The workweek isn’t just about work. In fact, I think most of us are much happier during the week if we have time to do a variety of other things that are important to us. Some days for me, it’s a glass of wine or dinner with friends. Other days, it’s fitting in a workout… but if I’m waking up early or working out after a 10+ hour day, it better be somewhat fun. Running on a treadmill at the gym was never exciting enough for me.

So I’m really happy that I recently discovered ClassPass. Long story short, for $99 a month, you get to take unlimited classes at studios in their network. They have some really good ones on there like FlyWheel, Physique 57, Exhale, Cyc, Peloton and hundreds more. Right now they’re in Boston, Chicago, NYC, LA, San Francisco, DC, and Seattle and probably expanding to other cities soon.

On CP, you can take as many classes per month as you can, but the catch is that you can only visit the same studio 3 times per monthly membership cycle. It’s such a good deal (generally comes out to less than $10 a class for classes that are usually $30+). I’m a huge fan.

Having used the service for a few months, here’s a review and some pros and cons to the service:

Pros:

• Forces me to try new things and get out of my comfort zone which I’m notoriously bad at, especially when it comes to work outs. Since you can only take 3 classes a month at each studio, you have no choice but to mix it up. It made me try Barre for the first time (so much harder than it looks!) and discover 2 amazing spin studios I had never heard of (Peloton & Cyc).

• There are a endless options when it comes to classes (apparently over 1000). You’ll never be bored. In terms of quality some are better than others, but I actually haven’t yet taken a class I didn’t like. It’s also very easy to search by neighborhood, date, time, and type of class.

• Affordable – You can’t beat less than $10 a class (that’s what it comes out to if you take 10 a month). Flywheel, Barry’s Bootcamp (and many others) are typically $34 a pop, so ClassPass gives you a major discount.
• Fun with friends – Because it’s affordable relative to NYC gym memberships and other options, I have at least 10 friends doing ClassPass. We share info on the classes we like and plan ahead to do some together. I like having an after work option that’s social, but doesn’t involve eating/drinking/spending a lot of money.
• Getting better each month – I’ve been a ClassPass member since September and the website and interface is constantly getting better and easier to use. They also add new studios constantly and have had a few swanky ones pop up over the last month.

Cons:

• Availability – The most popular studios book up fast so you have to be pretty quick when sign ups open each week. Now that I have more flexibility with my schedule, this isn’t a big issue, but the before/after work classes are definitely the most popular times and fill up quickly.
• You have to plan ahead – You can pop into the gym anytime but for ClassPass you have to plan ahead and really commit. Even though I have this on my cons list because it’s not as convenient, it actually has made me really good about going through with workouts even when I’m exhausted. If I sign up for a Wednesday night class on Sunday, I make sure my week allows me to keep that date.
• $20 cancellation fees – Most studios don’t give you back your $ if you no-show for a class. Similarly, ClassPass studios have the option of charging you if you don’t show up. It’s up to them, so it’s sort of a game of roulette if you miss a class. Sometimes you get charged, sometimes you don’t.

Ultimately, the pros outweigh the cons for me and I’m a big ClassPass fan. Are you a member? Let’s do a class together!