Garmin Connect+ WAVERS: Is Personalised LiveTrack Profile Now FREE?
An article today on GarminRumors suggests that Garmin is being forced to RETHINK its controversial Connect+ strategy. The materials seen by the site suggest that the key Connect+ feature—the personalised LiveTrack profile page—may be dropping its Connect+ membership requirement.
If true, this represents a significant watering down of the Connect+ service, signalling that Garmin may be rethinking the future of its subscription offerings.
Background: The Connect+ Value Proposition
Connect+ is Garmin’s subscription service, introduced on 27th March 2025. For $6.99/mo or $69.99/year, you get access to several exclusive features, shown below:
| Features | Free Garmin Connect |
Premium Garmin Connect+ |
|---|---|---|
| Details of every tracked activity | Yes | Yes |
| Health stats & Performance metrics | Yes | Yes |
| Garmin Coach training plans | Yes | Yes |
| Exclusive coaching guidance for Garmin Coach plans | No | Yes |
| Exclusive badge challenges | No | Yes |
| Animated exercises and workout database | Yes | Yes |
| Build and download courses for rides and runs | Yes | Yes |
| LiveTrack (Basic Sharing) | Yes | Yes |
| Enhanced LiveTrack (Personalised Profile, SMS) | No | Yes |
| Active Intelligence | No | Yes |
| Performance dashboard | No | Yes |
| Live activity feed | No | Yes |
Garmin LiveTrack for Connect+ is an enhanced version of the feature that automatically sends text messages to selected contacts when a LiveTrack session begins. It requires a subscription, and, unlike the free version, the paid service streamlines the process by automatically notifying contacts and providing them with a unique URL to track your live location and statistics, such as pace and elevation.
The Connect+ Paywall Crumbles: Who Gets Free Access?
Typically, the enhanced LiveTrack profile page is created with a dedicated URL for friends, fans or family, and this currently requires a paid-for Connect+ account. The site implies it has seen marketing materials from Garmin that suggest the feature could now be available to “everyone with a connectivity subscription”.
This is a slight change in wording, but it appears to be Garmin’s first official backtracking on a core Connect+ offering.
Edit: 7 Nov 2025 – Several readers have confirmed my hypothesis that enhanced live track is now included with inReach subscription (and Maps+)
Final Thoughts On Connect+ – Is the end in sight?
No.
I don’t see Garmin watering down Connect+ entirely just yet, but this is a wavering signal.
I’ll have to see the precise wording and any announcement from the company, but a simple explanation could be that LiveTrack2 (Enhanced LiveTrack) will become open to anyone with any subscription—I’m specifically thinking of inReach (and Maps+) subscribers. Regardless, the shift in language confirms the challenge Garmin faces in justifying the $69.99/year exclusivity and the take-up of Connect+.
The only feature in Connect+ that I want is the SMS for LiveTrack as my wife uses Livetrack whenever she runs on her own but I only get an email and not an SMS. I think this is a feature of Strava Beacon but equally she does not have a Strava Premium.
The paid badges I find offensive. It violates the entire concept of earned points for your Garmin “level”. It was already possible to game things with challenges but paid badges is bullshit.
I agree. I have been a Garmin user (running, cycling , swimming and gym) for quite sometime, but think next time I need a new watch I will look elsewhere. The better watches from all of the good brands do more than enough even for intense users like me. In my opinion, Garmin+ is a huge own goal.