Garmin Just Started Charging $70/Year. Here Are Your Options.

Published March 28, 2026 · 9 min read

If you own a Garmin watch or fitness tracker, you probably got the email. Starting this year, many features that used to be free in the Garmin Connect app now require a paid subscription called Garmin Connect+.

The price? $69.99 per year. Or $6.99 per month.

For a lot of people — especially those who bought a Garmin specifically because there was no subscription fee — this feels like a bait and switch. You paid $300 or more for the watch. Now you have to pay again every year to use features that were free when you bought it.

You have every right to be frustrated. But you also have options. Let's walk through what's changed, what you're losing, and what you can do about it.

What Did Garmin Lock Behind the Paywall?

Not everything changed. Your Garmin watch still works. It still records your steps, heart rate, and activities. The basic Garmin Connect app still syncs your data and shows your recent workouts.

But several features that used to be free are now part of Connect+:

• Long-term health trend charts — seeing how your resting heart rate, stress, or sleep quality has changed over months and years
• Training readiness and recovery insights
• Personalized workout suggestions
• Advanced sleep analysis
• AI-powered performance reports
• Lead group challenges

The biggest loss for health-focused users is the long-term trend data. If you've been using Garmin to watch how your heart rate or sleep has changed over the past year, that view is now behind the paywall.

What Still Works Without Paying

To be fair, quite a bit still works for free:

• Your watch records activities, heart rate, and steps as usual
• The Connect app still shows your daily data
• You can still log activities and see basic summaries
• GPS tracking on your watch still works
• You can still export your data (more on this below)

So your watch isn't a brick. But the analysis — the part that helps you understand your health over time — is where the paywall hits hardest.

Your Options: What to Do Now

You have several choices. None of them is perfect, but each has its strengths. Here's an honest look at each one.

Be Honest About What You Actually Use

Before you make a decision, ask yourself: what do I actually look at every day?

If you're a runner or cyclist who uses Garmin for training plans, race predictions, and performance analytics — Connect+ probably is worth the money. Those features are hard to replicate elsewhere.

But if you're like a lot of people — you wear your Garmin, you check your steps, maybe you glance at your heart rate, and what you really care about is keeping an eye on your blood pressure and overall health trends — then you might be paying $70/year for features you barely use.

There's no shame in either choice. Just be clear about what you need.

How to Export Your Data From Garmin

Before you make any changes, export your data first. This is your data. You have a right to it. And once you have a copy, you can take it with you wherever you go.

Here's how to get your data out of Garmin:

1. Go to connect.garmin.com on a computer (not the phone app)
2. Log in with your Garmin account
3. Click your profile picture in the top right corner
4. Go to Account Settings
5. Look for "Export Your Data" or "Data Management"
6. Click "Request Data Export"
7. Garmin will prepare a file with all your data. This can take up to 48 hours. They'll email you when it's ready.
8. Download the file and save it somewhere safe — your computer, a USB drive, or a cloud folder

The export includes your activities, health stats, personal records, and more. It comes as a ZIP file with various data formats inside.

What Your Export File Contains

When you open the ZIP file, you'll find several folders. The most useful ones for health tracking are:

• Health data files — daily summaries of heart rate, stress, sleep, and other metrics
• Activity files — individual workout records (in FIT or TCX format, which most fitness apps can read)
• User profile — your personal info and settings

The file formats can be technical. But the important thing is that you have the data. Many apps and services can import standard fitness file formats. And at minimum, you have a backup of everything.

A Note About What RangePulse Does (and Doesn't Do)

In the interest of honesty: if you're looking for a Garmin replacement that does everything Garmin does, RangePulse is not that.

RangePulse does not track:

• GPS routes or maps
• Running pace or cycling speed
• Step counts from a wearable
• Training load or recovery metrics

What RangePulse does is different. It's focused on daily health vitals — blood pressure, heart rate, weight, and blood sugar. It's built for people who need to track their health for medical reasons, see clear trends over time, and share a clean report with their doctor.

If that's what you've been using Garmin for — keeping an eye on your blood pressure and health trends — then a switch could make sense. If you need a full fitness platform, look at Strava, Apple Fitness+, or similar services.

The Bigger Picture

What Garmin did is part of a larger trend. Companies are moving to subscription models because it's more profitable than selling hardware once. We're seeing it with Peloton, Oura, Whoop, and now Garmin.

The lesson? Your health data should belong to you. Whatever tool you choose, make sure you can always export your data. Make sure you're not locked in. And make sure you're paying for value you actually use — not just because switching feels like too much trouble.

You have options. Take your time, export your data, and choose the one that fits your life.