What is the difference between OnePass and Classpass

Both OneFit and ClassPass are two fitness apps, or actually two platforms where you can book sports lessons via an app (or website).

The big advantage of these two apps is the fact that you are very flexible in subscription and gym, in contrast to subscriptions from one gym.

There is one major limitation of both apps; they are currently (February 2020) only available in a few major cities. If you live in the province or in a provincial town, you do not (yet) have access to the gyms.

OneFit is originally a Dutch company and only has a range in Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Utrecht, The Hague and recently also Haarlem.

The same goes for ClassPass.nl, except that new cities and areas are added very quickly. For example, Breda, Groningen and Arnhem have recently joined, although the offer is currently limited to a handful of gyms.

The big advantage of ClassPass is, and therefore also the difference with OneFit; cities and gyms are added faster on a monthly basis.

OneFit was ‘sold’ in 2019 to the German competitor Uban Sports Group, with which investors such as Peak Capital did not want the losses to mount too quickly. The early years of apps such as OneFit and ClassPass simply cost time and money and as an investor you therefore have to have a long breath and sometimes make a few extra deposits.

ClassPass has been able to attract large investors from the United States, while OneFit had to make do with ‘only’ 4 million euros. With such an amount, it is also almost impossible, of course, to compete against the ‘rich’ ClassPass. That is why Peak Capital also insisted on a ‘merger’ with Urban Sports Group, which should not be called a ’takeover’.

Unfortunately, for OneFit users, this has resulted in the development of the app stagnating and that not many new gyms have been added since the ‘merger’. It seems that OneFit will soon be renamed Urban Sports Group.

Lessons in classes or free sports

Another big difference between OneFit and ClassPass is the way various gyms are offered. At OneFit you mainly book lessons. These can be fitness classes or, for example, yoga classes. This is also possible with ClassPass, but you can also exercise ‘freely’ in a gym. This makes ClassPass feel a little more noncommittal.

With ClassPass, for example, you book a two-hour block at one of the affiliated gyms. Then you can walk in within those two hours and exercise for two hours. In practice, no one pays attention to the exact two-hour period. On the other hand; have you ever been in a gym for more than two hours?

Incidentally, the big advantage of OneFit is the fact that you can check in at the gym with the OneFit app and there is no end time to your session. With ClassPass you are only allowed to stay in the relevant gym for a ‘limited’ time.

In addition, the classes at OneFit and ClassPass are offered to everyone. So you just join the class of the gym / yoga studio, etc, which they had already organized anyway. This also allows you to meet new people that you might not normally meet.

Affiliated gyms and studios

As a Dutch company, OneFit has concluded a number of nice exclusive deals with, for example, fitness chain TrainMore. This chain cannot be found on ClassPass.

The disadvantage with OneFit is that you can only use the group lessons of TrainMore, free exercise in that gym is not possible via OneFit.

Both OneFit and Classpass offer more than just “active” classes. In Amsterdam, for example, you can go to the School of Life, or the Consciousness School.

At the first you can attend a kind of lecture on a certain theme. While with the second, the lessons are more about you or your body. For example, the Consciousness School offers so-called breath lessons, but also ‘Mindful Sex’.

Do you want to do a more ‘exciting’ sport? Then check out the pole dance studios of OneFit or ClassPass. Rest assured, these are not strip clubs, but very female-friendly studios where you can practice pole dancing in a gym setting!

You can also use both apps in Amsterdam, for example, to swim in the De Mirandabad, or to exercise and chill in the wellness of the Westcord Fashion Hotel.

Low-cost chains such as FitForFree or Basic-Fit are not affiliated with these two apps. It is clear that both ClassPass and One-Fit focus more on the “upper end” of the market.

With OneFit or ClassPass to the sauna / wellness after exercise

A number of gyms also have wellness, spa and sauna facilities. As a OneFit or ClassPass member, you can almost always use these facilities for free.

Some very popular gyms are exceptions to this and you have to pay a little extra, but the discounts for members of these two apps are very high.

With ClassPass you can also do gymnastics or even pole dance!

For example, the popular Spa Zuiver in Amsterdam offers the possibility to first use the squash court or the fitness and then enjoy the spa and saunas for an additional fee.

As a ClassPass member you can get access to the Spa and Wellness facilities of Spa Zuiver in Amsterdam for no less than four hours for € 13.50. Considerably cheaper than a day ticket of € 36!

It is fair to say that access for Classpass members is only during off-peak hours from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM and 7:00 PM to 10:30 PM.

Please note: Spa Zuiver in Amsterdam has swimwear days on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. So don’t forget your swimsuit/bathing suit/bikini if you go on these days!

Prijzen van OneFit en ClassPass versus ‘gewone’ sportscholen

Eerlijk is eerlijk, maandelijks opzegbare abonnementen van ketens zoals Basic-Fit of FitforFree zijn met zo’n € 30 per maand goedkoper dan OneFit en ClassPass. Voor die € 30 per maand mag je bij deze twee ketens, onbeperkt sporten.

Zelfs als je een maandelijks opzegbaar abonnement neemt bij bijvoorbeeld Clubsportive of Trainmore ben je goedkoper uit dan bij ClassPass of OneFit.

