Garmin CEO Confirms Connect+ and inReach Subscription Revenue Is Accelerating

Garmin's CEO has confirmed that subscription revenue from Connect+ and inReach is growing at least as fast as the rest of the business, and in some segments faster. That matters for athletes who have been watching Garmin quietly shift from a one-time hardware purchase model toward recurring revenue, something Whoop has built its entire identity around.

Connect+ is the paid tier sitting on top of the free Garmin Connect app, and inReach covers satellite communication for outdoor athletes. The CEO revealed that one specific feature is the primary driver pulling users into paid subscriptions, though the exact feature varies by market. Garmin is also expanding the service into new regions, which signals they are treating this as a core revenue pillar, not a side experiment.

For endurance athletes already spending 500 to 1000 dollars on a Forerunner 965, Fenix 8, or Epix Pro, a subscription layer adds friction. Coros and Polar still offer full platform access without paywalls. Apple Watch leans on Apple Fitness+ as its subscription hook, priced at around 10 dollars per month. Garmin has not matched that level of locked features yet, but the trajectory is clear.

The inReach growth is easier to justify. Satellite messaging and SOS for trail runners, ultra cyclists, and gravel athletes doing remote routes is a genuine safety tool. Paying for that annually makes sense in a way that paying for analytics dashboards does not.

Garmin hardware remains the strongest all-around package in endurance sport tech. But watch the subscription layer. If premium training insights, recovery metrics, or race predictors move behind a paywall, the value equation against Coros or Polar shifts fast.