hupser blog
What each hupser feature does, how to use it and which apps have it.
https://hupser.app/blog/
2026-11-09T12:22:02.778Z
hupserhttps://hupser.app/
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Zwift vs MyWhoosh vs ROUVY vs hupser
https://hupser.app/blog/zwift-mywhoosh-rouvy-hupser/
2026-11-09T12:22:02.778Z
2026-11-09T12:22:02.778Z
Zwift, MyWhoosh, ROUVY and hupser compared, November 2026: hupser is free, rides your own workouts and GPX routes, overlays any app and plans with Claude.
<p>Zwift, MyWhoosh, ROUVY and hupser all turn a smart trainer into structured workouts and virtual riding, and the right one depends on how you ride. Choose hupser if you want a free app that rides your own workout files and GPX routes, keep your workout on top of a film or anything else on screen, and plan your training with Claude. We make hupser, so take this with that in mind: below are the facts as of November 2026, what hupser does well, and what it doesn't do yet.</p>
<h2 id="zwift-mywhoosh-rouvy-and-hupser-at-a-glance">Zwift, MyWhoosh, ROUVY and hupser at a glance</h2>
<p>hupser, Zwift, MyWhoosh and ROUVY all control your smart trainer in ERG and run structured workouts. The differences are where you ride, what you ride on and what comes with it.</p>
<table>
<thead>
<tr>
<th></th>
<th><strong>hupser</strong></th>
<th>Zwift</th>
<th>MyWhoosh</th>
<th>ROUVY</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody><tr>
<td>What you ride</td>
<td><strong>Real places in 3D, your GPX routes</strong></td>
<td>Virtual worlds, video with Plus</td>
<td>Virtual worlds</td>
<td>Filmed real roads</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Windows and Mac</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>Yes</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>iPhone and iPad</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>Yes</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Android</td>
<td>Coming soon</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>Yes</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Apple TV</td>
<td>No</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>Yes</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Group rides and races</td>
<td>Coming soon</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>Yes</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Price</td>
<td><strong>Free</strong></td>
<td>€19.99 a month</td>
<td><strong>Free</strong></td>
<td>€19.99 a month</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<p>Prices as of November 2026. Zwift Plus, with Zwift Coach and filmed routes, is €29.99 a month. ROUVY has a free tier of 20 km a month.</p>
<h2 id="which-indoor-cycling-app-should-you-choose">Which indoor cycling app should you choose?</h2>
<p>The best indoor cycling app is the one that fits how you ride:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Choose Zwift</strong> for racing and events in game-like virtual worlds.</li>
<li><strong>Choose MyWhoosh</strong> for free virtual worlds, races and events.</li>
<li><strong>Choose ROUVY</strong> for filmed video of real roads.</li>
<li><strong>Choose hupser</strong> for free, focused training: your own workout files and GPX routes, an overlay to ride while watching anything, 3D courses built from real places, and Claude to plan with.</li>
</ul>
<h2 id="what-hupser-does-well">What hupser does well</h2>
<h3>One account on your iPhone, iPad, Mac and Windows PC</h3>
<p>hupser keeps your workouts, calendar, FTP, zones and rides in your hupser account, so every device you sign in on shows the same. Each device keeps a copy for riding offline. The Mac download is about 50 MB, and a ride starts when you start pedalling.</p>
<h3>Ride while you watch something else</h3>
<p>On Mac and Windows, hupser keeps your power, heart rate, cadence and workout in a small overlay on top of any app. You can watch a film, a race or a lecture while ERG holds your watts. <a href="https://hupser.app/blog/watch-a-film-while-you-ride/">Here's how it works</a>.</p>
<figure><img src="/blog/zwift-mywhoosh-rouvy-hupser/ac0d30a83810f185.webp" alt="hupser's ride overlay showing power, heart rate and the workout on top of a film" width="1440" height="900" loading="lazy"><figcaption>Your workout on top of whatever you're watching.</figcaption></figure>
<h3>Real places in 3D, and your own roads</h3>
<p>hupser's 3D courses are built from the real place: the Criterium in Komenda and the Možjanca climb near Kranj have their real ground, buildings, fields and trees. On Mac and Windows you can also upload any GPX route and ride it on a map that turns with you, with every hill on your trainer. Hills settings set how steep climbs and descents feel and cap the steepest grade.</p>
<h3>Plan with Claude or ChatGPT</h3>
<p>hupser connects to the AI assistant you already use. hupser is in Claude's connector directory, and ChatGPT can add it as a custom MCP server where your plan allows. Ask in plain words to build a workout, plan your week or look at your rides, and the workouts land in your hupser library and calendar. <a href="https://hupser.app/blog/ai-cycling-coach/">How to connect it</a>.</p>
