1. Add-On Fee

Members pay an extra monthly fee on top of their base membership to unlock unattended access. This creates an optional upgrade for those who want more flexibility.

• Lexi Bengston at Hybrid Fitness in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, for example, charges an add-on fee of $75 a month for members to be able to use open gym, unattended access. Twenty five percent of her members pay for unattended access, and she was able to gain 10 new members in the first two months who joined specifically for this service. Read Bengston’s story here.
• Katie Jobe of CrossFit Sedalia in Missouri also charges an add on membership fee, but she opts for just $10 a month. Still, she generates an additional $1,000 per month in largely passive revenue. Even more importantly, adding unattended access allowed Jobe to step away from the gym entirely on Sundays.
• Chris Merrit of Beyond Strength in Sterling, Virginia takes a slightly different approach and charges $10 per week, rather than per month, to add unattended access. This helps Merritt generate around $800 a month in hands-off revenue.

2. Stand Alone Membership

A separate membership type that gives members access to the facility during unstaffed hours, but does not include classes. 

• Amalie Flowers of Breakfast Club Barbell in Medina, Ohio offers unattended access as a $35 per month add-on, or as a standalone membership for $50 per month. Approximately 75 percent of her members take advantage of the unattended option, which she says has become a major selling point for her gym.

3. Drop-In Memberships

Drop-in membership offers non-members access to the gym for a limited time, typically a day or one week, for a one-time fee. They’re useful for travelers, college students, or short-term users.

• Ben Benson of Victory Gym in Savannah, GA has had a ton of success selling drop-in passes, including day passes, two or three-day passes, as well as one-week and one month passes. In fact, half of his clientele are drop-ins, allowing him to increase revenue without any additional work on his part, as drop-ins sign the waiver, pay for their pass and access the gym all with the help of HybridAF technology (which integrates with his gym management platform).

Read more about HybridAF’s integrations here.

4. All-Inclusive (But with an Initial Rate Increase) 

Unattended access is added as a standard benefit for every member, but the overall membership price is raised to reflect the added value. 

• Kurt Miller of South Mountain Community Fitness in Allentown, Pennsylvania doesn’t charge more for HybridAF, and simply builds it into his membership rates. That being said, when he first added unattended access with HybridAF, he increased his base membership rates as he was now offering a higher value service to his members. As a result, he has seen an increased client retention because of it (his average client sticks around for more than two years, while the industry average according to Two-Bran Business is less than eight months).

5. All-Inclusive

Unattended access is included in the standard monthly membership at no additional cost. Every member automatically has access during both staffed and unstaffed hours.

• William Tirado of Los De La Isla CrossFit in Puerto Rico used to charge an additional fee for unattended access, but then he realized those who used it tended to stick around, so he decided to add it to his regular membership. And although he hasn’t seen an increase in revenue directly, he has seen a huge increase in client retention, he said, which ultimately means more revenue long-term.

Add-On Fee: Charging an additional fee for unattended access can be a great way to generate additional revenue; however, if priced too high it can be challenging to convince members to pay more. 

Stand Alone Membership: Unattended access-only memberships can be a great way to bring new people into the gym; however, you run the risk of having current clients deciding to go this route, which would likely reduce their monthly payment.

• Pro Tip: If you’re going to offer unattended access-only memberships, consider pricing them higher than you might initially think you should. Those who value it will pay it, while current clients might be less inclined to drop classes.

Drop-Ins: Drop-ins allow for easy passive revenue for the gym owner; however, it might require more monitoring as you have strangers in your gym. Further, the income is less predictable.

All-Inclusive: An all-inclusive membership allows you to charge everyone slightly more each month, as you’re now offering a greater value service, and it might also increase client retention. However, it doesn’t allow you to screen members in terms of who you trust to train on their own during unattended access hours, and those who might not want to use it may look elsewhere for a gym with a lower priced membership.

Three Common Pitfalls

1. Pricing too low: If your add‑on is too cheap, you may have too many people using off hours heavily, and maintenance and wear and tear might rise.
2. Pricing too high: This might create low uptake and even pushback from members, who may think you’re nickel and diming them.
3. Too many options: Keep it simple. Too many options confuse people and is hard to administer.
   

Other Key Considerations

When deciding how to price unattended access, some factors to consider looking into include:

1. Demand: Survey current members. How many would use off‑hours? What times? Would they pay extra? What drop‑in rates are acceptable? Adjust pricing according to local income, culture and usage patterns.
2. Competition: What are similar gyms in your area doing? Do any offer 24/7 or unattended access? How much do they charge? If none do, you have an opportunity to differentiate.
3. Your Message: How will you market and sell your new offering to your members? What message do you want to put out to your members? For example: “You can now train when it’s convenient with your schedule.” “You can now train on Sundays.” “You can stick around after the last class of the day to get your accessory work finished.”
4. Trial periods: To help adoption, will you give existing members free or discounted access early on to establish buy‑in before charging more for it?

The Bottom Line

Owning a gym isn’t an easy gig, and any help you can get as a small gym owner to boost revenue is generally welcomed. 

In light of this, if you’re smart about your pricing structure, adding HybridAF can position your gym to not only boost revenue, but also enhance member experience and client retention.

One last thing: The average gym with 100 members that utilizes HybridAF sees a positive $5,300-plus return on investment in year one and even higher in the following years.