Watta vs Ergatta: Free Erg Log vs Gamified Rower
By the Watta Team · Updated
Quick Verdict
Ergatta is a wooden water rower with a 17.3-inch touchscreen that turns workouts into games, races and programmes; the Lite costs $1,699, the Luxe starts at $2,199, and the games need a membership of $39 a month or $390 a year. Without the membership the rower still works in Just Row mode, with live metrics, history in its app and Strava sync. Ergatta also sells a $399 Concept2 Connection Kit that puts the same touchscreen and games on a RowErg. Watta is a different kind of product: a free iPhone and Android app that logs any Concept2 RowErg, SkiErg or BikeErg from a photo of the monitor, scores every session 0–100 and keeps your bests. Choose Ergatta if games are what will get you on the machine; choose a Concept2 and Watta if you want standard, comparable erg numbers and a training log without a subscription.
Feature Comparison
| Feature | Watta | Ergatta |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A free app that logs Concept2 sessions from a photo of the PM5, PM4 or PM3 | A water rower with a built-in touchscreen, plus a kit that adds the touchscreen to a Concept2 RowErg |
| Price | Free; you supply the Concept2 (your own, a gym's or a club's) | Lite $1,699, Luxe from $2,199; Concept2 Connection Kit $399 (US and Canada only) |
| Subscription | None | $39/month, or $390 for a year ($1,044 for three, $1,620 for five); unlimited profiles |
| Without the subscription | Everything | Just Row mode: live split, rate, watts, distance and heart rate; history in the app; Strava and Apple Health |
| Machines | Concept2 RowErg, SkiErg and BikeErg | Ergatta rowers; the RowErg through the Connection Kit |
| Resistance and numbers | Concept2 air resistance: splits and watts comparable with every other Concept2 and its rankings | Water resistance on its own rowers; numbers are not directly comparable with Concept2 splits |
| Workouts and motivation | Your own sessions, 0–100 Effort Score, personal bests per distance, clubs and squads, coach-built plans | Games, races, programmes and 2,500+ live and on-demand workouts with the membership |
| Strava | Logged workouts sync to Strava | Strava integration, with or without the membership |
Why Choose Watta
- +Free, with no subscription, on a machine you may already have access to at a gym or club
- +Concept2 numbers are the common language of rowing: a 2:00 split means the same on every RowErg in the world
- +Works on the RowErg, SkiErg and BikeErg, from a photo, with no hardware to fit
Where Ergatta Excels
- +Games and races are a genuine reason to row for people who find steady erg work dull
- +A quiet, good-looking water rower that lives well in a home
- +One membership covers unlimited household profiles, and the rower still works in Just Row mode without it
Detailed Breakdown
Ergatta and Watta answer different questions. Ergatta asks how to make rowing at home something you look forward to, and its answer is a well-made water rower with a touchscreen running games, races and programmes. Those are behind a membership of $39 a month (or $390 a year); without it the machine is a capable rower with live metrics, a history in its app and Strava sync, but none of the games. Ergatta has also come to the Concept2: its $399 Connection Kit mounts the same 17-inch touchscreen on a RowErg and works through the PM5, so a Concept2 owner can have the games without buying a new rower, still paying the membership for them. Watta asks how to keep a record of every erg session without typing it in. Photograph the monitor when you finish and the distance, time, split, rate, intervals and, when the screen shows them, watts, heart rate and calories are logged; the session gets a 0–100 Effort Score and your bests per distance update. It costs nothing and works on any Concept2, including the one at your gym. If you already train on a Concept2, the two are not exclusive: Ergatta can make the sessions more fun, and Watta can be the log you keep across every machine you row on.