TL;DR: In our view, Vekta is the most analytically ambitious training platform to arrive in endurance sport in years. It builds on Critical Power and W’ modelling instead of FTP, and Vekta lists seven cycling teams at WorldTour level that chose it in 2025 and 2026, including Lidl-Trek, Decathlon CMA CGM and FDJ-Suez, which keeps TrainingPeaks for training delivery and uses Vekta for analysis (Vekta vs TrainingPeaks). The AI does real work: machine learning interval detection, automatic session summaries, a workout builder that takes plain language or voice, and zones that update daily without a test (Vekta for coaches). Coach accounts are free, and pricing is per athlete: each athlete costs 19.99 EUR per month or 179.99 EUR per year, paid by the coach or the athlete (Vekta pricing). Vekta itself says it has no marketplace, no athlete billing or invoicing automation and no accredited coach education (Vekta vs TrainingPeaks). In its documentation we did not find a lactate testing module, and the app lists English as its only language (App Store). For analytics-driven cycling coaches, Vekta deserves a serious look. For coaches who want testing, coaching and education around the same coaching business, the gaps matter.
What Is Vekta?
Vekta is an AI training and coaching platform for endurance sports, found at joinvekta.com. It is run by GRAIG SAS, a French company near Paris (terms of use), and was founded in 2022 (how we build at Vekta). It positions itself as a break from the FTP-based approach that has shaped endurance software for two decades. Instead of anchoring everything to a single threshold, Vekta models performance with the Critical Power framework: CP marks the boundary between sustainable and unsustainable effort, and W’ is the finite work capacity available above it (CP and W’).
In our view, the adoption story stands out for a platform this young. Vekta lists Lidl-Trek (men’s and women’s teams), Team Jayco AlUla, Liv AlUla Jayco, FDJ-Suez, Decathlon CMA CGM, Team TotalEnergies and Team AMANI, and says all of them previously used TrainingPeaks as their primary platform. FDJ-Suez still uses TrainingPeaks for training delivery and communication, with Vekta as its analysis partner (Vekta vs TrainingPeaks). Vekta’s homepage now speaks of eight WorldTour teams and lists the Lidl-Trek men’s and women’s teams separately (Vekta). Eddie Dunbar and Valentin Madouas joined as athlete investors (Dunbar and Madouas), and Chris Froome joined as Chief Innovation Officer (Chris Froome joins Vekta).
Vekta serves both coaches and athletes. Coaches use the platform for free, and for each athlete the coach decides whether they cover the seat or the athlete pays (Vekta pricing). This review looks at what Vekta does well and where the trade-offs sit, particularly for working coaches who need more than analysis from their platform.
Key Features
Critical Power and W’ Modelling
The performance model is Vekta’s foundation, not a feature bolted on. CP, W’ and Pmax are derived from training data without a formal test protocol and update daily, and Vekta estimates VO2max from them (Vekta, VO2max). Seven training zones are rebuilt daily from CP, W’ and Pmax, so an athlete’s intervals follow current capacity rather than the last time someone updated a threshold (Vekta for coaches). For running, Vekta models Critical Speed and D’ (Vekta vs TrainingPeaks).
Vekta does not force you to rely on the estimate alone: since September 2026 you can replace an estimated metric with your own value from a lab or field test, with Vekta’s estimate kept beside it (Vekta, Vekta vs TrainingPeaks).
Machine Learning Interval Detection
Vekta’s interval detection reads power, cadence and torque together and identifies session structure automatically. In a benchmark Vekta ran and published in March 2026 on 50 identical cycling sessions, with interval counts validated by two data scientists, Vekta reports 97.54 percent mean detection accuracy against 48.24 percent for TrainingPeaks, and 43 of 50 sessions detected perfectly against 9 (interval benchmark). It is Vekta’s own benchmark and we have not reproduced it.
Every session also gets a training stimulus classification, and Vekta detects races and classifies them by type: time trial, flat, hilly or mountain stage (intervals and race classification, Vekta vs TrainingPeaks).
AI Workout Builder and Session Summaries
Describe a workout in plain language and Vekta builds the structured session, personalised to the athlete, then sends it to their device. On mobile, this works by voice. W’ balance previews show where a prescribed session will bite before the athlete rides it (Vekta for coaches).
