I used TR for two years and from the bike perspective it was very, very good. I know that some people will argue it’s too static but it worked fine for me. The biggest issue is you stare at those lines so use Netflix or whatever you need to keep yourself entertained. I watched a lot of YouTube cycling videos because you can minimize the screen so you can see what’s coming up but you dont go crazy as I almost did with the 4 hour indoor ride. I did not use the running or swimming programs, at the time I had a coach and we agreed to use TR for the bike part for Tri. I am using Sufferfest now which as the name suggests involves a lot of suffering but again I am not using the running or swimming. So far so good there but lets see what happens in a few weeks because I just started. If you do a search in the forums you can find lots of threads with TR vs. SUF vs. Zwift vs. Xert etc. etc.

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"see the world as it is not as you want it to be"

I have. I'm just about done with an article on the Sufferfest version that'll go on the main page. Goal is to finish it this weekend. I have two other Sufferfest articles that have already gone up, but this one will specifically be about the training plan and testing systems. Not really intended to be a direct comparison to TrainerRoad, but I've used both.

Both are good and so is Zwift. You really can't go wrong with any of them. It's more a matter of what format you like better. Personally I'm a TR and Netflix/Youtube guy. I've tried the others and they weren't for me.

I tried Sufferfest probably 8 years ago and wasn't impressed. Been using Trainerroad now for 3 or 4 years and love it. TR is very structured and you can watch something else without missing anything.

I have been using Zwift since June. Also very good and more fun than TR. Not a fan of $15 per month for Zwift though. I've been paying for TR annually so it's $99 for the year. I've read about users doing both. TR for the plans and Zwift for the fun. I will be going that a shot this winter.

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The secret of a long life is you try not to shorten it.
-Nobody

Article here.

+1 on it is a personal/ personality thing. I have tried TR and found it sent me into programmed efforts that were just not do-able, SF was better but I have then switched to Xert which fits my way of doing things and I like that it is able to do a few things the others can not. The other side of the Xert coin is the steep learning curve. Once you get past that it seems to just work for me and no FTP testing is a nice side benefit. That does not mean no hard efforts but rather every so often you need to do a workout that pushes your limits, if it truly goes beyond what you have done before then it adjusts their 3 point signature one point of which is similar to FTP. I also like that Xert works in doors and out so that I use one metric to track progress regardless.

Anyhow there are so many options out there now. I used to like Zwift but the last year when I used t I found that I seldom locked onto anyone who was riding my pace where in the early years every time I was in the game there would be someone I would catch on with who I would chase or vice versa and that was motivating. Now it is just a different experience for me and I do not want to do racing so that means Zwift is not for my personality.

Will TR ever update their plans? I did the 70.3 plan 5 times before cancelling the account and switching to Zwift out of pure boredom.

Thats a great point. I have been using TrainerRoad for years and am on the $99/year plan. I just went to cancel and they pointed out that I had grandfathered pricing. I decided to check out what the new annual plan looks like. It's $189/year when you buy it annually. Thats just insane to me. Zwift is $10 cheaper than that and it you are paying $14.99 monthly.

I ended up canceling my subscription to TR (my spouse still has a TR account at the grandfathered price), keeping Zwift, and we also have SUF.

I have used TrainerRoad over the last 12 months. There is much to like about it - clean and nice software, lots of various well put together workouts that are easy to sort through and schedule in their calendar or mark as favorites; also the TR team and their podcast definitely create a cool halo effect of competence and likeability around the product. Where I have been less impressed is with some of their training plans. I think they really tend to overdo intensity and can easily cook some people, especially those who regularly test too high on the FTP ramp test and lack judgment and experience to dial down the inflated FTP number right away (which is most of us, I suspect).
I am now trying the Sufferfest. Surprisingly, despite the name, their plans seem to be a bit less aggressive in terms of intensity/overall workload. The workouts are a bit more all over the place though in terms of training zones/effect than the more focused ones from TR, but some of the videos are pretty cool and motivating. The app is good but at first glance is still behind TR in some functionality (I couldn’t find a way to schedule individual workouts in their calendar yet, also couldn’t mark workouts as favorites, sorting is a bit less convenient, etc). Their FTP testing (4DP and Half Monty, the advanced ramp test) is interesting and in theory should guide workouts better than the plain vanilla ramp test which makes certain assumptions about the rider’s metabolic profile that may be right as an average but very wrong for a specific individual.
I would say both are quality products with their own pluses and minuses. Both may require certain judgment and adjustments of the intensity on the part of the user in order to get the most out of training (TR maybe a bit more so for some athletes). I may end up keeping both.
PS Tried Zwift and it is not my cup of tea at all, on the other hand, although it is clearly a quality product as well...

I've never used Sufferfest. I'm a TR person. Don't really follow any of their training plans. I tried maybe 3 years ago, but as others have mentioned, they tend to overload intensity. I just find a work out and go. I like their platform as it allows you to watch video (Triathlon Live... love the ITU format) with the TR dashboard shrunk at the bottom of the screen.

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"one eye doubles my eyesight, so things don't look half bad" John Hiatt