After years of saying “I should try ClassPass,” I finally downloaded the app and wanted to share my review of the 2-week free trial. Plans and trials vary by city, but I got 43 credits to use in Los Angeles in 14 days. The first half of this blog post explains the basics of ClassPass, and the second half is my review of 8 classes I took in Los Angeles.
*This post includes my ClassPass referral link. If you use it to sign up for the ClassPass 14-day free trial for the first time, you will get an extra 20 credits during your trial, at no cost to you. I’ll only get extra credits if you become a paying member! It’s easy cancel in the app before the trial ends if you don’t want to be automatically charged for the next month (go to Profile>Account>Manage Plan>Cancel your membership – which you can find in red at the bottom). This is not a sponsored post. All opinions are my own.
This post is not sponsored in any way by ClassPass and is an honest review of my two-week trial period. However, like any ClassPass user, I do have a referral code if you want to try ClassPass for free. If you find this post helpful, I’d love it if you used the link below to sign up for a 14-day free trial (and receive 20 extra credits at no cost to you)! : https://classpass.com/refer/4HL7MV1920
What is ClassPass?
ClassPass is an app and service you can use to book individual classes at different gyms and fitness studios around the world. Many local and national boutique fitness brands have partnered with ClassPass, including SoulCycle, Barry’s Bootcamp, TruFusion, and Club Pilates. ClassPass has also expanded to include beauty and wellness places, so you can use credits for haircuts, manicures, facials, acupuncture, cryotherapy, massages, and more (paid plans only, not available on the free trial).
It has different monthly plans where you purchase credits to buy classes, and doing so is typically cheaper than booking a single class through an individual studio. For example, a single cycling class at a Cyclebar in Los Angeles is $29, but you may be able to book a class through ClassPass for 8 credits, which may equate to $16-$19, depending on the plan you’re subscribed to. If you’re interested in learning how the company was started, check out this podcast episode of How I Built This with ClassPass CEO and founder, Payal Kadakia.
Who should use ClassPass?
If you enjoy taking fitness classes, but don’t go regularly enough to buy monthly memberships to a single studio or gym, then ClassPass is a great option. If you want to go to the gym or take a class every day, then it’s probably more cost-effective to buy a membership or package directly from your favorite studio. The number of studios available through ClassPass varies by location, so if you live in a smaller town, there won’t be as many options. To browse the studios in your area, click here for a map.
The current plans (at the time of writing, December 2022) offered for Los Angeles are:
- 8 credits/month for $19 = $2.38/credit
- 23 credits/month for $49 = $2.13/credit
- 43 credits/month for $89 = $2.06/credit
- 68 credits/month for $139 = $2.04/credit
- 100 credits/month for $199 = $1.99/credit
If you don’t live in Los Angeles, click here and enter your zip code to see the plan options.
How many credits is a class on ClassPass?
Most classes were 8-14 credits while free gym time was 3 credits. For most studios, the number of credits for a class varies by day of the week and time of day, as well as location. A Monday 7am or 6pm pilates class could be 13 credits because more people are trying to go before or after work, while a 2pm pilates class could be 8 credits since most people are at work during that time. A Saturday 7am or 6pm class would also be less credits. During my trial, I found that pilates and big fitness studios cost more in credits than smaller studios and other types of exercise. I’m not sure if this was due to the holiday season, but I also got discounts for my first class at any studio during the trial.
How do you book a class through ClassPass?
The class booking process through ClassPass is seamless. You use the app to look at a studio’s schedule and reserve your spot in a class. The studio’s page has information on how to get there, reviews, and safety measures. You can also add your friends and see what upcoming classes they have reserved.
When you arrive, you check in at the front desk of the studio, and you don’t have to say you’re from ClassPass or anything. Although the first two weeks are free, there are still late cancellation/no show fees from around $12-$20. If you cancel at least 12 hours before the class, there was no penalty and your credits were refunded.
For background, I am a runner and was moderately in shape when I did this trial, but I have no upper body strength. This was my first time going to all of these studios. A few days into my trial, all the classes were discounted for my first class at each studio (not sure if this happens for everyone during their first ClassPass trial), so I’ve noted the normal amount of credits it would have cost me. If there had been no discounts, I could’ve only afforded to go to 4 classes with my 43 credits.
