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.
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
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
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Connect your devices
Connect Garmin, Apple Health, Oura, WHOOP and the rest, and your recent history arrives with them.
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Bring older files
intervals.icu lets you download each activity’s original FIT file. Upload those to HQ.
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Coaching? Invite your athletes
A coach account is 14 days free, then $19 a month for any number of athletes, who never pay.
Questions
- 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?
- Not yet. HQ offers a private calendar feed and embeddable charts, but no public API.
- 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.
Start with the account you need
Athletes are free for good. Coaches and gyms get 14 days free, then pay one flat price.
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