After every completed session, an AI summary goes to both coach and athlete. Session comparison surfaces the most similar past session from an athlete’s history, so progression is visible without digging through old files (Vekta for coaches). Each prescribed session also comes with a carbohydrate recommendation in grams per hour (carbohydrate recommendations).
Vekta also has an API that is free with every subscription. Coaches connect it to Claude or ChatGPT and ask about any athlete in plain English, or build reports that run on a schedule (Vekta for coaches, Vekta API).
Durability and Load Analysis
Vekta splits training load into two signals rather than one blended score: Vekta Volume tracks the work done, Vekta Intensity tracks the physiological cost relative to current capacity, with an adjustment for altitude (Volume and Intensity). Over time these feed Load and Strain metrics (Load and Strain).
The durability view shows peak power at accumulated work from 0 to 50 kJ/kg in 10 kJ/kg steps, so you see how an athlete’s output holds up as a session or race wears on (durability, Vekta for coaches). For road racing, where results are decided deep into the day, we find this one of Vekta’s most useful views.
Coach Dashboard and Communication
The coach dashboard shows every athlete’s load, recovery, sleep, HRV, resting heart rate and wellness score in one view, with upcoming days visible so gaps in prescription stand out (Vekta vs TrainingPeaks). Chat sits inside the session analysis (chat), athletes answer a daily wellness check-in (wellness check-in), and workspaces keep teams and rosters apart as a practice grows (workspaces).
Mobile App
Vekta’s mobile app supports workout creation and editing, including voice-to-workout, full session analysis with activity streams, and coach access to athlete data (Vekta vs TrainingPeaks). Coach access on mobile launched in February 2026 (how we build at Vekta). Coaches are not tied to a desktop for structured work.
Device Integrations
Vekta connects directly to Garmin, Wahoo, Hammerhead, COROS, Zwift, WHOOP and Oura (Vekta pricing). Sensors such as CORE, Stryd and Tymewear need no separate connection: Vekta reads their data from the session files your head unit records (device sync). It does not integrate with aggregators like Strava by design, arguing that aggregators smooth FIT data and that raw data from the source preserves the precision its models depend on (Vekta vs TrainingPeaks). Vekta names Apple Watch, Polar and Suunto as devices it does not yet integrate with directly (Vekta compare). You can still upload FIT files by hand (device not listed).
Strengths
Deep Cycling Analytics
In our view this is the headline. For cycling analysis, Vekta offers CP and W’ modelling updated daily, real-time W’ balance, durability curves, race detection, a physics-based climb calculator and torque analysis in the standard subscription (Vekta vs TrainingPeaks, climb calculator). TrainingPeaks sells its Power Duration Curve Model in WKO5, a separate desktop product at a one-time 169 USD (WKO5).
AI That Does Structural Work
Vekta’s AI performs recurring analysis that otherwise takes coach time: interval detection, stimulus labels, session summaries, zone updates and workout generation all run automatically (Vekta for coaches). Vekta quotes coach Ulisses Abbud, who took on 25 percent more athletes after moving from TrainingPeaks without adding hours, and Lidl-Trek’s Head of Performance, who describes spending less time processing data and more time with riders (Vekta vs TrainingPeaks).
WorldTour Credibility
Vekta says seven WorldTour-level teams left TrainingPeaks for Vekta in 2025 and 2026, with FDJ-Suez running both platforms side by side (Vekta vs TrainingPeaks). In our view, that is the strongest endorsement an endurance platform has earned in years. Vekta says athletes at every level get the same model that WorldTour teams use (Vekta).
Free for Coaches, Fast Development
Coaches pay nothing for their own seat, which makes a serious evaluation easy, and a coach can run the 14-day trial with as many athletes as they like (Vekta pricing). Vekta keeps a public roadmap and reports major updates every one to two weeks (Vekta vs TrainingPeaks). Its own count is 23 published releases in nine months (how we build at Vekta).
