Where the name comes from

A rack rate is the hotel term for the price on the back of the door: the standard rate, before anyone haggles. Gyms have one too. It is just remarkably hard to see.

Ask a club what membership costs and you will usually be asked for your phone number first. What comes back depends on the month, the person you spoke to and how their quarter is going. That is a fine way to sell a gym membership and a poor way to compare five of them, which is the whole reason this exists.

What gets published

A club's page on RackRate lists every plan it sells at the standard rate, the price charged when no offer applies, with the joining fee, the contract term behind each figure and what the plan includes. Current discounts sit against the plan they apply to, marked as offers and carrying the chain's own small print and expiry date. Underneath sits every price, offer and tier change recorded since tracking began, so you can see whether a club has been quietly getting dearer.

How current it is

Figures come from the chains themselves, not from press coverage, forum posts or another comparison site, and they are re-read on a schedule. Every page showing a price says the date it was last checked, so you never have to guess how old a figure is.

Tiers, and where the estimates are

Most of these chains grade their clubs into tiers. The grade sets the price and decides which other clubs your membership reaches, so it matters as much as the plan you pick. Some chains publish the hierarchy outright. Others grade clubs without saying so publicly, and for those the tier shown here is considered an estimate rather than a stated fact. Either way a tier number only means something inside that chain: David Lloyd's Tier 3 is not equal to Virgin Active's Tier 3.

Independence

RackRate is not affiliated with, endorsed by or connected to David Lloyd Leisure, Nuffield Health, Third Space, Virgin Active or Village Gym. Chain names and plan names belong to their owners and are used here to say which club is which. Prices change without warning, and a club can always quote you something different. Confirm with the club before you sign anything.

Found something wrong?

Say so. Every club page has a report link beside its prices, which takes a few taps to report any pricing, offer or tier discrepancies. Corrections from members who know what their own club charges are the fastest way this gets better, and they get read.

Anything else: [email protected].