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Grimpa vs Zwift
Zwift is the best-known indoor cycling world: roads it designed itself, full of riders, races at every hour and apps for every screen. Grimpa is for riders who'd rather ride the real thing: Mont Ventoux, Alpe d'Huez, the Stelvio and their own roads from a GPX, built from the real road and drawn in pixel art, in the browser, with no race to keep up with.
Free · Chrome or Edge, on a computer or Android
Side by side
| Grimpa | Zwift | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | GrimpaYes: Free; map packs €4.99 each, kept for good | ZwiftNo: €19.99 a month or €199.99 a year (US $19.99 or $199.99, UK £17.99 or £179.99), with 14 days free on the monthly plan |
| Where you ride | GrimpaYes: 12 real roads in Provence, Flanders, the Alps and Mallorca: Mont Ventoux, Alpe d'Huez, the Stelvio, Sa Calobra, the Arenberg and more, every one open every day | ZwiftPartly: Zwift's own worlds: the invented Watopia and Makuri Islands, cities such as London, New York and Paris, and a few real climbs remade, like Ven-Top on Mont Ventoux |
| What you see | GrimpaA pixel-art world built from the real road: official elevation for every gradient, aerial photos and open map data for the forests, fields and villages | ZwiftDetailed 3D game worlds |
| Your own route from a GPX | GrimpaYes: Upload a GPX and Grimpa builds the whole road as a world in about a minute: up to 150 km, in 28 countries | ZwiftNo: Zwift's own routes only |
| Other riders and drafting | GrimpaYes: Riders on the same route at the same moment pass you on the road, and you can sit on their wheel | ZwiftYes: Riders from all over the world on the same roads, group rides and drafting |
| Races and leaderboards | GrimpaNo: None, by design: no races, no rankings, nobody to keep up with | ZwiftYes: Races around the clock, the Zwift Racing League, and a Racing Score that sets your category |
| Structured workouts | GrimpaYes: 112 sessions in ERG, ridden on any road, your own included | ZwiftYes: A workout library with ERG mode |
| Training plans | GrimpaYes: With Watt4, the coach that makes Grimpa: each day's session opens in Grimpa | ZwiftYes: Training plans included |
| Someone to pace you | GrimpaYes: The ghosts of your best rides, and a pacer bot at the W/kg you choose | ZwiftYes: RoboPacers: bots that lead group rides at a steady pace, around the clock |
| Where your rides go | GrimpaYes: Strava, by itself, as a virtual ride; a .fit file to download for anything else | ZwiftYes: Strava and other connected services |
| Where it runs | GrimpaPartly: Chrome or Edge on Windows, Mac, Linux, Chromebook and Android, with nothing to install. Not on iPhone, iPad or Apple TV yet | ZwiftYes: Apps for Windows, Mac, iPhone, iPad, Android and Apple TV |
| Trainers | GrimpaPartly: Bluetooth smart trainers (FTMS: Wahoo, Elite, Tacx, Zwift Hub and more) or a Bluetooth power meter. No ANT+ | ZwiftYes: Bluetooth and ANT+ trainers, and its own hardware: the Zwift Ride smart bike, Zwift Cog and Zwift Click |
Zwift's details checked on 21 October 2026 on its own website: its pricing, help and news pages. Apps change: see zwift.com for the latest. Grimpa's column says what it does today.
Which one fits you
Grimpa is the better pick if
- you want to ride the climbs you know, like Mont Ventoux, Alpe d'Huez or the Stelvio, in their own landscape, any day you like
- you want to train on your own roads: the sportive you've entered, your Sunday loop, last summer's col
- you'd rather not race or be ranked, but still like meeting someone on the road
- you'd rather not pay another subscription, or install anything
Zwift is the better pick if
- you want to race, with a category, a team and a league
- you ride on an iPhone, an iPad or an Apple TV
- you want a big, busy world with group rides at any hour
- you like levelling up and unlocking bikes and kit, you run as well, or your trainer only shifts virtually (Zwift Cog, Zwift Ride)
Real roads or a game world
Zwift builds its worlds by hand. Watopia is invented and always open; the other worlds take turns on a calendar. A few real climbs are remade inside them: Zwift calls Ven-Top, on its France map, a metre-by-metre, GPS-accurate re-imagining of the Mont Ventoux climb.
