New Withings accounts created from October 13, 2026 must pay for a Withings+ membership to sync health data automatically to third-party apps. Withings’ own support text names Health Connect, Google’s Android health-data platform, and Apple Health as covered apps. Accounts created on or before October 12 keep the sync free.
How the Withings+ gate on Health Connect sync works
A Withings support article carries a disclaimer dated as of October 13, 2026. It says new accounts created on or after that date need an active Withings+ membership to export data to Apple Health and Health Connect. A Withings staff reply in the company’s support community confirms the change. The reply comes from an account labelled as official comments from Withings and is signed Team Withings. It states that “for accounts created from October 13, 2026, automatic sync to third-party apps is part of Withings+.”
According to that reply, the gate is tied to the account, not the device. Buying a new Withings scale on an older account does not trigger it. New members can use sync during the Withings+ free trial. If a membership ends, sync pauses but no data is lost. Sync resumes once the membership is active again.
A Gadgets & Wearables reader reported seeing a Withings+ prompt when turning on Apple Health export for a Body scale. That is a user report, but it matches what Withings itself describes.
What stays free for every Withings user
The staff reply lists several things that are not behind the membership, for members and non-members alike:
- Manual export: your full history as a CSV or PDF file, at any time.
- Imports: pulling data into Withings from other apps keeps working.
- Doctor sharing: HealthLink and PDF reports for sharing data with a clinician.
A separate change for developers, with a different date
Withings’ developer API plans page describes a related but narrower change. It says Withings+ becomes required on the Start for Free API plan from October 12, 2026. Accounts created after that date need a membership to share health data with an app on that free plan. That includes apps that are already live.
The free plan is capped at 10 users unless the app passes a Withings review. A footnote says accounts created before October 12 keep sharing data with no membership. The consumer and developer cutoffs sit a day apart. The developer page’s wording leaves accounts opened on October 12 itself unclear.
What the change means for new Withings buyers
Withings’ staff reply says the membership funds services built around user data. It also points to member perks such as health scores, a health assistant, ECG reviews and an AI connector. The reply does not say the sync fee pays for any of those perks.
Moving your own weight and health measurements into Health Connect or Apple Health used to be a basic, free function. For new accounts, it now carries a recurring fee on top of the hardware price. The reassurance about existing accounts only helps people who signed up before the cutoff. Manual CSV export is a workaround, not automatic sync.
Withings is not alone in this direction. Fitbit’s new Edge launched with its coaching locked behind a Premium plan. Because the gate follows the account, existing owners adding a new Withings device should sign in to their current account rather than open a fresh one.
Sources: Withings Support, Withings Community, Withings API Plans, Gadgets & Wearables
