How Much Should You Charge For Your Yoga Classes?

If you’re new to the industry, you might be wondering how much to charge for a yoga class when you’re running your own classes. 

That is why we have come up with a guide including everything that you need to know and consider before finalising your price brackets. We will talk about:

• Why It’s Important To Set Your Yoga Class Prices Effectively
• How To Maximise Your Income From Yoga Classes
• 6 Key Factors That Affect How Much You Charge For A Yoga Class
• How Much Should A Beginner Yoga Teacher Charge?

Just before we get straight into it, if you’re either yet to gain your certification or are looking to advance, why not check out OriGym’s range of yoga teaching courses? Find this and much more in our downloadable course prospectus.

Why It’s Important To Set Your Yoga Class Prices Effectively

Knowing how much to charge for yoga class before you have thought about the process, conducted research or factored in certain things can be challenging which is why you should understand its importance. 

Essentially, you want to find the middle ground between profitability and practicality so you should always keep this goal in mind when making a decision. 

Your price point can make or break the success of your studio, so you must take your time in researching and coming to terms with what would be right for the kind of return on investment that you’re hoping for.

If you decide that you’re going to go for a high price point per class or per package, the chances are that you’re just not going to get the audience that you’re hoping for. 

You need to make your classes affordable enough so that they are attractive to customers, but still expensive enough that you actually make profit. 

In particular, if you’re new to the teaching industry, you won’t have built the authority to charge more than average. Start small and on par with what other yoga studios in your area are charging and then once you start to build a reputation for yourself you can increase your prices accordingly. 

How To Maximise Your Income From Yoga Classes

Like any kind of business, the goal is to make money and maximise your income. When it comes to how much to charge for a yoga class, this can be approached in two ways. 

These two options are either charging class-by-class or packages. Be reminded however, that you shouldn’t choose one of these exclusively, you should still offer both options while pushing packages more as the primary payment method, since this is the better option to maximise income.

So how does this work?

Offering packages can lower the class-by-class price but can improve client retention and overall income. For example, take a look at this yoga studio below who offer packages and single class passes:

As you can see, a class pack has much better value for money, for a bulk buy of 5 classes you can get this for just £50. However, if you decided to do the single drop in package for 5 sessions it would cost you £80. 

This is a £30 difference which is a huge difference which is of course going to be much more attractive to potential clients. Though you’re facing a deficit this way, it is a more tactical way to keep clients over a longer period of time.

However, as you can see on this example, it is technically a bulk buy, meaning there is an end date on the amount of sessions. A better way to tackle this would be to create a sort of subscription just like you would a gym membership, like this studio below for instance:

For example, if you create this sort of package and keep it as a rolling subscription, you have more chance of them sticking around. It could take a few classes for clients to form the habit of going to yoga each week so by offering this, they’re much more likely to come back the month after and so on. 

Client retention equates to a more stable income over a longer period of time which is what you should be aiming for. By making a better deal by making packages more attractive you’re providing time for your clients to not just stick around but to also refer their friends and family. 

This is going to help grow your business and ultimately get more clients on board thus, make more money. Next, we will get into the factors that can help you to raise your prices, maximise your income and help you to determine where your price point should sit. 

6 Key Factors That Affect How Much You Charge For A Yoga Class

#1 How Much Do Your Competitors Charge For Their Yoga Classes?

One of the first steps to take when working out how much you should charge for your yoga classes is conducting market research and coming to terms with how relevant competitors are pricing their services. 

It is important that you research only the relevant studios, since comparing your start-up business to a yoga studio that is 10 years old with a high level of clients coming through the door everyday is going to be an unreasonable achievement if you’re only just starting out.

You should be looking into studios that are around the size that you wish to be, look out for those studios that have everything that you’re looking to achieve. For example, a small studio in the city centre would be a good studio to look at if this is in or around the location that you want to operate in.

On the other hand, if you aren’t going to be holding classes in a city centre, the price will evidently be lower in smaller towns. Thus, it would be more useful for you to look at the prices in your more precise location. 

Once you have scoped out the studios in your area and found out what they charge, you should aim to find a middle ground between the two, just like we mentioned earlier. Remember that you should avoid undercutting lower-priced competitors as this is likely to damage any trustworthy image you’re trying to build as a brand. 

However, if you overvalue your classes, you could run the risk of people either not showing up at all, or arriving at the class and being disappointed in the quality if it is not worth the amount you’re charging. 

Here is an example of how yoga studios in the same location and area can offer similar prices, but behave competitively when it comes to package and membership deals. 

Below, you can see how two studios just a little while away from one another have the same price when it comes to drop ins:

As you can see, these are two separate yoga studios not too far from one another in terms of location and they offer the same price for drop in sessions. This is a safe price, it is fair and ultimately makes sense. 