<figure><img src="/blog/zwift-mywhoosh-rouvy-hupser/2a161de1d0ed9dcc.webp" alt="Claude building a threshold workout in hupser and putting it on the rider's calendar" width="2112" height="1320" loading="lazy"><figcaption>Ask in plain words, ride it in hupser.</figcaption></figure>
<h3>Bring your workouts and your plan</h3>
<p>hupser opens .zwo, .erg, .mrc and .fit workout files on iPhone, iPad, Mac and Windows: open the file and it's in your library. Planned workouts from Intervals.icu show up in hupser. Finished rides go to Intervals.icu, to Apple Health on iPhone and iPad, and to Strava. While Strava limits how many riders can connect to hupser, you may need to upload a ride to Strava by hand.</p>
<figure><img src="/blog/zwift-mywhoosh-rouvy-hupser/3cc0528b914391fb.webp" alt="A .zwo workout opened in hupser on a Mac, ready to start" width="2400" height="1500" loading="lazy"><figcaption>Open the file, press Start.</figcaption></figure>
<h3>Use your Zwift controller</h3>
<p>hupser shifts virtual gears with a Zwift Ride, Zwift Play or Zwift Click v2, or any controller connected through BikeControl: pair it under Devices → Controller / Shifters. On Mac and Windows the same controller moves around the app, so you need no mouse on the bike. A Click v2 left unit works only while Zwift has recently unlocked it.</p>
<h3>See what you rode</h3>
<p>On Mac, a finished ride opens as a page of widgets: the ride profile on the planned blocks, time in zone, a power curve, peak power from 5 seconds to an hour, Pw:HR decoupling and every climb you rode.</p>
<h2 id="what-hupser-doesn-t-do-yet">What hupser doesn't do yet</h2>
<p>hupser is new, and some things other apps have aren't there yet:</p>
<ul>
<li>No Android app yet (coming soon) and no Apple TV app.</li>
<li>No group rides, races, events or clubs yet. You can see friends who are riding and ride on the same course as others.</li>
<li>Two 3D courses for now, plus your own GPX routes on Mac and Windows. Your own routes aren't on iPhone and iPad yet.</li>
<li>No TrainingPeaks connection, and rides don't upload to Garmin Connect.</li>
</ul>
<h2 id="zwift-mywhoosh-and-rouvy-in-short">Zwift, MyWhoosh and ROUVY in short</h2>
<ul>
<li><strong>Zwift</strong> is a subscription app with virtual worlds such as Watopia, racing and events. Since October 2026, Zwift Plus adds Zwift Coach and filmed routes.</li>
<li><strong>MyWhoosh</strong> is free, with virtual worlds, races and events.</li>
<li><strong>ROUVY</strong> is a subscription app, with a free tier of 20 km a month, built around filmed real-world routes, with other riders shown on the road. Subscribers can also import GPX routes. Zwift has owned it since April 2026, and it runs separately.</li>
</ul>
<h2 id="questions">Questions</h2>
<h3>Which is better, Zwift, MyWhoosh, ROUVY or hupser?</h3>
<p>It depends on how you ride. Zwift and MyWhoosh suit riders who want virtual worlds, races and events, and ROUVY suits riders who want filmed real roads. hupser suits riders who want their own workouts and routes, an overlay to ride while watching something else, and Claude to plan with.</p>
<h3>Is hupser a good Zwift alternative?</h3>
<p>Yes, for training. hupser runs on Mac, Windows, iPhone and iPad with one account, rides your workouts in ERG, opens .zwo files and rides your own GPX routes on Mac and Windows. It has no races or group events yet.</p>
<h3>Can I use my Zwift Ride, Play or Click with hupser?</h3>
<p>Yes. hupser shifts virtual gears with a Zwift Ride, Zwift Play or Zwift Click v2 (pair it under Devices → Controller / Shifters), and on Mac and Windows it also moves around the app. A Click v2 left unit only works while Zwift has recently unlocked it.</p>
<h3>Can I bring my Zwift workouts to hupser?</h3>
<p>Yes, if you have them as .zwo files. Open a .zwo file with hupser on iPhone, iPad, Mac or Windows and it's in your library, keeping its text cues. hupser opens .erg, .mrc and .fit workouts too.</p>
<h3>Is hupser free?</h3>
<p>Yes. hupser is free to download and ride on iPhone, iPad, Mac and Windows, with structured workouts, the 3D courses, your own GPX routes and the overlay.</p>
<h3>Which indoor cycling apps are free?</h3>
<p>MyWhoosh and hupser are free. ROUVY has a free tier of 20 km a month, and Zwift is a subscription of €19.99 a month (as of November 2026).</p>
<h3>Does hupser work on Android or Apple TV?</h3>
<p>Not yet. hupser runs on iPhone, iPad, Mac and Windows; an Android app is coming soon, and there is no Apple TV app.</p>
<h3>Does hupser have races and group rides?</h3>
<p>Not yet. Group rides, workouts together, races and clubs are coming soon. For now you can see which friends are riding and ride on the same course as other riders.</p>
Use Claude or ChatGPT as your cycling coach
https://hupser.app/blog/ai-cycling-coach/
2026-11-09T08:14:44.758Z
2026-11-09T08:14:44.758Z
Connect Claude or ChatGPT to hupser and plan your indoor cycling in plain words: it builds workouts and puts them on your calendar, ready to ride on any device.
