Zwift has announced the ‘strategic acquisition’ of rival cycling subscription service Rouvy.
The two providers have competed over the indoor cycling market in recent years, but have now agreed to an acquisition that “aims to accelerate growth in the indoor cycling category through strategic cooperation between the two companies, while maintaining their independent operations.” The terms of the agreement have not been disclosed but will see the American, video-game style app fold the Czech, real-route replica app into their business.
Zwift Co-Founder and CEO Eric Min has hailed the agreement as a “major moment”, saying: “We have a huge amount of respect for what Rouvy has achieved, developing a fantastic product and growing their global community by demonstrating there is a strong market for real video experiences.
“ROUVY’s differentiated experience is proof we can be stronger together, and I’m excited to see how this deal will accelerate our mission to make more people, more active, more often.
“This is an exciting time for our industry and for cyclists worldwide. Over the past year, we have seen the indoor cycling market grow at the fastest rate since COVID, we’re seeing our audience widen, and we are now seeing more people come to cycling for the first time through indoor training, seeking an activity that supports their active lifestyle and focus on long-term health.”
Min also attributes the rise in Zwift’s popularity to the “affordability, simplicity and compatibility of the brand’s Ready smart trainers. With the acquisition, Zwift-ready trainers and the Zwift Ride smart frames will be compatible with Rouvy, resolving a long-held bugbear of many indoor cyclists.
However, Rouvy will continue to require a separate subscription, and the business is expected to retain its operational independence for the time being. Rouvy CEO Petr Samek said their acquisition by Zwift was “a strong validation of what we’ve built with our team and community, connecting indoor and outdoor training through real routes.
“ROUVY will continue to be the ROUVY you all know and love, with the same team and the same focus on helping riders achieve their cycling goals.
“For our community, this means we’ll keep building the experience you know, supporting your training all year round. Now, supported by Zwift and the Zwift hardware ecosystem, we have an opportunity to create even more experiences in the world of indoor cycling reality!”
Zwift has also announced plans to expand Rouvy’s offering and progress on embedding software into their own products over the coming months.
Last year, Rouvy increased their subscription prices to match Zwift at £17.99 a month per person, arguing that the price increase “will help us keep improving Rouvy and delivering the great rides and experiences you love, whilst maintaining the high quality level we continually strive for.”
Rouvy are also no stranger to mergers and acquisitions, having incorporated several similar real-world simulators into their business, including Bkool and FulGaz. The brand had also branched out into incorporating AI tools to enable users to make their own routes, turning uploaded videos into a 3-D simulation.
> Rouvy acquires Bkool indoor cycling app
Zwift’s own fortunes have not been plain-sailing either, with Min’s fellow co-founder Kurt Biedler resigning in 2024 following several rounds of layoffs that saw the business cut more than 15 percent of jobs over two years.
However the business has maintained its position as the dominant indoor cycling app provider, and has achieved high brand recognition, through sponsorship of the men’s Tour de France and naming rights for the women’s Tour de France and Paris-Roubaix.
13 thoughts on “Zwift announces “strategic acquisition” of rival indoor cycling app Rouvy”
Great… one step further towards monopoly. Another zwift price rise in 3…2…1….
Agree, can’t see what IP Rouvy can bring to improve Zwift.
Less competition! Yay! 👏👏👏 /s
In corporate linguo, a strategic acquisition means to silence immediate competitors, reduce the number of market players, standardise the service offer, increase pricing, improve profits.
Cycling is existentially an outdoor sport. Unless lockdowns become a routine.
Rouvy had previously taken FulGaz over.
This is mentioned in the report but I can’t see how to delete my post.
This is now a monopoly and it shouldn’t have been allowed. Customers are being forced to deal with one company which now holds all the cards.
Would the Competition and Markets Authority be aware of the Zwift/Rouvy situation?
Some discussion of that over on DC Rainmaker’s piece: https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2026/04/zwift-acquires-rouvy-including-fulgaz.html
He suggests that, even if you ignore the fact that there are other players in the cycling simulation market (MyWhoooooooosh, Kinomap, etc. and others repeatedly popping up), it’s more likely to be viewed in the broader context of interactive fitness, where Zwift/Rouvy is a relative minnow up against the likes of Peloton.
It’s far from a monopoly. In terms of direct competitors the closest would be things like MyWhoosh and TrainingPeaks Virtual, but then there are also less visual options like TrainerRoad. There’s also things like Wahoo X, the Tacx App, myETraining (from Elite) etc. – many of which I think could be used with any smart trainer, not just the corresponding manufactures’.
More broadly, the largest player in the “Indoor cycling” industry is probably Peloton (~6x as many subscribers than Zwift according to DC Rainmaker), whilst Apple Fitness also includes cycling workouts and almost certainly has far more subscribers than Zwift.
‘Strategic’ as it removes one of their competitors and allows them to increase prices across both platforms with less chance of people leaving.
Not thrilled about this. I doubt it benefits the customers.
I’d like to see a consolidated subscription become available at some point, many people subscribe to one or the other, not both. I could see a reduced (less than both combined) price point allowing access to both being attractive to some. Also good if ride history could sync across both too, just like Zwift does now with outdoor rides.
My preferred platform is Zwift (since the start in 2015), but occasionally temporarily subscribe or unpause my Rouvy account to simulate rides in a destination before I go there in real life.