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For coaches · Honest comparison
Athletica vs IntervalCoach for coaches
Both plan with AI and both work with Intervals.icu. The difference is who pays, and what the coach gets. Here is how they compare for a coach.
Quick verdict
Athletica and IntervalCoach both plan with AI and both work with Intervals.icu. On Athletica the coach account is free and each athlete pays $19.90 a month. On IntervalCoach you pay a seat per athlete, the seat includes their full Max plan, and your athletes pay nothing. You also get a coach layer on top: a daily list of who needs you, an approvals inbox for the squad, squad analytics and a Monday digest.
Athletica and IntervalCoach, side by side
| What coaches weigh | IntervalCoach | Athletica |
|---|---|---|
| Who pays, and how | You pay per athlete seat: €10 each for 3 to 4 athletes, €8 from 5, €7 from 15, and a quoted price from 40. The seat includes that athlete's full Max plan, so the athlete pays nothing. | The coach account is free. Each athlete pays $19.90 a month. |
| Monthly cost for 5 / 10 / 20 athletes | €40 / €80 / €140, paid by you. Your athletes pay nothing. | Free for you. Your athletes pay $99.50 / $199 / $398 between them. |
| AI plan adaptation | Yes. Each athlete's plan adapts daily to their recovery, their load and what they actually did, and follows the standing instructions you set. | Yes, AI auto-plans |
| Daily list of who needs you | Yes. Who needs you today and why, with a handled state, plus what changed since you last looked. | Fitness, fatigue and compliance at a glance |
| Recovery data from wearables | Yes. HRV, resting heart rate and sleep from Garmin, Whoop, Oura, Apple Health and Google Health, read against each athlete's own baseline. | Not listed. Training data syncs from Garmin, COROS, Wahoo, Concept2, Strava and Intervals.icu |
| Intervals.icu | Runs on it. You and each athlete connect a free Intervals.icu account. | Yes, syncs with Intervals.icu |
| Billing your athletes | No. You invoice your athletes yourself. | Not listed. You can choose to pay your athletes' subscriptions yourself |
| Coach-athlete messaging | No direct messaging. You and the athlete share the Coach+ thread. | Not listed |
| Template library or marketplace | No template library or marketplace. | Not listed |
| Team and assistant coaches | No shared team account. Each coach buys their own seats. | Not listed |
| Free trial | No. Plans start at 3 seats, and you can drop seats or cancel whenever your roster changes. | Free coach account; athletes get a 2-week trial, no card required |
Where Athletica is the better choice
You do not want a software bill of your own. The Athletica coach account is free, so your costs do not grow with your roster. That works when your athletes are happy to pay for their own subscription.
Your athletes already use Athletica and its AI plans, and moving them would cost more goodwill than it saves.
Where IntervalCoach is the better choice
You would rather include the software in your coaching fee than ask each athlete for a subscription. A seat costs €10 at most, against $19.90 per athlete on Athletica, and it includes the athlete's full Max plan with daily adaptation and Coach+.
You want tooling built for the coach. Each morning a list tells you who needs you and why, with a handled state and what changed since you last looked. Proposed changes for the whole squad wait in one approvals inbox, the squad timeline and squad analytics show the group at once, and a Monday digest lands in your inbox. The plan follows the standing instructions you set, and every signal reads in your own language.
Common questions
Who pays on Athletica and on IntervalCoach?
On Athletica the coach account is free and each athlete pays $19.90 a month. On IntervalCoach you pay €10 to €7 per athlete seat depending on roster size, and the seat includes the athlete's full Max plan, so your athletes pay nothing. For 10 athletes that is €80 a month from you, against $199 a month from your athletes on Athletica.
Do both work with Intervals.icu?
Yes. Athletica syncs with Intervals.icu. IntervalCoach runs on it: you and each athlete connect a free Intervals.icu account, and workouts land on the athlete's Intervals.icu calendar.
What does the coach get on IntervalCoach?
A roster sorted by who needs you today, with the reason attached and a handled state. What changed since you last looked. One approvals inbox for the squad. A squad timeline, squad analytics and a Monday digest email. And you can work inside any athlete's account with Coach+, with full or view-only access set by the athlete.
Coach your squad on IntervalCoach
Sign in with Intervals.icu, start your Coach Plan and invite your first athletes. Each seat carries one athlete, and they pay nothing.
Add or drop seats whenever your roster changes.