Supported Migration
Vekta imports up to five years of history once a device is connected. From TrainingPeaks it transfers FIT files, workout summaries, RPE scores, session comments, body weight history and the workout library, with team-assisted bulk imports and guided onboarding for coaches moving full rosters (Vekta vs TrainingPeaks, moving from TrainingPeaks).
Weaknesses
Per-Athlete Pricing With No Free Athlete Tier
Vekta is free for coaches, and every athlete seat costs 19.99 EUR per month or 179.99 EUR per year, paid by the coach or the athlete (Vekta pricing). On the pricing page we found a 14-day trial but no free athlete account. Vekta does not state whether these prices include VAT, and it bills in local currency where supported (billing). The cost grows with every athlete you cover. In our view, that works well for high-end coaching practices; for coaches with club athletes or juniors, it can price part of the roster off the platform. The full breakdown is in our Vekta Pricing analysis.
Cycling at the Core
Vekta says it covers cycling, running, swimming and triathlon with the same full capability in each, with sport-specific models (Vekta). Running gets Critical Speed and D’, and swimming gets zones from critical pace and maximum heart rate (Vekta vs TrainingPeaks). In our view, many of the flagship tools still speak cycling first: the climb calculator, torque analysis, race classification by stage type, and an interval benchmark run on cycling sessions. For strength, Vekta marks off-device sessions as completed and names a full strength module as a gap (Vekta vs TrainingPeaks, Vekta compare). Triathlon and hybrid coaches should test it against their own sessions.
No Lactate Testing Module
Vekta estimates CP and W’ from field data, and you can now enter a value from a lab or field test to replace an estimate (Vekta vs TrainingPeaks). In Vekta’s website and help center we did not find a way to record blood lactate values from a step test and derive LT1 and LT2 from them (help center). Coaches who run lactate step tests, and sell testing as a service, will likely need a separate tool for the test itself.
English Only
Vekta’s website is in English, and the App Store lists English as the app’s only language (App Store). We did not find other languages on the site or in the help center (help center). For coaches whose athletes expect an app in Dutch, French, German, Spanish or another language, that is, in our view, a real adoption barrier for everyday athletes, whatever the WorldTour uses.
No Business Layer, No Accredited Education
Vekta says it has no marketplace, no athlete billing or invoicing automation and no accredited coach education, and calls itself a performance platform (Vekta vs TrainingPeaks). What it does offer is detailed documentation on its models, and Adaptive Training Plans that athletes buy from Vekta (refund policy). We did not find coach and athlete matchmaking in its documentation. Coaches who want their software to help them find athletes, bill athletes or grow their methodology will need other tools alongside it.
A Young Platform
Vekta’s team is ten people (how we build at Vekta), and the platform is still filling out its feature map. Women’s health tracking is not currently available, and Vekta itself says TrainingPeaks has the broader device list (Vekta vs TrainingPeaks). Early adopters get a fast-moving product; they also get the occasional gap where a mature platform has coverage.
Who Is Vekta Best For?
Vekta is the right choice if you:
- Coach cyclists with a deep data focus: CP and W’ modelling, durability and W’ balance give you real analytical depth
- Want AI to absorb your admin: interval detection, summaries and zone updates run on every session
- Have athletes who will pay for their own accounts, or a business model where covering each seat makes sense
- Coach on mobile: workout creation and analysis on the phone, including by voice
- Are leaving TrainingPeaks for analytical reasons: the migration path is well supported
- Want to query athlete data from Claude or ChatGPT through an API included in the subscription (Vekta API)
Ideal Vekta user: a performance-oriented cycling coach with a roster of committed athletes on power meters, who values modelling depth over business tooling and works comfortably in English.
Who Should Look Elsewhere?
Vekta may not be the right fit if you:
- Run lactate testing and want threshold detection and zone generation from blood lactate values inside your platform
- Coach a mixed roster where some athletes cannot justify a paid seat, or you want free athlete accounts
- Coach in Dutch, French, German or another language and your athletes expect a localized app
- Need strength programming as a full part of your prescription, which Vekta names as a gap (Vekta compare)
- Sell plans through a marketplace with invoicing, or want your platform to help with athlete acquisition and coach education
- Coach athletes on Apple Watch, Polar or Suunto, which Vekta does not yet integrate with directly (Vekta compare)
Coachbox as an Alternative
We build Coachbox, so read this section knowing where it comes from. Where Vekta is, in our view, a performance modelling system with coaching features, Coachbox brings planning, communication, lactate testing, coach education and coach matchmaking together.
