'Oura Ring 5' Just Quietly Made Your Sleep Tracking Subscription More Expensive
If you’ve been eyeing the new Oura Ring 5 or already own the Gen 4, brace your wallet: the company just dropped a silent bombshell that’s more about your monthly budget than your sleep score. Starting this week, the core health coaching features—things like personalized bedtime alerts and stress resilience insights—are now locked behind a paywall that jumped by nearly 20 percent for long-term users. Translation? The $299 ring itself might not drain your bank account, but the $5.99-a-month subscription you thought was optional? It’s now non-negotiable if you want to see your own morning readiness score. But here’s the kicker: Oura is throwing in a free “Oura Ring 5” upgrade for new subscribers, which sounds like a steal until you realize you’re signing up for a lifetime of fees that could hit you for over $1,400 by year five. That’s more than most smartwatches cost outright. So before you click “buy,” remember: these wearables are designed to track your health, but they’re also tracking your recurring credit card charges. Your sleep patterns might improve, but your monthly cash flow just got a new stressor.