Class packs vs memberships: how to price a studio

Every studio has to decide how members pay: a class at a time, a pack of classes, a monthly batch, or an unlimited membership. Most studios end up offering several at once. The question is how they fit together, and what each should cost.

This guide explains the main ways to sell classes and when each one works. It uses what Pilates and yoga studios in six Indian cities publish, from our research into class prices across Mumbai, Delhi NCR, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai and Pune. Those prices were checked on 24 September 2026.

The four ways to sell classes

• Drop-in. One class, paid on its own. It's the highest price per class, and the easiest way for someone new to try you.
• Class pack. A number of classes paid in advance, usually with an expiry date. Each visit uses one credit.
• Monthly batch. A fixed schedule for a monthly fee, for example three mornings a week. It's common in yoga and dance, and familiar to Indian students.
• Unlimited membership. As many classes as the member likes in a month. It's simple to sell, but it only works if your capacity can take the members who come most.

What Indian studios actually do

The research found clear patterns by discipline.

Pilates is sold almost entirely as class packs with an expiry date. Only three unlimited Pilates plans were published across the six cities. One was invite-only, and the other two showed a cap of 25 classes. Reformer places are scarce and expensive, so studios sell them one credit at a time.

Yoga mixes monthly batches and memberships. We found 13 monthly batch fees with no class count, and 12 monthly unlimited plans. At commercial studios, the median unlimited plan was ₹4,500 a month, and the range was ₹3,500 to ₹12,000.

Drop-ins set the anchor. The median drop-in was ₹1,649 for a reformer class, ₹999 for mat Pilates and ₹600 for yoga. Every other price is read against it.

How deep should pack discounts go?

The smallest pack is a modest step down from a drop-in. Compared with the same studio's drop-in, the smallest pack was a median:

• 19% cheaper for reformer Pilates (10 studios);
• 16% cheaper for mat Pilates (4 studios);
• 24% cheaper for yoga (9 studios).

The deep discounts come only with long commitments. Each studio's best per-class rate was a median 48% below its drop-in for reformer, and 35% for yoga. At the extreme, one Mumbai studio sells a 288-class pack valid for 730 days at ₹330 a class, against a ₹1,499 drop-in.

Some studios give no volume discount at all. One Pune yoga studio charges ₹333 a class at both 12 and 24 classes, and one Hyderabad Pilates studio prices its 4-class pack at the drop-in rate.

Validity: how long a pack lasts

Reformer packs of 8 to 12 classes were valid for 30 days to two months, most often 30 days to six weeks. That validity quietly sets an expectation of two or three classes a week.

Validity is a pricing lever in its own right:

• A short validity gets packs used or lost, which helps cash flow. But it can feel unfair to members who travel.
• A long validity is kinder to members, but it's slower for your income, and it leaves more unused classes on your books.

If you choose a short validity, a freeze option for travel or illness keeps it fair.

When packs work, and when memberships do

Class packs suit:

• small classes where every place matters, such as reformer and privates;
• members whose attendance varies week to week;
• premium formats with a clear per-class value.

Memberships and monthly batches suit:

• regulars who come on fixed days, which is common in yoga and dance;
• larger rooms where one more member costs you little;
• studios that want predictable monthly income.

Most studios need both. A newcomer tries a drop-in or trial, moves to a small pack, and a regular settles into a membership or a larger pack. Your prices should make each step feel like a sensible next move.

Building a price ladder

1. Start with the drop-in. Price it against nearby studios' published drop-ins. It's what newcomers compare first.
2. Set the first pack 15 to 25% below the drop-in per class. That's where the research medians sit, from 16 to 24%.
3. Make larger packs cheaper per class, with longer validity. Keep the steps simple, for example 8, 12 and 24 classes.
4. Price unlimited from expected attendance. If a typical member comes three times a week, unlimited should cost less than 12 or 13 classes at your pack rate, but not much less. If your capacity is tight, cap it, as some studios do with 25 classes.
5. Add one intro offer. The research found 28 trial offers. Eight were free first classes, and the 13 paid single-class trials ranged from ₹49 to ₹1,500, with a median of ₹899.
6. Say whether GST is included. Of the 42 studios in the research, 36 didn't say. A clear price list builds trust.

A worked example

As an illustration only: a yoga studio with a ₹600 drop-in might sell:

• an 8-class pack at ₹3,600, which is ₹450 a class, 25% below the drop-in;
• a 12-class pack at ₹4,800, which is ₹400 a class;
• a monthly unlimited plan at ₹5,000, which suits members who come three or four times a week;
• a monthly three-days-a-week batch at ₹3,500, for regulars who like a fixed routine.

Each step gives a clear reason to commit a little more. Test your own numbers against your capacity and your costs before you publish them.

Running packs and memberships side by side

Selling several products is easy on a price list and hard in a notebook: whose pack expires when, how many credits are left, who's on which batch. StudioFly keeps them together:

• class packs and unlimited passes sit alongside memberships;
• credits are deducted automatically when a member attends;
• a single class works as a one-class pack;
• members can buy packs in the member portal where your plan includes online payments;
• you can freeze a membership while a member is away.

See member management for the details.