TrainerRoad CEO Nate Pearson has announced in a video and forum post that legacy members of the company will start paying more for their membership but with the option to opt-out. Pearson had previously promised these members that their prices would not be increased as long as he was CEO of TrainerRoad. However, he now says that the company has been “kneecapped by a promise [he] made back in 2010 [that he] didn’t fully understand the ramifications of”.
In 2010, Pearson promised beta users that they could lock in their prices and that these prices would remain the same as long as he was CEO of TrainerRoad. Since then, TrainerRoad has raised its prices, but legacy members are still paying $7 per month, while current members pay $19.95 per month.
“Back then, I literally thought we’d have a total of 5,000 athletes, and we’d split 50k/month between a few people and be set for life! But TR ended up being a bit bigger than that, and we now have 92 employees!” Pearson said.
The price increase for legacy members is optional, and Pearson is offering a 15% perpetual discount option to these members as well. I will discuss that in more details below.
Here is the video Nate Pearson posted and is worth watching:
WHAT TO EXPECT
TrainerRoad will set everyone to the same current price ($19.95/month or $189/year). But in a effort to keep his promise, Pearson is giving legacy members the option to opt out of the price increase or choose a 15% perpetual discount.
Legacy members will receive an email with the following options:
- Do nothing: Pay the current TR price at your next billing period. This option will increase your membership to the current TR price, which is $19.95 per month or $189 per year.
- Perpetual 15% discount: If you select this option, your membership price will increase but you will receive a 15% discount on the current TR membership price and any future price increases.
- Opt-out: Stay on your legacy pricing. TrainerRoad is giving you the option to opt out of this price increase.
If you do not open the TrainerRoad email and realize later that you are being charged $19.95 per month, you can still opt out of the price increase until February 1, 2024 (one year after your first price increase). The new price increase for legacy members will take effect on February 1, 2023.
Pearson says that TrainerRoad decided to offer the opt-out option “because a lot of people (tens of thousands in our estimation) don’t mind paying an extra $5/month or so”. The company also wanted to recognize that the current economic pressure and inflation is putting a lot of pressure on some users, and it wants them to be able to continue using TrainerRoad.
It is likely that many legacy members will be unhappy with TrainerRoad’s decision to increase prices. However, the company is giving these members the option to maintain their current price of $7 per month – frankly, I haven’t seen any company offer customers an option to opt-out of price increases and I believe Pearson have handled this gracefully. It is possible that TrainerRoad is facing financial pressures – as the industry as a whole – due to inflation and a challenging economic environment, which may have made it difficult for the company to attract new users. Also, some legacy members have expressed a willingness to pay more to support TrainerRoad in the past, and this price increase offers them the opportunity to step up.
For me personally, I was part of the initial beta group but stopped using TrainerRoad for a period of time when I had a coach. However, I returned back to TrainerRoad before the most recent price increases they did and I am currently on the $99/year plan which is due to renew in May of 2023.
SALES TAX
Uncle Sam doesn’t care if you are a legacy TrainerRoad member or not and they want their cut. Starting on January 13, 2023, TrainerRoad will begin charging sales tax in the US and Canada as required by law. This will be based on your location and will be applied automatically. It does not matter if you are a legacy member or not.
What are your thoughts on the options that TrainerRoad has announced for legacy members?
Hard to fault TrainerRoad for this given the inflation headwinds of the past year.