BetterPoints vs Edge Rewards

Reward apps all promise to make moving feel more worthwhile, but they are built for very different jobs. BetterPoints is a long-running UK app that councils and other organisations use to encourage walking, cycling and public transport. Edge Rewards is the free rewards programme we are launching inside the Edge app this November, built around training of any kind. Full disclosure: Edge Rewards is ours. To keep this fair, we checked BetterPoints' own help pages, its app store listing and recent council announcements, and we have hedged anything we could not confirm.

What is BetterPoints and how does it work?

BetterPoints is a free app run by BetterPoints Ltd, a UK company with a community interest company subsidiary. Its main purpose is behaviour change. A local authority, transport body, university or employer funds a local challenge, and people in that area earn points for swapping short car trips for walking, wheeling, running, cycling or public transport. The app records trips using your phone's GPS and motion sensors, and many challenges offer automatic tracking so you do not have to press start every time.

Each challenge sets its own rules. At the time of writing, several local challenges, such as those in Sheffield and the East Riding of Yorkshire, give 1 point per minute of walking, wheeling, running or cycling, up to 30 minutes a day, plus 15 points for a qualifying bus or train journey, up to two journeys a day. Some areas add extras, such as bonus points for travelling into a town centre, visiting a leisure centre or going to a local health and wellbeing event.

What are BetterPoints worth?

BetterPoints' help pages state that 1,000 BetterPoints equals £1. You can swap points for high-street gift vouchers from around £2, spend them with participating local businesses in some areas, or donate them to a charity or community group. Many challenges also hand out BetterTickets, which are entries into weekly or monthly prize draws, and some councils run bigger draws for prizes such as city breaks or e-bikes.

Points stay in your account unless you go 18 months without earning or spending any. As a rough worked example using the rates above, a day with 30 minutes of active travel and two bus trips would earn about 60 points, so a £2 voucher would take around a month of steady commuting. That is our own estimate rather than an official figure, and your local challenge may work differently.

Where in the UK can you earn BetterPoints?

This is the most important thing to check. Points come from funded local challenges, so what you can earn depends on where you live, work or study. At the time of writing, its help pages list funded challenges in areas including Leicestershire, Sheffield, Surrey, Sunderland, Newham, Hounslow, Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire and the East Riding of Yorkshire, with a few limited to council staff, university staff and students, or airport employees. Newer schemes include East Hertfordshire, which launched in summer 2026, and Hull, which opened to anyone living, working or studying in the city in September 2026.

Outside a funded area you can still track activity, but the app store listing says points are only earned in sponsored areas, and the help pages explain that national challenges mainly award BetterTickets for prize draws instead. Schemes also start and finish as local funding changes, so open the app and see what is running near you before you rely on it.

What is Edge Rewards and how will it work?

Edge Rewards is a free rewards programme inside the Edge app, launching in November 2026. It is not live yet. Founding members on the waitlist get early access from Sunday 1 November 2026, and it opens to everyone on Saturday 7 November 2026. The idea is simple: get rewarded for moving, whatever kind of training you do.

Once it launches, members will earn 1 point per minute of any logged workout, up to 50 points, plus 2.5 points per 1,000 steps, up to 25. The combined daily cap is 50 points, and any unused allowance does not roll over to the next day. Any logged workout counts: a run, a gym session, a HIIT class, a mobility session, a manual entry, or an activity imported from Strava, Apple Health, Garmin or Coros.

Points are spent in an in-app marketplace on real products from partner brands, a mix of free items and discounts across categories such as coffee and drinks, gels, snacks and bars, protein and supplements, and apparel and gear. Rewards are gifted by partners. As a rough guide, about a week of training should earn a free coffee. Points reset to zero at the end of each calendar month, so the programme is designed around regular treats rather than saving up for months.

Everyone earns and redeems for free. Edge Pro members, from £19.99 a month with a free 7-day trial, will earn faster with Double XP, have no daily cap, and get exclusive prizes and secret offers.

How do BetterPoints and Edge Rewards compare side by side?

Prices and features change, so check each app for current details. Accurate at the time of writing.

What are the biggest differences?

• Where it works. BetterPoints depends on a local funded challenge, so your postcode matters. Edge Rewards is part of the Edge app rather than a council scheme, so it is not tied to where you live.
• What counts. BetterPoints is built around journeys, so a squat session or a HIIT class generally will not earn points unless your local challenge rewards leisure centre visits. Edge Rewards counts the training itself, whether that is lifting, running or a circuit in your living room.
• How activity is recorded. BetterPoints uses its own tracking and, per its help pages, does not link to Strava, Garmin or other fitness accounts, because it relies on its own evidenced tracking. Edge Rewards will accept manual entries and imports from Strava, Apple Health, Garmin and Coros.
• What you get. BetterPoints gives you vouchers, local spending options and a built-in way to donate to a charity. Edge Rewards focuses on real products and discounts from partner brands in fitness-friendly categories.
• How long points last. BetterPoints keeps your points unless you are inactive for 18 months. Edge Rewards points reset at the end of each month, so they suit people who like to spend as they go.

Which one should you use?

It comes down to how you move and where you live. Here is a quick guide.

To be fair to BetterPoints, it does its job well. It is free, backed by real local funding, rewards small daily choices that add up, and the charity option is a lovely touch. If your council runs a challenge and you already walk or cycle to work, there is little reason not to install it.

Edge Rewards is aimed at a different moment: the training session itself. If most of your effort goes into runs, gym sessions or HIIT rather than your commute, or you live somewhere without a funded scheme, Edge Rewards is likely to be the better fit once it launches.

Can you use BetterPoints and Edge Rewards together?

Yes. They are separate apps, and BetterPoints' help pages note that plenty of people run other apps alongside it. In a funded area, your cycle to the gym could count towards your local BetterPoints challenge, while the session you do once you get there could count towards Edge Rewards. Just remember that BetterPoints needs its own tracking switched on, because it does not read activity from other apps.

Rewards work best as a nudge on the days motivation dips, not as the reason you train. Pick the app, or apps, that match how you already move.

How do you get early access to Edge Rewards?

Join the waitlist. Founding members get in from Sunday 1 November 2026, a week before the public launch on Saturday 7 November 2026. In the meantime, you can start free with Edge today and connect Strava, Apple Health, Garmin or Coros so your training is already logged when rewards go live.

This article is general guidance, not medical advice. If you are new to exercise, returning from injury, pregnant, or managing a health condition, speak to your GP before starting, and see a physio for any niggle that does not settle.