PaceBeats vs. Runna
Both personalize plans from your data and hold to coach-built progression rules. PaceBeats plans swim, bike, run, and strength off your real Garmin history; Runna, owned by Strava since 2025, is a running specialist with broad watch support, heat-adjusted pace targets, and strong tools for holidays and illness.
Feature Comparison
A side-by-side look at capabilities across both platforms.
| Feature | PaceBeats | Runna |
|---|---|---|
| Adaptive running plans | Yes — a new week is proposed from your current context | Yes — plans adapt to ability, goals, preferences, and completed runs |
| Built from your training history | Your recent Garmin history, or years of it from your Garmin export | Ability, weekly mileage, longest run, recent race times, and completed runs |
| Full-season preview before you commit | Yes — base to taper, shown before you start | Plan preview and shareable PDF; monthly subscribers see four weeks ahead |
| Season planning across several races | Race-anchored season that ramps toward the load your races demand | Upcoming Plans stacks races and blocks into one year view — announced August 2026 |
| Rebuilds around travel, illness & availability | Yes — flag travel or illness and the coming weeks are rebuilt | Holiday Mode, Not Feeling 100%, and Plan Realignment; moves stay within a week either way |
| Heat and weather | Forecast beside your week; heat raises your fluid and sodium targets | Adapt for Heat adjusts pace targets, with a color-coded hourly forecast |
| Athlete memory (feedback in your own words) | Yes — stored, shapes future weeks, and expires when it goes stale | Pace targets can change once you accept them; workout feedback does not change the plan |
| Strength and gym work | Periodized and phase-aware, around the equipment you own, with set-by-set logging | Strength, Yoga, Pilates, and Stretch & Stability, with equipment and frequency choices |
| Beyond running (swim and bike) | Yes — swim, bike, run, and strength balanced in one week | The triathlon plan writes the run leg to sit alongside your swim and bike sessions |
| Device support | Garmin — required, and used deeply | Garmin, Apple Watch, COROS, Suunto, and Amazfit |
| Community & social features | No | Yes — Runna Club and in-app social features |
Key Differentiators
What sets PaceBeats apart.
Built From Real History
Your plan comes off your recent Garmin history, and you can upload your full Garmin account export to give it years of real training instead of weeks. Runna asks you for your weekly mileage, longest run, and recent race times, and builds from what you report.
The Whole Triathlon Week
PaceBeats prescribes the swim, the bike, the run, and the strength work, and balances all of it against one weekly load. Runna's triathlon plan writes the run leg to fit alongside swim and bike sessions you organize yourself.
Feedback That Changes Something
Runna says it plainly: "Workout Insight feedback will not impact your training plan!" What you write after a PaceBeats session is stored in your own words, shapes the weeks that follow, and expires when it goes stale.
Season Built Around Races
Your season ramps toward the training load your races actually demand, then tapers into them. Runna's Upcoming Plans, announced for August 2026, stacks plans into one year view and moves between them automatically.
Which Is Right for You?
Choose PaceBeats if…
- You train with a Garmin and want years of your real history behind the plan
- You swim and bike too, and want all three plus strength in one week
- You want a season that ramps toward what your races actually demand
- You want what you write after a session to change next week
- You want threshold estimates questioned with the evidence shown, not just accepted
Consider Runna if…
- You run, and only run — Runna is built for exactly that
- Your watch is an Apple Watch, COROS, Suunto, or Amazfit
- You want pace targets that come down on a hot day without you asking
- You want coach-built structure you can read: deloads, long-run caps, no back-to-back long runs
- A running community and in-app social features are part of the fun
Keep exploring
Ready to try PaceBeats?
Start with a free account and a full athlete assessment. No credit card required.