I opened our independent, yoga-only studio 21 years ago. We built something beautiful over those years. A thriving community of students, teachers, and friendships that extended far beyond the yoga mat. I recently sold the studio, and looking back, I can honestly say that one of the worst business decisions I ever made was allowing ClassPass through our doors.
Let me explain why.
ClassPass sells studios on a simple concept: Let us fill your empty spots, and we’ll bring you new customers at no additional marketing cost. Sounds wonderful, right?
Unfortunately, over time, that relationship became incredibly destructive to everything we had worked so hard to build.
Under ClassPass’s trial program, we weren’t compensated for qualifying first visits. After that, our payouts were often significantly lower than what students paid when booking directly. Meanwhile, ClassPass has no investment in our rent, insurance, utilities, teacher salaries, equipment, maintenance, or the countless other expenses involved in operating a yoga studio.
They collect their share while we carry all the financial risk.
Even worse, in our experience, ClassPass didn’t provide us with the basic customer contact information we needed. If a teacher got sick, a class was canceled, or we needed to communicate an important last-minute change, we couldn’t directly contact those students.
But the financial damage is only part of the story.
The real damage is what happens to the community.
Yoga studios were never intended to operate like discount fitness vending machines. For decades, students joined studios because they connected with the teachers, the philosophy, and one another. They became members. They supported their teachers. They developed friendships. They helped create something meaningful.
In my experience, ClassPass gradually changed that relationship into a transaction.
Why would someone purchase a studio membership when they can attend the same classes for significantly less through a third party?
Over time, students become accustomed to discounted access while expecting the same level of service, facilities, and instruction that our loyal members help pay for.
And because ClassPass encourages people to move freely between studios, there is less incentive to develop the loyalty and personal connection that once sustained neighborhood yoga communities.
Certainly, there are wonderful ClassPass students. But the platform itself encourages a completely different relationship with the studio. I watched that sense of loyalty slowly disappear, and it was heartbreaking.
Just this past week, our studio received a one-star review from a ClassPass customer who arrived 15 minutes late and was upset that we wouldn’t allow her into class. Our ClassPass listing clearly explains that students should arrive 15 minutes early and that late arrivals are not permitted out of respect for students already practicing.
Imagine teaching a peaceful yoga class and having someone walk in 15 minutes after it begins, disrupting everyone who arrived on time. Yet somehow, we’re the bad guys for protecting the experience.
I understand that ClassPass makes yoga more affordable and accessible, and I appreciate why students use it. I’m not blaming people for looking for a good deal. But I wish more people understood the long-term consequences for the independent studios they love.
After 21 years, I’ve seen the incredible difference a genuine yoga community can make in people’s lives. I’ve also watched the economics of running a small studio become increasingly difficult.
I made plenty of mistakes over those years. I take responsibility for them. But inviting ClassPass into our community was perhaps the most costly.
It happened gradually. A few discounted visits here, a few lost memberships there. By the time you recognize what’s happening, you’ve helped train your own customers to purchase your services through a middleman who controls the relationship and takes a portion of the revenue.
If you love your local yoga studio, please support it directly.
Buy a class package. Become a member. Pay the studio instead of the middleman. Tell your friends. Help keep those independent businesses alive.
Because once your neighborhood yoga studio closes, that community doesn’t simply appear somewhere else.
These are my personal observations and opinions based on 21 years of operating an independent yoga studio. I don’t pretend to speak for every studio owner, but I do hope my experience helps others avoid the same mistakes.
And to the other studio owners out there, I’m curious: Has ClassPass helped your business, or have you experienced the same slow erosion of memberships and community that we did?