<p>To use Claude or ChatGPT as your cycling coach, connect it to your hupser account: then you can ask it, in plain words, to build workouts, plan your week and look at your rides, and what it plans lands in hupser, ready to ride on your iPhone, iPad, Mac or Windows PC. Think of it as a coach who has seen all your hupser rides and doesn't mind 11 pm messages.</p>
<h2 id="what-you-can-ask-it">What you can ask it</h2>
<p>Once Claude or ChatGPT is connected to hupser, you just talk to it. Some things riders ask:</p>
<ul>
<li>"I've got an hour tomorrow evening and want to work on my threshold. Build me something and put it on my calendar." That's the one in the picture: Claude checked the FTP and recent load, built a 3×10 at 97% of FTP and put it on Monday.</li>
<li>"Plan my week: three rides, nothing longer than 75 minutes, Sunday off."</li>
<li>"How has my training load changed over the last month?"</li>
<li>"Summarise my last ride."</li>
<li>"My FTP is now 260 W. Update it."</li>
<li>"Find me a 45-minute sweet spot workout in the hupser library."</li>
</ul>
<p>Workouts it builds are saved like ones you make yourself, in % of your FTP, so they're in your Library and on your calendar on every device you sign in on. Open hupser and press Start.</p>
<h2 id="connect-claude">Connect Claude</h2>
<p>hupser is in Claude's connector directory, so connecting takes a minute:</p>
<ol>
<li>On claude.ai or in Claude Desktop, open Customize → Connectors.</li>
<li>Find hupser, or choose Add → Add custom connector and enter <a href="https://api.hupser.app/mcp">https://api.hupser.app/mcp</a>.</li>
<li>Select Connect, sign in to hupser, choose what to allow, and select Allow.</li>
</ol>
<figure><img src="/blog/ai-cycling-coach/1a6ae211a9ec7c94.webp" alt="hupser's consent page for Claude, with switches for what the assistant may see and change" width="1664" height="1040" loading="lazy"><figcaption>You pick what it can see and change.</figcaption></figure>
<p>Once it's connected, hupser works in Claude's iPhone, iPad and Android apps too. Planning your week from the sofa: allowed.</p>
<h2 id="connect-chatgpt">Connect ChatGPT</h2>
<p>hupser isn't in ChatGPT's directory yet. Where your ChatGPT plan lets you add custom MCP servers, add it yourself:</p>
<ol>
<li>On chatgpt.com, open Plugins.</li>
<li>Choose Add → Add custom MCP server and enter <a href="https://api.hupser.app/mcp">https://api.hupser.app/mcp</a>, with OAuth.</li>
<li>Select Connect, sign in to hupser, choose what to allow, and select Allow.</li>
<li>In a chat, type @hupser and ask.</li>
</ol>
<h2 id="you-choose-what-it-can-see-and-do">You choose what it can see and do</h2>
<p>When you connect, hupser asks what the assistant may use, and you flip the switches:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>See your hupser account:</strong> workouts, calendar, rides, FTP and zones. Always on.</li>
<li><strong>Make changes:</strong> create and edit workouts, plan your calendar, set FTP and zones. Leave it off and the assistant can look but not touch.</li>
<li><strong>Heart rate and weight:</strong> heart rate in your rides, heart rate zones, max heart rate and weight.</li>
<li><strong>Friends and other riders:</strong> your friends and their rides, and who is riding.</li>
</ul>
<p>Claude can also ask before each action. With its tool approvals on, it shows you the workout it's about to save, and you choose Allow once or Decline.</p>
<figure><img src="/blog/ai-cycling-coach/ef2b903756d9e863.webp" alt="Claude asking permission to create a workout in hupser, showing the workout it's about to save" width="1560" height="680" loading="lazy"><figcaption>Claude shows you what it's about to save.</figcaption></figure>
<h2 id="what-it-can-t-do">What it can't do</h2>
<p>hupser keeps the connection to your training, and some things stay out of it:</p>
<ul>
<li>It only sees rides recorded in hupser, not rides from Strava, Apple Health or other services. If you also ride outdoors, tell it, because your real load is higher than hupser knows.</li>
<li>It never gets your location or route, email address, date of birth, sex or height.</li>
<li>It can't send rides to Strava or Intervals.icu, and it can't reach events or clubs yet.</li>
<li>hupser's calendar takes a day, not a time. "Tomorrow evening" becomes tomorrow.</li>
</ul>
