Derny › Compare › Derny vs Rouvy
Derny vs Rouvy
Rouvy puts real filmed roads on your screen, with gradient on your trainer, group rides and races. Derny has no routes or video. It runs workouts that change the target from your heart rate while you ride or run.
At a glance
| Derny | Rouvy | |
|---|---|---|
| Inside a workout | Moves the target from your live heart rate, every second | ERG holds each segment’s target watts. Rides follow the route’s gradient |
| Heart rate | Steers the workout. When your heart rate climbs past where the workout wants it, the target comes down, and it builds again as you recover | Each workout segment shows a heart-rate zone. Rouvy’s blog says some imported AI-coach workouts adjust power from data such as heart rate. Its help centre doesn’t describe this, and we haven’t tested it |
| Between workouts | No training plan yet. Each Adaptive Threshold session starts from what your last one showed | Training plans, a weekly schedule in the companion app, and plans from partner AI coaches |
| Treadmill | Sets the belt speed on FTMS treadmills that accept it, never above a max speed you choose. On others it shows you the speed to run | We found no treadmill support |
| Elliptical and rower | Ellipticals, yes. Rowers aren’t supported yet | We found no elliptical or rowing support |
| Fitness test | No test. You need a heart-rate monitor and your max heart rate | Workout targets follow your FTP, from a ramp or 20-minute test |
| Runs on | iPhone and Android | Windows, Mac, iPhone, iPad, Android and Apple TV |
| What you get | Ready-made adaptive workouts, a rule editor for your own, and AI workout writing with Claude or ChatGPT. No videos or virtual worlds | Filmed real-world routes, route creator, group rides, races and challenges |
| Price (US) | Free in beta, then a one-time purchase. No subscription | $19.99/mo or $179.99/yr. Duo and Group plans for households. 7-day trial |
Prices are US list prices before tax, as published in November 2026. “We found no” means we looked through Rouvy’s own pages and support articles and didn’t find it, not that Rouvy has said it can’t. Sources are at the bottom of this page.
The difference
Rouvy is about where you ride: filmed roads with the gradient on your trainer, events and other riders. Its workouts are set in watts from your FTP and shown with the heart-rate zone each part aims for.
Derny is about how you ride. It reads your heart rate every second and moves the target to keep you where the workout wants you: easing off when your heart rate climbs and building again as you recover. It needs no FTP, only a heart-rate monitor and your max heart rate, and it works on treadmills and ellipticals as well as trainers.
Rouvy has been owned by Zwift since 2026 and still runs as its own app.
Being fair
Choose by what you want
If you want to ride real roads on your trainer, with events and other riders, and you train to power.
If you want each workout to respond to how your body is doing today, you train by heart rate, or you train on a treadmill or elliptical as well as a bike.
You can use both on the same trainer: Rouvy for routes and events, Derny for heart-rate-led sessions. Close one before you open the other, because most trainers connect to one app at a time. Both upload to Strava.
Sources
Checked 12 November 2026. Spotted something out of date? Email [email protected] and it gets fixed.
Questions people ask
Rouvy’s workouts are set in watts and show a heart-rate zone for each segment. Its blog says some workouts imported from AI coaching apps adjust power from data such as heart rate, but its help centre doesn’t describe that and we haven’t tested it. Derny changes the target from your live heart rate in every adaptive workout.
Yes. Zwift announced it was buying Rouvy in April 2026. Rouvy still runs as its own app and subscription.
We found no treadmill support in Rouvy as of November 2026. Derny runs heart-rate-led workouts on FTMS treadmills and can set the belt speed.
Derny is free while in beta and will be a one-time purchase after launch, not a subscription. Rouvy costs $19.99 a month or $179.99 a year in the US.
Try it
When Derny launches, it will be a one-time purchase, not a subscription.
The beta is live on iPhone through TestFlight and on Android through Google Play. Your invite arrives by email.