Maggie Marystone · February 22, 2022 · 12 min read If you already use a Fitbit fitness tracker and the Fitbit app, you know how valuable they can be on your fitness journey. You can take it one step further by subscribing to Fitbit Premium, a service that will give you access to additional features tailored to you.
A paid subscription to Fitbit Premium costs around $10/month and unlocks guided programs, workout challenges, and guided meditations. It also provides detailed breakdowns of your sleep habits and stress levels along with deep insights into other health metrics. We’ll look at what you get with Fitbit Premium so you can decide if it’s worth signing up for this subscription service.
What Is Fitbit Premium?
Fitbit Premium’s value proposition is that when it comes to health and fitness, you’ll achieve more if you know more. That’s what self-improvement is all about. Since all the aspects of a person’s wellness are interconnected, by tracking more aspects of your health for longer periods of time, you’ll be able to see trends. Then you can use that knowledge to become a “healthier, stronger you.”
It stands to reason—your stress levels affect your sleep quality, and both are affected by your nutrition and how active you are. If you have more data about all those things and can start to see how one affects the other, you’ll be better positioned to improve your overall health and wellness.
How Much Does Fitbit Premium Cost?
A membership to Fitbit Premium costs $9.99/month or $79.99/year. Currently, Fitbit is offering a free 90-day trial, which is a great way to give the service a trial run and see if you like it enough to pay for it. If you think you’re going to want to continue using Fitbit Premium over the long run, the yearly subscription is clearly the better value.
Several Fitbit trackers come with even longer free trial periods. For example, the Fitbit Inspire 2, available on Amazon, comes with a full year of Fitbit Premium, and the Fitbit Sense smartwatch comes with a six-month Fitbit Premium membership.
Moreover, several Fitbit devices including the Fitbit Luxe, the Fitbit Versa, Versa 2, Versa 3, and the Fitbit Charge 5, offer a bundle package where you can get a full year of Premium plus a two-year protection plan for your device for under $40.
If you do sign up for any kind of free trial, Fitbit will still ask you to enter a credit card number, so if you don’t want to move to a paid plan, don’t forget to cancel before the trial is over or you’ll be charged.
Also note that Fitbit doesn’t give refunds on subscriptions, so if you go for the annual subscription, you should be sure you want it. If you do end up canceling the monthly or annual subscription, you’ll still be able to use the service until the end of the subscription period.
How to Cancel Your Fitbit Premium Membership
While subscribing is easy, canceling your Fitbit Premium subscription is a little less straightforward.
There are multiple reasons why Fitbit users might want to cancel Fitbit Premium. One of the most common reasons for canceling is to take advantage of a Fitbit Premium offer that came with a new Fitbit you purchased or received as a gift.
If you already have a Premium subscription and you get a new tracker that includes a Premium subscription or free trial, you’ll need to cancel your existing subscription before you can take advantage of the free one.
If you purchased Fitbit Premium via the Fitbit app, navigate to the Today tab in the Android or iPhone app. Then tap your user icon and select Account Settings > Manage Subscriptions. You should see Fitbit Premium listed. Tap it and then select the Cancel subscription button.
If you bought the subscription through the Google Play Store with PayPal, you should go to PayPal’s website to cancel. Navigate to Settings > Payments > Manage Automatic Payments. You can cancel the subscription there.
Lastly, if you purchased the subscription on the Fitbit website, you’ll need to go there to cancel. Log into the website, navigate to your user account, and select My Subscriptions. You’ll see the Premium subscription and a link to cancel.
What You Get with Fitbit’s Free App vs. Fitbit Premium
You already know that when you use a wearable Fitbit tracker, Fitbit’s free app for Android and Apple devices displays health and fitness stats that help you track your activity levels, weight, nutrition, and sleep. The free app also gives you access to a variety of introductory workouts and mindfulness sessions.
By contrast, Fitbit Premium opens the door to an expanded catalog of features that fit into two categories: data analysis and access to workouts, programs, games, and challenges to help you reach your health and fitness goals and have more fun along the way.