Grimpa starts from the real road instead. The gradient comes from official elevation surveys, the forests, fields and villages from aerial photos and open map data. Ride Mont Ventoux from Bédoin and you climb through the forest to the bare white top and the observatory; ride the Stelvio and you count its 48 numbered hairpins. Every route is open every day, drawn in a calm pixel-art style rather than as a game world.
Your own roads
In Zwift you ride the routes Zwift has built. Grimpa builds yours: upload a GPX from Strava, Komoot or your Garmin and it becomes a ride in about a minute, with its roads, houses, woods and hills, and your trainer feels every gradient. Ride the gran fondo you've signed up for all winter, and on the day you'll know every climb.
Your first route is free, then €1.99 a route, €7.99 for five or €19.99 for twenty. Routes go up to 150 km, wherever a detailed elevation survey covers the road: most of western and northern Europe, the United States, Canada and Australia.
Company without racing
Zwift is built around riding with others: races around the clock, the Zwift Racing League for teams, and a Racing Score that puts you in a category. If racing is what keeps you on the trainer, Zwift does it at a scale Grimpa doesn't try to match.
Grimpa has no races and no leaderboards, on purpose. Riders on the same route at the same moment pass you on the road, with their name and flag, and you can draft them, but nobody ranks you. The rivals are your own: the ghost of your best ride up the climb, and a pacer bot holding the W/kg you're aiming for.
Training
Both put structured workouts on your trainer in ERG mode. Zwift includes training plans in its membership. Grimpa has a library of classic sessions (sweet spot, threshold, VO2 max, over-unders, FTP tests) that you ride on any road, your own routes included.
For a plan, Grimpa works with Watt4, the coach that makes it: Watt4 plans your week around the time you have, and every cycling session opens in Grimpa with one click. You don't need Watt4 to ride Grimpa.
Devices and price
Zwift has apps for Windows, Mac, iPhone, iPad, Android and Apple TV, works with Bluetooth and ANT+ trainers, and sells its own hardware, from the Zwift Ride smart bike to Zwift Cog and Click for virtual shifting. It costs €19.99 a month or €199.99 a year, after 14 days free on the monthly plan.
Grimpa runs in Chrome or Edge, on a computer or an Android phone or tablet, with nothing to install, and drives Bluetooth smart trainers that speak FTMS. It doesn't run on iPhone or iPad yet, and Zwift's virtual shifting doesn't work in it yet: you shift on your bike. Riding is free.
Questions
Is Grimpa a free alternative to Zwift?
For riding real climbs, yes: Grimpa is free. It's a different kind of app, though: real roads in pixel art and no racing, where Zwift has its own worlds, races and group events. Zwift costs €19.99 a month or €199.99 a year.
Does Zwift have Mont Ventoux?
Zwift's France map has Ven-Top, which Zwift describes as a metre-by-metre, GPS-accurate re-imagining of the Mont Ventoux climb. Grimpa has the road from Bédoin itself, with its forest, its bare white top and the observatory, built from official elevation data and aerial photos.
Can I ride my own GPX route in Zwift?
Zwift's routes are the ones Zwift builds. In Grimpa you upload a GPX and ride it about a minute later, drawn as a world of its own, up to 150 km. The first route is free.
Can I race in Grimpa?
No, and that's on purpose. Other riders on the same route pass you on the road and you can draft them, but there are no races, results or leaderboards. You race your own ghosts, or a pacer bot at the W/kg you choose.
Does my Zwift trainer work with Grimpa?
Most smart trainers do: Grimpa drives any Bluetooth trainer that speaks FTMS, the Zwift Hub among them, and feels every gradient through it. Zwift's virtual shifting (Zwift Cog and Click, the Zwift Ride) doesn't work in Grimpa yet, so you shift on your bike's own gears.
Do I need to install anything?
No. Grimpa runs in Chrome or Edge on Windows, Mac, Linux, a Chromebook or Android, and you can add it to your home screen. iPhone and iPad don't work yet: their browsers have no Bluetooth.
Try Grimpa next to what you ride now
Free. Sign in, pair your trainer over Bluetooth and ride Mont Ventoux tonight, in Chrome or Edge.
Zwift is a trademark of its owner. Grimpa is not affiliated with or endorsed by Zwift.