Thursday at 7:15am in Culver City – ClassPass Review // click here to start your free trial
Parking: This CycleBar is located in a little plaza with a Starbucks, an Anytime Fitness gym, and a few restaurants. There was plenty of parking in the early morning, but the lot wasn’t huge, so I could definitely see it being hard to find parking after work.
Before: I got there 15 minutes early and checked in at the front desk. The woman was nice and assigned me a locker number and got me shoes. The shoe rental was free and they ran small. I am a 5.5-6 and I got a size 6 but should’ve sized up to a 7. I’m not sure if it usually costs money to rent shoes like at Soulcycle, but for this first class through ClassPass, they were free! I think they must be included in the cost of the class since they aren’t behind the desk like SoulCycle.
I grabbed a towel and then went to my locker which they had written my name on because it was my first time riding with them! How cute. Then, I walked into the room which was dark and already loud. An employee helped me adjust the bike and clip my shoes in. There were about 20 people in the class, young and old, and the first-timers were all placed in the middle of the middle row. The instructor came and introduced herself to us before the class.
During: The workout was pretty much the same as SoulCycle, but there was less inspirational talk which I was fine with. There’s an arms section and there are weight bars at every bike. One thing I immediately noticed was that the seat was not uncomfortable!! Shocking and also unlike SoulCycle in my opinion. What’s also different about Cyclebar is that they do have screens that track your stats and rank everyone in the class based on power points or something like that. The instructor turned on the screen at the beginning of the class to explain it, during the middle when she wanted us to push ourselves, and then at the end of class. I was dead last!! Like no joke. I did not eat before the class because I wasn’t hungry at 6am but I felt faint after 40mins and had to leave the class to go to the bathroom so that’s probably why, but cycling is harder than it looks! They also email you your performance summary right after the class ends.
After: I felt pretty lightheaded and had to sit for a while before leaving. An employee noticed and got me a cold towel and suggested that I eat something before doing a cycling class.
Overall rating: 4/5
I really liked the location, the friendliness of the employees, the free shoe rental, the stats, and the workout, but the music was sooo loud and I didn’t love the playlist and I feel like Soulcycle’s always slapped. However, it does look like the Santa Monica CycleBar has themed music workouts like Beyonce or Taylor Swift that could be fun. Definitely force yourself to eat a banana or a granola bar before class!
Row House | Full Row with Brandon (45mins) | 7 credits
Saturday at 11am in Santa Monica – ClassPass Review // click here to start your free trial
Parking: Row House is located on Colorado St next to a Hampton Inn. I parked in one of the big public Santa Monica garages (Parking Structure 8) two blocks south, which was free for the first 90mins.
Before: I got there 15 minutes early and checked in at the front desk. I put my stuff in a locker and grabbed a towel then went into the room with the ergs. One of them had my name on a whiteboard next to it. All of the newbies were put in the back which was kinda nice honestly. The instructor was a friendly buff guy, and he came over and showed me how to adjust the shoe holders and then how to row. He didn’t explain how to use all the functions of the erg or not to hurt your back; however, I still loved his energy.
During: The class was pretty small with about 15 people in it, and I noticed most of the class was probably 35 and older. We rowed for 15 minutes, then took a 5-ish minute break where the instructor guided us through stretching. We rowed for 20 more minutes with mini breaks and then had some more stretching at the end. It is a full-body workout with your legs, arms, and core, and I was sweating and out of breath at the end. I’m very glad I ate before the class! The instructor’s playlist was good and he played Mariah Carey’s All I Want For Christmas at the end.
The Full Row class was just rowing, but there were racks of weights along the wall so I’m sure other classes use weights. Each erg shows your individual stats like meters rowed, but there were also two big screens on the wall that showed the combined class’s total stats and the instructor encouraged the class to get our total split faster and just made a more communal environment. He did have a small screen at the front where he could see all of our individual stats. At the end of the class, he put our individual stats on the screen, but it was ordered by erg number, not ranked, which was nice, but I kind of wanted to know how well I did compared to others haha, but I do know I wasn’t last for this one.