However, competitiveness comes in the form of packages, which like we mentioned earlier is the best way to maximise your income and create a steady flow of income. That being said, take a look at the same two yoga studios below and see how their packages differ:

Since direct debit is the most profitable and stable and thus, the most preferred for the yoga studio owners you can see that they both charge the price of £75. However, when it comes to the monthly unlimited pass that doesn’t include the direct debit, both studios raise the price.

The first example, you can see this is £95 for 1 month, a £20 difference from the direct debit creating more of an incentive around opting for the direct debit plan. Similarly, the latter example also raises the price but it is still cheaper than its competitor with their price at £85.

So while it is clear that both studios prefer the  direct debit route of a monthly unlimited pass, they still provide the option of a one off payment but make it a little less attractive by increasing the price. 

This is a prime example of how you can slightly tip the bar in your favour when it comes to still keeping your prices fair and in order with what is expected in your area but making your price just that extra bit competitive which makes all the difference.

Do some comparison research in your area like this above and start to jot down and understand where your studio would fit.

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For some more recommendations on setting up your yoga instructor career, head over to these articles below:

• 13 Common Yoga Teacher Interview Questions (and Answers) 
• Conducting A Risk Assessment For Your Yoga Class: 5 Simple Steps 
• Opening A Yoga Studio In Your Home: OriGym Guide

#2 How Much Experience Do You Have As A Yogi?

Often, when people ask “how much should I charge for a yoga class?” They may have concerns about how much experience to have before yoga teacher training. 

Fortunately, a level 3 yoga teacher training course will provide you with some level of practical experience.

Nonetheless, you should also be aware that without experience prior to training, you may feel somewhat unprepared and so, more experience of yoga classes is always a bonus. 

The amount of experience that you have practising yoga yourself ultimately determines how much you are able to justify your class price point. 

This doesn’t mean that you must have been a teacher for many years beforehand, experience can be manifested in various ways, like going to a range of different classes and trying out diverse styles of yoga. 

The more experience you have, the more trustworthy you become. You have the ability to also advertise your past experiences to build a more reputable brand. For example, let’s say you have been to many interesting international yoga retreats , this can be a great selling point for your potential clients to know.

You can display your expertise on advertisements, for example, if you create a leaflet or any online ad’s you could add in the text a brief explanation of your experience such as:

“With over 5+ years of experience internationally, I bring qualified experience and positive energy to every class”

This can be easily embedded into yoga instructor profiles that are often on the studios webpages, take a look at this example below taken from a yoga studio profile page:

As you can see, though the profile is kept succinct, it is informative and doesn’t shy away from letting their experience be known. This is super important, it is going to grant you with the authority and trust you need to become a successful yoga instructor and thus, justifies your price point.

#3 What Yoga Qualifications Do You Have?

Something else that will contribute to the decision making how much to charge for group yoga class is the amount of education you have behind you. 

This is aside from physical experience, since your qualifications must be accredited and have a minimum of 200hrs. For example, our level 3 diploma in yoga teaching has over 400 hours worth of training, which then allows you to go on to a level 4 and choose a discipline.

By specialising in a particular yoga discipline, you can advertise yourself as a fully qualified yoga teacher with more direction since you have a clear niche. Though as a level 3 qualified yoga teacher you can still teach any discipline, it is getting further into said discipline that will make you a more exclusive instructor and thus be able to reflect this in your pricing structure.

For example, you may often see differences between holistic yoga teacher prices and studios or instructors who have a further education into a particular discipline. This doesn’t always have to be a huge difference but it is something that can contribute to a higher price mark.

To demonstrate this, below you can find a comparison between two Bristol yoga studios within just under a mile away from one another. 

However, both of these studios offer different things. Bristol Yoga Centre is a holistic studio offering a range of different disciplines, just like many other popular yoga studios. The other yoga studio though offers Hot Yoga exclusively as you can see:

Hotpod Yoga in Bristol has a £2 increase per class, mostly down to the fact that they have a USP for their studio and teaching methods. They exclusively offer hot yoga, meaning they have a discipline and thus, are able to increase their prices even when they’re in the same location as the other aforementioned studio.

The bottom line is that by having further yoga qualifications, you’re granted the ability to raise your prices since you have more exclusivity that you can provide to your yoga target market. 

#4 Location Hugely Affects Your Yoga Class Prices

So how much do yoga teachers charge per class from city to city? The fact is that the answer to this question changes just about everywhere in the UK and internationally. 

This goes for most industries, so being a yoga teacher carries differently too. For example, if you’re looking for a studio to operate out of in any city centre, chances are, this is a prime location and thus, you should expect to charge more.

