Garmin has just announced Garmin Connect+ , a unexampled paid subscription for users who want to squeeze a little more out of theirGarmin smartwatchexperience . The premium tier add up novel feature and AI - power insights , and it ’s available as of today .

While not unexpected , this decision might make some users worry about whether they ’ll still get the full scope of lineament that Garmin Connect used to bring home the bacon . Many user are already unhappy , with Garmin - centric community buzzing with unsatisfied customers .

How much does Garmin Connect+ cost?

Garmin Connect+ , or Garmin Connect Plus , costs $ 6.99 per month or $ 69.99 per year . Garmin provide a 30 - Clarence Day free trial that permit you to see whether the premium plan is worth paying for or not .

If you do n’t desire to advance to Connect+ , no worry — the Connect plan will abide free . Garmin Connect+ is usable as of March 27 , 2025 .

Can you still use all the features in Garmin Connect?

The good news is that all exist features in Garmin Connect will stay gratuitous . This mean that the lineament you ’re used to , include trackers for your health and fitness activities , will detain the same with no further change .

Garmin Connect+ was made as an addition to the existing app and does n’t put back it .

Will any existing features be moved to the paid plan going forward?

Many user are sharing a common business : Will Garmin Connect ever fall back any of its features ? Will anything be move behind a paywall ?

As of correctly now , that is not the type . The Garmin Connect+ program sum up raw features without taking anything out from the gratuitous plan .

We have reached out to Garmin for comment and received the following response : “ All exist lineament and datum in Garmin Connect will stay on costless . The Garmin Connect app is a free , individualized experience , and that ’s not going away — but for those who require premium features and even more personalise insights , we ’re introducingGarmin Connect+ . Customers can prefer - in to try GC+ for a 30 - day free trial . ”

What’s new in Garmin Connect+?

Garmin cod a bunch of new features in the Modern paid subscription level , although a mess of them are still pretty vague — we ’ll have to test them ourselves .

Here ’s all that ’s coming your way if you take to Garmin Connect+ .

AI-powered insights

No one is surprised to get word about more AI being added everywhere , so the fact that AI is a staple in Garmin Connect+ is not shocking at all . However , the accurate nature of AI in Garmin is still a little unclear .

The company refers to this as “ Active Intelligence , power by AI . ” Active Intelligence will help your Garmin watch conglomerate insights ground on your wellness and activity data , and will then be able to give you more personal suggestions as a result . “ As customer practice Germin Connect+ more , the perceptiveness will become more trim to them and their goals , ” said Garmin in the military press release .

When I reached out to learn more about Active Intelligence , Garmin replied : “ As client use Garmin Connect+ more , the insights will become more trim to them and their goals . ”

It ’s worth observe that the AI dower of Garmin Connect+ is currently in genus Beta , but it seems to be available for testing to paid user .

LiveTrack gets a boost

LiveTrack name up an important part of Garmin Connect , allowing you to keep your family members and ally notified when you ’re doing a workout , including a link to help them track your location . This includes a bunch of unlike physical exertion , such as discharge , hikes , and bike ride , and trust on GPS , so it works even in remote surface area .

With Connect+ , this central feature film evolves in a way that wee-wee it round-eyed to use . You ’ll be able to get Garmin to auto - generate LiveTrack links and broadcast them out the moment you guide out for a exercising .

you could also set up your own LiveTrack visibility to divvy up with others , which will make it easier for them to see all your activity in one place .

New challenges and badges

Who does n’t roll in the hay a boost to the esthetical side of thing ? To that end , Garmin Connect+ let you impart young frames to your profile , but also earn badge for completing various challenges . Garmin razz that you ’ll get a badge for completing the Running Climbs challenge , which includes recording a total of 500 meters of ascension throughout a month of running . There ’s also the Power Cycling challenge , which will have you cycle as hard as you’re able to — you ’ll require to lumber at least four hour of biking in mightiness zone 3 .

Comprehensive look at your performance

Garmin Connect+ will whip up customizable graphs and charts for you , helping you keep raceway of your fitness and health data . I ’m assuming this will subsequently on link - in with the AI - power part of the app , but this is just a speculation in good order now .

Over time , these performance chart should become a useful insight into your health journey .

Extra training tools

While you ’re recording an indoor workout on yourGarmin smartwatch , you ’ll get access to real - fourth dimension datum on your phone all the while tape the physical exercise . This let in things like heart charge per unit and rate data , the number of reps you ’ve complete , workout video recording , and more .

Many customers aren’t happy with this change

The first poster is assay to muster up the others , saying : “ Do not sign up for Garmin Connect+ . Unite to fight for our customer ’ right hand to software as a service ( SaaS ) for a thousand dollar watch . ” The poster then went on to clarify : “ I would n’t object if Garmin bring out an affordable subscription modeling that provided all major software updates ( including the operating system ) for all of their watches in the future — not just limited updates for premium models or choose feature for a few years . ”

Some users are claim that they might choose to purchase a dissimilar smartwatch the next time around if this berth does n’t change . Another user admits that they take Garmin precisely because of the lack of pay package , tell : “ This is why I bought a Garmin and gave up on years of FitBit . SaaS is ruin everything . ”

“ You ’re absolutely correct , ” said anotheruser . “ I ’m catch tired of having more and more subscription . ”

One user write aresponse , talking about Garmin ’s values . They terminate the post with : “ Garmin , please stay Garmin . [ … ] Keep Garmin touch base fully operable and gratis . Do n’t swap long - term trustfulness for shortsighted - terminus revenue . ”

To that end , Garmin assures that the Connect app will stay unaltered , but the fact remains that Reddit is flooded with posts about these new change .

Is Garmin Connect+ worth trying?

Without having tested the feature , it ’s hard to pass judgment just how useful it ’ll be in the long run . The upright thing is that with a 30 - mean solar day free trial , most users will be capable to make that decision for themselves , risk - gratis .

The additions provide in Garmin Connect+ may not be groundbreaking , but they target important areas of wellness . LiveTrack helps you outride safe and connected ; AI - powered sixth sense could prove to be useful over sentence ; badges are fun and they help gamify the estimate of work out , which can often help .

With nothing to lose , I say go ahead and give it a try for 30 days and see whether it ’s deserving the $ 6.99 / month price tag .