After: Right after class, I had blisters on my palms. Also, my legs and mostly butt were really sore walking up the stairs in the parking garage in the way I thought I’d be sore after cycling. The seat on the erg didn’t hurt in the moment, but my butt felt bruised for a few days after.
Overall rating: 4.5/5
I really liked the community vibe of the place and the workout was very hard for me, but I still felt good afterward. I’d definitely come again! I’m only docking off half a star because I wish the instructor would’ve gone over how to prevent straining your lower back since I feel like that’s the most common injury from using an erg incorrectly.
YogaSix | Sculpt & Flow with Lex (60mins) | 4 credits (73% off 15 credits)
Sunday at 10:30am in Culver City – ClassPass Review // click here to start your free trial
Parking: The studio is located in this newly built Ivy Station area with a couple of other studios in the plaza. There’s a big underground garage, and YogaSix validates parking, so it’s really nice and easy.
Before: I ate avocado toast and a bite of a granola bar before class and brought a Hydroflask of Liquid IV. I got there 15mins early to check in and my friend Trisha got there soon after. The woman at the front desk was super nice and talkative. She showed me the lockers and I put my stuff inside. Then she took me into the room and showed me the weight room in the back and I grabbed the lightest weights. You could rent a yoga mat and towel for $3 but I brought my own and set it up. The class description said it was “a warmed room,” but it was probably 90° in there and basically felt like hot yoga to me. I didn’t mind because it felt good to sweat, but just be warned it is hot even though it’s not technically called hot yoga.
During: The class was very small, with about 10 people who looked to be around my age or early 30s. They were mostly fit and looked like they knew what they were doing. We did a slower warm-up and then a bunch of sets of movements, which were kind of hard. I definitely took several breaks. The movements went quickly, but thankfully the instructor demonstrated a lot of the positions, and I could watch the people around me. Sometimes, she would tell you to adjust your form, but she didn’t touch anyone. I was scared I would feel nauseous with the heat, but the Liquid IV definitely helped while sweating through class helped and I felt good the entire time.
In hindsight, I should have maybe started with a beginner’s class or a slow flow class instead of this one, but oh well. We did sets that used arms, core, and legs. There was a cardio section and a weight section.
After: I was dripping sweat, and I should’ve brought a towel for my mat because my hands and feet were slippery and I got blisters on my big toes from all the downward dogs. I do think the class helped with the soreness from Row House the day before.
Overall rating: 4.5/5
Despite the fact that I do not enjoy yoga, the music was good and I feel like with a bit of practice I could do all the moves and keep up. The reps were short enough in that I think everything was doable but still a good workout. However, I’m more of a cardio gal and I don’t think I’d go back for a while.
Wednesday at 7pm in Beverly Grove – ClassPass Review // click here to start your free trial
Parking: There is a free parking garage next door, so that was convenient. The studio is basically one big room, but they used boards and curtains to make walls and make a closed room in the center of it. Because of this, the whole place is really loud.
Before: Trisha and I checked in 15mins early and were given two booty bands, ankle straps, and a towel. Usually, these cost money, but they’re free for first-timers. The front desk gals told us what number space to start at. Once the previous class was over, we went into the room, and they showed us the cubbies to leave our stuff in and where to set up. Each floor station had some resistance bands, weight bags, and weights. We met the instructor, and she went over how to use the ankle straps and then started class.
During: There were about 13 people in the class, with only one male. I started on the floor and other people started on the stairclimbers. We did a series of about 5 exercises using the booty band, ankle straps, and weights. Then, we switched to the stairclimbers and did that for about 8-9 mins varying between walking up straight, crossing over, skipping a step, and facing right and left. In total, there were 3 intervals of floor and 3 intervals on the stairmaster.
This was my first experience with this kind of class where the instructor is managing two groups. She didn’t really instruct the stairclimber sections and kind of went over the floor exercises quickly. She did try to emphasize and re-demonstrate proper form when most of the class was doing it wrong. It was also hard to see her since the teacher’s platform was in line with the first row and not in front of the whole class. However, the playlist was my favorite out of all the classes I had been to.
