The best Pilates pricing structure is a simple ladder: a drop-in rate that is the most expensive per class, packages that reward commitment, and a membership that is the best value for people who come every week. Each step down in price per class should buy you something in return, such as predictability or cash up front.
This post is about structure and reasoning, not about what number to charge. Your market, your rent, your instructors, and your equipment count are specific to you, so we will not quote local rates. Instead, here is how to build the ladder and how to move it over time.
Start with your numbers, not your neighbors
Before you look at what other studios charge, work out what you need. Three numbers do most of the work:
- Cost per class. Instructor pay, plus your share of rent, utilities, insurance, software, and equipment upkeep, divided by classes taught in a typical month.
- Realistic average attendance. Not capacity. If your reformer class holds eight but averages five, price against five.
- Target margin. What you want left over per class after costs.
Divide cost per class by average attendance and you have the break-even price per client. Everything above that is your margin. Competitor prices are context, not a formula. A studio with a small group size and a lot of instructor attention is selling something different from a large-room class.
If you are still in the planning stage, our breakdown of the cost to start a Pilates studio covers the expense side.
The drop-in rate is a doorway, not a product
Set the drop-in price at the top of your ladder. Its job is to let a new person try you with no commitment, and to make your packages look sensible by comparison. Do not discount it to attract new clients; offer a separate intro option instead. A common approach is a first-visit offer or a small intro pack, limited to one per new client. That way your regular price stays intact and you can see clearly who is new.
If your drop-in rate and your best package rate are almost identical, nobody has a reason to buy the package. If the gap is enormous, drop-in clients may feel punished. Look for a gap that is noticeable but fair, and test it.
Packages: the workhorse
Packages are where most small studios earn their keep. They bring cash in before the class is taught and they make clients more likely to come, since a prepaid session feels like it would be wasted otherwise.
Some design choices to make deliberately:
- Size. Offer two or three sizes, not seven. Many studios settle on a small pack, a medium pack, and a larger pack. Too many options slows people down.
- Price per class. Each larger pack should lower the per-class price a little, not dramatically. Make the larger one the obvious value, but not so cheap that it threatens your margin.
- Class type scope. Decide whether a package works for any class or only some. Group and private sessions usually need separate packages because the economics are very different.
- Expiration. Decide, and put it in writing.
Expiration: be clear, be kind, be consistent
Expiry is one of the most argued-about parts of studio pricing. The reasoning is simple. An expiring package encourages regular attendance and limits the long-tail liability of unused sessions on your books. But it can also frustrate clients who got sick, traveled, or had a baby.
Whatever you pick, apply it the same way to everyone, and say it at the point of sale, on the receipt, and in the client's account. Practical options:
- Give larger packages a longer window than smaller ones, so the window matches how long it should take to use them.
- Allow one paid extension, or a pause for documented illness or travel, so you have a policy ready instead of making an exception every time.
- Send a reminder before expiration so no one is surprised. BookYourMat supports package expiration dates and low-balance alerts, which is the kind of thing that is easier when software does it than when you remember to.
Check any consumer rules in your area about expiring prepaid services and gift cards. They vary, so ask your accountant or a local advisor.
Memberships: for your regulars
A membership is a recurring charge for a set number of classes per cycle, or for access with a weekly cap. It turns your best clients into predictable monthly revenue, which helps with planning and payroll.
Things to decide:
- What it includes. A fixed number of credits each cycle, or a weekly cap on classes. A cap prevents one very enthusiastic member from using far more than the price assumed.
- Rollover. Do unused credits carry over, or reset? Resetting is simpler and encourages attendance. Rollover is friendlier. Pick one.
- Commitment. A short minimum commitment reduces churn, but it also makes people hesitate to sign up. Some studios go month to month and rely on service quality.
- Pause and cancel rules. Write them in plain language.
BookYourMat supports recurring memberships with credits per cycle, a cycle length, and a weekly cap, alongside prepaid packages, so you can run both at once.
Privates and duets
One-on-one sessions take an instructor's full attention and a whole time slot, and a duet takes the same slot with two paying clients. Price them from your cost, not from your group class price multiplied by some factor.
- A private should cost meaningfully more per client than a group class, since the instructor and slot serve one person.
- A duet should be priced per person at a level that sits between private and group, so two people sharing a slot feels like a real benefit without undercutting your privates.
- Offer private and duet packages separately from group packages so balances do not get mixed.
If duets are a growth idea for you, see how clients can book a duet class by text.
How to raise prices without losing clients
Raising prices is easier than it feels, as long as you do it with care.
- Give notice. Tell clients a month or more ahead. Surprise increases cause the most resentment.
- Explain in one honest sentence. Rising costs, more instructors, new equipment, whatever the truth is. Do not over-apologize.
- Protect what people already paid for. Let existing packages run out at the old rate. Honor current membership pricing through the end of a cycle, or longer for long-standing members if you choose.
- Raise the drop-in and small packs first. These affect your newest and most price-sensitive clients least in terms of loyalty, and they push people toward larger commitments.
- Raise a little, more often. A modest annual adjustment is less jarring than a large jump every few years.
- Watch what happens. Track sales and cancellations for two months after. If nothing moves, you probably had room.
Some clients will leave. That is normal, and it is rarely the clients you worry about most.
Frequently asked questions
Should I offer discounts? Sparingly. Use time-limited, specific offers (an intro pack, a referral thank-you) instead of broad sales. Constant discounts teach people to wait.
Should packages expire? Most studios choose some expiration. The key is a clear, consistent policy with a graceful exception process.
How many pricing options should I have? As few as you can while covering the main ways people want to come: try it, a few classes, regular, and one-on-one.
How do I know if my prices are too low? If classes are consistently full, you have a waitlist, and nobody ever pushes back on price, you probably have room to raise them.
Software should make pricing easy to run
A pricing structure only works if it is easy to administer. If you are tracking balances and expirations in a spreadsheet, every new option adds work. See BookYourMat pricing for what we charge, and think about whether your current tool makes your ladder easy to run.
Next step
Want to see how packages, memberships, and expiration rules look in a working studio setup? Book a 30-minute demo and we will walk through it with your pricing ladder in mind.
