Oura defends subscription paywall of the Oura Ring 4
Anyone who uses an Oura Ring 4 (from $349 on Amazon) without a subscription can only collect a few data points, as an Oura membership is required for most features. It costs $6 per month or $69 per year. The subscription unlocks detailed sleep analysis, 24/7 heart rate measurement, the skin temperature and SpO2 sensors, stress and cycle tracking and advanced Oura Labs features, among other things.
Many competitors, such as the Samsung Galaxy Ring, skip a subscription entirely and often offer cheaper rings as well. Oura CEO Tom Hale has now defended the subscription model in a conversation with Bloomberg. According to Oura’s CEO, this approach is essential and supports Oura’s focus on accurate data interpretation and long-term analysis. The subscription is expected to provide increasing value for customers because it will be expanded over time with new features. Subscription fees are intended to go toward R&D, both to develop new features and to improve the accuracy of existing ones.
According to Oura’s CEO, the Oura membership currently has several million paying customers, and 75% of them reportedly open the Oura app at least 5 times per week. Subscription revenue will purportedly allow Oura to release new smart ring generations less frequently than some competitors, so customers are not pushed into hardware upgrades. Oura is reportedly expecting revenue of $1.5 billion in fiscal year 2026, and the company was valued at around $11 billion last fall.
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