<p>hupser has no AI of its own. The assistant is yours, on your own Claude or ChatGPT plan and under its terms.</p>
<h2 id="if-it-doesn-t-work">If it doesn't work</h2>
<ul>
<li><strong>It says a permission is missing,</strong> for example that it can't save a workout: you connected without Make changes. Disconnect, connect again and allow it.</li>
<li><strong>A workout doesn't show up:</strong> open hupser and give it a moment to sync, and check you're signed in with the same account.</li>
<li><strong>A ride is missing:</strong> only rides recorded in hupser are there.</li>
</ul>
<p>To disconnect, sign in at hupser.app/account, open Settings → Account and choose Disconnect next to the assistant under AI assistants. Its access ends right away. You can also disconnect it in Claude's or ChatGPT's own settings. Still stuck? Email <a href="mailto:support@hupser.app">support@hupser.app</a> and say which assistant you use.</p>
<h2 id="questions">Questions</h2>
<h3>Can ChatGPT or Claude make me a cycling training plan?</h3>
<p>Yes. Connect Claude or ChatGPT to hupser and ask it to plan your week: it builds the workouts at your FTP and puts them on your hupser calendar, ready to ride on your smart trainer.</p>
<h3>Is there an AI cycling coach that works with my smart trainer?</h3>
<p>hupser has no coach of its own, but you can connect Claude or ChatGPT to your hupser account. The assistant builds and schedules workouts, and you ride them in hupser on your smart trainer in ERG.</p>
<h3>How do I connect Claude to hupser?</h3>
<p>On claude.ai, open Customize → Connectors, find hupser (or add <a href="https://api.hupser.app/mcp">https://api.hupser.app/mcp</a> as a custom connector), sign in to hupser and choose what to allow.</p>
<h3>Can the assistant see my Strava rides or where I ride?</h3>
<p>No. It only sees rides recorded in hupser, and never your location or route, email address, date of birth, sex or height.</p>
<h3>How do I disconnect it?</h3>
<p>Sign in at hupser.app/account, open Settings → Account and choose Disconnect next to the assistant under AI assistants. You can also disconnect it in the assistant's own settings.</p>
Watch a film while you ride indoors
https://hupser.app/blog/watch-a-film-while-you-ride/
2026-11-03T21:21:56.143Z
2026-11-04T08:06:51.733Z
On Mac and Windows, hupser keeps your power, heart rate and workout in a small overlay on top of any app, so you can watch a film while you ride.
<p>To watch a film or movie while you ride indoors, start your workout in hupser, an indoor cycling app for smart trainers, on your Mac or Windows PC, then play it in any app. hupser keeps your power, heart rate, cadence and the workout in a small overlay on top, and runs the workout behind the film: in ERG, your trainer still goes to each interval's watts. It's for long endurance rides, easy spins and anyone who'd rather watch a race than the wall.</p>
<h2 id="watch-a-film-during-a-hupser-workout">Watch a film during a hupser workout</h2>
<p>hupser's overlay comes up by itself whenever another app is in front:</p>
<ol>
<li>Start your workout in hupser.</li>
<li>Open your film in any app: a browser, a video player or a streaming app.</li>
<li>Make the film full screen if you like. hupser's overlay stays on top of it.</li>
<li>To see the whole ride screen again, switch back to hupser.</li>
</ol>
<h2 id="notch-top-or-corner">Notch, Top or Corner</h2>
<p>hupser's overlay has two layouts. Notch on a Mac and Top on Windows is the default: a slim strip at the top centre of the screen, with heart rate and cadence on one side and the step's zone, its time left and your power on the other. On a MacBook it sits beside the camera, at the notch's own height, so a full-screen film starts just below it. Point at its middle and it opens with the workout chart. Over its sides it fades out, so the menu bar, title bars and tabs under it keep working.</p>
<figure><video src="/blog/watch-a-film-while-you-ride/13fbdb3e39f36358.mp4" poster="/blog/watch-a-film-while-you-ride/13fbdb3e39f36358.webp" width="864" height="540" aria-label="Pointing at the middle of hupser's Top overlay opens it with the workout chart" controls muted loop playsinline preload="metadata"></video><figcaption>Point at its middle for the workout chart. Film: Sintel © Blender Foundation | durian.blender.org, CC BY 3.0.</figcaption></figure>
