142 vs Strava: sharing a run without the leaderboard
Strava records and ranks your activity, segments, leaderboards, kudos, and for training or competing it is the best tool there is; if you want the data, use Strava. 142 tracks nothing at all. It is a private social network where a run is simply a moment you [tell your friends](/best-apps-keeping-in-touch) about, no pace, no ranking, nothing scored.
Strava is, for a lot of people, the best sports app ever made, and this comparison will say so plainly more than once. If you train seriously, chase segments, or love the data, nothing here is trying to move you. Strava is brilliant at what it does.
But Strava is a network, not just a tracker, and for a particular kind of user the social side, the leaderboards, the kudos, the implicit competition, slowly turned a thing they loved into a thing they performed. The run stopped being a run and started being a stat to post. This comparison is for that user, and for the honest question of where a run goes when you just want to tell your friends about it.
Disclosure: I founded 142, which does no fitness tracking whatsoever. Strava wins this comparison for most athletes, and I will be clear about that.
The comparison at a glance
| Strava | 142 | |
|---|---|---|
| Tracks your activity | Yes, in detail | No, not at all |
| Maps, pace, segments | Yes | None |
| Leaderboards and kudos | Central | None |
| Audience | Followers, clubs, sometimes public | A hard cap of 142 friends |
| A feed of friends’ lives | Activities only | Everything, not just sport |
| Competition | Built in | Absent by design |
| Price | Free tier and paid subscription | £3.99/month or £29.99/year |
| Best for | Training, data, competing | Telling friends, no scoreboard |
What Strava does better
Everything to do with the activity itself. Strava records your route, pace, elevation, heart rate and more, with a depth no general social app comes close to. For training, improving and understanding your performance, it is in a category of one.
Its social features genuinely motivate people, too. Segments and leaderboards push many runners and cyclists to train harder, and kudos from a club can be the thing that gets you out the door. For competitive and serious recreational athletes, that is a feature, not a flaw.
If you want the data and the competition, Strava wins this comparison outright. Use it.
The catch: the leaderboard changes the run
Here is the narrower case. For some people, the very features that make Strava great are what wore them down.
When every run is recorded, ranked and shown to followers, the run quietly becomes a performance. You find yourself glancing at the pace not for yourself but for how it will look. A slow, happy, recovery jog feels like a stat you would rather not post. The segment leaderboard, motivating for some, becomes a low-grade pressure for others. Strava is a sports network, and sports networks keep score; for the casual runner who just wanted to enjoy moving and tell a couple of friends, the scoreboard is the problem.
This is not Strava doing anything wrong. It is doing exactly what a fitness network is for. It is just that not everyone running wants to be an athlete being measured.
What 142 is (and is not)
142 is not a Strava alternative in the feature sense, because it tracks nothing. There are no routes, no pace, no segments, no leaderboards, because it is not a fitness app at all. It is simply a private social network where, among everything else in your life, you might post a photo from a run and a sentence about it, to your friends, with no number attached and nobody ranking it.
A hard cap of 142 connections, a chronological feed, 30-day expiry, no ads, plus messaging and a calendar. The run is just a part of life you are sharing, not data you are submitting. It costs £3.99 a month or £29.99 a year, and is launching UK-first; you can join the waitlist at 142.social. The honest catch: if you want the data, 142 has none of it, and Strava is the right tool.
The honest verdict
If you train, compete, or simply love the numbers, Strava is the best app for the job and this comparison should not move you. If the leaderboard turned your running into a performance and you just want somewhere to tell your friends “lovely 5k this morning” without it being scored, that is what 142 is for, because it scores nothing. Some people will use both: Strava for the training data, kept to themselves, and 142 for the human side of telling friends. The wider context is in our guide to the best apps for keeping in touch.
Summary
Strava is the best fitness network there is, and for anyone who wants to track, improve or compete, this comparison should not move you; use Strava. The narrower truth is that Strava is a network that keeps score, and for some casual runners the leaderboard quietly turned running into a performance. 142 tracks nothing, ranks nothing and competes at nothing; it is simply a private place where a run can be one human moment you share with friends, no number attached. For the data, Strava. For telling your friends without a scoreboard, 142. Plenty of people will happily use both.
frequently asked questions
Is 142 a Strava alternative?
Not in the tracking sense; 142 records no fitness data at all, so it cannot replace Strava for training or performance. It is an alternative only for the *social* part: somewhere to tell friends about a run without metrics or a leaderboard. For the data, Strava remains the right tool.
Can I share runs privately on Strava?
Strava offers privacy controls, including hiding activities or sharing with followers only, so you can limit who sees your runs. The deeper issue for some users is not who sees the run but that it is recorded and ranked at all; if the scoreboard itself is the problem, privacy settings do not remove it.
Why would a runner use 142 instead of Strava?
Because they want to share the *experience* of a run with friends, not the data of it, and without competition. 142 has no pace, no segments and no kudos, so a run is just a moment you are telling people about, the same as any other part of life. Runners who want the numbers should keep Strava.
Does 142 track exercise or steps?
No. 142 has no fitness or health tracking of any kind. It is a private social network, not a sports app, so anything about a run on 142 is simply something you chose to post, like a photo or an update, with nothing measured automatically.
Is Strava free?
Strava has a free tier and a paid subscription, with some social and analytical features behind the subscription. 142 is subscription-only at £3.99 a month or £29.99 a year, with no free tier, because subscription is its entire business model. We explain that choice in [our guide to social media without ads](/social-media-without-ads).
Does the Strava leaderboard really put people off?
For competitive athletes, no, it motivates them. For some casual runners, yes: constant ranking and visibility can turn an enjoyable habit into a performance, which is exactly the dynamic 142 avoids by tracking and ranking nothing. Different runners want different things, and both are valid.
Can I use both Strava and 142?
Yes, and it is a natural pairing: Strava for recording and analysing your training, kept as private as you like, and 142 for the human side, telling friends about a run as one part of your wider life, with no scoreboard involved.