Whoop expects everyone to give a whoop that is lowering subscription prices – something certainly rare to see in companies in today’s economy. Prices for annual subscriptions will drop from $300 to $239, while 24-month subscriptions will drop from $480 to $399. That’s a decrease of $61 and $81, respectively. However, the monthly membership will remain at $30 with a 12-month commitment.
“We’re a premium product, but we never want price alone to be a reason someone can’t sign up for WHOOP,” said Whoop CEO and founder Will Ahmed. the edge in an email. “We see many other companies raising prices at this time, and given the economic climate and pressure on household budgets, we just don’t think it’s the right move. Our bet is that consumers will remember that we have done them good with this change.”
For now, Ahmed says this is Whoop’s pricing structure for the foreseeable future, though as always with businesses, pricing is subject to change in the future. Ahmed said the edge that anyone who recently purchased a membership will have a one- to three-month extension, depending on the level they initially purchased. Whoop declined to comment on whether this is limited to new signups or whether existing users will see any benefit.
It is unlikely that the Whoop discount is due to purely altruistic reasons. As you can see in the tweet embedded above, Whoop was, and still is, one of the most expensive fitness platforms out there. In this economy? It is much more likely that your expensive memberships will not perform well with current users and potential customers.
With that being said, the company is hanging out some upcoming features to appeal to users who may still be undecided. That includes a new lifetime warranty policya weight lifting feature to track reps and muscle tension, a new home screen, more recovery information, and a new stress monitor with Andrew Huberman presenting the enormously popular Hubermann Laboratory podcast. Fitness trackers and smartwatches are still struggling to accurately track weightlifting reps, while we’ve seen an increase in recovery and stress features since the pandemic. Meanwhile, avoiding muscle strain is key to injury prevention, but no one has figured out an elegant way to track it. While I can’t say these are good updates until I try them out, are the promising ones
It’s hard to get too upset about lower prices, especially at a time when most connected fitness companies, and other consumer tech brands, are doing the opposite. Peloton raised its membership prices last June, while Strava recently announced it would increase its membership fees last month. On the hardware front, Oura introduced a new monthly membership with its Gen 3 ring in 2021, while bigger players like Fitbit and Apple have also introduced subscription services related to their devices in recent years.
What is really remarkable here is that Howl is lowering prices. She pioneered portable subscriptions and helped start a growing trend in the category (much to the dismay of consumers). Whoop isn’t completely reversing course here, but his decision suggests the pitfalls of relying entirely on a subscription in tough economic times.