<p>Corner is a card you can put anywhere on the screen, in one of two styles:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Normal:</strong> power over the target with heart rate and cadence, the workout chart with ride times, the current step and the next one.</li>
<li><strong>Compact:</strong> power against the target and the step's countdown in large type, the workout chart, then heart rate, cadence and ride time left on one line. In a step's last 15 seconds it shows the next one.</li>
</ul>
<p>Power on the overlay is a 3-second average, so the number doesn't jump around every second. When the ride pauses or the trainer drops out, the overlay says Ride paused or Trainer disconnected, and the workout's cues show on it too.</p>
<h2 id="set-up-the-overlay">Set up the overlay</h2>
<p>hupser's overlay panel opens from its icon: in the menu bar on a Mac, in the tray by the clock on Windows. It shows your ride at a glance, then Corner, Notch (Top on Windows) and Off.</p>
<figure><img src="/blog/watch-a-film-while-you-ride/8500e7cafb4b8028.webp" alt="hupser's overlay panel from the Windows tray: the ride at a glance, Corner, Top or Off, then Style, Click-through, Size and Opacity" width="960" height="600" loading="lazy"><figcaption>Every overlay setting in one panel. Film: Sintel © Blender Foundation | durian.blender.org, CC BY 3.0.</figcaption></figure>
<p>With Corner picked, it adds:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Style:</strong> Normal or Compact.</li>
<li><strong>Click-through:</strong> your clicks go to the app under the overlay. Turn it off to drag the overlay somewhere else. It stays where you leave it, and Reset position puts it back in the top-right corner.</li>
<li><strong>Size:</strong> 60 to 140%.</li>
<li><strong>Opacity:</strong> 65 to 100%.</li>
</ul>
<p>With two screens or more, Display puts the overlay on the one you watch, such as a TV. The overlay stays up while the panel is open, so you see each change as you make it. Notch and Top are always solid and click-through.</p>
<h2 id="your-workout-keeps-going-behind-the-film">Your workout keeps going behind the film</h2>
<p>hupser runs your workout whatever app is in front: in ERG, your trainer goes to each interval's watts, and every second of the ride is recorded. On Windows, closing hupser's window keeps the ride going; click the tray icon and choose Back to ride to see it again.</p>
<p>The interval countdown and the start, pause and finish sounds play over your film, and the film keeps playing. Settings → Sound sets their volume or turns them off.</p>
<h2 id="if-you-don-t-see-the-overlay">If you don't see the overlay</h2>
<ul>
<li>The overlay shows only during a ride, and only while another app is in front: in hupser itself, the ride screen shows it all. Without a ride, the panel says No ride in progress.</li>
<li>Off may be picked in the panel: pick Notch, Top or Corner.</li>
<li>To find a corner overlay you've lost, choose Reset position in the panel.</li>
<li>On Windows, hupser's icon may be behind the Show hidden icons arrow next to the clock.</li>
</ul>
<h2 id="questions">Questions</h2>
<h3>Can I watch Netflix or YouTube while I ride with hupser?</h3>
<p>Yes. On Mac and Windows, start your workout in hupser, then play the film or video in any app or browser, full screen if you like. hupser keeps your power, heart rate and workout in a small overlay on top.</p>
<h3>Does my workout keep running when hupser isn't in front?</h3>
<p>Yes. hupser runs the workout while you watch: in ERG, your trainer goes to each interval's watts, and the whole ride is recorded.</p>
<h3>Can I move the overlay or make it smaller?</h3>
<p>Pick Corner in hupser's overlay panel, turn Click-through off and drag the overlay where you want it; it stays there. Size sets it from 60 to 140%, and the Compact style takes less room.</p>
<h3>Can I show my ride numbers on my TV?</h3>
<p>Yes, if the TV is a second screen for your Mac or PC: choose it under Display in hupser's overlay panel, and the overlay shows on the TV over your film.</p>
<h3>Will hupser's sounds play over my film?</h3>
<p>Yes. The interval countdown and the start, pause and finish sounds play over it, and the film keeps playing. In hupser, Settings → Sound sets their volume or turns them off.</p>
<h3>Is the overlay on iPhone and iPad?</h3>
<p>No. hupser's ride overlay is on Mac and Windows.</p>