The market
Social clubs, sorted by what they actually cost
The membership market is barbelled. There is a lot at $200 a month and up, a lot at zero, and almost nothing in between for people who just want somewhere to go.
The tiers, honestly
Almost every paid club in a US city falls into one of six buckets. The thing worth noticing is the second column against the third: at the top of the market you pay a large membership and then full retail prices once you are inside.
| Tier | Typical cost / month | Prices inside |
|---|---|---|
| Private members club | $200-400 plus initiation | Full retail, sometimes above |
| City or athletic club | $150-350 plus initiation | Full retail |
| Premium gym with a lounge | $200-350 | Full retail |
| Co-working membership | $150-600 | Free drip coffee, weekdays only |
| Run club, climbing gym, hobby meetup | $0-120 | No bar, no room |
| IRL neighborhood club | $49 | Cost plus 10% |
Ranges are indicative, vary by city and age bracket, and change often. Initiation fees at the top two tiers commonly run from several hundred to several thousand dollars.
The gap in the middle is the whole opportunity. Nobody was serving the person who wants a decent room within walking distance, four nights a week, on an income that does not absorb a $300 monthly membership and $19 cocktails on top of it.
What people are actually buying
Ask someone why they joined a club and the answer is rarely the amenities. It is usually one of three things: somewhere to go that is not home or work, a way to see the same people repeatedly without organising it, or a way to stop spending four hundred dollars a month on going out. Most clubs sell the first and charge for all three.
The repetition point is underrated. Adult friendship needs unplanned, repeated contact, which is exactly what a city stops giving you after school. A room with opening hours and a fixed membership list manufactures it. Third places is the longer version of that argument.
Join the waitlist
Pick your neighborhood
Join the waitlist and tell us where you want a club. We open a neighborhood once enough people nearby are on the list.
One quick thing —
You are on the list.
Memberships open in pairs (or more). People referred together join together, and bigger groups move up the list.
$49/month when we open. No card now. Leaving the waitlist is one click.
Where to look in each city
The landscape is genuinely different in each market, so these are written separately rather than as one list.
The free options are not a consolation prize
Run clubs, climbing gyms, volunteer shifts, library programmes, recreational leagues and neighborhood associations do the single most important thing a club does, which is put you in front of the same people on a schedule. They cost nothing or close to it. If the only thing you want is friends, start there this week rather than waiting for a club to open.
What they do not give you is a room of your own with a bar in it, at nine on a Tuesday, in winter. That is the specific hole a neighborhood club fills, and it is the only thing we are claiming to do.
Questions
- How much do social clubs cost per month?
- Private members clubs typically run $200 to $400 a month plus an initiation fee, city and athletic clubs $150 to $350 plus initiation, and co-working memberships $150 to $600. Run clubs and hobby meetups are usually free. IRL is $49 a month with no initiation fee, and sells food and drink at cost plus 10%.
- What is the cheapest social club to join?
- Free options exist and work: run clubs, climbing gyms, recreational leagues, volunteer shifts and neighborhood associations all give you repeated contact with the same people at little or no cost. Among clubs with an actual space and a bar, $49 a month is the bottom of the market.
- Are private members clubs worth it?
- It depends what you are buying. If you want a specific room, a specific crowd, or reciprocal access in other cities, the top tier delivers that. If you mainly want somewhere near home to see familiar faces without spending $400 a month, you are paying a large premium for things you will not use.
- Do social clubs actually help you make friends?
- The ones with regular hours and a stable membership do, because adult friendship needs repeated unplanned contact more than it needs good events. A club you visit weekly for a year will produce friendships; a club you visit for three curated events will not, regardless of what it costs.
- What is a neighborhood club?
- A club built around a walking radius rather than a city. The membership list comes from the few thousand people who live close enough to drop in without planning it, which is what makes repeated contact likely. IRL opens one neighborhood at a time, based on where people have joined the waitlist.