Your rent went up 11% at the last lease renewal. Your instructors asked for a raise, and they earned it. Insurance, towel service and card processing are all up too. And your unlimited membership is still $159, the number you picked in 2022 while standing in an empty room that smelled like fresh paint.
Most owners don't put off a price increase because the math is unclear. They put it off because they can picture the regular who'll say "wow, really?" at the front desk. So they eat the margin for another year.
Here's the hard truth: not raising prices is also a decision, and it's usually the more expensive one. Done well, an increase costs you a handful of members and pays for itself in the first month. Done badly, with a surprise charge and a defensive front desk, it costs you trust, and trust is much harder to bill for.
Here's the playbook I'd use.
Run the Math Before You Touch the Price
Start with the number that calms the nerves: how many members could you lose and still break even?
Break-even churn = increase ÷ (1 + increase).
- A 5% increase breaks even if you lose 4.8% of members.
- A 10% increase breaks even at 9.1%.
- A 15% increase breaks even at 13%.
Most owners are shocked by how wide that margin is.
Now compare that to what usually happens. A well-communicated increase typically costs somewhere in the 1–4% range in extra cancellations over the following 60 days, and many of those members were already drifting. Pull their attendance and you'll see it.
On a real roster: 180 members at $159 is $28,620 a month. Move to $175 and lose five members, and 175 × $175 is $30,625. That's $2,005 more every month, about $24,000 a year, after the losses. You'd need to lose 17 members before the increase cost you anything.
How Much to Raise, and How Often
The most common mistake isn't raising too much. It's raising too rarely. Four years of silence followed by a 25% jump feels like an ambush. Small, predictable increases feel like the cost of doing business.
Guidelines that hold up:
- Stay in the 5–10% range. Above 12%, you need a visible reason, like a new room or more classes, or you'll hear about it.
- Land on a clean number. $175 reads as a decision. $173.90 reads as a spreadsheet.
- Benchmark locally. Boutique unlimited memberships run from roughly $140 in smaller markets to $250+ in dense cities. What matters is where you sit against the three studios your members would actually switch to.
- Raise the plans that are underpriced for their usage. If unlimited members average 14 visits a month at $159, they're paying about $11 a class while your 10-pack buyers pay $25. That gap is where the increase belongs.
Then pick a cadence and say it out loud: "We review pricing every fall." Once members expect it, it stops being an event.
Grandfather Strategically, Not Forever
Grandfathering everyone forever feels generous. In practice your newest, most enthusiastic members end up subsidizing people who joined years ago, and the gap widens until you can't close it.
Better options:
- New members now, existing members in 45 days. Everyone who joins from today pays the new rate; current members get notice and a firm date. This is the default I'd recommend.
- Split the difference. Existing members get half the increase this year and the rest next year. Useful when the jump is large.
- Loyalty lock. Members of three years or more keep their rate for 12 more months. It's a thank-you with an end date, not a permanent policy.
- Prepay to lock. Anyone who prepays 12 months keeps the old rate for the year. More on this one below.
Before choosing, know exactly who pays what. A studio that's been open a few years usually has five or six legacy rates floating around: a founding rate, a Groupon conversion, a friend-of-an-instructor deal. When every member is tied to a specific plan and rate in your billing system, as they are in Kinetic, that audit becomes a quick filter instead of a weekend in spreadsheets.
The Announcement Email
Give 45 days of notice by email, not an Instagram story or a sign by the check-in tablet. Keep it short, specific and unapologetic:
Subject: A change to your membership on November 15
Hi Jess,
Thank you for being part of the studio. 112 classes since you joined is no small thing.
I want to give you plenty of notice: on November 15, the Unlimited membership moves from $159 to $175 a month. Rent, instructor pay and equipment have gone up every year since 2022, and we've held our price that entire time. This change keeps our instructors well paid and our schedule full.
If it helps, you have two options:
- Prepay 12 months by November 1 and keep $159 for the full year.
- Switch to our 8-class membership at $129. You can change anytime.
Just reply if you have questions. I read every one.
Maya
Notice what it does. It opens with the member, not the price. It states the number and date in one sentence, gives a reason without groveling, and offers two doors that aren't the exit.
Members rarely leave over $16 a month. They leave because they felt surprised.
Send one reminder before the prepay deadline and one a week before the change. Then stop talking about it.
Script the Front Desk
Your staff will field most of the reaction, usually in the 30 seconds before class. Don't make them improvise. Rehearse these before the email goes out.
When a member asks why it's going up: "Honestly, everything that runs this place got more expensive, and we held our price for three years. We'd rather raise it a little than cut classes or underpay our instructors."
When they say they can't afford it: "Totally fair. Two things might help. If you prepay the year by November 1, you keep $159. Or the 8-class membership is $129. Want me to check how often you've been coming so we can see which fits?"
When they say they're cancelling: "I'd hate to lose you. Can Maya give you a call this week? She'd want to talk before you decide." Then make sure Maya actually calls within 48 hours.
That last one matters most. A cancellation that reaches the owner within two days is far more saveable than one that sits in an inbox for a week. The goal isn't to argue. It's to make sure nobody leaves over a misunderstanding.
Give Members Something to Say Yes To
That prepay option deserves a closer look, because it changes the math.
Take a 220-member barre studio that moved Unlimited from $169 to $185 with 45 days of notice and a 12-month prepay offer at the old rate:
- 31 members prepaid, bringing in $62,868 up front.
- 11 downgraded to a $139 8-class membership instead of leaving.
- 6 cancelled, or 2.7% of the roster.
Monthly revenue went from $37,180 to $38,588, and that's the conservative view, with prepaid members counted at their old rate. When their year ends, they roll to $185 and add another $496 a month. Treat the prepay cash as earned month by month, not as profit to spend, but it's a real cushion heading into winter.
If you can, pair the increase with something members can see: two more early-morning classes, new mats, a members-only workshop each quarter. It doesn't need to cost much. It needs to be visible.
A 60-Day Rollout Calendar
Timing matters more than most owners think. Get new-member pricing live before your biggest acquisition month so your largest cohort of the year starts at the new rate. For most studios, that means before January.
- Day −60: Audit every plan and rate. Set new prices and your grandfathering approach.
- Day −50: Publish new-member pricing on your site and intro offer pages.
- Day −47: Hold the staff meeting and rehearse the scripts.
- Day −45: Send the announcement.
- Day −14: Close the prepay window, with a reminder a few days before.
- Day −7: Send the final reminder.
- Day 0: Existing members move to the new rate on their next billing date, never mid-cycle.
- Day +30: Compare cancellations, downgrades and visits per member against the same window last year.
Anything within 3–4 points of your normal cancellation rate is a successful increase. Watch attendance closely, too: people stop coming before they stop paying, so a member who drops from 10 visits a month to 4 deserves a personal note that week.
And avoid launching right after a schedule cut or an instructor departure. Members will connect the dots, and not in your favor.
The Short Version
- Run the break-even math: a 10% increase pays off unless you lose more than 9% of members.
- Raise 5–10% on a predictable annual cadence, and land on clean numbers.
- Charge new members the new rate now. Give existing members 45 days of notice, and put an end date on any grandfathering.
- Send a short, personal email with the number, the date, the reason and two alternatives to cancelling.
- Script the front desk, and get every cancellation to the owner within 48 hours.
- Offer a 12-month prepay at the old rate to lock in your most loyal members.
- Review cancellations and attendance 30 days later, then put next fall's review on the calendar.