All the Features of Fitbit Premium (and Is It Worth the Money)
If you have a Fitbit device like the new Fitbit Charge 6 , you can track your steps, activities, and everything else with the official companion app on Android or iOS. Your stats are also available through the Fitbit web dashboard .
It’s all free to use and view, but you can also pay $9.99 a month for Fitbit Premium , which adds an extra layer of features and even more stats on top of the basic experience. If you’re wondering whether Premium is worth the extra cost, you’ve come to the right place.
When it comes to cost, it’s worth keeping in mind that Fitbit gives you a six-month free trial of Fitbit Premium every time you buy a new Fitbit device or Google Pixel Watch (Google now owns Fitbit, remember). If you have an older version of Fitbit, you can also get a three-month free trial by signing up on the Fitbit website .
Additional Fitbit Premium Features
There are actually five key differences between Fitbit Standard and Fitbit Premium that you need to be aware of. First up is the daily readiness score that Premium adds: as the name suggests, it appears every day to tell you whether it’s better to train that day or spend it on recovery. It uses a variety of data, from your age to your recent sleep and activity patterns, and it’s convenient for anyone who’s serious about their fitness.
Second, Fitbit Premium gives you full access to a range of videos covering all types of workouts—for heart training, strength building, workout recovery, and more. The set also includes a variety of soundtracks to help you during a run or help you fall asleep during a meditation session.
Third key feature: improved sleep analysis. You can track your sleep for free, but Premium gives you a more detailed view of each stage of your sleep, and also creates a sleep profile for you: it evaluates 10 key metrics (such as sleep schedule variability) to give you tips on how to you could improve your sleep habits. Your sleep will also be compared to other Fitbit users, and you’ll even be given a “sleeping animal” to match your sleep habits.
Fourth, a Premium subscription allows you to focus more on stress, mindfulness, and health. Your stress assessments get added depth in terms of daily breakdowns, you get the mindfulness audio sessions we mentioned above, and you also get a health report that includes data on your activity, sleep, and stress. affect your body over time.
The final and fifth key feature worth highlighting is the curated list of complete recipes and healthy eating tips that you can use to tailor your diet. These come in the form of videos that you can access and play in the Fitbit app, and they accompany your nutrition stats so it’s easy to check how you’re doing in terms of food and drink.
Deciding if it’s worth it
Deciding whether Fitbit Premium is worth it is, of course, a subjective matter: It depends on what other fitness services you already subscribe to, how serious you are about your fitness routine, and how much money you need to set aside each month. I can speak for myself about using Fitbit Premium for six months – I took advantage of the free trial but didn’t continue with it after that.
What I probably found most helpful was the additional details about sleep and the daily readiness assessment. The sleep stats are very well done: they’re easy to navigate and provide a ton of detail, and since I was interested in improving my sleep, the entries on aspects of sleep such as schedule variability were really helpful. As for the readiness assessment, it turned out to be a convenient indicator of my physical fitness.
As for the workout videos, I intended to put them to good use, but never got around to it. They’re certainly professionally presented and very polished, but I’m not an expert enough to tell you how effective they are. It would also be nice if these videos were better organized, perhaps with a playlist for beginners. In fact, tracking your progress in them is not so easy.
Stress, wellness, and prescriptions are areas I didn’t delve into too much, although when I did the data looked well presented and informative. I’m really only interested in getting enough exercise during the day and getting enough hours of sleep, and for that I need the free version of Fitbit. I suspect it will be the same story for most people.
However, if you value deeper dives into sleep and stress, and think you’ll actually watch workout videos—perhaps instead of paying for a gym membership—then Fitbit Premium starts to make a lot more sense. Of course, with recovery and readiness data, it will be more attractive to serious athletes. It’s a good product, but you need to be sure you’ll use it to its full potential, which a free trial can help with.