About to start running more on a treadmill, and just curious what footpods are best for (almost) exclusive treadmill running.
I cast my vote for the Stryd. After that, I assume they are pretty much all the same. Stryd maps your movement in 3-D space, so its distance accuracy is most likely to be best. The others simply count steps and multiply by a calibrated stride distance.
I have used the zwift runpod a limited amount and found that it was not super accurate but that could just be the user…
Stryd
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I cast my vote for the Stryd. After that, I assume they are pretty much all the same. Stryd maps your movement in 3-D space, so its distance accuracy is most likely to be best. The others simply count steps and multiply by a calibrated stride distance.
That’s not at all how the ‘others’ work. Just about everything available as an ant+ or BLE footpod measures acceleration (not movement) in three axes via accelerometers, like the Stryd you mentioned. The hard work is done with the software; figuring out the magnitude and direction of the force(s). The Stryd does have sensors in addition to its accelerometers, which I suppose has the potential to decrease error and reduce the need for calibration…but I don’t know much about Stryds.
Just about anything with a little calibration will be as accurate or more accurate than a treadmill for estimating pace and distance. Personally, I like the heart rate footpod combo straps. Something like a Scosche Rhythm24 works well for me on the treadmill because the bluetooth talks to the treadmill, the footpod info is dialed in and the HR and pace/distance go to my watch for easy recording.
It’s a little expensive for the power version, do they make a less expensive version?
The product is a “power meter for running.” Turning on my pedantic hat, it is like asking if the PowerTap P2 power meter pedals have a cheaper version that only does cadence. 
I bought just the cheap Garmin foot pod (Non- running dynamics). The good part is, that after just one run outdoors of more than say 3-5 miles, it is fully calibrated. After that, it would be perfect for treadmill use. My only gripe about it, is that I use Zwift for the cycle, and if I had the ability to, I would possibly use it on the treadmill at the gym. However, the base garmin foot pod transmits via Ant+, which currently zwift will not accept. Possibly in a future update in zwift, however.
Have used Stryd, Zwift Pod and Garmin Footpad. If I were to rate them in order best to worst it would be Stryd, Garmin Footpad and then Zwift. I used the Milestone version of the pod and found it to be wildly inaccurate although I loved some of the metrics. The Stryd is the most expensive of the bunch but you get run power with it (until Zwift does the same thing with theirs). In terms of cost the Stryd is the most expensive.
I am not sure about others, but I use a Garmin footpod to run with Zwift and my speed is pretty accurate, usually identical or at 0.1 mph from the treadmill. Every now and then it gets to 0.2 off. I run on a Woodway 4Front that I periodically check the accuracy with a tachometer.
I bought just the cheap Garmin foot pod (Non- running dynamics). The good part is, that after just one run outdoors of more than say 3-5 miles, it is fully calibrated. After that, it would be perfect for treadmill use. My only gripe about it, is that I use Zwift for the cycle, and if I had the ability to, I would possibly use it on the treadmill at the gym. However, the base garmin foot pod transmits via Ant+, which currently zwift will not accept. Possibly in a future update in zwift, however.
Zwift does accept Ant+ but you may need additional hardware. My Samsung Android phone has Ant+ and can bridge using the phone app. If you’re using a PC you’d need an Ant+ USB dongle. Or you can use a bridge such as the Cable for Apple devices that don’t have USB. Of course, you may need to spend some additional money for most of these options.
I just went with a Zwift pod since it was super cheap and simple, and I’m not really that worried about accuracy for Zwift. If I was more serious about accuracy for Zwift I would have gone for the Stryd.
The Stryd is head and shoulders the best, but by far the most expensive ($219).
Its advantages:
Super accurate: 9 accelerometers (vs. 3)
BTLE and ANT+ (so it works with Garmin and Zwift)
Wind detection (not really an issue on a treadmill)
Stryd briefly made a $100 version that was the same unit, but didn’t record power (just firmware “crippled”), but that was a short-term offering. That is really the one they need to bring back given that the Garmin is $60 and the Zwiftpod (formerly Milestone) is $30.
Stryd no doubt. Wanted to not believe it and thankfully got the non wind version cheap. I have had Garmin and Milestone and both were pretty solid at the pace it is calibrated at but going slower/faster it would be way off. It was off enough that it wasn’t even consistently off. I wouldn’t have been too mad if it was as off by the same every time but it wasn’t even that.
But didn’t the OP ask for a footpod only and not a $200+ powermeter that also performs as a footpod for treadmill running?
He asked what is best. Stryd is best. Yes, it is 3x the cost of many other things that do less, but it is still best at being a running pod. Relatively speaking, those extra xs are not a huge dollar amount in the grand scheme of triathlon. We would be remiss in not including that in the list. Then, he can decide if the extra cost is worth it to him.
I’ve had the Garmin and the Zwift. What I have found is that the Garmin footpod was much more accurate than the Zwift - the Zwift was calibrated multiple times and is never accurate - ended up 2 miles off on a 15 mile run.
In the end I am giving up on footpods. I’ve found my Fenix 5s is just as accurate for me in treadmill mode.
Couldn’t also the Garmin HRM Run belt be used for this purpose?
I still use a Garmin 910XT with a Garmin footpod with decent results. It us usually 5-10sec/km out. I have found that varying the grade seems help and for me it seems like 3% gives best results in terms of adjusted treadmill pace & grade versus what my Garmin and footpod put out.
OK, I understand you point.