This isn’t due to expertise or experience, but simply due to the fact that as the instructor, you’re likely to be paying a much higher rental payment for the studio space. 

Most clients will understand and be prepared for something like this if they’re opting for a city centre class, just like as is often expected with gym.

This is especially true in London where the cost of buying or renting a space to run classes is significantly more expensive than other areas of the country and thus, will contribute to how much to charge for group yoga class.

Similarly, the minimum wage in London is also higher and so, the cost of your yoga classes will need to reflect the environment and the higher cost of living for yourself (or the higher wage costs if you employ other yoga teachers). 

To demonstrate this, below is a comparison on how drastic the difference can be from a small local community yoga class which you can see first, to a city centre class in London:

As you can see, there is almost a 50% difference in price, it is also worth noting that these two examples offer the same style of yoga too. 

This is a prime example of how location can drastically determine your price bracket, a factor which is totally separate from expertise, quality or experience. 

This is something that you should think about when thinking about how much you want to charge, since finding where you should open your studio or teach at should probably come first because some factors such as location can be out of your control.

In other words, in order to make a profit you might have to increase your prices, while you would struggle to get clients in a small town or area if you’re overcharging - try to strike the right balance!

#5 Are You Appropriately Covering Your Expenses? 

If you want to be a business owner, how much to charge for a yoga class should be well throughout prior to finalising anything. 

This is because you need to ensure that all of your expenses are covered and that after that, you have profit to actually make a living. 

Somethings that you need to ensure are covered within a percentage of your class price are the likes of:

• Studio rent
• Equipment
• Business software (booking systems, advertisements etc)
• Utilities (does your studio need heating for the winter? Extra decor or lights?)
• Insurance

It is a good idea to have all of these things in order before finalising how much to charge for a yoga class. But, you of course then need to make room for profit, as much as you may love yoga, you still are hoping to pay your own bills with this career.

Before you decide on a price, you might want to assess and plan in a yoga studio business plan how many clients you’re going to be expecting. This is subjective since it does depend on how long you have been in the industry and if you have already built up a loyal client base.

The key to this factor is to just plan, plan, plan. Be sensible about your future, don’t go too low in pricing a cut yourself short. Instead, if necessary ease into the industry by saving some money first before opening up for business or at least have some kind of back-up plan like working as an employed yoga instructor. 

#6 What Kind Of Facility Do You Work In?

Finally, one other important factor to consider when thinking about how much to charge for a yoga class is the kind of environment you’ll be practising in. 

Just like gyms, you have higher end ones and regular more affordable options when it comes to yoga studios. This can impact how much you’re able to charge within these classes, similarly to how we were talking about location. 

For example, you should assess your environment. Are you working for a particular franchise in which you cannot determine the price? Or, are you a freelancer who is operating regularly out of an independent studio? 

Assess the kind of facilities your studio has, whether it is your own or another companies you work for, do they or you offer:

• Yoga mats
• Towels
• Straps
• Shower facilities

In other words, do you offer the full experience so your clients simply have to show up with no equipment and can leave fresh after getting washed up? Having these facilities can certainly provide you with the justification to raise your prices to reflect this. 

On the other hand, if you offer the bare minimum, which often many yoga studios do, you should base your prices more so on the likes of your experience, expertise and location can be a factor into this too. 

This is something you need to assess prior to setting prices since you might be underselling yourself in relation to the environment you're in and vice versa.

How Much Should A Beginner Yoga Teacher Charge?

If you’re a beginner yoga teacher wondering how much to charge for a yoga class, some things we have spoken about such as experience and expertise might not be where you’re at just yet and that is okay! 

Even the most successful yogi’s started where you are, however, if you are new to the industry, your prices to begin with should be reflecting this. It is a good chance to maybe just break even with your expenses so you can gain experience and confidence for when you start to make more of a profit and turn it into a full career.

Most of the factors we’ve mentioned are still things you should be planning as a beginner, but a lack of experience can just mean getting practice. 

That being said, with most experienced yoga studios charging around £12-£15 an hour (depending on location of course) it is probably a good idea to have your first few classes sitting at around £5-£8. 

This provides a middle ground between getting experience, but not totally wasting your time by earning nothing at all and ending up in deficit. Though this might seem like a chore, it will really help to make your classes worthwhile in the future and set up your business well. 

Before You Go…

By now, you should be able to make some informed decisions on how to sensibly come up with a pricing plan that will suit you and your clients. 

If you’re yet to gain the correct qualifications, or feel like it is time to choose your discipline and climb the ladder, why not check out OriGym’s accredited yoga teaching courses?  Find this and much more in our downloadable course prospectus here.