Your data, explained
Fitness, fatigue and form aren’t just plotted on a chart. Vertical tells you what they mean today and what to do about it — no sports-science degree required.
TrainingPeaks is the endurance world’s analytics standard — but it doesn’t coach you. You decode the charts, buy a plan, or hire a coach. Vertical reads the same training and tells you what to do, in plain language.
TrainingPeaks
The endurance industry’s analytics standard — every metric, every chart, the shared language of TSS and CTL. Built for coaches and data-driven athletes who want to dig in themselves.
Vertical
An AI coach that reads those same signals for you, tells you what they mean in plain English, builds and adapts your plan, and answers when you ask — no charts to decode, no coach to hire.
Side by side
| Feature | Vertical | TrainingPeaks |
|---|---|---|
| Tells you what to do, in plain language | — | |
| Chat with an AI coach about your training | Human coach only | |
| Voice onboarding — talk through your goals out loud | — | |
| Builds your training plan for you | Buy or hire a coach | |
| Plan keeps adapting as you progress | Continuously | Coach edits it |
| Post-run debrief in plain language | Charts & metrics | |
| Deep performance analytics (PMC, TSS, CTL/ATL) | Key metrics | Industry standard |
| Works with a human coach + plan marketplace | — | |
| Multi-sport: running, cycling & swimming | ||
| Structured workouts pushed to your watch | ||
| Syncs Garmin, COROS & Polar | ||
| Free trial | 7 days, full access | 14 days + free tier |
TrainingPeaks pricing and features per its public site (June 2026). Comparisons reflect each product’s default behaviour.
Why athletes switch
Fitness, fatigue and form aren’t just plotted on a chart. Vertical tells you what they mean today and what to do about it — no sports-science degree required.
Your first session is a spoken conversation. Talk through your history and goals out loud, and Vertical builds your athlete profile from it — no setup forms.
On a data platform, real coaching means hiring a human on top of your subscription. With Vertical, the coaching — plan, debriefs, answers — is the product.
An honest take
Pick TrainingPeaks if…
Pick Vertical if…
It depends what you want. TrainingPeaks is the industry-standard analytics platform — you self-coach off the data, buy a structured plan, or work with a human coach who assigns your workouts. Vertical is the coach itself: an AI that reads your training, tells you what it means in plain language, builds and adapts your plan, and answers when you ask.
No. TrainingPeaks is an analytics platform and a place for human coaches to deliver workouts; its messaging connects you to a human coach you’re already working with. The only way to get AI answers from your TrainingPeaks data is to wire up a third-party assistant yourself. Vertical’s AI coach is built in — chat or voice, grounded in your own training.
No. With TrainingPeaks, real coaching means hiring a human coach on top of your subscription. With Vertical, the coaching is the product — plan, daily guidance, post-run debriefs and answers to your questions are all included.
TrainingPeaks is the gold standard for raw endurance analytics, and if you love digging into every chart yourself, it’s hard to beat. Vertical focuses on the metrics that drive a decision and turns them into clear coaching, rather than exposing every possible graph. Different jobs: a dashboard to analyze vs a coach to follow.
Vertical connects directly to Garmin, COROS and Polar, so your runs sync automatically — no manual uploads.
TrainingPeaks Premium is $19.99/month or $119.99/year (a human coach, if you hire one, costs extra). Vertical starts with a 7-day free trial with full access, coaching included — card required, cancel any time before it ends.
If you’re a coach, you already work with one, or you’re a data-driven athlete who enjoys analyzing your own training in depth, TrainingPeaks is excellent — it’s the endurance standard for a reason. Choose Vertical when you want a coach to interpret the data and make the call for you.
Meet your coach
Card required. Cancel any time before the trial ends.
7-day free trial · card required · cancel anytime