A gym membership in London can seem like just another cost to add to the extortionate cost of living that we face on a daily basis here in the capital. But what if there was a way to find cheap gyms in London?
Believe it or not, cheap gyms do exist in London, as do free gyms, free gym passes, free exercise classes, and brilliant deals on trial memberships. Keeping fit in London shouldn’t cost the earth, and like with most expenses in London- there is often a way to reduce that cost and save some money. Just what we like to hear.
The cheapest gyms in London
So where can we find cheap gym memberships in London? Is there such a thing as an affordable gym in central London? Luckily the answer is YES. There are affordable gyms in central London which are conveniently located around key areas such as Holborn and Oxford Street, among others.
Check out the table below for a breakdown of the cheapest gym memberships in London, and what is included within the price of each membership.
| Gym name | Membership Benefits | Locations | Price per month |
| PureGym | Pay £10-£25 joining fee, mostly 24 hour gyms and fitness classes, no contract, up to 30% off student discount | 60 gyms in Greater London including Feltham, Camden, Waterloo and Picadilly | From £12.99 |
| EasyGym | No contract, with fitness classes included | Camberwell | From £14.99 |
| The Gym Group | Open 24/7, no contract, free classes included | Over 50 gyms in Greater London including Paddington, Battersea, Angel, and Charing Cross | From £19.99 |
| Fitness4Less | Pay £12.50 joining fee, no minimum term, fitness classes included | New Malden, Southwark, Canning Town | From £29.99 |
| ClassPass | Get 14 days for free | Gyms and classes throughout Greater London | From £15 |
| Fitness First | 3 day free gym pass, access to multiple gym locations, 7 day cooling off period, 30mins PT session | 28 gyms in Greater London including Liverpool Street, Baker Street and Tottenham Court Road | From £49.99 |
| Anytime Fitness | Free gym pass, access to AF online portal (home workouts, nutrition guides and more), open 24/7, worldwide gym access | Over 50 locations in Greater London | From £39.95 |
| Muscleworks | £10 admin joining fee, 24/7 access, rolling contracts available | Bethnal Green, Stoke Newington, Enfield | From £29.99 |
| LSBU Active | Unlimited use of the gym, fitness classes included | London South Bank University, Elephant & Castle | From £27.99 |
| Better Health | Junior, senior, and student discounts available, UK wide access, pay as you go available | 100 locations across Greater London | From £35 |
| Xercise4Less | No contract, no joining fee, classes included | Hounslow | From £19.99 |
How much is a gym membership in London?
As you can see from the table above, a gym membership in London can be as cheap or as expensive as you want it to be. There are a crazy number of gyms in the city, and they are priced according to their facilities and locations, so do take this into consideration when you select your gym of choice.
There has been a rise in the number of cheap no-frills gyms in London which means there are now gyms for every budget in the city.
You could pay as little as £12.99 per month for a gym membership in London (although granted, it’s probably in the suburbs) or as much as a few hundred pounds!
What is the cheapest gym to join?
The cheapest gym to join is probably your local outdoor gym. You can check out my guide to the best outdoor gyms in London to find out more. Outdoor gyms are completely free to use. However they might not have all the facilities that you are looking for.
Luckily, there are some other cheap indoor gym options that you might want to try out for yourself. Some of the cheapest gyms in London are…
1. PureGym
With over 60 locations in London, you’re likely to live nearby (or work nearby) to a PureGym. Memberships at PureGym start from as little as £12.99 per month. Do your research though as prices will increase depending on the location of the gym.
Contracts can tie you into memberships which can lead to paying over the odds for your membership if you don’t get as much use out of it as you thought you would. Luckily, there are no contracts at PureGym.
Most PureGym locations are also open 24-7 which means that you can fit in a work out no matter what your schedule is like.
The PureGym gyms also run over 50 classes a week- which are all free to attend with your membership which gives it a huge advantage over some competitor gyms.
If you’re a student you can also save a massive 30% off the cost of a membership at PureGym which may secure it as a top contender for the cheapest gym in London.
2. EasyGym
The clue is in the name- EasyGym is simple, affordable, and convenient. Memberships start from £14.99 per month (however this price changes based on location) and offer off-peak or 24/7 memberships. Another plus point of this gym is that you can enjoy a free group training plan (Pack45) as part of your membership.
There is no fixed contract for this gym meaning you can cancel your membership any time. You can find EasyGym in Camberwell.
3. The Gym Group
If you’re looking for the cheapest gym in London, a membership with The Gym Group might be what you are looking for. Offering memberships starting from £19.99, with enviable central London locations. There is no contract tying you into a membership, and you have 24/7 access.
The Gym Group have over 50 locations across London, and even offer free classes!
4. Fitness4Less
Fitness4Less is an independent operator with 9 UK gyms. A FREE one to one session is offered to each new joiner, to build confidence on the machines and to help personalise your work out.
If you’re into fitness classes instead, Fitness4Less could be the affordable membership you’ve been looking for. From £29.99 a month you also have a choice of up to 208 instructor-led classes per month.
Fitness4Less has several London locations including New Malden, Southwark and Canning Town, which have extended opening hours from 5am-1am most days.
5. ClassPass
ClassPass is more suited to those who love fitness classes- but you can often get two weeks’ membership totally free when you trial the pass. Usually costing £65, you can also save £40 off the cost of this by using a refer a friend code.
