Garmin Revamps and Opens Up Connect Developer API Program: All the Details

Meanwhile, stepping up to the ‘Starter’ level adds the Courses & Training API’s. These allow developers to push  routes/courses to Garmin Connect, which can in turn end up on your device. And the same is true for structured workouts. Think things like Strava and Komoot Routes use this for routes, and TrainingPeaks or Final Surge uses this to send planned workouts. It sounds like approvals for this tier should be virtually instant.

Which then takes us to the ‘Enterprise’ level, which adds the Golf API that does small ball things, as well as more notably, the Historical Data backfill. This means when someone connects a new account up to their app, it’ll allow the user to backfill a predefined amount of historical data, versus just data from that moment forward. Further, it provides technical support and allows for more than 1,000 users.

But of course – there’s a catch. Once you hit that 1,000-user realm, you’re now in ‘pay-for-play’ land. Garmin is joining Whoop in charging a fee here. There’s essentially an initial $1,000 entry fee, which is a credit towards your monthly active user bill. That means as a company you’ll pay on a per-user basis, for “active monthly users” that are connected. That’s a big shift from the current ‘totally free’ realm that’s been the case for Garmin Connect since 2019, when they dropped the previous $5,000 entry fee.

Garmin is essentially saying they’re trying to recoup some of the costs of supporting the platform, while also being able to provide support at this higher tier. There’s also a reality here that many other companies are trying to build full businesses of the backs of Garmin’s platform (e.g. Bevel), and Garmin basically feels like if they want enterprise level support, they should pay for it.

So what does that ‘monthly active users’ fee cost? Well, that’s to be negotiated on a per-company basis. It sounds like what Strava or Komoot would pay is undoubtedly different than what a smaller company would pay. However, for funsies, you may not know that the DCR Analyzer actually supports the Garmin Connect API today (along with Amazfit, COROS, Hammerhead, Polar, Suunto, Wahoo, Google Health, and Apple Health via HealthFit). So I asked for what it’d cost us. We have roughly 20,000 total users, but a much smaller portion of those are monthly active users with Garmin Connections. While I can’t share the exact amount, it’s fair to say it falls within the rough category of ‘pennies on the dollar’.

This brings the next question: when will companies start to pay this? By April 1st, 2027. Between now and then, Garmin will work with existing Garmin Connect API partners to sort out that financial piece. By default, though, all existing partners become ‘Enterprise’ automatically. Further, no existing partner has to pay the $1,000 Enterprise entry fee.

I don’t love the idea of Garmin charging anything to access this data, and I largely feel like this should simply be the cost of doing business in 2026. If not, stick that cost into the marketing budget, because that’s what it is. It’s marketing for Garmin devices. Every single 3rd party platform that integrates with Garmin is marketing for Garmin. That said, if I put on my DCR Analyzer hat, the cost here is pretty negligible – at least for one company. If a user wants to connect all of these platforms, then perhaps it’s slightly more notable, but even then, it still wouldn’t really matter to the bottom line.

Oh, and for lack of a better place to stick it, the existing Garmin Connect IQ program remains free and unchanged (that’s for widgets/apps/etc on Garmin devices).