from your Intervals.icu account and plans your training from it. Paying one does not activate the other.

You do not need a paid Intervals.icu account to use IntervalCoach. A free Intervals.icu account is enough. All IntervalCoach needs is somewhere to read your activities from and a calendar to write your workouts to, and a free account does both.

If you have paid Intervals.icu believing it was IntervalCoach, that subscription is separate from anything here, and only Intervals.icu can refund it. Your IntervalCoach subscription lives under Settings > Subscription in this app, and that page is the only place an IntervalCoach payment ever appears.

Can I connect Strava to IntervalCoach directly?

No, and this is not a choice about which app to prefer. Strava's API terms restrict what third-party apps are allowed to do with your activity data, particularly anything AI-based, so a direct Strava connection is not something IntervalCoach is able to offer. It is tracked on the public roadmap if you would like to add your vote: Direct Strava integration.

You do not need one, though. Everything IntervalCoach reads comes from your Intervals.icu account, and Intervals.icu connects to the sources that record your training.

Strava doesn't expose the metrics a coach needs

IntervalCoach is built on structured training data: power and pace curves, estimated FTP, training load (Fitness, Fatigue, Form), and wellness data like HRV, resting heart rate, and sleep. Strava does not provide these in a usable form, while Intervals.icu calculates and stores all of them.

Getting your activities into IntervalCoach

IntervalCoach reads whatever is in your Intervals.icu account, so the only goal is to get your activities into Intervals.icu. The best way is to connect the source that records your rides and runs (Garmin, Wahoo, Zwift, Polar, and similar) directly to Intervals.icu. The original device sends the full data, including power, heart rate, and GPS.

This includes indoor and virtual platforms. If you ride Zwift and own no head unit or watch, connect Zwift straight to Intervals.icu and you are fully set up: your rides arrive complete, and the structured workouts IntervalCoach writes to your Intervals.icu calendar sync back into Zwift.

You can connect Strava to Intervals.icu as well, but Strava passes along less detail than the original device, so connecting the device or platform directly is the more reliable route.

Once a source is connected, new activities show up in Intervals.icu (and therefore in IntervalCoach) automatically. Intervals.icu can also backfill your existing history from that source, so your past training comes through too.