Discord for indoor cycling · a Zwift alternative
Train together,
not alone.
Your crew, one structured workout, every trainer on its own rider’s FTP — and voice, so you suffer out loud. Your watts are the game.
Free · open source · runs in Chrome or Edge · desktop app
How it works
From group chat to group ride in three steps
- 1
Start a crew
Your crew gets text channels and voice channels, like a Discord server for your pain cave. Send its six-character code and everyone is in.
- 2
Hop into voice, pair your trainer
Chrome or Edge talks to your smart trainer over Bluetooth. Nothing to install. Camera if you like, voice with one tap.
- 3
Ride one workout together
Anyone in the channel starts a workout. Every trainer holds its own rider’s watts, the timeline runs for everyone at once, and you talk the whole way.
Same workout, your watts
Different FTPs. One session.
Friends never ride at the same watts. WattRoom never asks them to: a workout is written in percentages of FTP, and every trainer holds its own rider’s share. Drag your FTP and watch.
Tuesday threshold · one workout, four riders
Block 3 of 9 · 5 min at 100 % FTP · Threshold
- Ines FTP 185 W 185 W
- Luca FTP 250 W 250 W
- Mara FTP 320 W 320 W
- You FTP 230 W 230 W
The session
Everyone’s numbers on one screen, everyone’s voice in your ears
Your watts big enough to read from the saddle, every rider’s watts, w/kg and cadence, how precisely each of you holds the target, the interval chart — and the crew’s jukebox beside it.
The crew
A crew is a place, not an event
Text channels for the week, voice channels for ride night, a schedule everyone can say yes to, and a board for the things you keep asking about. It is still there tomorrow.
The jukebox
One soundtrack, in sync, for the whole crew
Paste a YouTube link or a playlist and it plays for everyone in the voice channel at the same moment. Vote tracks up. Duck it under the voices. Bring your own MP3s.
After the ride
Every ride counts, and it stays yours
A summary with your power curve and zones, XP and trophies, a .fit file to download and one tap to Strava. Rides are private until you share them.
Workouts
A library to start from, an editor for the rest
Pick from the curated library, build your own in the editor, or import the .zwo and .erg files you already have. Every target is a share of FTP, so one workout fits the whole crew.
Seven game modes
No drafting. No power-ups. Just watts.
Every game is decided by power alone, scaled to each rider’s FTP — so the smallest engine in the crew can win Backyard Ramp.
- Sprint Roulette
A klaxon, three seconds, then everything you have.
- Points Race
Intervals with sprints hidden in them. Every one scores.
- Watt Golf
Hit the number with the meter turned off.
- Backyard Ramp
Three-minute rounds that keep getting harder. Last one pedalling wins.
- Collective Ramp
Backyard rules on the crew’s average. Nobody gets dropped alone.
- Floor is Lava
A zone is called. Stay in it.
- Team Relay
One rider on the front, everyone else recovering.
- Try one now A Sprint Roulette sprint, right on this page.
Try it
Sprint Roulette, with your thumb
In a session, five of these land at random with a klaxon three seconds before each. Here is one.
Ten seconds. Everything you have.
Arm it, wait for the klaxon, then tap the pad as fast as you can — or press Space, or just hold it down. Your best five seconds count.
Compared
What WattRoom is, beside what you know
Zwift and MyWhoosh are worlds to ride in; TrainerRoad is a coach. WattRoom is a place for your crew. Pick the right one — sometimes it is not us.
| WattRoom | Zwift | TrainerRoad | MyWhoosh | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | US$19.99 a month or US$199.99 a year | US$21.99 a month or US$209.99 a year, for every rider | Free |
| Runs on | Chrome or Edge on Windows, macOS and Android, or the desktop app. No trainer control on iPhone or iPad | Windows, macOS, iOS, Android and Apple TV apps | Windows, macOS, iOS and Android apps; group workouts on Windows and macOS | Windows, macOS, iOS and Android apps |
| One workout, together | Anyone in the voice channel starts any workout; every trainer holds its own rider’s FTP | Group workouts scale to each rider’s FTP; a private one goes through a Meetup, and club events offer preset workouts | Group workouts for up to 11 riders, each on their own FTP, with voice and video | Group rides and pacer-led group workouts in its virtual world |
| Talking while you ride | Voice and camera built in, one tap | Text chat; crews bring Discord for voice | Voice and video in group workouts | Text chat |
| Virtual world | Routes you import, with their profile and climbs; on a ride, tiles, numbers and the interval chart | A 3D world with routes, drafting and racing | None: a workout chart | A 3D world with routes, races and prize events |
| Open source | Yes (AGPL), and self-hostable | No | No | No |
Private by default
Voice and video are never recorded. Live numbers live and die with the session. Your rides are yours until you share one.
Open source, all of it
The whole thing is on GitHub under the AGPL. A club can run its own server with one Docker Compose stack.
One tab, not three apps
No training app plus Discord plus a music player fighting over one headset. Workout, voice and soundtrack share a tab and a mixer.
Questions
+Do I need a smart trainer?
To be held on target in ERG mode, yes: any trainer that speaks Bluetooth FTMS, which most current smart trainers do. You can join a crew’s channels and its voice without one, and a power meter or heart-rate strap pairs the same way.
+Which browsers work?
Chrome or Edge on Windows, macOS and Android: they speak Web Bluetooth, which is how WattRoom reaches your trainer with nothing to install. Or use the desktop app. On Linux, Chrome still keeps Web Bluetooth behind a flag. Safari and Firefox cannot talk to a trainer at all, so on an iPhone or iPad you can join the crew and the call, but not ride.
+What does it cost?
Nothing. WattRoom is free and open source under the AGPL. There is no subscription, and nobody in your crew has to pay to ride with you.
+Can riders of different strength ride together?
That is the point. Every target is a percentage of each rider’s own FTP, so the 180 W rider and the 320 W rider do the same workout, side by side, and it hurts both of them the same. Game modes like Backyard Ramp eliminate on your own FTP too.
+Is anything recorded?
Voice and video are never recorded. Your ride data stays with your session, and rides are private by default. You can export or delete everything from your settings.
+I don’t know my FTP.
Take the ramp test: a warm-up, then +20 W a minute until you cannot hold it, about 12–18 minutes in all. Your FTP is 75 % of your best minute.
Your crew is one link away.
Start a crew, send its six-character code, and ride your first workout together tonight. Free, no install.
Built in the open — star it on GitHub if you want more of it.