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API Policy 2026 — Can an athlete explicitly authorize their coach to view their Strava data?

  • Oct 8, 2026 6:16 PM UTC
  • 3 replies
  • 126 views

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Hello Strava developers,

We are building AxonFit, a running coaching SaaS platform in Brazil, and we have a question about the current Strava API Policy.

Our flow is:

1. An athlete creates an account in AxonFit.
2. The athlete connects their own Strava account through OAuth.
3. The athlete explicitly authorizes AxonFit to access their Strava activities.
4. The athlete is linked to a running coach in AxonFit.
5. We would like to display that athlete's Strava activity data to their own coach inside the coaching platform.

The purpose is to compare prescribed training sessions with completed activities, for example:

- distance
- duration
- pace
- elevation
- average heart rate

The athlete is the person who authorizes the Strava connection.

Our question is:

Under the current 2026 API Policy, is this use case permitted if the athlete provides explicit consent for AxonFit to share/display their Strava activity data with their own running coach?

We are particularly trying to understand the interaction between the current "display to the user" requirement and the "prior express consent" provision.

We are not asking about rate limits or athlete capacity in this post.

We would appreciate confirmation from someone familiar with the current API Policy.

Thank you.

3 replies

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  • Hub Starter
  • Oct 8, 2026 11:42 PM UTC

From my understanding of the policy, it’s a very clear NO. Not even the biggest api users out there have been able to get around this part of the policy. 
 

It is impossible for an athlete to provide that sort of consent. 
 

One thing worth noting that I’m not sure I understand correctly, is that there seems to be an exception if your app is under 10000 users. Something to look into, but obviously would limit growth.

 

unfortunately I’d start training your users to manually export their data and upload it to your app to avoid having to use Strava’s API


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Hi Skyryk,

Thank you for taking the time to share your perspective and for pointing out these potential limitations in the Strava API Policy. Your feedback is very helpful as we evaluate the best way to build our running coaching platform, AxonFit, while respecting Strava’s policies.

We understand that explicit athlete consent may not be sufficient to authorize this type of data sharing, so we’re trying to clarify our options before moving forward.

Since you mentioned the possibility of alternative approaches, I’d really appreciate your thoughts on one additional question:

Are you aware of any alternatives to Strava that would allow a running coaching platform to access an athlete’s completed workout data—with the athlete’s explicit permission—and share relevant metrics with their own coach?

We’re particularly interested in solutions that support metrics such as distance, duration, pace, elevation, and heart rate, ideally through an API and with clear data-sharing permissions.

Any recommendations or experience you could share would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks again for your help!

Best regards,
The AxonFit Team


Jan_Mantau
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  • Hub Powerhouse
  • Oct 9, 2026 9:16 PM UTC

The alternative is easy, the coach can lookup the athlete’s activity directly on Strava and see all the mentioned values. No additional app needed.