Garmin Reopens Its Connect Developer Program: What Changes for Health Product Teams

Introduction

In July we wrote that Garmin had paused its developer program and that teams planning a Garmin integration had no way to get a developer account. That pause is over. On 21 October 2026 Garmin reopened the Garmin Connect Developer Program with a new tier structure, a faster path for small teams and a paid tier for companies at scale.

The tiers got most of the coverage. For health product teams, the access model behind them matters more: who registers the app and holds the keys, and what you may do with the data once you have it. Those rules decide how you architect a wearable data integration for the next few years.

This article covers what Garmin changed, what the updated developer agreement says about third parties and AI, and what to check before you build or migrate.

What Garmin Changed in the Connect Developer Program

Garmin's program page now lists three access levels. The descriptions below use Garmin's own wording where it exists. Where the figures come from press coverage rather than Garmin, we say so.

Personal

Personal access is "secure access to your own Garmin Connect data", meant for individuals who want to work with their own activity, health and women's health data.

Personal access is a separate API from the one companies use under the Connect Developer Program. Authentication and authorisation work differently, the endpoints return different responses, and the APIs sit on different base URLs. An integration built for one does not work with the other. For that reason, Open Wearables does not support the Personal API at the moment.

Starter

Starter is "the starting point for organizations building apps with Garmin Connect API access". Data is delivered by push only, historical data is not included and user capacity is limited. Press reports put the limit at 1,000 connected users and say Starter is free. Approval is reported to be close to instant, which changes the planning picture compared with earlier this year.

Enterprise

Enterprise is "designed for companies operating at scale". It adds push or ping/pull delivery, at least a month of historical data when a user connects, unlimited users and technical support. Garmin describes the commercial terms as tailored to each company. According to DC Rainmaker's report, there is a $1,000 entry fee credited against a bill for monthly active users, the rate is negotiated per company, and billing starts on 1 April 2027. Existing partners move to Enterprise automatically without the entry fee.

Connect IQ, Garmin's program for apps that run on the device itself, is unchanged.

The Access Model: Every Company Holds Its Own Key

The developer agreement doesn't allow passing the keys or the data to a third party without Garmin's written permission. According to the founder of intervals.icu, who spoke with Garmin before the reopening, Garmin says these requirements are not new. They now apply to everyone joining the reopened program, and the market is adjusting. Several platforms that connected many customer apps through one shared Garmin registration now ask each customer to register its own app and bring its own credentials.

The same pattern appears outside Garmin. Strava's API agreement, in force since 1 June 2026, says a developer "may not share your API Token with any other developer, third party, or use it for more than one application or service." When two major platforms in sport and health tighten the same rule in one year, it is reasonable to plan for more providers to follow.

For a health product, the company that ships the product registers the app with Garmin, holds the credentials and answers for how the data is used. If a vendor sits between you and Garmin with its own registration, your users' connection depends on that vendor's agreement, and you have no control over it.

What the Updated Agreement Says About AI

The revised agreement that came with the reopening rules out using Garmin data to train or improve your own AI models. Our reading is that using an existing model to analyse one user's data and answer that same user remains possible with the user's consent and a clear AI transparency statement. Training or fine-tuning a model on your user base is out of scope.

If your roadmap includes an AI coach or a health assistant built on wearable data, design it around the first pattern, document the data flow, and confirm the details with your own counsel. This is not legal advice.

The agreement also gives Garmin room to charge by API, number of users, request volume or features. Put that into your pricing model from the start, not after you cross the Starter limit.

What the EU Data Act Changes, and What It Doesn't

The EU Data Act gives users the right to access the data their connected devices generate and to share it with a third party they choose. Device makers operating in the EU are building ways to meet that obligation.

The right belongs to the user. Data Act export interfaces are designed to hand a person their data. They are not designed as stable, event-driven feeds for a product. If you build a health product for European users, the Data Act strengthens your users' position, and you still need your own agreement with each device maker for a production integration. We covered consent requirements for health data in our GDPR guide.

What to Check Before You Build or Migrate

If you already have a Garmin integration, or plan one, these are the questions we'd answer first.

Whose app is it? If your Garmin connection runs through a vendor's registration, find out whether the vendor has Garmin's written permission. If not, plan to register your own app and move users onto it.

Which tier fits your onboarding? Starter delivers by push only and has no historical data. If your product needs to show a new user their last month on day one, you need Enterprise.

Where does the data live? For hospitals, insurers and care programmes, where the data sits matters as much as the integration. A self-hosted setup keeps it in your infrastructure and in the region you choose.

What happens on a bad day? Providers change their APIs, their terms and their algorithms. Decide who on your side notices first and how fast your users get their data back. We wrote about the most common failure points in why mobile health apps struggle with wearable integrations.

How Open Wearables Fits the New Model

Open Wearables is an open-source, self-hosted platform that brings data from multiple wearables behind one API you run yourself. It was designed for the model Garmin now requires.

Each company deploys Open Wearables in its own cloud and registers its own Garmin app. Garmin credentials live in your deployment, the data stays in your infrastructure, and Momentum never holds your keys or reads your data. You keep the direct relationship with Garmin, and with Apple Health, Oura, WHOOP and the other sources your users connect.

Open Wearables does not grant Garmin access and does not replace Garmin's approval. You apply to Garmin yourself. What it gives you is the software to run that approved connection in a normalised format alongside your other wearable sources, under your own control. For background on the platform, see Introducing Open Wearables and how we made it deployable in one click.

Moving a Garmin Integration Onto Your Own Credentials

If your Garmin connection currently runs through someone else's registration and you want to move it onto your own app, talk to our team. We can help you plan the application, the user re-consent flow and the deployment.