The Fitbit Daily Readiness Score is a 1 to 100 number, calculated each morning in the Google Health app, that compares last night's heart rate variability, your recent sleep and your resting heart rate against your own baseline to tell you whether to train hard or take it easy. A good readiness score is anything from 65 upward, which Google labels High; 30 to 64 is Moderate and means a normal workout is fine; 29 or below is Low and comes with a nudge toward rest. This page explains exactly how the three inputs work, why the score has been free since September 2024, which Fitbit and Pixel Watch devices produce it, why it sometimes fails to appear and how to use it without letting one bad morning run your week. If you wear an Apple Watch instead, the equivalent is covered in Apple Watch readiness score explained.
The short version
Treat readiness as a recovery gauge, not a permission slip. Use the band, not the exact number, and only change your plan when Low readings repeat. Since Google's September 2024 rewrite the score ignores what you did yesterday and reads only how your body responded: HRV, resting heart rate and a week of sleep, each against a personal baseline that takes seven nights to build and a month to settle. It is free on every current Fitbit and Pixel Watch, from the $99.95 Inspire 3 and $99.99 Fitbit Air to the Pixel Watch 5, and Google Health Premium adds coaching around it rather than the score itself. A Moderate morning is the normal state for most people, so do not read 55 as a warning.
Where to find the readiness score in the Google Health app
The Fitbit app became the Google Health app on May 19, 2026, and readiness moved to the front page. Open the app and the Today tab shows a metrics dashboard with Readiness alongside weekly cardio load and sleep. Tap Readiness to see what moved the score, a personalised activity goal for the day and, on Premium, workout or recovery suggestions from the Health Coach. Tabs across the top switch between week, month and longer trends. If you use Morning Brief on a Pixel Watch, the score is read out with your sleep summary before you have opened your phone.
On the wrist, Charge 5, Charge 6, Inspire 3, Luxe, Sense and Versa 3 show readiness in the daily stats when you swipe up from the clock face. Sense 2 and Versa 4 need the Readiness tile installed from the Gallery in the app (Devices, your watch, Gallery, Tiles, Readiness, Install; the watches hold eight tiles at most). Pixel Watch 3, 4 and 5 owners long-press any tile, tap Add and pick Readiness.
What goes into the score: HRV, sleep and resting heart rate
Google's help page lists three components, each judged relative to your personal baseline rather than a population chart.
Heart rate variability. Fitbit measures HRV once per night from your longest sleep, using the RMSSD statistic, and a dip below your usual range is the single strongest driver of a low readiness score. Google's own wording is that a decrease in HRV can signal the body is under stress and needs a break. The measurement, the milliseconds and the published ranges by age are covered in our Fitbit HRV explainer; for readiness purposes the only question is whether last night sat inside or below your 30-day band.
Recent sleep. This is not just last night. Google states the sleep component analyses your patterns over the past week, so one short night dents the score while several inconsistent nights move it substantially. Duration matters more than the sleep score's finer metrics here; readiness cares whether you have been getting enough, consistently. The sleep score itself is a separate metric with its own page, Fitbit sleep score explained.
Resting heart rate. Added in September 2024 in place of the old activity input. Google looks for trends rather than absolute values: a sustained rise in resting heart rate over a few days is associated with the body working harder to recover or fighting an infection, and it pulls readiness down even when HRV holds. This is why a low score can arrive after a lazy weekend. The score is not grading what you did; it is reporting how your physiology looks this morning.
Score bands and what each one recommends
| Band | Score | Google's description | Sensible response |
|---|---|---|---|
| High | 65 to 100 | Well recovered, may be ready for peak performance | Schedule the hard session, the long run or the heavy lift today |
| Moderate | 30 to 64 | Typical recovery levels, can handle a workout today | Train as planned; this is the normal state most mornings |
| Low | 1 to 29 | Fatigued from training, poor sleep, stress or strain; prioritise rest and active recovery | Walk, stretch, mobility or a genuinely easy session; skip intensity |
Two details are worth knowing. First, the labels changed in September 2024 from Low, Good and Excellent to Low, Moderate and High, so older forum posts and screenshots do not match today's app. Second, Google no longer issues standalone workout recommendations tied to the score for free users; instead the score sets a personalised active-minutes goal for the day, and for Premium subscribers the Health Coach adjusts the weekly plan around it. Anyone asking "what is a good readiness score on Fitbit" should hear: 65 and up is good, the 70s and 80s are a strong day, and a run of 40s and 50s is not a problem to solve.
Is the readiness score free or Premium in 2026?
Free. Daily Readiness launched in November 2021 as a Fitbit Premium exclusive and stayed that way for almost three years. In September 2024 Google made it free for everyone with a compatible device, rolled out in version 4.23 of the Fitbit app, and at the same time rewrote the algorithm described above. When Fitbit Premium became Google Health Premium on May 19, 2026, the plan comparison kept readiness, alongside sleep score and stages, HRV, SpO2, breathing rate and skin temperature, in the free Base tier. Google Health Premium costs $9.99 a month or $99.99 a year ($99 at some retailers), £8.99 or £89.99 in the UK, and is bundled with Google AI Pro and AI Ultra. What it adds around readiness is the Gemini-based Health Coach, which reads the score to raise or lower your weekly cardio target so you do not overtrain or under-recover. Fitbit Air buyers get a three-month trial; letting it lapse leaves the score in place.