This was the least personalized experience I’ve had as a first-timer, which isn’t a bad thing, but I definitely felt less of a community here.
After: I was sweaty and my lower body was tired, but I felt like I needed to do some sort of exercise for my upper body.
Overall rating: 3.5/5
Compared to the other places I’ve been, the instructor and employees just weren’t as friendly or helpful. The workout was just ok and I felt like I could do the workout just as effectively on my own at the gym. I might come back for a different class (maybe Arms and Abs to even the stairmaster out), but it definitely wasn’t my favorite class.
Friday at 7:15am in Culver City – ClassPass Review // click here to start your free trial
Parking: There is no parking lot, so you’ll have to find parking on side streets which can be kind of hard. It’s not a super fancy or Instagram-type of studio. It’s really just the bare bones kind of in a concrete room.
Before: I got there early and the instructor showed me where to put my stuff and showed me how to add weight to the reformer.
During: There were only 6 of us in the class, and the instructor was able to help everyone and correct their form. She also helped me adjust my reformer weights several times. I have bad balance, so for a lot of moves, I felt like I was going to fall off the reformer. For a lot of the exercises, I had the least weight on. This was a full-body workout and I was shaking a minute into class. It was pretty challenging for me and I didn’t grab any free weights for arm exercises since it was my first time. I feel like the reps were longer in this class than others, like doing 15-20 reps instead of 10. I wore grip socks, but they were not required for this class. I actually think I would’ve felt more stable and had more grip if I had gone barefoot.
After: I didn’t really sweat during the class, but I felt it in my arms, legs, hips, butt, basically my whole body. The room was well-lit and didn’t feel like a club, so that was a nice change.
Overall rating: 4.5/5
I liked the small class setting and the workout but there was just something missing for me, I’m not sure what. But I would go back!
BoxUnion | BoxUnion Signature with Mo (45mins) | 3 credits (77% off 13 credits)
Saturday at 9:30am in Beverly Hills – ClassPass Review // click here to start your free trial
Parking: This BoxUnion is in a plaza on Robertson Blvd next to The Henry. There are 2 hours of free parking in the public parking garage across the street next to Kitson.
Before: My roommate Jordan and I checked in at the desk and they gave us hand wraps that we could keep and boxing glove rentals that we had to buy. This cost an additional $15. Then, we put our stuff in the lockers and went into the room. T
During: The class was fairly full, probably with 20 people in it. There were a few regulars, but there was a large group who were taking their first class together. There were about 30 punching bags and a little stage in the middle for the instructor. There were actually 2 instructors in the class, a main one on the stage and a second one that roamed around on the floor. The first thing they did was separate left- and right-handed people to go over the stance and then the 6 different punches. They went through them so fast that I honestly didn’t grasp the difference between any of them.
We started with a cardio warm-up with exercises like high knees and jumping jacks. Then we did some practice punches without gloves. Then there was a break to do some floor exercises like push-ups and mountain climbers. We put the gloves on and did a set of punches. I was in the front row and the instructor was kind of hard to see around the bags. Then there was another break for abs before putting the gloves on for the last 5 mins. We ended with some stretching.
After: I was very sweaty and my arms were tired.
Overall rating: 3/5
It was a solid workout, but the instructors needed to go over the punches slower or we should’ve been shown a video or given a pamphlet before class. I was just very lost and felt dumb using a punching bag. It makes sense, but it was also annoying that we had to pay $15 to rent equipment.
Sunday at 10am in Beverly Grove – ClassPass Review // click here to start your free trial)
Parking: There is a parking lot in the back, but it’s tandem parking so I didn’t feel like I should park behind someone’s car. There are meters nearby and some of them don’t start until 11am on Sundays, so I was still able to park for free for my class.
Before: I checked in and was assigned a spot number, then put my stuff in a locker. I went with Trisha, and we didn’t really know what to expect for LIT Method at all.
During: The doors opened and there were about 24 ergs. They weren’t normal ergs though, they were simpler with water tanks. The crowd there was a mix of men and women of various ages.
