The short answer
“Class pass” means three different things, and it pays to know which one your students are asking for:
- A class pack (or punch card): pay up front for, say, ten classes, and use them whenever you like before they expire.
- A membership or subscription: pay every week or month and come to every class, or a set number, while it runs.
- A class pass app: a third-party marketplace where people spend credits across many studios.
For a single regular class with a fixed timetable, a subscription usually does the job of a pass better, and casual tickets cover everyone else. If you run a full timetable where people swap between many classes, you need studio software with packs and credits.
What each one is
Class packs and punch cards
A class pack is pre-paid visits: five, ten or twenty classes, used across any class on the timetable, usually within a few months. The student likes the flexibility and the bulk price. The studio gets money up front.
Packs need tracking. Something has to count each visit, stop the pack at zero, handle expiry, and deal with the student who wants to transfer a class to a friend. That is what studio booking software is built for.
Memberships and class subscriptions
A membership or subscription is a recurring charge. The student pays on a cycle and comes to the class (or classes) it covers while it runs. Studios like the predictable income; students like not thinking about it.
Class pass marketplaces
Aggregator apps sell credits that work at many studios. They can bring new people through the door; what the studio receives for each visit depends on its agreement with the app. That is a marketing decision more than a ticketing one, and it sits beside whatever you sell directly.
Which suits your class?
| Your situation | What tends to work |
|---|---|
| One weekly class, mostly the same people | A subscription, plus casual tickets |
| A fixed six- or eight-week course | One ticket covering every date |
| A few classes a week, people mostly stick to one | A subscription per class, plus casual tickets |
| A full timetable, people swap between classes | Studio software with class packs |
| Students who come once a fortnight or so | Casual tickets, or a fortnightly subscription |
The honest dividing line is the timetable. A punch card earns its keep when people move between many classes. When the class is one room at one time each week, a subscription is simpler for everyone.
Getting most of a pass with tickets and subscriptions
If your students ask for a “pass” and you don’t run a full timetable, these cover most of what they mean:
“I want to pay less per class for committing.” A subscription priced a little under the casual rate. Weekly, fortnightly or monthly.
“I want to pay once for the whole term.” One ticket for an event with every date of the term on it. One price, one QR code, checked in each week.
“I only come every second week.” A fortnightly subscription, or casual tickets.
“I want to bring my partner.” A couples plan on the subscription, or two casual tickets.
“I bought a pack from you in person.” If someone paid you directly for several classes, record a ticket for them at each session from the box office, marked as paid by bank transfer or complimentary, so they’re on the list and their QR code works. It’s manual, so it suits a handful of people rather than your whole class.
What none of these do is count down a balance of visits that a student spends on any class they like. That needs software built around packs.
Pricing a subscription that feels like a pass
Work back from the casual price. For example, if a casual class is $25 and a month has four or five sessions, a monthly subscription somewhere under $100 feels like a deal without undercutting yourself. Use the ticket price calculator for a pilates class or yoga class to sanity-check the numbers.
Say clearly what happens when a student misses a class. With a subscription, a missed class is simply missed; the value is in the habit and the lower price per session. Students accept that when it’s stated up front.
On One Ticket
A regular class is a series, with each class a session of its own. Turn on subscriptions on the series and offer plans billed every week, 2 weeks, 4 weeks or month, or longer, at the prices you set, for one person or a couple. Subscribers' places are reserved at each class, and each class’s ticket is made for them about a week ahead, with its own QR code. They pause or cancel themselves from a private link. Casual tickets sit beside the subscription on the same page. See Subscriptions for a series and the Subscriptions page.
For a fixed course paid once, make one event and add every date to it: one ticket covers them all, and it checks in once on each day. For people who paid you some other way, the box office issues their ticket for a session with no booking fee.
There’s no class pack or punch card here: nothing that holds a balance of visits to spend across sessions, and subscribers can’t skip a single week (they pause billing instead). If your studio runs a full timetable with swaps between classes, studio software is the better fit. See pricing for what One Ticket costs.
Back to the complete guide to recurring events. Related: Fitness class booking for small groups, Season pass or membership for a class and Term pass for a pilates series.
Answers to your questions
What is a class pass?
Usually one of three things: a class pack of pre-paid visits, a membership or subscription billed on a cycle, or a third-party app that sells credits across many studios.
Is a class pack or a subscription better for a small class?
For one regular class with mostly the same people, a subscription is simpler: no balances to track, and steady income. Packs suit full timetables where people swap between classes.
Does One Ticket sell class packs or punch cards?
No. There’s no balance of visits that people spend across sessions. A subscription to the class, or one ticket covering a fixed course, does most of the same job.
Can students pay once for a whole term?
Yes, if the term’s dates are fixed: make one event with every date on it, and one ticket covers them all.
Can a subscriber leave out a week they can’t make?
Not one week on its own. They can pause billing and resume later, and sessions they’ve already paid for keep their tickets.