Terra vs Vital: Unified Wearable APIs for Health Apps

Integrating wearable data into a health app should take days, not months. Without a unified API, you're building separate integrations for Garmin, Fitbit, Apple Health, Oura, WHOOP, and dozens more. One engineer can easily spend three months just getting five devices connected.

Terra and Vital (recently rebranded to Junction) both solve this problem. They normalize wearable data from hundreds of devices into a single, consistent API. But they've evolved in different directions.

The Core Value Proposition

Both platforms handle the complexity of OAuth implementations, data normalization, webhook handling, rate limit management, documentation gaps, and breaking changes. You integrate once, get data from 300+ devices, and they manage the maintenance burden.

Terra: The Fitness-First Platform

Terra claims 99% coverage of consumer wearables: Garmin, Fitbit, WHOOP, Polar, Suunto, Apple Watch, Samsung (privileged partnership), Oura, CGMs, and connected equipment like Peloton. Data types include activity, sleep, body metrics, heart rate, HRV, nutrition, and workouts with real-time streaming for live heart rate and GPS.

Pricing: $399/month (annual) with 100,000 credits included. SDKs for iOS, Android, React Native, Flutter, and Capacitor with official Expo plugin support.

Vital (Junction): The Healthcare Infrastructure Platform

Junction connects to 500+ devices and offers a complete lab testing API alongside wearables. Order blood tests across all 50 US states, receive structured results with reference ranges. This lab infrastructure serves 140+ healthcare organizations and processes 500,000+ tests annually.

Pricing: Tiered pricing based on user count (contact sales for quotes). SDKs for iOS, Android, React Native, and Flutter.

Head-to-Head Comparison

Device coverage: Terra 150+ (99% of market), Junction 500+. Lab testing: Terra No, Junction Yes. Real-time streaming: Terra Yes, Junction Limited. Samsung partnership: Terra Yes (privileged SDK), Junction Standard. Primary focus: Terra Fitness/wellness, Junction Healthcare platform.

When to Choose Terra

Fitness and wellness apps, consumer health products, real-time data needs, Samsung-focused apps, predictable budgeting with transparent pricing.

When to Choose Junction

Clinical health applications, products combining wearables and labs, healthcare organizations, biomarker-driven features. The lab testing capability is Junction's key differentiator.

Compliance Considerations

Both platforms take HIPAA compliance seriously. Terra: HIPAA, GDPR, and SOC 2 Type II compliant with BAAs for enterprise. Junction: Built for healthcare from the start with BAAs standard for all customers handling PHI.

Our Recommendation

For fitness and wellness apps: start with Terra. The pricing is transparent, fitness data coverage is excellent, and SDK experience is polished with Expo support.

For clinical health applications: start with Junction. The lab testing integration creates a foundation you'll eventually need.

For apps that might evolve from wellness to clinical within 18 months: Junction's broader platform is worth the less transparent pricing.

If you're building a healthtech MVP and want help evaluating the right integration approach for your specific product, get in touch.