Progress Bars vs Strava's Built-in Goals
Why your followers can't see Strava's goals - and how to show them yours.
Strava's Goals let you set a weekly, monthly or yearly target for distance, time or elevation. But progress goals are private: only you can see them, and they live inside the Strava app rather than on your activities. Your followers only find out if you finish, when the completing activity gets a banner.
Progress Bars takes the opposite approach. It writes your progress into the description of every activity that counts, so anyone who can see the activity sees where you stand - and you see how many days ahead or behind you are.
Side by Side
| Strava Goals | Progress Bars | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Part of a paid Strava subscription | Free - no charge, no subscription. Works with a free Strava account. |
| Who sees your progress | Only you (until you complete the goal) | Anyone who can see the activity - or just you, if you turn on private notes |
| Where it shows | Your goals and progress screens in the Strava app | The description of every activity that counts toward the goal |
| Pacing | Totals, like "3 hours ahead" | Days ahead or behind, like "2 days ahead" - or the amount, if you prefer |
| Goal dates | Weekly, monthly or yearly | Annual, monthly or any start and end date - including backdating |
| What counts | Activities of the sports you pick | Your pick of sport, plus whether e-bike rides and virtual rides or runs count |
| Elevation, segment and power goals | Yes | No - distance and time goals only |
Strava details checked October 2026. Strava changes its features often, so check Strava's help center for the latest.
When Strava Goals Is the Better Fit
If you already pay for Strava and want to keep your goal to yourself, or you want elevation, segment or power goals, Strava's built-in Goals cover that.
When Progress Bars Is the Better Fit
- You want your followers to see your annual goal progress on every activity - built-in accountability.
- You want to know how many days ahead or behind you are, and how many rest days you can take.
- You want control over dates and what counts: backdate a goal, or leave out e-bike or virtual rides.
- You don't want to pay for a subscription to track a goal.
You can use both: Strava's Goals for yourself, Progress Bars for what your followers see.
Put Your Goal on Every Activity
Connect Strava, set your annual goal, and your next upload carries your progress bar.
Questions Athletes Ask
What Can Progress Bars See and Change in My Strava Account?
Progress Bars asks Strava for three permissions. "read" gets your first name and public profile. "activity:read_all" reads each activity's type, date, distance and duration - including Only You activities, so private workouts still count toward your goal. "activity:write" lets it add the progress bar to your activity description (or your private notes, if you choose).
It never reads GPS routes, heart rate, photos, comments, kudos or who you follow. You can disconnect anytime at strava.com/settings/apps. Read the privacy policy
Will It Change My Activity Descriptions?
Only on new activities that count toward one of your goals - Progress Bars writes the progress bar into that activity's description. Want to keep it to yourself? Turn on private notes for a goal and the bar goes there instead, where only you can see it. You can also pick weekly updates only, so it posts once a week instead of on every activity. Zwift rides keep Zwift's own description, with the bar added underneath.
How Fast Does the Progress Bar Show Up?
Usually within seconds of your activity landing on Strava. Strava tells Progress Bars about each new upload and the description updates right away - no extra steps. Zwift rides wait about 10 seconds so Zwift's description stays on top.
What Happens If Strava Changes Its API?
Progress Bars uses Strava's official API - the same one every approved Strava app uses - and doesn't scrape or work around anything. When Strava changes something, the app gets updated; your goals are stored here, so nothing is lost. If Strava ever shut off API access entirely, the bars would stop updating, but every description already written stays on your activities.
Is It Really Free?
Yes - no charge, no subscription, no PRO tier. Every feature is included. Why It's Free
Who Is It For - and Who Isn't It For?
It's for Strava athletes with a distance or time goal: an annual mileage goal on the bike, a monthly running target, hours of strength training, yards in the pool. It isn't a training plan or an analytics dashboard - no power curves or fitness charts. It does one thing: shows where you stand on your goal, on every activity.
Progress Bars is a third-party app that uses the Strava API and is not affiliated with Strava.