Three ways to pay for your fitness, and a quiet truth: the cheapest is the one you use.
The members' club
A single monthly fee for everything: weights, classes, pool, spa, towels. Typical big-city pricing runs from about $200 to well over $300 a month plus an initiation fee, more for all-access tiers.
Choose it if you train four or more times a week, like variety, and value the steam room as much as the squat rack.
Boutique class packs
One studio, one discipline, one excellent room. A single class is typically around $30 to $45 in our cities; packs and memberships bring the per-class price down.
Choose it if you love one kind of class and want the instructor to know your name.
An aggregator (ClassPass and similar)
Credits each month, spent across many studios. It's the best way to try ten rooms in a month. The price per class shifts with demand, so read the credits before you book.
Choose it if you're still finding your room, or travel often.
Placeholder: the figures in this piece are working estimates and will be checked against each operator's current prices before it's final.
The rule we use
Divide what you'd pay by how often you'll honestly go. Above about $35 a visit, a boutique pack is probably better value than a club. Below it, the club wins.
