When weighing your options for health, wellness, and/or fitness tracking, a smart ring might be a consideration. With Oura Ring being the most popular brand, and employing a membership strategy, you might think that every smart ring requires a subscription. But that isn’t true. Some have app add-ons you can pay per month to get. But most smart rings don’t require a subscription at all.
Generally, if a smart ring requires a subscription, you’ll get minimal data without it. This is certainly the case with Oura Ring. That said, most brands like Oura provide plenty of value with the membership, including analysis and insights, to justify the added cost. But it’s still an added and recurring cost. So, you need to consider cost of ownership and long-term value balanced with upfront cost before making a decision to go subscription or no subscription.
Quick answer: it depends on the brand and features
Most smart rings do not require a subscription. Oura is the biggest brand in the space with models like its newest Oura Ring 5. The ring requires a membership to access anything beyond very basic tracking. Amazfit originally offered a subscription with its smart rings but eliminated that after customer pushback.
Ultrahuman‘s features are mostly available without a subscription, but there are additional features called PowerPlugs that you can add to the app. Some of them are free while more advanced ones like Afib detection and pro-level cycle and ovulation tracking for women’s health require a small monthly fee. Ultrahuman recently added Les Mills workouts as well, for a monthly subscription cost.
Bottom line: it varies by product and ecosystem. So, it’s important to compare both prices of the rings themselves and any ongoing app fees.
What a smart ring subscription can (and might not) include
To determine this, let’s look at the two smart ring brands that have subscription options.
Oura: What you get for free
Oura Ring offers minimal data without a $7.99 per month membership. You get a basic daily tracker and can see readiness, sleep, and activity scores. It tracks sleep but without advanced details like sleep stages. The app will log things like your steps, workouts, sleep, and activity score. You can track workouts and activities. You can view some guided meditations and see tutorials.
There is technically an option to download a spreadsheet of your data from the Oura website without a subscription. This provides information like your resting heart rate, heart rate variability (HRV), and some sleep data. But you don’t get this information in real-time on the fly. It’s not in an easy-to-read format and you don’t get daily reports and insights without the membership.
Oura: What you’re missing without a subscription
While you can track workouts without a membership, you don’t get continuous heart rate tracking (nor heart rate during workouts), temperature trends, blood oxygen (SpO2) readings, nor personalized insights.
There’s no deep analysis through various smart ring features that take all your data into account. These intelligently capture data like sleep debt and regularity, cardiovascular age, cardio capacity, and My Health insights. For example, my Oura Ring 4 told me recently that I have a strong overall balance but there has been a dip in my sleep health. Its advice is to wind down earlier and avoid screen time right before bed. I can also see 30- and 60-day averages of my habits and routines, step averages compared to baseline goals, and more. None of this would be available without the membership.
Further, you miss out on advanced features like menopause insights, meal tracking, Symptom Radar that can detect symptoms of strain, and the AI-powered Advisor that assists with questions or concerns via text or voice conversation. Without a membership, it’s a rudimentary app experience that negates the value of having the ring in the first place.
Ultrahuman: What you get for free
With Ultrahuman, you get all the advanced tracking for free, including most of the data noted above that only comes with an Oura membership. There are also some PowerPlugs add-ons that are free. There’s GLP-1 tracking, vitamin D exposure, screentime, circadian alignment, and caffeine window. You can drill down even further with ones like new parent and shift work, which compensates for these atypical schedules when analyzing your data.
Ultrahuman: What you’re missing without a subscription
PowerPlug app add-ons are the only features you’d need to pay for over and above the hardware cost. Cycle & Ovulation Pro, ideal for women who are trying to conceive or want to manage their cycles for perimenopause or menopause, is $3.99 per month. It adds clinically validated ovulation insights. But you can get basic cycle and ovulation tracking for free.
Migraine Insights are $5.99 per month, useful for those who suffer from these frequently enough and want guided support. Respiratory Health with snoring and coughing detection is $3.99 per month, Cardio Adaptability for monitoring night-time heart rate trends and evaluate your response to stressors is $2.90 per month, and Afib detection is $4.90 per month. There’s even an UltraSync for Tesla PowerPlug that provides a drive readiness score, captures ride history, and drive time stress for $6.90 per month.
Other smart rings
For most other smart rings, all the available data is included without a subscription. For some, you may need to turn a feature on or off. Some smart rings without a subscription, like the Luna Ring Gen 2, still offer advanced AI-powered assistants, tracking, and analysis. But they may not be as robust and vary in reliability and intuitive app navigation.
Why “no subscription” does not always mean identical feature depth
Keep in mind that a smart ring without a subscription may not offer the same depth of features, advanced tracking, analysis, and reliability as others. Oura has a reputation for its incredibly accurate sleep tracking. Other smart rings offer sleep data, but they don’t have the same backed by science claims.
I have tested numerous smart rings over the last few years to see how they work, measuring them against one another as well as devices like Apple Watch. It’s clear that some are better than others when it comes to tracking specific things. While many of the top brands fall in line for activity and vitals tracking, there are outliers. With a membership, you have assurances of reliability. Without one, it can be hit and miss. Your best bet is to compare features and app experiences, and read reviews. Don’t just look at whether or not there’s a subscription.
