Fitbit

About Fitbit

Google owns Fitbit. It agreed to buy the company in November 2019 and closed the $2.1 billion deal in January 2021.

Fitbit is Google's health tracker brand: the Inspire and Charge bands, the Versa and Sense watches, the Ace LTE kids' watch and the screenless Fitbit Air. The software changed name in May 2026, when the Fitbit app became the Google Health app.

What Fitbit doesn't cover is Google's flagship smartwatch. That's Pixel Watch, which lives under the Pixel brand but shares the same app and health tracking.

Who owns Fitbit?

Google does. On 1 November 2019, Fitbit announced it had agreed to be bought by Google for $7.35 a share in cash, which valued the company at about $2.1 billion.

The deal took more than a year to close. Alphabet's own filing says it completed the purchase in January 2021, for $2.1 billion.

Regulators got promises along the way. Google made binding commitments to them that Fitbit users' health and wellness data won't be used for Google ads and will be kept apart from Google's other ads data. Google said those commitments apply worldwide. When the deal closed, Google said Fitbit had more than 29 million active users.

Who founded Fitbit?

James Park and Eric N. Friedman. Fitbit's 2015 filing to go public names them as its co-founders.

The company was incorporated in Delaware in March 2007 as Healthy Metrics Research, Inc., and changed its name to Fitbit, Inc. that October. Park was still CEO when the Google deal was announced.

By then Fitbit had sold more than 100 million devices. Google kept the name on its trackers after the purchase, and you'll still see it on the Google Store today, as in Google Fitbit Charge 6 and Google Fitbit Air.

What happened to the Fitbit app?

It's now the Google Health app. Google renamed it in May 2026, with the rollout starting on 19 May. You didn't need a new download: the app updated itself and your data moved across.

Fitbit Premium became Google Health Premium at the same time. The paid tier adds Google Health Coach, an AI coach built with Gemini that works from your own sleep, fitness and health data. Google says Google AI Pro and Ultra subscribers get Premium at no extra cost.

One catch. If you still sign in with an old Fitbit account, you'll need to move it to Google to keep using the app.

Fitbit vs Pixel Watch: how do they fit together?

They're siblings that share one app. Pixel Watch sits under Google Pixel, the same brand as Google's phones, but its health tracking has come from Fitbit since the first model in 2022. Google's launch headline was "Help by Google, health by Fitbit."

Today both report into Google Health. You can link a Fitbit Air and a Pixel Watch to the same account, and the app spots which one is on your wrist and merges the data. Google's own example: wear the watch by day and switch to Fitbit Air for sleep.

The bigger split is your phone. Google lists Pixel Watch 5 as working with Android 12 or newer and doesn't list iPhone. Fitbit Charge 6 supports both Android and iPhone.

Who is Fitbit for?

People who want health data first and a smartwatch second.

Fitbit Air is the purest version of that. There's no screen at all, just a small pebble in a band, with up to a week of battery. Inspire 3 and Charge 6 are classic trackers with small screens. Versa 4 and Sense 2 are Fitbit's smartwatches. Ace LTE is a watch for kids, with its own Ace Pass data plan for calls, messages and location.

Want apps, Gemini on your wrist and a full smartwatch? Look at Pixel Watch instead. Want sleep and activity tracking without another screen buzzing at you? Start with Fitbit.

How does Fitbit sit next to Google's other brands?

Fitbit is Google's health hardware, and it leans on the brands around it.

Google Health Coach is built with Gemini, Google's AI brand. Android's Health Connect, plus Apple Health on iPhone, lets the Google Health app pull in data from hundreds of other apps and devices. Google Pixel covers the phones, Pixel Watch and Pixel Buds. Google Nest handles thermostats, cameras and doorbells.

So if you're shopping for a Google wearable, you'll end up reading both the Fitbit and Pixel pages. Fitbit is the simpler, iPhone-friendly end. Pixel Watch is the full smartwatch.

What to check before buying a Fitbit

Start with your phone. Fitbit works with Android and iPhone, but each product page lists minimum versions, so check yours.

Then the subscription. Some features, including Google Health Coach, need Google Health Premium. Fitbit Air comes with a three-month trial. Ace LTE runs on its own Ace Pass plan, and Google Health Premium doesn't work on it.

Check your account too. Old Fitbit logins have to move to Google.

Finally, your country. Google's help page limits coaching to adults in listed countries, so confirm it's offered where you live.