The unlimited membership model that has dominated the fitness industry for decades is showing cracks. A quiet revolution in pricing strategy is reshaping how the most profitable independent gyms structure their revenue.
The Problem With Unlimited
Unlimited memberships create a perverse incentive: your most engaged members — the ones who attend 5+ times per week and consume the most resources — pay the same as the member who comes twice a month.
The Per-Visit Renaissance
Operators experimenting with per-visit or tiered-visit pricing models are discovering something counterintuitive: members prefer to pay for what they use, and they’ll often pay more per visit than the effective per-visit rate of an unlimited membership.
Three operators who made the switch in 2025 reported average revenue per member increases of 18-26%, with member satisfaction scores actually improving.
How to Transition
The transition requires careful communication and grandfathering of existing members. The operators who succeeded all followed the same playbook: introduce the new model for new members first, then offer existing members the choice to switch with an incentive.
