Ladder, an Austin, Texas-based fitness startup that makes a popular strength-training app, is accusing Peloton of ripping off its work with the launch of Peloton’s new Stength+ app, which exited beta on Wednesday.
After receiving feedback from Peloton’s beta testers that the app looked, felt, and functioned much like Ladder’s own, the company says it further investigated and found that 15 Peloton product, engineering, and design team members had been using Ladder’s app since January 2024.
Of course, having employees of a rival fitness-focused company use a popular workout app is not a smoking gun — after all, it’s likely that Peloton staff use a number of competitive products as part of their own personal investments in health and fitness.
However, Ladder writes in a blog post that it’s “quite flattered that the Peloton team was really, really (really) inspired by all we’re doing for our Ladder members,” before noting how frequently Peloton staff used its app and sharing a chart showing all their sessions.
In addition, Ladder claimed in a post on X that “if you came here expecting us to complain about how Peloton literally copied our UI/UX [user interface/user experience] screen-for-screen – we’re afraid you’ll be disappointed.”
It’s a clever way to accuse Peloton of ripping them off while not technically doing so.
Peloton has not yet responded to a request for comment.
Ladder is not necessarily the underdog in this scenario. Peloton was a pandemic-era success story, but has struggled in the years since as people returned to the gym. The company was also beset by supply chain issues and product recalls. In May, Peloton laid off 400 workers and replaced its CEO a second time, following the 2022 replacement of John Foley as CEO in 2022 and layoffs of 2,800 employees.
Ladder, meanwhile, is fresh off a round of $105 million in Series B funding, announced in November, which included a $90 million go-to-market investment from General Catalyst. At the time, the company claimed that Ladder users had logged 90 million entries in the app’s journal and completed over 15 million workouts. Ladder generates revenue from its $29.99 per month subscription on iOS.
In other words, Ladder is taking advantage of the news around Peloton’s new app launch and turning it into a marketing and advertising opportunity of its own. Ironically, the company is doing so by taking “inspiration” from another well-known advertisement: Apple’s “Get a Mac” campaign that ran in the early 2000s and famously pitted the Mac, personified as a cooler guy in casual clothing, versus the stuffier PC guy dressed in a suit and tie. Ladder is now releasing its own ad campaign, “Ladder Versus,” that takes that concept and instead applies it to Peloton and Ladder’s respective apps.
The company has published a series of videos on YouTube titled “Ladder Versus Peloton” where Peloton is represented by a typical “gym bro,” while the Ladder character is one of several different, and arguably cooler, trainers.
Reached for comment, Ladder essentially admits it’s just promoting its ad campaign with its accusations.
Asked if it was pursuing legal action against Peloton, a rep for Ladder replied, “At Ladder, our mission has always been to make strength training accessible for everyone. While we’ve had a lot of fun with this campaign and appreciate the positive response from our community, we continue to focus on what matters most—our members,” they said.
