Peloton quietly removes a free perk users loved

If there's one thing that changes more rapidly than footwear trends or social media dances, it's the fitness market. 

Fueled largely by social media, the fitness landscape develops rapidly as influencers determine what boutique workout classes are worth a $40 price tag (or more) per class and which are no longer in vogue. 

Related: Popular restaurant chain filing for bankruptcy, closing all locations

Take, for example, the rapid rise and fall of Soul Cycle. The indoor stationary cycling classes are still highly popular among early risers and hard chargers, mainly in wealthy metropolitan areas, but its cult-like following is no longer what it was around its height in the late 2010s. 

The same can be said about CrossFit, which was popular 10 years ago among busy adults who were looking to get shredded fast.

Now, low-impact workouts are all the rage. Pilates is popular among the younger female demographic who swear low intensity workouts are better for their health and well-being. And boutique offerings at places like Solid Core, Club Pilates, Orange Theory, and Tracy Anderson routinely sell out classes at their mostly upscale locations. 

The workout landscape is changing

Disparate as they may be, all of these workout models have at least one thing in common. They're all in person. 

Several years ago, most of these boutiques were largely closed thanks to covid, which made any indoor fitness studio seem more like an unappealing petri dish than something to share with friends and TikTok. 

This is largely why at-home fitness solutions like Peloton  (PTON)  took off. What once seemed like an overpriced bike with an iPad attached to it suddenly became a status symbol of the early 2020s; anyone who cared about their Zoom background proudly touted a Peloton behind them. 

And sales took off. Waiting times for a new Peloton bike, which at the time retailed for close to $2,000 for the base model, exceeded several weeks in some areas. People couldn't get enough of working out at home on something that felt like a community, and Peloton's success reflected that.

Peloton tries to shore up business

But like a lot of other crazes and phases, popularity eventually begins to die off. While its stock was hitting record highs through 2020 and 2021 after back to back quarters of record sales, Peloton has come back down to earth. Bikes are now sold by everyone from Amazon to second-hand Facebook groups, at a fraction of the original cost. 

One of the difficulties is that hardware is expensive to produce and difficult to manage against competition. Plenty of copycats of equal or similar quality are now available for even cheaper, and Peloton has no real tangible competitive edge. 

Except for its software. Much of what drew people to Peloton originally was its tribe of devoted riders, people who got up each day to participate in a live class with their favorite instructor, simply because it felt humanly interactive. Competitors might have been able to recreate a bike, but they couldn't capture the popularity of Peloton's instructors, some of whom tout millions of followers on social media. 

So Peloton over the past couple of years has leaned into its digital front. It's thrown more resources behind its standalone app, which does not require a bike, treadmill, or rower to use. Users can take everything from pilates to barre to outdoor running classes, thanks to a library of thousands of classes that get added each day.

And some of those classes came at zero cost. Up until recently, the app offered three payment tiers: 

• App Free: $0, rotating selection of limited classes
• App One: $12.99 monthly, 3 monthly equipment classes, unlimited other (equipment-free) classes
• App+: $24 monthly, unlimited classes of all types

Now, however, Peloton has quietly eliminated its free option, offering only the latter two paid options. As of Tuesday, some classes on the app were listed on the home page as "free for a limited time," indicated Peloton will soon do away with its free content entirely. 

Some reports indicate Peloton is removing the option because it has not converted enough free members into paying ones, though anyone who signed up for the free membership before this decision will still have access to the free library, Peloton says. A seven-day free trial will still be available to new users who sign up now.

Related: Veteran fund manager picks favorite stocks for 2024