How To Build a Thriving Virtual Community with an Online Yoga Membership

What would it take to create an online yoga membership? And is it a smart move?

Here’s what you need to know: 

Over 38.4 million people in the United States, 10% of the population, practice yoga regularly. The online yoga market is set to grow at 9.4% each year.¹

Platforms like Uscreen have seen yoga creators expand to tens of thousands of members worldwide, proving that teachers can grow profitable, sustainable businesses online.

In fact, 29% of fitness creators now earn five figures annually, and 13% are hitting six figures.

Sure, five or six years ago, the idea of launching your own online yoga membership might have sounded a little extreme, but not today. 

You don’t need a massive following or a studio to make this work. 

You don’t need an army of software developers or a marketing degree. 

What you do need is a plan, the right tools, and a desire to serve your students in a meaningful, scalable way.

If you’re new to teaching yoga or are ready to evolve your business and how you earn, you’re about to discover how to turn your passion into a thriving digital studio.

Why Creating an Online Yoga Membership is a Smart Move

There’s a major upside to launching an online yoga membership. It’s an opportunity to build something that positions your brand as a more accessible alternative to in-person studio sessions, and can be lucrative, too. 

Here’s more to look forward to:

• Earn predictable, recurring revenue: Memberships offer financial stability through recurring payments, freeing you from the feast-or-famine cycle of drop-in classes and workshops.
• Build deeper student relationships: Long-term memberships foster trust and continuity. Members also often develop a sense of psychological ownership, increasing their commitment and participation.
• More free time: Your classes become a library of assets. You can repurpose them into series, challenges, and evergreen content, saving time and expanding your reach.
• Scale to a global audience: With an online platform, your reach is global. You can connect with students from anywhere, on your schedule.
• Build community and connection: Memberships offer more than just access to content—they foster belonging through live events, forums, and shared goals.
• Enjoy creative freedom: You decide what gets created and how it’s delivered, aligned with your teaching style and values.
• Own your business: Hosting your community means you own your content, brand, and relationships—not the social media algorithms.

Choosing the Right Platform to Launch Your Membership

Your membership site is your studio. It’s where you’ll share your yoga classes and content. But what is a platform, and what should you be looking for when shopping for one?

Here’s what the right membership platform should help you do:

Create On-Demand Videos and Live Stream

A successful membership starts with accessible, high-quality content. Delivering professional classes and live experiences creates the foundation for long-term member value. Your platform should allow you to:

• Deliver professional-quality video classes that keep students coming back. Video editing tools help you polish your recordings, trim out distractions, and add branding elements that elevate your content.
• Offer live streaming classes with the option of real-time engagement for your members and community during sessions.
• Organize classes in video libraries for easy access, so students can find and follow their favorite content.
  

Launch Your Own Branded Mobile and TV Apps

Branded apps increase accessibility and engagement by meeting your students where they are—on their devices. Beyond visibility, your apps should:

• Cater to the widest smartphone audience possible: Your platform should allow you to launch custom iOS and Android apps, giving members convenient access to your content on their phones.
• Support TVs: OTT apps for Roku, Apple TV, and Amazon Fire TV are must-haves and expand your reach to members who prefer practicing on larger screens.
• Enable offline viewing: Give members the option to practice anywhere, even without an internet connection.
  

Build a Thriving Community

True engagement happens when members feel like part of something bigger, a community.  More advanced membership platforms are changing the way yoga instructors build communities around their brands. They include:

• Forums and chat features that encourage interaction and build bonds between members.
• Polls, challenges, and feedback tools that keep members engaged and give them a voice in shaping the experience.
• Comments and discussion threads on classes that foster conversations around content and create deeper engagement.
  

Offer Flexible Plans

Flexible pricing makes your offering feel accessible and inclusive. Your platform of choice should make it easy to cater to your audience’s payment preferences. Option should include:

• Monthly, annual, and tiered subscriptions: Provide options that fit different budgets and commitment levels.
• One-time purchases and class bundles: Cater to members who prefer a non-subscription model.
• Free trials and promo codes: Attract new members and incentivize sign-ups.
  

Build and Brand Your Website–Without Coding

Your website is often the first impression of your brand. You want to present something compelling, without breaking the bank. Your platform should allow you to:

• Start with a professionally designed website theme: Skip the hassle of coding from scratch or trying to build an entire website that looks and feels like a dream.
• Brand your site with a drag-and-drop builder: Add your unique brand aesthetics without needing coding skills. Add brand colors, sections, buttons, your messaging, and forms–all you need to deliver the best possible membership experience.
• Create SEO-optimized pages: Help new students discover your membership through search engines.
• Build landing pages: Promote special events, launches, or lead magnets effectively.
  

Track What’s Working (and What’s Not)

Knowing what resonates with your audience helps you grow with purpose. But to glean these kinds of insights, you need data. Your platform should be capable of:

• Collecting analytics on content, user behavior, and revenue to make data-informed decisions about your content and marketing.
• Providing insights into engagement and retention, helping you identify what’s resonating with your community and what needs adjusting.
  

Get Support When You Need It

Tech should never hold you back. Aim for support that includes:

• Onboarding and ongoing customer service to help you set up and scale your business smoothly.
• Access to help docs, video tutorials, and a support team to solve problems quickly and confidently as they come up.