Which devices support Daily Readiness
Google's compatibility table splits devices into those that show readiness in the app and those that also show it on the wrist. In the app: Pixel Watch 1 through 5, Charge 5 and 6, Sense and Sense 2, Versa 2, 3 and 4, Inspire 2 and 3, Luxe and the screenless Fitbit Air. On the device itself: every Pixel Watch, Charge 5 and 6, Inspire 3, Luxe, Sense, Versa 4, and Sense 2, Versa 3 and Versa 2 once the tile is installed. The Inspire 2 and Fitbit Air have no on-wrist score, the Air because it has no screen. The kids' Ace LTE does not produce readiness at all, by design. In practice any Fitbit or Pixel Watch that measures overnight heart rate will give you the score; see the cheapest Fitbit in 2026 for what each model costs, since readiness is not a reason to spend more, and our Fitbit Air guide for what the screenless band gives up.
Why your Fitbit readiness score is not showing
"Fitbit readiness score not showing" is one of the most searched Fitbit problems, and Google's help page gives four explanations that cover nearly every case.
You have not built a baseline yet. Google requires seven nights of sleep with the device before the first score appears, and says a full month produces a more accurate personal baseline. A new device, a new Google account or a long gap in wearing the tracker resets this clock. Last night did not count. Most Google Health metrics need at least three hours of quality sleep; a short nap, a very restless night or taking the device off at 3 am leaves no score. Timing. The score is calculated once a day, approximately within 20 seconds of getting out of bed after a sleep of at least three hours, and the tile can read No score until the sync finishes. Give it a few minutes and pull down to refresh. Fit and hardware. The band must be snug with the sensor against skin, and the device must be on the compatibility list above.
Two less obvious culprits: a battery that died overnight, which ends the sleep session early, and sleep logged manually, which carries no heart data. If steps and workouts from other apps are missing too, how to add steps to Fitbit walks through the Health Connect and Apple Health fixes.
Why the score is low, and what to do about it
A single Low morning is almost always explained by one of a short list: alcohol the evening before, a late or very hard workout, an oncoming illness, a short or broken night, travel, dehydration or a late heavy meal. Women commonly see readiness dip in the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle as resting heart rate rises and HRV falls; a monthly pattern is normal, not a fault.
Match the response to the pattern. One Low day: do the planned session at lower intensity, or swap it for a walk, and note what happened the night before. Three or more Low days in a row, especially with resting heart rate climbing on the Vitals page: take a genuine recovery day and look at illness, sleep timing and alcohol. Weeks of Moderate scores: normal, no action needed. The mistake to avoid is skipping training every time the number dips below 65; the score is a recovery signal, not a coach, and Google's own Moderate band says a workout is fine. For how Whoop, Oura and Garmin frame the same overnight data, see our general recovery score explainer and the Whoop Recovery score guide; the Bevel app, which builds a similar score from Apple Health data, is covered in Bevel scores explained.
The readiness score does not leave the Google Health app as a number, but the sleep sessions, resting heart rate and workouts behind it do sync to Health Connect on Android and Apple Health on iPhone. Fitcoin, our own app, reads those platforms to build a daily FitScore, run weekly Leagues and unlock partner rewards, so a Fitbit user does not need a second wearable to take part.
Frequently asked questions
What is a good readiness score on Fitbit?
Google labels 65 to 100 as High readiness, 30 to 64 as Moderate and 1 to 29 as Low. Most people spend most mornings in the Moderate band, which Google describes as typical recovery and fine for a normal workout. A score in the 70s or 80s is a genuinely good day; a 95 is rare and usually follows a run of long sleeps. Because the score is calculated against your own baseline, a 60 for one person can mean the same thing as a 75 for another.
Is the Fitbit Daily Readiness Score free?
Yes. Daily Readiness needed a Fitbit Premium subscription from its launch in November 2021 until September 2024, when Google made it free in version 4.23 of the Fitbit app. In the Google Health app that replaced Fitbit in May 2026 the score sits in the free Base tier. Google Health Premium ($9.99 a month or $99.99 a year) uses the score to adjust your weekly fitness plan through the Gemini-based Health Coach, but the number itself costs nothing.
Why is my Fitbit readiness score not showing?
The usual causes, in order: you have not yet worn the device for seven nights of sleep, which Google requires before the first score; last night's sleep was shorter than three hours or too restless to count; the device is not on the compatibility list; or the score simply has not been calculated yet, since Google generates it within about 20 seconds of you getting out of bed and the tile can read No score until the sync completes. Check the band is snug and the sensor is against skin, then sync again.
Why is my readiness score low when I feel fine?
Since the September 2024 algorithm change the score no longer looks at yesterday's activity. It reads your HRV, resting heart rate and sleep against your personal baseline, so a low score after a quiet day usually means HRV dipped or resting heart rate rose overnight. Alcohol, a late meal, an oncoming cold, travel and the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle all do this. Feeling fine is not wrong; the device is reporting a physiological signal you may not notice yet. Treat one low morning as information and only change plans if it repeats.
Method: Checked September 8, 2026 using Google Health help pages on the readiness score, Morning Brief and device compatibility, the Google Store's Daily Readiness and Health Premium pages, Google's May 2026 notes on the redesigned Google Health app, and launch and update coverage from 9to5Google. Score bands and component descriptions are Google's published wording at publication. Prices are US list with UK prices where confirmed and change often. Fitcoin has no commercial relationship with Google, Fitbit, Apple, Whoop, Oura or any hardware brand named here. Wellness estimates only, not medical advice.
About the author: Harris Khan is the co-founder and CTO of Fitcoin, a UK fitness-rewards app.