Comparison

Tacho vs Cycle

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Tacho

Track your cycling workouts with this app, which functions as a bike computer on your Apple Watch and iPhone. It records key metrics like speed, heart rate, and elevation, syncing data to Apple Health.

Highlights
  • Bike computer functionality
  • Track speed, heart rate, elevation
  • Syncs with Apple Health
  • Auto-pause feature
  • Barometric altimeter for accuracy
  • Real-time weather data
Features
Read full description

Tacho is a bike computer for the Apple Watch and iPhone. With the Tacho Watch app, you can track your bike workouts and save them to the Apple Health app on your iPhone. You can use the Tacho Watch app with or without an iPhone. Start your tracking on the Apple Watch. With the Tacho iPhone app, you can then see key metrics like speed, heart rate, elevation, incline, wind speed and direction, and air temperature. On the Apple Watch, you'll also see average and maximum speed, pulse, and ascent and descent. With the auto-pause function, only the time and distance you are actually moving is counted. The barometric altimeter ensures accurate altitude measurement. It automatically calibrates itself based on the GPS signal as you move. Weather data is updated every 5 to 15 minutes depending on your speed and location. The following data is stored in the Apple Health app on your iPhone: - ride time - distance - route - altitude (ascent/descent) - speed - pulse - calories burned - air temperature - air humidity - weather condition - events (pause start/end, movement start/end) In the Settings app on your iPhone, you can configure the Tacho app to your liking. You can choose between altimetry via GPS or barometer, configure units of measurement, customize the appearance and disable the auto-pause functionality. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

Cycle

This bike computer tracks your cycling metrics like speed, distance, and elevation without ads or data tracking. It offers an analog tachometer, navigation light, and an in-app bell. Connect to Health to store trips and display heart rate.

Highlights
  • Speed, distance, average speed, top speed tracking
  • Altitude profile and climb data
  • Clock, compass, and GPS data
  • Metric and imperial unit switching
  • Health app integration for workouts and heart rate
  • Analog tachometer style
  • Camera flash navigation light
  • In-app bell
Features
Read full description

You are looking for a bike tracker that doesn't force you in to a subscription to be useful? Here you go: A bike computer built with data privacy in mind. No ads, no tracking and no data leaves your phone. It shows the important things: Speed, distance, average speed, top speed, duration and the climb with a nice altitude profile of the trip. It also shows a clock, a compass and the GPS data. Units can be switched from metric to miles/feet. If you want you can connect it to Health and store your trips as workouts and display your heart rate during the trip (if available). You can switch to an analog vintage style tachometer and a button can turn on the camera flash as navigation light in case you are on a race bike in a tunnel. If you have no bell - the app has one for you.A cycling speedometer built with data privacy in mind. No ads, no tracking and no data leaves your phone. It shows the important things: Speed, distance, average speed, top speed, duration and the climb with a nice altitude profile of the trip. It also shows a clock, a compass and the GPS data. Units can be switched from metric to miles/feet. If you want you can connect it to Health and store your trips as workouts and display your heart rate during the trip (if available). You can switch to an analog vintage style tachometer and a button can turn on the camera flash as navigation light in case you are on a race bike in a tunnel. If you have no bell - the app has one for you.

Screenshots

Tacho4 screens
Cycle3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Cycle at Free against Tacho's $4.99. Cycle also leads on rating (5.0 vs 3.7) and review sentiment (96% vs 74%). Tacho's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1). On ratings volume, update cadence, ads and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Cycle is free to download; Tacho costs $4.99 up front. Cycle sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Tacho asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Cycle holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 3.7. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 3 and 2 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 74% of Tacho's written reviews are positive against 96% of Cycle's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Tacho ships an update every 6 weeks, Cycle monthly. The most recent releases landed on September 14, 2026 and September 17, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Tacho versus Cycle: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterTachoCycle
Price$4.99Free — better
Rating3.7 (3 ratings)5.0 (2 ratings) — better
Positive reviews73.7% of reviews95.7% of reviews — better
Number of ratings3 — better2
Update frequencyEvery 6 weeksMonthly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationPaidFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch — betteriPhone, iPod, Apple Watch
Requires iOS15.515.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size7 MB5 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperFriedemann BartelsAndreas Keldenich

Customer experience

Tacho

All ratings3 ratings
Positive66.7%
Neutral0.0%
Negative33.3%
Written reviews19 reviews
Positive73.7%
Neutral15.8%
Negative10.5%

Cycle

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews23 reviews
Positive95.7%
Neutral4.3%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

Tacho

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

Cycle

One-time1
  • Buy me a coffee$1.99

Questions

Is Tacho free?
Tacho costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Cycle free?
Cycle is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Tacho or Cycle?
Cycle is rated higher. Tacho averages 3.7 out of 5 from 3 ratings, while Cycle averages 5.0 from 2 ratings.
Do Tacho or Cycle have ads?
Neither Tacho nor Cycle shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Tacho or Cycle?
Tacho ships an update every 6 weeks, and Cycle monthly. Most recently, Tacho was updated on September 14, 2026 and Cycle on September 17, 2026.

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