The short answer: Steady Pace is a single one-time purchase with every feature included from the first launch. There are no tiers, no locked features, no ads, and no prompts asking you to upgrade, because there is nothing above what you bought. Most running apps are built the other way, with the useful parts fenced off behind a subscription and a steady stream of nudges to pay more. Steady Pace gives you the tool without the sales pitch.
What "upselling" looks like in a running app
Upselling is common in modern apps. A feature you expected is greyed out with a small crown icon. A "you're on pace for a personal best, upgrade to see more" banner appears mid-run. The barcode scanner, the sleep detail, the segment leaderboard, the extra chart, each one moved out of reach so the monthly charge feels worth renewing. None of it is illegal and some of it funds real work, but the effect is an app that is always selling to you while you are trying to use it.
The reason is structural. A subscription has to justify itself every month, so there is constant pressure to hold something back as the reason to keep paying. An app you bought once has no such pressure, because it has already been paid for and has nothing left to sell you.
What you get in Steady Pace, all of it, at once
- Pace by ear. A tone that rises when you slow and falls when you speed up, so you hold your pace without looking.
- Cadence metronome. A steady click for your step rhythm, if you want one.
- Spoken splits. Your splits read aloud so you never look down.
- Accurate distance and elevation. GPS fused with the barometer.
- Private by design. No account, no ads, no analytics, and zero network connections.
That is the complete list. Nothing in it is a teaser for a "pro" version, because there is no pro version.
Pure purchase vs the upsell model
| Steady Pace | The upsell model | |
|---|---|---|
| Features at purchase | All of them | The basics; the rest is gated |
| Upgrade prompts | None | Common, sometimes mid-run |
| Ads | None | On many free tiers |
| Reason to nag you | None, you already paid | Built in, the fee renews monthly |
| Cost next year | Nothing, there is no next bill | The subscription, likely higher |
When a subscription is fair
Sometimes. A coaching plan that rewrites your training each week, or a social network that connects thousands of runners, is real ongoing work, and charging for it monthly is reasonable. The point here is narrower: a pace tool is not that kind of product. Holding a pace does not need a server running every month, so it should not cost you every month, and it should not spend your run trying to sell you the next tier.
Steady Pace is a one-time purchase that includes every feature from the start, so it has no higher tier to prompt you toward and no reason to interrupt your run with an upsell.
Pricing
No subscription
The honest case for buying once, and when a subscription still makes sense.
Pricing
The subscription trap
What a fitness-app subscription costs over ten years.
Blog
No ads, either
Why the app shows you nothing but your run.
Does Steady Pace have in-app purchases or a pro tier?
No. You pay once and every feature is included: the pace tone, the metronome, spoken splits, and GPS-plus-barometer tracking. There is no higher tier, no add-on, and no subscription, so there is nothing to upsell.
Are there ads in Steady Pace?
None. There are no ads and no analytics, and the app makes zero network connections, so there is no ad network to serve you anything. You see your run and nothing else.
Why do so many running apps upsell?
Because a subscription has to earn its renewal every month, so there is constant pressure to hold features back as the reason to keep paying. A one-time purchase removes that pressure: once you have bought it, the app has nothing left to sell you.
Will Steady Pace start charging or nagging later?
A price hike or an upgrade prompt needs a recurring bill or a locked tier to push, and there is neither. You buy the whole app once, and that is the end of the transaction.