- Premium challenges
- Stress Management Score breakdown
- Sleep Score breakdown
- Blood glucose trends
- Health metrics trends for the last 90 days
- Daily Readiness Score
- Wellness Report
- Advanced skin temperature details (requires a Fitbit Sense)
- Hundreds of additional workouts and mindfulness sessions
Premium users will see health data presented as graphs with advanced analytics. In short, Fitbit Premium helps paint a fuller picture of your total health and then offers health coaching, motivation, and guidance on how to achieve more.
What’s Included in a Fitbit Premium Subscription?
Let’s go through exactly what’s included in Fitbit’s premium service. You might find that you use some features more than others. Perhaps you won’t use some features at all, but it could still be worth the cost of the subscription.
Guided Programs
Fitbit says their Guided Programs “leverage expertise from the Fitbit Advisory Panel and internal experts.” They’re built to hold users’ hands, giving step-by-step instructions to build healthy habits.
In the app, select the Discover tab and scroll down to Guided Programs. Guided programs that are only available to Premium subscribers display the “premium” tag.
Select what kind of program you’re looking for by choosing one of the categories at the top of the Guide Programs screen. You can select:
- Favorites
- At-Home Training
- Eat Health
- Sleep Better
- Move More
Tap the star icon on any program tile to mark it as a favorite.
Tap a program tile to see a description of what the program will entail. For example, the Push-Up Prep program in the At-Home Training category is a three-week plan that helps you build upper-body and core strength. Select the Get Started button to begin the program.
In the Push-Up Prep program, each week you’ll get access to video lessons from the Fitbit Coach. One nice feature is that the audio in these videos will keep playing even if your phone goes to sleep. Once you’ve finished a workout, it will be logged as complete.
Another example of a premium Guided Program is Get More Sleep. This program is tailored to you based on your answers to survey questions about your sleep habits. It uses your Fitbit’s sleep tracking feature to import your sleep stats and recommends a sleep goal and adjusts to your bedtime routine.
For any Guided Program you choose, you’ll be taken through a number of screens to set up your personalized program, including the option to set reminders. In some cases, such as the Mindful Eating program, rather than watching a video, you can choose to read an article version instead.
Workouts
Fitbit Workouts is one of the main features of the Premium service. You’ll get access to audio and video workout classes created by certified personal trainers. Similar to the guided workouts offered by Peloton, the Fitbit Premium workouts are available in these categories:
- Abs & Core
- Cardio
- For Kids
- Full Body
- Lower Body
- Upper Body
Workouts are also sorted into groups such as Under 15 Minutes, Audio Workouts, Dance Cardio & Kickboxing, and No Equipment Needed. You can also sort by time (low to high) or by intensity (easy to hard), so it’s easy to find a workout that meets your requirements.
You’ll find a wide variety of workout videos, from High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) workouts to get your heart rate going to lower intensity yoga, stretching, and barre exercises.
Many classes come from trainers from PopSugar, barre3, BodyCombat, Daily Burn, Les Mills, and Will Smith’s StrongWill curriculum. These trainers are popular for a reason, and their positivity will help motivate you to keep going.
Premium Challenges
If you’re bored with your regular workout routine, select Premium at the bottom of the Fitbit app and then choose Fun games & new challenges. There you’ll find challenges like Get Fit Bingo, All for One, and an option to create a custom challenge.
Get Fit Bingo is a clever mashup of bingo and fitness that can be played alone or with up to 100 other people. You start with a bingo board and a pattern you’re aiming for. Your goal is to flip bingo tiles until you form the pattern.
Each bingo tile is marked with an activity goal like “100 steps” or “two active zone minutes,” and when you complete a goal, the bingo tile will flip. The game also includes four bonus tiles that can help you win faster.
Get Fit Bingo is more fun if you play with other people. You can invite friends who have Fitbits to play. Other players will be able to see your profile photo, name, and the tiles you’ve flipped.
