Derny › Compare › Derny vs TrainerRoad
Derny vs TrainerRoad
Both apps call themselves adaptive, and they mean different things. TrainerRoad adapts your training plan between rides. Derny adapts the workout you’re in, from your heart rate, while you ride or run.
At a glance
| Derny | TrainerRoad | |
|---|---|---|
| Inside a workout | Moves the target from your live heart rate, every second | ERG holds the workout’s target watts |
| 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 | Used by TrainerRoad AI between rides, alongside power and how hard the ride felt. We found no mode where it changes the target during a ride |
| Between workouts | No training plan yet. Each Adaptive Threshold session starts from what your last one showed | Adaptive Training and TrainerRoad AI adjust upcoming workouts after every session |
| 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 workouts or treadmill control. Runs synced from Strava or Garmin count toward training load |
| 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 | Built on FTP. AI FTP Detection can estimate it from your ride history instead of a test |
| Runs on | iPhone and Android | Windows, Mac, iPhone and Android, plus outdoor workouts on Garmin, Wahoo and Hammerhead head units |
| 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 | Full training plans built around your events, and a large workout library. Workouts can run inside Zwift |
| Price (US) | Free in beta, then a one-time purchase. No subscription | $21.99/mo or $209.99/yr. No free trial, 30-day money-back guarantee |
Prices are US list prices before tax, as published in November 2026. “We found no” means we looked through TrainerRoad’s own pages and support articles and didn’t find it, not that TrainerRoad has said it can’t. Sources are at the bottom of this page.
The difference
TrainerRoad’s Adaptive Training looks at how your completed rides went, including your power, heart rate and a short survey, and changes what comes next. That’s valuable, but once a workout starts its targets are fixed watts. If your heart rate is running high today, ERG still holds the same power.
Derny works inside the session. 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, building again when you recover. You don’t need an FTP for it, only a heart-rate monitor and your max heart rate.
That also means Derny isn’t a training plan. It won’t build a season toward an event the way TrainerRoad does.
Being fair
Choose by what you want
If you train for events with a power meter or smart trainer and want a structured, periodized plan that adjusts around your results.
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.
They can sit side by side. A TrainerRoad plan sets the week, and on an easy day you can ride a Derny endurance session that holds your heart rate in zone 2 however your legs feel. Both upload to Strava.
Sources
Checked 12 November 2026. Spotted something out of date? Email [email protected] and it gets fixed.
Questions people ask
No. TrainerRoad’s Adaptive Training adjusts your future workouts based on how completed ones went. Derny adjusts the workout you’re doing, second by second, from your heart rate.
We found no such mode as of November 2026. TrainerRoad AI uses heart rate between rides to shape what comes next, and ERG holds each workout’s target watts during the ride.
No. Derny needs a heart-rate monitor and your max heart rate. Its adaptive workouts find the right effort from how your heart responds.
We found no treadmill workouts in TrainerRoad. Runs synced from Strava or Garmin count toward your training load. Derny runs heart-rate-led workouts on FTMS treadmills and can set the belt speed.
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.