Mike O'Connor
Zwift has introduced a new premium subscription tier, Zwift Plus, combining personalised training plans with high-definition video routes filmed at real-world cycling destinations.
Available for $44.99 AUD per month, Zwift Plus adds two features: Zwift Coach, an automated training tool, and Zwift Video, which swaps the platform’s familiar computer-generated landscapes for footage of actual roads.
Zwift Coach is arguably the more interesting addition. It builds training plans around a rider’s goals, recent fitness, availability and riding preferences, using anonymised power and heart rate data from millions of Zwift users alongside a training model based on sports science.
Rather than simply prescribing a succession of structured, ERG-based workouts, it draws on Zwift’s wider content library, incorporating routes, RoboPacers, group events and thousands of existing workouts.
The system is also designed to adapt when life gets in the way. Miss a session, head outside for a ride or decide to join friends instead, and Zwift Coach can adjust the plan accordingly.
Pre-ride guidance is available through the Zwift Companion app, while post-ride feedback appears in a new Coach Analysis section of the activity report.
It’s a potentially useful addition for riders who want some structure without paying for a human coach. How effectively the automated system responds to changing training loads will be worth watching, however.
The second feature, Zwift Video, introduces 21 routes across six countries, covering a total of 385km.
The collection includes familiar cycling destinations such as the Col du Galibier in France, Sa Calobra in Mallorca, Mount Teide in Tenerife and Chapman’s Peak in South Africa. Other locations include Norway’s Lofoten Islands, Southern Utah, Colorado and the Scottish Highlands.
While the scenery is real, Zwift has retained much of its familiar gaming functionality, including PowerUps, segment leaderboards, HoloReplays, Drops and XP. Riders can repeat routes, pair any workout with any video route and compete against previous efforts.
Zwift says riders will share the roads with other members, although organised events and MeetUps on Zwift Video won’t arrive until a later date.
More routes and destinations are promised from the beginning of 2027.
Zwift Plus costs $44.99 AUD per month, compared with $24.99 AUD for a standard monthly subscription. That’s an 80 per cent increase, so the appeal will depend largely on how much value riders place on the new features.
The coaching component has the most obvious practical benefit, particularly for riders looking for some guidance without engaging a dedicated coach. Zwift Video, meanwhile, offers a different way to spend time indoors, although existing subscribers may be perfectly happy with the virtual worlds already available.
New subscribers receive a 14-day trial, while existing members will be offered a limited-time one-month free upgrade.
More information: zwift.com/zwift-plus
Mike O’Connor – A keen cyclist, runner and photographer, Mike O’Connor is the Editor of Bicycling Australia. He manages the BA website and social media, and loves promoting the achievements of Australian cyclists.