I was assigned to the front row with my friend. We started on the ergs and again like Row House, they did not explain how not to hurt your lower back!! The instructor on stage in the front of the classroom pretty much did the whole workout with us. Then, we transitioned to standing exercises with the resistance bands. We did some squatting exercises and some arm exercises before getting back on the rowing machines. Then, we did core work, and there were mats next to each erg. After, we got back on the erg for a little bit and then finished with some stretching. She was less peppy than the other class instructors I had that week and more militant. Also, her countdowns took FOREVER. Counting down from 5 would take at least 15 seconds which was not fun.
Overall rating: 3/5
It was a good full-body workout, but I didn’t love the vibe or instructor and the music was just way too loud. With the vast amount of classes to choose from, I don’t think I’d go again.
Tuesday at 7:40pm in Venice – ClassPass Review // click here to start your free trial
Parking: There’s a big parking lot behind the building but if that’s full for whatever reason, there’s free neighborhood parking around the corner on Palms Blvd.
Before: You need to check in at the front at least 5mins before the class starts or you’ll get charged and they could give your spot to a waitlisted person. It wasn’t a problem for my class because it wasn’t busy, but if you came at a different time, I know they enforce the policy. I checked in and the guy told me what number treadmill I was starting on, then put my stuff in a locker. The door to the studio room didn’t open until right before the class started.
During: I found my treadmill and started walking. The music was really loud and I couldn’t really understand the instructor at first but then realized he was telling us what speed our treadmills should be at. He’d give ranges like jog at 6,7,8 and then sprint at 9,10,11. These are just suggestions and you can just set your speed however you want. We did walk/jog/sprint intervals for about 10 minutes then grabbed weights and did some floor work. Then we all got back on the treadmill for another 10ish mins of walk/jog/sprint intervals but this time I felt way more tired. Then, we went back to the floor. After those reps were done, we did 5mins of cool-down stretching.
There were only about 12 of us in this late class and everyone did their own thing. The instructor didn’t really correct anyone’s form or try to push us or yell at us the way I thought he might. Throughout the class, people would take their own breaks, even the people who looked really fit, and I am glad I brought my big Hydroflask of water.
After: My legs were shaking right after class and were sore the next couple of days. Also, I didn’t realize how dirty the floors were until I saw that my leggings were brown on my knees from doing lunges! Gross. Definitely don’t wear colored leggings! That night, I cancelled my ClassPass trial so that I didn’t get charged, and it was a super easy process on the app and I didn’t have to call or email anyone!
Overall rating: 4.5/5
I like running so I actually really liked Barry’s. I was intimidated going into the class, but after trying so many other classes it was pretty much just the same with intervals and similar moves. Of all the classes I did during the trial, I think I did get the best workout because of the sprints. I’m taking away half of a star for the cleanliness. They didn’t have wipes for us to clean our stations afterward but I hope someone cleans them and the weights smelled like metal.
ClassPass Review Conclusion: Will I be signing up for a paid membership?
After these 2 weeks of using ClassPass, I have learned that I am very very weak and out of shape. The extra discounted classes for the trial allowed me to actually take 97 credits worth of classes during the 43-credit trial. At first, I was nervous to go to classes because new things are scary, but after constantly going to new studios and classes, I got used to it and was excited to check out the next class!
Next year, I will unfreeze my LA Fitness membership and then sign up for the 23 credit plan for $49/month which will allow me to go to 2-3 classes per month. I’ll also be interested to try some beauty and wellness places with a paid plan.
If you want to try ClassPass for free for 14 days, use my link! Don’t forget to cancel before the trial ends if you don’t want to be automatically charged for the next month: https://classpass.com/refer/4HL7MV1920
CHECK OUT MY OTHER BLOG POSTS:
How to Sleep Better: My 14 Tips & Tricks
My Half Marathon Training Plan Progress
The Best Fast-Casual Restaurants in Los Angeles
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Los Angeles ClassPass Review: Free Trial (December 2022)
wow this looks so cool!
Super helpful guide!!
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Thank you! Glad you enjoyed!