Private pilates session price: how much to charge per hour

To price a private pilates session, start from what one private hour actually costs you, add a margin of 30 to 50%, then check the result against local prices and against what that same hour would earn as a group class. Price extra people as a share of the base, and charge travel time for home sessions.

Why is private session pricing so often wrong?

Most studios set their private price by looking at the studio down the street and going a little lower. That skips the two numbers that matter: your own cost per hour and what else that hour could earn.

The result is common: privates that feel busy but barely break even, or a private booked into a prime evening slot that could have held a full reformer class.

What does one private hour really cost you?

Add up everything that one private hour uses. Here is a worked example for a small reformer studio in Canada. The numbers are illustrative; replace them with yours.

Cost per private hour	Example (CA$)	How to estimate yours
Teacher pay	40	Hourly rate, plus any employer costs
Room and equipment share	18	Monthly rent, utilities and equipment, divided by hours the room is open
Admin and booking time	5	Messages, rescheduling, follow-up
Payment fee (about 3%)	3	Your processor’s rate on the final price
Cost floor	66	Below this you lose money on every session

Now add margin. With a 30% margin the price is about CA$86; with 50% it is about CA$99. So in this example a solo private session lands somewhere between CA$85 and CA$100 per hour.

Margin is not greed. It pays for the hours that do not sell, last-minute cancellations, the software you use, and your own time running the studio.

How do you check the price against the market?

Look at five or six studios with similar equipment and teacher experience in your area. Note their solo, duo and intro prices. You are not trying to match them; you are checking that your number is believable.

• If your price is far below the market, you probably left money on the table. Members often read a very low private price as lower quality.
• If your price is far above the market, make sure members can see why: a specialised teacher, rehab experience, equipment others do not have, or longer sessions.

Should a private cost more than a group class hour?

Think about opportunity cost: what would that room and teacher earn in the same hour as a group class?

Say a reformer class has 6 spots at CA$35 each. A full class earns CA$210 in that hour. If a private at CA$90 takes that slot, you lose CA$120 compared with running the class.

That gives you two practical rules:

1. Off-peak hours (late morning, early afternoon) are where privates shine. The room would often sit empty anyway, so CA$90 is pure gain over zero.
2. Peak hours (early morning, evenings) should either carry a higher private price or be kept for group classes.

How should you price duo and small-group privates?

Charging double for two people usually kills duo bookings. Charging the same for two people gives margin away. The usual answer is a percentage of the base price for each extra person.

With a base of CA$90 and each extra person at 60% of the base:

People	Total price	Price per person	Studio earns per hour
1	CA$90	CA$90	CA$90
2	CA$144	CA$72	CA$144
3	CA$198	CA$66	CA$198
4	CA$252	CA$63	CA$252

Each person pays less than alone, so friends and couples are happy to book together, and the studio earns more per hour. Some studios lower the percentage further from the fifth person on, so a small group still makes sense. Cap the number of people at what your room and equipment can hold.

How do you price in-home private sessions?

A home session uses far more of the teacher’s time than the hour on the mat. If the teacher travels 30 minutes each way, a one-hour session takes two hours.

Two common ways to price it:

• Travel fee. Base price plus a fixed fee per visit, for example CA$25 to CA$40 depending on distance.
• Higher base. A separate home-session price that already includes travel, for example CA$130 instead of CA$90.

Also keep a buffer before and after each home session in the teacher’s schedule, so a late finish across town never makes them late for a studio class. More on this in in-home pilates sessions.

What else belongs in a private session policy?

• Booking notice. For example, at least 24 hours ahead.
• Cancellation. Free until 24 hours before; after that the session is charged. If the studio cancels, always a full refund.
• Payment timing. Decide when the member pays: at booking, at confirmation, or after the session. Collecting payment before the session protects your teacher’s time.
• Packs. A pack of 5 or 10 privates at a small discount rewards regulars and gives you predictable income. Keep the discount modest, 5 to 10%, so the per-hour price stays above your floor.

When should you raise your private session price?

Prices that never move slowly lose value as rent and teacher pay go up. Review your private price at least once a year, and sooner if any of these happen:

• Your teachers are booked out two or more weeks ahead. Demand is telling you the price is low.
• Your costs changed. A new lease, a raise for teachers or new equipment all move your floor.
• A teacher gained a specialisation, such as rehab or prenatal training. Many studios run two price levels, one per teacher tier.

When you raise prices, give members notice (30 days is common), keep any packs already sold at the old price, and explain the reason in one plain sentence. Members rarely leave over a fair, well-explained increase; they leave when a price change feels sudden or hidden.

How does elastudio handle private sessions?

In elastudio, members request a private session from the studio’s own page, choose the session type, time, number of people and place (a studio room or their own address), and see the full price before they ask. The studio sets a base price and the price for each extra person. The member saves a card but is not charged until both the studio and the teacher approve, and the room calendar refuses double bookings. Private sessions are included from the Starter plan, and elastudio takes no cut of what you charge.

Set your price and publish it

Work out your floor, add margin, check the market and decide which hours privates belong in. Then put the price on your booking page so members can book without asking. See how private sessions and rooms work on the features page, and compare plans on pricing. Questions: support@elastudio.app.