Straightforward, with a wealth of features if you're a Premium member, Endomondo has long been a favorite fitness app of runners, cyclists, and other outdoor sports enthusiasts. It tracks your duration, distance, pace, speed, route, and more. The mobile app, available for iPhone, Android, Blackberry, and Windows Phone (I tested the iPhone version), can coach Premium Endomondo members (from $5.99 per month) through their runs and over many weeks of training. It's a great app, if somewhat basic, for tracking outdoor workouts. The Premium membership, which you'll want, is a little pricey if you pay per month, but better if you pay annually. For a more exhilarating and competitive experience, however, Strava takes the cake. And if you can't bear subscription-based billing, you'll be happier with Runtastic PRO, which costs a $4.99 one-time fee.

Price

You can download and use Endomondo without paying, but free accounts are limited. Without paying, you get basic data, such as duration, distance, speed, calories burned, and your mapped route, but you can't compare previous activities to the most recently recorded one. You also don't get any access to training plans or coaching. The free app is ad-supported, but the ads tend to be small and only at the bottom of the screen. They're pretty unobtrusive. 

If you want a free app for tracking outdoor activities, however, you're better off with one that gives you more at the free level, such as Runmeter by Abvio. It's only available for iPhone, but it's beyond thorough—a data-lover's paradise. Runmeter also offers a premium, or Elite, upgrade for only $4.99 per year.

Premium Endomondo subscribers pay $5.99 per month or $29.99 per year. The prices change from time to time, so be careful. There used to be a Pro version of the app you could buy for a one-time flat fee of $4.99, but it's been discontinued. 

As a point of comparison, the much-loved Strava app for runners and cyclists offers a Premium subscription for $6 per month (nearly the same as Endomondo) or $59 per year (nearly twice as much). An MVP account with Map My Run or Map My Fitness costs the same as Endomondo Premium.

Runtastic, one of my favorite run-tracking apps, still offers a one-time flat fee Runtastic PRO app for just $4.99. Be sure to check it out before committing to another app, because it's a steal.

Premium members get nearly as much detail about their runs as do runners who wear an activity tracker or runner's watch. And the training plans and coaching feedback are helpful if you have specific goals for your activities. If you're going to use Endomondo, I'd recommend buying a yearly membership for the best value. Just set yourself a calendar reminder in 11 months to decide whether you want the membership to automatically renew or if you want to cancel.

Features and Interface

Before you start on a run, you can set a timer in Endomondo to give you a few seconds to put your phone in your pocket before you're off the blocks. That delayed-start feature is available to both free users and Premium subscribers.

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If you leave GPS enabled and run with Endomondo tracking your whereabouts, you'll see at the end of your run a summary that includes a map. It's similar to other runners' apps, such as Map My Run, Runtastic, and others. You'll also see your duration, distance, and heart rate if you wear a compatible heart rate monitor (HRM). You also see the sport or activity you selected, a note about whether you're in a basic workout or part of a training plan, and a start and stop button.

In the settings, there's also an auto-pause option. When it's enabled, Endomondo won't count stop times when you're at a red light or tying your shoelace toward your pace and times. A lot of runner's apps have auto-pause, too. One issue with Endomondo's is that it seemed to enable on me whenever I ran through a particular tunnel, making me think auto-pause enables when the iPhone loses the GPS signal. That's problematic. I'd think motion-detection would be a better indicator (or secondary indicator) for the auto-pause.

As mentioned, Premium users get a lot more visibility into the details of their recorded activities. For example, you can see much more-detailed heart rate data, such as a graph showing how much time you spent in different heart-rate zones. And you can compare how you performed this time with previous workouts. The app has plenty of stats, but you'll find much more if you log into Endomondo on the Web.

Premium users also get a wealth of information in the coaching and training areas of the app. When I signed up for a premium account, one of the first features I enabled was a training plan to become a faster runner. I love the amount of choice in crafting the training plan. For example, you can choose the distance for which you want to get faster, and if you've done previous runs with Endomondo, it will use your data to start your training plan at the right fitness level for you.

Audio coaching lets Endomondo give you real-time information about your run through your headphones. You can select which data points you want to hear, such as distance, duration, pace, average heart rate, and more.

One grievance I have with Endomondo's location settings is that they are an all-or-nothing deal. There is no option to give the app access to your location only when the app is running. I much prefer fitness apps to offer this setting for both privacy and battery savings.

Heart Rate Data

Heart rate has become one of the most valuable pieces of data for workout enthusiasts whether they're training or just trying to get a more accurate calorie-burn estimate. I tested Endomondo using a Mio Alpha 2 wrist-worn HRM, and it paired and worked flawlessly. The Alpha 2 works well with Endomondo, but Mio has its own app, called Mio Go, that's sufficient for keeping track of runs, bicycle rides, and your heart rate zones during those workouts. Endomondo certainly provides more stats than Mio Go, but depending on how much data you want, the app that comes with your HRM might be enough.

Another HRM I've tested, the Pear Training-Intelligence is better for runners who are just getting started. It works with a companion mobile app to coach you through your runs based on your heart rate instead of your pace, distance, or time. If you need to buy an HRM, it's worth considering that it will come with its own mobile app, which might be better for you than using it with the Endomondo app, depending on your current fitness level and goals.

Straightforward Activity-Tracking App

Although I like Endomondo Premium quite a bit, $5.99 a month is pretty expensive for an activity-tracking app. The annual $29.99 payment plan is a much-better deal, and you'll want it if you choose to use this straightforward activity-tracking app to record your runs, walks, bicycle rides, hikes, and other outdoor activities. Keep in mind that it is basic. You won't find any surprise features, like new music with a beat that matches your pace, or novel twists on the runner app genre. If standard and simple is what you're after, Endomondo is an excellent outdoor activity-tracking app.