Deze vergelijking gaat overigens alleen maar op als je meer dan 2 à 3 keer per week naar de sportschool gaat. Ga je maar 2 of 3 keer per week naar een sportschool, dan ben je over het algemeen weer iets goedkoper uit bij ClassPass of OneFit.

Het grote voordeel van deze twee apps is natuurlijk wel dat je extreem flexibel bent. Op dinsdag sport je bij sportschool X, op donderdag bij sportschool Y en in het weekend doe je misschien bij Yoga-studio Z nog een sessie.

Bij ClassPass betaal je voor het goedkoopste abonnement een bedrag van € 35 per maand, bij OneFit betaal je, afhankelijk van de stad, tussen de € 27,50 en € 32,50 per maand. Daarnaast zijn er vanzelfsprekend duurdere abonnementen, waarmee je ook meer mag sporten.

Both apps then work with a subscription that gives you a certain number of credits or workouts. At OneFit you can do four workouts for that amount, but you can do a maximum of two per gym.

ClassPass works with credits and you can do a workout 4 to 5 times for that money. For example, one gym uses 5 credits per lesson, but 7 credits per lesson during peak hours. Other gyms use 6 credits throughout the day. This way you still have some control over the use of your credits.

Incidentally, with ClassPass you can go to the same gym unlimited, even with the cheapest subscription. So if you want to go to gym X 4 to 5 times every month, you can do that. With OneFit, you can only go to the same gym twice a month with the cheapest subscription. If you want to go to the same gym four times, you have to purchase the more expensive subscription of € 65.

With ClassPass you also have the option to purchase additional credits, if you happen to run out of credits in your current month. If you still have credits left, you can take a maximum of 10 credits with you to the next month.

The difference in rates between ClassPass and OneFit

Both ClassPass and OneFit do apply a ‘fine’ in case you don’t show up. At OneFit you have to check yourself in via the app if you are within a radius of 250 meters from the gym. With ClassPass you often have to report yourself at a counter. OneFit uses a fixed amount of € 10, while ClassPass varies between € 8 and € 14, depending on the gym.

OneFit and ClassPass are flexible, because you can cancel your membership every month and you can switch subscriptions every month. So if you want to have a blast for a month, you can take a more expensive subscription, and if you go on holiday, you can take a cheaper subscription or even take a break for a month!

ClassPass also comes in handy when staying abroad

Another nice side effect of ClassPass is the fact that you can also use ClassPass to exercise abroad. Obviously only in the larger cities or more famous holiday destinations.

It should be clear that you have more on offer in world cities such as New York, London or Paris than in a somewhat smaller city such as Hanover in Germany, for example.

You can also use ClassPass abroad

So are you going to one of these cities for a weekend or are you there for a business stay and don’t feel like working out in that boring hotel gym? Then you can go to a yoga studio in New York with your Dutch ClassPass account!

You should bear in mind that sports in world cities are more expensive than in Amsterdam.

Where you lose between 5-8 credits for an average gym in Amsterdam, you quickly lose 10 credits for two hours of exercise in a gym in New York.

On the other hand; how cool is it to work out in New York among the locals!?

More possibilities with ClassPass than OneFit

Another advantage of ClassPass compared to OneFit is the fact that you can also go to the hairdresser. Admittedly, the range of hairdressers is (still) limited, but you can use your ClassPass credits for a short haircut.

In addition, with ClassPass you have access to the wellness facilities of the popular Renessence in Amsterdam.

In the major cities, you also have the option of using ClassPass to exchange your credits for coffee (at Stach) or for sushi (at Sushito).

Conclusion comparison ClassPass and OneFit

Overall, we think that ClassPass really has much more value. You are more flexible, there is a larger and more varied range, there are fewer restrictions in gym visits. But the fact that you can work out anywhere in the world with ClassPass is also very nice!

Discounted ClassPass

ClassPass has a nice discount for all new members: you can exercise for free for the first month! But watch out; after that your subscription starts with a rate of € 59 per month, you can only downgrade or stop your subscription after that second month.

Fortunately, we were able to arrange a special friend discount for you at ClassPass. If you start a subscription with ClassPass via this special discount page, you pay € 5 for the first month, but the next month(s) after that only cost € 35. In addition, you can cancel immediately after your first month with this special discount promotion.

How does free exercise through ClassPass work?

Besides the fact that you can choose a certain membership per month, there is also the possibility to exercise for free via ClassPass!

If you’re logged in to the ClassPass website, or if you open the app, you’ll see the option to invite friends to ClassPass on the startup screen. You can send this invitation via e-mail, Whatsapp, sms, or via various social media.

For every friend you can convince to join ClassPass, you as a current ClassPass customer will receive a credit of no less than € 40. So if you have a membership of € 35 per month and you make one friend or acquaintance a member of ClassPass, so you can exercise for free the next month!

In fact, the difference of € 5 will remain in your account and you can carry it over to the next month! If you make as many as three or four people a member of ClassPass, your credit will remain in your account until you have used up this credit.

Unlike the ‘regular’ credits, of which you can carry a maximum of 10 to the next month, you can benefit unlimitedly with the referral credit.