Games in Challenges & Adventures come and go, so check it out to see what new fun activities have been added.
Daily Readiness Score
Your Daily Readiness Score is meant to tell you how prepared your body is for physical activity each day. Fitbit recommends that you check your Readiness Score every morning to see how recovered you are and decide how much physical activity is appropriate for the day ahead.
Readiness scores range from 1-100. If you score below 30, you have Low Readiness. That means you should rest and recover and focus on lower-intensity activities like yoga or stretching.
A score between 30 and 64 means you have Good Readiness, so you’re all set for a regular amount of exercise. Scoring between 65 and 100 means you have Excellent readiness, so you might want to try a new and/or more intense activity that day.
The Daily Readiness screen also displays your activity, recent sleep, and heart rate variability. Wear your Fitbit tracker for four days and nights to start getting Daily Readiness Scores.
Advanced Sleep Analytics
Users of the free Fitbit app will be familiar with the Sleep Score, a daily snapshot of your sleep quality and duration. Premium subscribers get additional insights into their sleep data. Your sleep score is based on your sleeping heart rate, the time you spend asleep, and your sleep stages.
Sleep score ranges are:
- 90-100: Excellent
- 80-89: Good
- 69-79: Fair
- Less than 60: Poor
Fitbit uses a combination of your restlessness and your heart rate while sleeping to estimate which stage of sleep you’re in. In the app, you’ll see your sleep stage data compared to benchmark ranges for someone your age and sex. You should aim for increased deep sleep since that’s the prime time your muscles repair themselves and your energy is restored.
You’ll also get a detailed breakdown of your Restoration score, including a graph of your sleeping heart rate and what percent of the night was spent tossing and turning.
Wellness Report
Once you’ve been wearing your Fitbit device for at least thirty days, you’ll be able to download a PDF of your Wellness Report. The report includes an overview of the last 30 days and the last year.
The Wellness Report has sections on your resting heart rate, weight, activity, and sleep. Women will also find a section on menstrual cycles. Each section has easy-to-read graphs and tables of information.
This report is a great way to start a conversation with your doctor about your health and wellness goals.
Mindfulness Sessions
The best self-care and wellbeing practices include tending to your mental health. Look for Mindfulness Sessions on the Premium tab of the Fitbit app to find dozens of mindfulness and meditation sessions from Deepak Chopra as well as meditations for sleep and stress. Sessions are generally short, lasting between four and fifteen minutes, and can help you reduce anxiety, chronic pain, depression, heart disease, and high blood pressure.
Other sections include audio and videos to help boost your body positivity, be more mindful about your meals, and start your day off on the right foot with morning meditations.
Recipe Inspiration
Fitbit Premium’s Recipe Inspiration section is packed with videos with ideas for nutritious meals and snacks. You can filter by:
- Diabetes-Friendly
- Gluten-Free
- Heart-Healthy
- High Fiber
- Low Calorie
- Make Ahead
- Quick
- Under 5 Ingredients
- Vegetarian
Ideas are also organized by breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks. Annoyingly, written instructions aren’t provided, so if you see something that looks good, you’ll have to watch the video to get the recipe.
Health Metrics
With a Premium subscription, you’ll see an extra section on the Fitbit app’s Home screen called Health Metrics. You can view data from today or trends from the previous seven, thirty, or ninety days.
Metrics include breathing rate, heart rate variability, skin temperature, and resting heart rate. Each section has a Learn More link that explains the metrics in more detail.
So, Is Fitbit Premium Worth It?
Your health is priceless, so if having access to Fitbit Premium helps you take better care of yourself, then, yes, it’s worth it. After all, you probably pay more than $10/month for Netflix or another streaming service, and watching movies isn’t making you any healthier.
Having said that, the Premium service seems better suited for beginners than fitness gurus. We definitely recommend taking advantage of one of the various free trials to help you decide whether the extra features are worth the cash. Beyond that, the worth of a Fitbit Premium subscription will depend on your motivation for a healthy lifestyle.