How to Create Your Membership Offering

A well-designed membership acts like a digital studio. It gives your students structure, variety, and support with a clear path for their growth. 

Here’s how to craft a membership plan that aligns with your teaching style, meets your students’ needs, and invites long-term commitment.

1. Curate Compelling Membership Plans

Your membership should be designed with both transformation and retention in mind. Include features that motivate members to stick with their practice and return for more. Your plans can include:

• Live classes: Offer real-time guidance and connection to keep students accountable and make them feel seen.
• On-demand library: Give students flexibility to practice when it works for them, accommodating all schedules and learning styles.
• Exclusive content and resources: Deliver value that goes beyond public offerings. Offer special access that makes members feel appreciated and committed.
• Community access: Foster relationships and support among members by creating a shared space for interaction, and one that encourages connection and consistency.
• Downloadable practice guides: Provide tools to deepen practice off-screen to help students take their learning beyond the mat and into daily life.
• Variety: Offer a mix of weekly themed classes, monthly challenges, and seasonal series to keep your membership fresh and dynamic. These elements not only create structure and excitement but also help students stay engaged by aligning with their rhythms, goals, and the time of year.

While not every item on this list is required, the more you have to offer, the more your service appears valuable to students.

2. Use Trials, Two- or Three-Tier Pricing Strategies

There’s nothing more inviting than a trial. It’s a low-effort, low-commitment way for students to test the waters. To see if what you have to offer resonates with them. 

So, if you’re on the fence about offering a trial, don’t be. Make one available. It’s an easy and smart way to begin a relationship that could last years.

About Two-Tier Pricing 

A two-tier model offers just two options. Most Uscreen customers opt for this approach, giving students the chance to pay for a monthly membership or opt for an annual plan with a discount. Uplifted customers get to save $58 when choosing the annual plan.

About Three-Tier Pricing

Using a three-tier, “Basic, Standard, Premium” model is how you create more flexibility for your business. Using three price plans exercises a strong psychological anchor called the compromise effect, where people tend to choose the middle option. 

This may seem manipulative, however, it isn’t. All you are doing is positioning your services with the most value highlighted as the middle option. Your customers are always able to choose which plan they want.

Kula offers three plans, with the Quarterly including a massive $40 discount. 

Create a Safe Space for Members to Share

Two-way communication turns your platform from a content library into a community. And that matters today. Members want to feel engaged and part of a group. 

There’s also proof that creating a community around your brand can turn more people into long-term customers. Here’s how to create a space that’s inviting and empowering:

• Start conversations: Ask questions after classes or through emails to spark dialogue, inviting members to participate and feel heard.
• Create dedicated spaces: Use forums or chats segmented by topic or goal to create structure and invoke a sense of inclusivity
• Host live Q&As or circles: Let students engage outside of class content to deepen relationships and encourage ongoing open dialogue.
• Celebrate member wins: Publicly recognize milestones and achievements to motivate members.
• Act on feedback: Show you’re attentive and responsive by sharing updates or introducing new offerings tailored to your community’s needs. 

Use Tools to Scale Without Losing the Human Touch

Growth doesn’t have to mean losing connection with your community. With the right strategy, you grow your community (and revenue) while keeping things personal. 

Tools like email marketing and investing in your own app can easily take what you do and scale it without you breaking a sweat.

Automate Engagement With Email Marketing

You can maintain and strengthen your community bond through periodic newsletters and even one-time broadcasts. Here are three ways to use email to scale your brand:

• Create Welcome flows for new members: Set the tone and ensure they feel at home from day one.
• Schedule Weekly newsletters to highlight fresh content: Keep members engaged and informed.
• Design Trial conversion flows that show the value of staying: Turn trial users into loyal subscribers with targeted, value-driven messaging.
  

Strengthen Exclusivity With a Branded App

A branded app enhances access, engagement, and trust. And you don’t need a team of software developers to launch yours either. Find What Feels Good, a yoga platform with a large membership, grew its community substantially after launching its app. 

It used Uscreen’s white-label app program that lets you customize an already professionally designed app, so it looks every bit as unique as your brand. Find What Feels Good went on to see:

• A 201% increase in monthly growth: Apps make it easier for members to stick with a routine.
• 46,000+ active members: The app has become a daily companion.
• 4.5% growth in monthly recurring revenue: Convenience drives retention and upgrades.
  

Apps also give you direct access to your audience. They offer an open door for more frequent, meaningful contact with your community, without needing to fight social media algorithms.

You can easily share news, updates, or encouragement. Promote live sessions or workshops. Have a new product or class to promote? Share the news directly with your community.

Another effective way to streamline and scale your business is by using an all-in-one studio software like Fitli. It automates scheduling, payments (including online, in-person, debit, and credit), and client management – while also providing real-time insights through reports on bookings, sales, attendance, and more. 

Start Building Today

A thriving online yoga community begins with a single step. Whether you start with one class a week, a fresh email series, or a trial app launch, you’re not just sharing yoga—you’re creating a space where students grow, connect, and return.

Your people are out there. Invite them in.

¹ GVR Report: Yoga Market Size, Share & Trends Report