If you run trail or ride a bike, you already use Strava. With 100 million users and its social segments, it is unbeatable as a sporting social network. But Strava is built to record what you have already done, not to prepare you for what you are about to do. That is where TrackLAB comes in.
What each tool is built for
Strava
Strava is, first and foremost, a sporting social network. Its value lies in shared segments, kudos, clubs and your aggregated history. The analysis side is secondary: it shows you distance, elevation gain, average pace and not a great deal more. For advanced analysis, you need to pay for Strava Premium (around €8/month).
TrackLAB
TrackLAB is a technical analysis lab. It has no social network and no shared segments. It has one goal: to help you understand any GPX route inside out, before or after you do it, with metrics at the level a coach would use.
Feature comparison
| Feature | Strava (Premium) | TrackLAB PRO |
|---|---|---|
| Basic analysis (distance, elevation gain) | ✓ | ✓ |
| Interactive elevation profile | ✓ | ✓ |
| Route map | ✓ | ✓ |
| Social segments | ✓ | ✗ |
| Automatic detection of key climbs | ✗ | ✓ |
| Estimated time personalised by ability level | ✗ | ✓ |
| Biometric analysis (HR zones, effort) | Partial | ✓ |
| Fatigue prediction | ✗ | ✓ |
| Side-by-side route comparison | Limited | ✓ |
| Pre-race analysis (before you have done it) | ✗ | ✓ |
| PDF export | ✗ | ✓ |
| Price | ~€8/month | €5/month (annual) |
Real-world use cases
Use Strava if...
- You want to share your training with friends.
- Segments and KOMs/QOMs are what motivate you.
- You need an aggregated history of all your activities.
- You are more of a casual user and are not after deep analysis.
Use TrackLAB if...
- You have an important race coming up and want to prepare for it properly.
- You need to know where the key climbs are and how to manage your effort.
- You want a realistic estimated time based on YOUR level and weight.
- You compare routes to decide which one to train on.
- You are interested in biometric analysis (HR, effort, fatigue).
Why not both?
That is what most of our users do. Strava for day-to-day training and the social side. TrackLAB for preparing the races that matter. They complement each other rather than compete.
In fact, you can export any activity from Strava as a GPX and analyse it in TrackLAB in 30 seconds. Try it for free: tracklab.app/analyzer.
Conclusion
Strava is excellent as a sporting social network. TrackLAB is excellent as an analysis lab. If you take your routes and races seriously, the two together are an unbeatable combination.