Strava blames zero-code AI apps and scrapers as it tightens API access
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- Strava now requires developers to pay a flat $11.99 per month subscription to access its API for building apps using Strava data.
- Strava attributes the policy change to a 448% year‑to‑date rise in developer applications and to policy‑violating API intermediaries and scrapers that degrade platform performance.
- Strava previously offered free API access with tiered usage based on user count, a model it is abandoning after similar moves by Reddit in 2023.
- Claude can now be linked directly to users’ fitness data via a new Strava tool, while wearable integrations and free data downloads remain unaffected.
Why it matters: Developers lose free API access and must pay $11.99/month, while Strava gains a revenue stream and can curb performance‑degrading scraping; the move pushes third‑party fitness apps toward paid models or forces them to seek alternative data sources.
