Oura CEO Tom Hale says the company has no plans to abandon its subscription model, even as rivals experiment with cheaper hardware and no recurring fees
Context & Ripple Effects
Oura has paired expansion in the smart-ring category with rapid commercial growth: it expected roughly $500 million in 2024 sales and later projected about $1 billion for 2025. Its decision to retain recurring fees clarifies that the company sees subscriptions as part of its product and revenue strategy, not a temporary add-on to device sales.
The stance comes as Oura has publicly confronted competition from Apple and other wearable makers. Its earlier discussion of competitive pressure and its higher sales ambitions make the pricing-model choice consequential as rivals test a lower upfront-cost proposition.
First-order effects
- Oura customers continue to face a hardware purchase plus an ongoing subscription rather than a device-only offer.
- Oura preserves a recurring-revenue model while competitors can differentiate on lower hardware prices and no monthly fee.
Second-order effects
- The contrast gives prospective smart-ring buyers a clearer total-cost trade-off: Oura must defend the continuing value of its service, while fee-free rivals must rely more heavily on device margins and hardware upgrades.
- Oura's growth targets become more tied to retaining and expanding paying members, not solely to unit sales—a dynamic visible in its previous 2026 sales outlook.
Third-order effects
- If competing models persist, smart rings may split between service-led platforms that seek recurring revenue and hardware-led products that compete more directly on upfront price.
- That division raises the accountability bar for subscription wearables: recurring fees need to sustain differentiated utility as hardware features become easier for rivals to match.
The trend: Smart-ring makers are testing whether wearable businesses will be defined by recurring software and insights revenue or by lower-cost, device-only ownership.