Some things both products do: both run on web and mobile, both let you talk to athletes about a single session, both follow HRV, sleep and resting heart rate, and both connect to ChatGPT and Claude.
Where Coachbox takes a different route:
- Lactate testing: Coachbox detects LT1 and LT2 automatically in under a minute, from values you type in or from a photo of a paper protocol, and the training zones are set automatically. You can add spirometry data to a test
- Free athlete accounts: athletes who train with a coach use the app for free. The coach’s plan includes a set number of active athletes, with a fee per extra active athlete, as the table below shows
- Coachbox AI: on top of the MCP connection, you ask about a specific athlete inside Coachbox and have it write changes straight into the training plan
- Coachbox Academy: courses and certifications for coaches, such as a lactate testing course
- Find a coach: athletes searching for a coach browse coach profiles and connect through the platform
Where Vekta goes further, in our view:
- Cycling analytics depth: CP and W’ modelling, durability curves and real-time W’ balance go beyond what we offer in Coachbox’s session analysis
- AI on every file: Vekta runs interval detection, stimulus labels and a written summary on each session as it arrives (Vekta for coaches)
How Each One Bills
The two products put the cost in different places, so a single yearly number per roster says little. Vekta charges per athlete seat, and the coach decides per athlete who pays (Vekta pricing). Coachbox charges the coach a plan that includes a number of athletes, plus a fee for each extra active athlete, and athletes of a coach pay nothing. An athlete counts as active when they have workouts planned in the future.
| Vekta | Coachbox | |
|---|---|---|
| Coach account | Free | Base: 19 EUR/month billed yearly, or 25 EUR billed monthly, excl. VAT |
| Athletes included | Not applicable, every athlete has a seat | Base: 5, then 2.50 EUR per extra active athlete. Build (49 EUR/month yearly, 65 EUR monthly): 25, then 2 EUR per extra active athlete, excl. VAT |
| Per athlete | 19.99 EUR/month or 179.99 EUR/year per seat, as listed, paid by coach or athlete | Free for the athlete. Counts toward the coach’s plan only when workouts are planned in the future |
| Lactate tests | Not found in the documentation | 3 to 6 EUR excl. VAT per test depending on the plan, with free tests at the start |
| Free trial | 14 days | 14 days, no credit card |
Coachbox lists its prices without VAT. Vekta lists its prices in euro without saying whether VAT is included, so we show them exactly as listed and do not convert them. Vekta is based in France, and a business can add a VAT number when it subscribes (billing). Sources: Vekta pricing, Coachbox pricing.
Which one costs less depends on how you coach: how many athletes you cover yourself, how many pay their own seat, and how many have workouts planned ahead. For the feature-by-feature comparison, see Coachbox vs Vekta.
Coachbox is used by 25,000+ coaches and athletes in 35+ countries, with 12 million+ workouts logged. It syncs with Garmin, Polar, COROS, Suunto, Wahoo, Apple Watch, Fitbit and TomTom, and offers a 14-day free trial without a credit card.
The Bottom Line
In our view, Vekta is one of the most interesting things to happen to endurance training software in years. The Critical Power foundation is grounded in published research, the AI does real work, and the teams Vekta lists moving away from TrainingPeaks are a strong endorsement. For serious cycling coaches and self-coached riders who want their data read with current performance science, Vekta earns its place on any shortlist.
A coaching practice is more than analysis, though. Vekta says it has no marketplace, no athlete billing and no accredited education, we did not find a lactate test module or a language besides English, and its per-athlete seats add up across a roster. Coaches who need those things will either add tools around Vekta or choose a platform built around them.
If you coach cyclists and live for the numbers, try Vekta. If you want lactate testing, planning and team management in one platform, compare the options first: we lay them out in Vekta Alternatives, and if you are weighing Vekta against the incumbent, read Vekta vs TrainingPeaks.
