Zwift has historically been very tight-lipped about membership numbers, but when Zwiftcast host Simon Schofield asked for a breakdown of members by level, Zwift surprisingly provided some stats! These were discussed in the latest Zwiftcast episode, where Simon described them as “absolutely gob-smacking.”
There was just one problem: some of those numbers weren’t accurate.
It turns out Zwift was in the middle of a system migration, and while they told Simon up front that some of the numbers might not be 100% accurate, I don’t think anyone realized just how inaccurate they were. Until this week, that is, when I asked Zwift for some clarification on the stats, and they came back with a mea culpa… and fresh stats.
So I’m sharing those new (accurate) numbers because I know they’ll be interesting to Zwift fans. I’m sure these will be further discussed in an upcoming Zwiftcast episode as well, but let’s go ahead and dive in!
Percentage Breakdown of Zwifters By Level
Most of the stats from Zwift are for what they call “engaged Zwifters.” These are people who are both paying subscribers and actively riding on the platform. (Zwift didn’t further define what “actively” riding entails.)
Here’s how engaged Zwifters break down by level:
- Levels 1-10: 10% of all engaged Zwifters
- Levels 11-20: 14% of all engaged Zwifters
- Levels 21-30: 19% of all engaged Zwifters
- Levels 31-60: 47% of all engaged Zwifters
- Levels 61-100: 10% of all engaged Zwifters
Additionally, Zwift provided another stat: only 0.06% of Zwifters have reached level 100, the highest level possible.
Levels 1-10
Getting to level 11 is pretty easy. It requires earning 13,000 XP, which works out to around 650km (400 miles) of riding if you don’t include route achievement bonuses, XP+ powerups, and weekly streak bonuses.
I went back and checked my first month on Zwift (November 2015). Based on kilometers ridden, I would have hit level 11 in less than a month.
What is it about Zwift and the Zwift experience that leads to 10% of engaged Zwifters being at levels 1-10? A few thoughts:
- Seasonality matters: yes, Zwift has certainly attracted some new customers by advertising at the Tour de France. But this is still a quiet time of year for new signups. Internal contacts tell me this number grows to around 20% in January when the platform sees its largest influx of new riders.
- New member churn: some portion of these low-level Zwifters are new members who just haven’t been around long enough to level up. Some of them may even (*gasp*) decide Zwift isn’t their thing and cancel their account within a few months.
- Barely active subscribers: As with any fitness platform/venue (think: your local gym) there will be people who sign up, ride a bit, but never become frequent users. These are the folks who pay for a service in hopes that it motivates them to use it regularly (this rarely works). If you only ride once a week for 30km it would take you over 20 weeks to reach level 11. That means this level 1-10 group may contain riders who signed up several months ago!
- Not “indoor riders”: some of these newer “engaged Zwifters” may prefer to spend the vast majority of their riding outside. They maintain a Zwift membership, but only ride when absolutely necessary, perhaps 1-4 times per month when the weather is bad.
- Average Zwifter ability: as a dedicated, competitive cyclist, it’s easy to project my abilities/priorities onto others. But the truth is, most riders on Zwift are less fit and put in fewer miles than I do. (That’s no brag on my part, either: I know exactly where I stand as a middle-of-the-road B racer!) Or to put it another way: most new Zwifters will need more than a month to get to level 11. And that’s OK!
Levels 11-20
Getting to level 21 requires 36,500 XP, which works out to 1,825km (1134 miles). While that might take a dedicated indoor cyclist 3 months to knock out, someone who only uses Zwift occasionally (say, one 35km ride per week) would need an entire year to get to level 21.
Having 14% of Zwifters in this level range isn’t surprising to me. It means nearly 1 in 4 Zwifters is level 20 or below, and that’s actually a slightly smaller number than I would have guessed.
Levels 21-30
Zwift says 19% of engaged Zwifters are at level 21-30. It takes 73,000 XP to reach level 31, meaning:
- It would take around 22 weeks to reach level 31 riding 100 miles per week on Zwift
- If you rode just 35km once a week on Zwift, it would take you 2 years to reach level 31
Levels 31 to 60
Zwift lumped the next set of 30 levels into one group, sharing that 47% of engaged Zwifters are at levels 31-60. This is slightly more than the 43% who are at levels 1-30.
Zwift’s levels get harder to reach as they increase, so getting to level 61 requires 321,000 XP, while getting halfway there (level 31) only requires 73,000 XP. It may take you 2 years to reach level 31 if you’re only riding 35km once a week, but it would take you over 8.5 years to reach level 61 at that pace!
(Or if you’re a very dedicated rider, putting in 100 miles per week on average, it would take you nearly 2 years to level up to 61.)
Levels 61-100
One in ten Zwifters is in this final cohort. What can we say about this group? It contains three classes of Zwifter, as I see it:
- Medium to long-time riders who recently reached level 61 and aren’t on an accelerated leveling program. Many of these riders are also very seasonal in their Zwifting.
- Long-time riders with more than 807,000 XP who are still working their way through accelerated levels, although they’ve got enough XP to be at level 100.
- A small group of riders who have already reached level 100 and are now stuck doing level 100 repeats until Zwift changes things.
One thing is certain: this group has Zwift experience. If you’ve put in the time to earn 321,000 XP or more (level 61), you’ve put some time into Zwift.
Level 100
Only 0.06% of all Zwifters have reached level 100. That’s a very small subset of the Zwift community, but it’s based on all Zwift accounts, not just engaged Zwifters. To be precise, this is based on every Zwift account ever created which has recorded at least one activity.
Look at it this way: Eric Min recently confirmed that Zwift has over 1 million active subscribers. If we say there are 3 million total accounts, that means 1800 Zwifters are at level 100. A very small percentage of the whole. But also, not a small number of riders!
On top of that, one could argue that this number is artificially skewed low due to the way Zwift rolled out levels 61-100, requiring riders to put in work to level up even if they had the XP to earn those higher levels. As mentioned above, because of Zwift’s accelerated leveling scheme there are certainly Zwifters who have earned more than 807,000 XP but aren’t yet at level 100. We don’t know how many Zwifters fall into that camp, though, since Zwift didn’t provide that data.
Concluding Thoughts
When Zwift gave us the initial data stating that 45% of all engaged Zwifters were at levels 1-10, Simon was rightly gob-smacked. Having nearly half of your user base new and/or barely engaged didn’t seem possible. Nor did it seem healthy.
The updated numbers above, though, are wildly different. They’ve also been verified by Zwift’s data team, so we know they’re trustworthy! Lastly, they pass the sniff test, which is something I’ve learned to trust in my dealings with Zwift over the years.
The data above tells me that Zwift has a very sticky business. Sure, athletes will come and go. But Zwift has a dedicated community of long-time users – 57% of them at level 31+ – who are invested and engaged in the platform.
Which leads me to consider one other cohort not mentioned above. Many (most?) Zwifters don’t maintain their subscription year-round. What about long-time users who have stopped their subscriptions for the summer? They aren’t included in the numbers above, since they aren’t currently paying subscribers.
I don’t know how large this group is, and Zwift’s recent price increase, coupled with strong competition from other platforms, probably made this cohort larger today than it’s been in past years. Would their inclusion drastically alter the level breakdown percentages above? Quite possibly. Maybe I’ll ask for some follow-up level breakdowns from Zwift in January!
Your Thoughts
What do you think of the level breakdowns above? In your view, what do they say about the Zwift community and Zwift as a business? Share your thoughts below!
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