ClassPass allows you to book into classes all over London through their dedicated app making it super easy to go to classes with friends after work or at the weekend. Their entry level membership costs £15 per month, which gives you 9 credits. Different classes will use up a different amount of credits, so do check this out while you’re making the most of your 14 day free trial.
6. Fitness First
Fitness First offer promotions regularly such as a 3 day free gym pass to use their facilities, or your first month free. They have 28 locations in London, so this is perfect if you’d like a small introduction before committing to a full membership. Locations include Baker Street, Tottenham Court Road, and London Bridge.
After the initial free trial, the monthly membership is a little more expensive than other gyms on the list, at £49.99+ per month. However, you might feel that this price is offset by the state of the art gym equipment available, and the wide range of free exercise classes such as zumba, body attack, and spinning.
7. Anytime Fitness
Similarly to Fitness First, Anytime Fitness also offers a free gym pass- just fill out the online form to redeem. With tons of locations all over London, you are sure to find a location close to you. Gyms are open 24/7, and so you’re bound to get the most out of this free pass.
You also get worldwide gym access with this pass, perfect if you’re travelling often. The membership is priced from £39.95 per month, with some branches offering a free PT session upon joining.
8. Muscleworks
As the name suggests, Muscleworks is a gym geared towards bodybuilders, with three locations in East London- Bethnal Green, Stoke Newington and Enfield. The Bethnal Green branch is a huge 8,000 sq ft space, with over 2,000 members.
The gyms are open 24/7, and have state of the art equipment with dumbbells up to 180 lbs, personal training facilities, and a protein bar. You can opt for a rolling monthly direct debit, which is £29.99 per month, making it a highly affordable London gym.
9. LSBU Active
Not just for students, LSBU (London South Bank University) Active also has a community membership for just £27.99 per month. With unlimited gym use during opening hours, plus free fitness classes, this is a great cheap gym membership for any Londoner.
Located in Elephant & Castle, this is a pretty central gym location, with an attractive price tag. You can also opt for pay as you go options, for both gym use and classes.
10. Better Health
Better Health is a non-profit charitable organisation who have partnered with over 250 sports and leisure centers across the UK. Founded in 1992, they are a well established organisation working with dozens of gyms throughout Greater London.
Their mission is to get more people looking after their health, and prioritising their fitness, hence the affordable monthly membership price, which starts at £35 per month, and the ability to cancel at any time.
11. Xercise4Less
Xercise4Less has a mission to make exercise more affordable for everyone. Currently, their only branch is in Hounslow, but at seriously cheap price of £19.99 per month, it’s one of London’s most affordable gyms.
The gym is a supportive environment for any fitness level, with over 40 fitness classes included in your monthly pass, and also a dedicated ladies-only area within the gym.
Gym membership discounts
If you love a great deal, you will love the fact that you can get some serious discounts on gym memberships in London.
LivingSocial
LivingSocial is your best friend when looking for fitness deals, and on the site you can find brilliant introductory offers. Past offers have included deals such as 3 fitness classes for £5, £5 1 week gym pass and a personal training session for £14.99.
It’s definitely worth looking on LivingSocial to see if you could get a brilliant deal on a gym membership in your area. The deals are usually short-term, but this is a great way to test out a new gym, or test out if a gym membership is right for you if you’ve never attended a gym before.
Cashback Websites
Be sure to use cashback websites such as TopCashback and Cheddar to make sure that you get cashback on any eligible gym memberships that you take out.
What is cashback? Cash back is when a cashback provider (such as TopCashback or Cheddar) works with a retailer (such as your gym) and receives a commission for referring you to that business. The cashback website will then share some of that commission with you, and keep some of the commission for themselves. It’s a win-win!
Gym alternatives in London
If you’re still not loving the prices of these cheap gym memberships in London, remember that there are some cheaper, and even free alternatives that you could try instead.
Couch to 5k
The Couch to 5k app is completely free to use, and offers a 9 week running programme. The app aims to have you running 5k after 9 weeks of training. If you’ve struggled with running in the past, this could be a winner as it eases you into running very gently. You’ll be a regular runner in no time- and the best part? Running outdoors is also completely free!
Free exercise classes
Some boroughs offer free exercise classes in local park areas. You may have to sign up in advance, but these classes are well worth going along to, to save some money. You could even combine this with use of the outdoor gym or a Couch to 5k run!
Many London neighbourhoods also hold parkrun sessions in local parks and green spaces. These are super popular in London, and you don’t have to pay anything to take part. Check out local websites, Facebook groups, and noticeboards to check what’s on in your neighbourhood.
Swimming in London
Ever visited a lido in London before? There are several dotted all over the city, and these outdoor pools are a brilliantly cheap way to keep fit throughout the year.
Prices start from a couple of pounds- for example if you go to Pools on the Park in Richmond, you can expect to pay £4.30 for an off-peak visit. If you go to Brockwell Lido, you can expect to pay £3.30-3.50 per visit.
Top Tips for finding cheap gyms in London
- Search for free trials before committing to a membership
- Don’t lock yourself into a contract if you’re unsure of how much you’ll use it
- Watch out for expensive joining fees
- Check if your employer offers any gym perks
- Utilise free exercise class trials
- Try out alternatives such as free apps and parkruns
As you can see, there is always an alternative to paying over the odds for your gym membership in London. There are cheap gym memberships available in London- you just have to look for them! Remember to factor in any additional cost of travel into your membership. There’s no point in joining a cheap gym that’s an hour away from your home or place of work!