How to calculate long-term cost
To determine how much a smart ring will cost over the life of the device, factor in the price of the hardware plus the subscription if there is one. With Oura Ring, for example, add $8 per month on top of the purchase price. Subtract the one-month trial and multiply that by 11. So, it’s an additional $88 for the first year, then $96 for each year thereafter. It’s comparable to a streaming service or one less take-out lunch a month. You can prepay for the year to avoid monthly charges and save a few bucks. Or pay monthly and cancel any time before the next billing cycle.
Calculated over the life of a smart ring that you might wear for, say, five years, and it might seem jarring. A $350 smart ring at an $8 per month membership minus the first month would actually cost you $1,179 total for the hardware and service over 60 months. Thus, it’s important to consider if getting a membership is worth the price even if you get a guaranteed premium experience. If you don’t find this palatable, read reviews and find a smart ring that is reliable and feature-rich without a subscription. Even if it’s more expensive up front, you’ll still come out ahead in the long run.
Questions to ask before buying
Before you buy, run through this checklist:
- What is most important to you: basic tracking and vitals or actionable analysis?
- Are you on a fixed budget?
- Would you rather pay annually or month-to-month?
- Are there specific stats or vitals that are important to you, like heart rate and blood oxygen, that you are not willing to lose?
- How often do you think you would check the app or notifications?
- Are the additional charges worth it based on your usage?
- Are there alternatives with good reviews that don’t require a subscription?
Smart rings feature-access checklist
Here’s a quick look at what you get (and don’t get) with or without a subscription (if needed) with some of the top smart ring brands.
| Oura | Ultrahuman | Ringconn | Samsung | |
| Subscription required? | Yes (basic tracking without it) | No (but add-ons available) | No | No |
| Core features without a subscription | Basic daily tracking, Readiness, Sleep, and Activity score, ring battery life, basic profile data, workout tracking (no heart rate or auto-workout tracking), limited Explore content | Detailed sleep analysis, 24/7 heart rate, workout tracking, caffeine window, cycle and ovulation tracking, metabolic insights, recovery and stress tracking, blood oxygen, daytime stress, temperature, vitamin D, circadian rhythm, and more. | Detailed sleep analysis, daily activity, core health metrics, advanced AI insights, vascular analysis, and more. | Detailed sleep analysis, core health metrics, daily activity, physical biometrics, blood oxygen, body temperature, women’s health, energy score, and more. |
| Premium/Paid features | Detailed sleep analysis, 24/7 heart rate, integrate with third-party apps, advanced temperature monitoring, blood oxygen sensing, daytime stress, dynamic activity tracking with automatic activity detection, heart health data, metabolic health data, Oura Labs, reports, women’s health tracking, Oura Advisor AI feature. | Afib detection, cardio adaptability, Les Mills workouts, Tesla Sync, advanced women’s health tracking (more added all the time) | None | None |
Find the right smart ring for you
When you’re shopping for a smart ring, the app experience is as important as the ring itself. While Oura Ring is one of the only smart rings that requires a membership, its reputation for accurate tracking, the nicely organized app, and the continued stream of additional features being added offer value. But other smart ring brands don’t require a subscription, which makes the purchase price easier to stomach. And some offer comparable experiences to Oura Ring with feature-rich apps.
Your best bet when deciding how to choose a smart ring is to see what’s included (and what isn’t), read reviews, and consider your priorities. With some research, you can decide if you need a smart ring with a subscription, one with purchasable add-ons, or one that doesn’t hide anything behind a paywall at all.
Find a wide selection of smart rings at Best Buy Canada.
FAQs
If you have any pressing questions left about smart rings and subscriptions, they’re answered here!
No. In fact, most don’t. Oura is the only smart ring company with a membership setup. Ultrahuman offers some advanced features for a monthly subscription, Most others offer everything for free, though some don’t offer the same advanced features.
A subscription can include more details, advanced tracking like sleep stages and blood oxygen, and analysis of your data. It may also unlock an AI assistant or virtual coach as well as other logging features for things like women’s health, Afib detection, nutrition, hydration, and more.
Smart rings like the Oura Ring only offer basic features without a subscription, like steps and activity, basic sleep data, and some vitals. Many other smart rings brands provide every feature they offer without a subscription.
While there are feature-rich smart rings that don’t require a subscription, like models from Ultrahuman and Ringconn, others may only offer simple features. Or they may not be as reliable for tracking some or all data. They may not track advanced metrics like blood oxygen, temperature sensing, and stress.
Consider the cost of the ring itself and the monthly or annual price of a membership if there is one. If there are add-ons, check the prices for the ones you are interested in and add those to the cost. Calculate over the expected life of the ring or how long you think you might wear it before switching or upgrading.
Check what features you get without it to see if you think they might be enough. Look into how long the trial period is (if there is one) and if you can cancel at any time. if you’re confident you’ll use it for while, see if there are discounts for locking in for the year.
Yes. Most notably, Oura Ring requires a membership to access advanced insights and more detailed tracking. Many other smart rings offer advanced insights without a subscription. Some that don’t have a subscription offer basic insights but may not provide as in-depth tracking, analysis, and insights.
See what data each one tracks without a subscription, then look at what you get with one, if a subscription or add-ons are available. Cross-reference this against the data that is most important to you.
Yes. Though most smart ring apps work with both Android and iOS, you may come across outliers. The Samsung Galaxy Ring, for example, only works with Android phones, and is best paired with a Samsung Galaxy phone.
