Free User Experience Changes

For over 15 years, our mission has been to offer high quality yoga to a global community, eliminating the barriers of location, time, and cost. We are proud of the fact that at least half of our class library has been free over that time - no strings attached. This can only be possible through the financial contributions of our Sustaining Members, who generously support our mission by subscribing. 

Over the past five years, our free user base has grown significantly and currently our Sustaining Members represent approximately 2% of our entire community. Unfortunately, the cost of fully supporting 98% of our community is simply not possible going forward, so we need to make a change.

For this reason, from March 31, 2025 many of our classes, audio meditations, programs and challenges will be moved from ‘free-for-everyone’ to ‘available only for Sustaining Members’. If you are unable to subscribe because of serious financial constraints, the free library will still have 200 high quality classes (many of our most popular!), and will still feature a variety of instructors and styles. We want to make sure that you are taken care of. If you are able to become a Sustaining Member, we will be offering even more great features (see below).

We want to make it super easy. If you sign up before March 31st, you will receive your first month for free! Just use the code ‘freemonth’ at checkout for a monthly subscription.

In case you don’t know, this is what you get as a Sustaining Member:

  • Unlimited access to:
    • 1100+ ad-free yoga, tai chi, qi gong, pilates & meditation classes
    • 100+ guided audio meditations
    • 80+ curated yoga challenges and programs
    • Our DYWM Apps for mobile and TV
    • Our monthly live Asana Labs
  • Full HD video (1080p)
  • 20% off of any of our YTT Continuing Education courses or bundles
  • 20% off of any of our Premium Wellness Programs
  • Our immense gratitude!

Thank you for caring and for being a part of this 15 year-long labor of love! We really appreciate you and are grateful for your support.

The DoYogaWithMe Team

Comments

Existing Comments

MichelleRene
MichelleRene
March 19, 2025

From a business angle, your decision makes sense, obviously.

I'm very grateful for having found your site several years ago & particularly the only free, approx. hour-long, intermediate class with a beginning, middle & end, presented by Melissa.

It resembled the classes I was attending before a disruptive change in my life & helped me enormously to establish a regular home practice.

The class is also perfectly suited to women starting the long menopause journey, with its fluctuating energy levels, as I've mentioned in previous correspondence.

I would not be the healthier person I am today, if that class had not been free.

So, for the sake of all women struggling with health issues, related to the menopause, I hope Melissa's class will remain free.

Wishing you all the very best, moving forward, in an otherwise deeply troubled world,

Michelle

 

lizzybloom
lizzybloom
March 18, 2025

Totally understand this! I enjoyed the free options for years before becoming a sustaining member, and it's so worth it! Thank you for the work you do and still offering free options for those who need it.

dblyelhd
dblyelhd
March 18, 2025

Love this site, great classes and well worth the cost.  Found your site during COVID and have been a sustaining member for a few years now.  

Uncleshern
Uncleshern
March 17, 2025

I appreciate the transparency. Obviously 98% of your users not bringing anything to the table is not sustainable. I became a member some years ago and it has more than paid for itself in my physical, spiritual, and mental health. Considering it's less than a sandwich a month, and the quality of content, it's really a steal. And through your videos, it is apparent that you all care very much about the community and I'm sure you didn't make this decision lightly. Thank you for all you do and even though you don't know it, all the times DYWM has nurtured me through things over the years. 

Fiji McAlpine
Fiji McAlpine
March 19, 2025

Thank you for sharing this, everything is exactly true!  We have taken over a year to make this decision and tried many other avenues first to encourage more of our frequent users to subscribe.  We want to continue to grow together, and that takes the full community!

mildconfusion
mildconfusion
March 17, 2025

Hi thank you for bringing the transparency to the table around this change. I decided to begin supporting again and appreciate that you do have a 'year option' at a significant discount if you pay all at once.

DYWM is a fantastic place hopefully others will help where they can too.

 

apollo_91
apollo_91
March 16, 2025

I understand the changes and do love this site, but have you considered doing

  • pay what you can type pricing? 
  • or making the "bursaries" and financial need options more transparent? I didn't know that y'all offered that and I don't see it listed on the site
  • or featuring pay for another member's membership options? (for those that have the extra income)

These are just a few ideas, but might help doyogawithme stay closer to its mission of eliminating the financial barriers associated with yoga.

Yoga With Me Too
Yoga With Me Too
March 15, 2025

David's class on Lower Back and Hamstring has been a life changer for me. I purchased the video many years ago. To be allowed access to quality cost money. As the saying goes "you get what you pay for". Keep up the great work and thank you!

JodyW
JodyW
March 15, 2025

The old classes that are recorded don't cost you anything, they are a sunk cost. It doesnt make sense for you to start charging for them now except for you to make profit. Making all videos going forward require a subscription makes sense but it's sad to see that this long time community is moving everything to a subscription model. 

Fiji McAlpine
Fiji McAlpine
March 17, 2025

Hi Jody,

Thank you for sharing your thoughts.  We have been devoted to creating high quality yoga, and ensuring that we have free content too so that those who can't afford to pay still have classes. 

It is quite complex to explain how our old content does cost us a great deal to maintain. Free users cost us as a company and have been supported in the past by the contributions of our sustaining members.  We have now entered a zone where the free users are 98% of our user base.

I have worked for this company since 2009 and know each person on our very small team very well.  We are all devoted, and passionate about this work and at the same time have to make decisions that will allow us to continue to do it.

KoNiKo
KoNiKo
March 15, 2025

If your goal is to provide free yoga, but you are cutting down on that, your goal has changed. Your current goal seems to be focused on paying members. That's fine, but just be honest about it.

Users suggesting to raise the prices obviously don't understand the situation other people are in.

Fiji McAlpine
Fiji McAlpine
March 17, 2025

Thank you for sharing your thoughts.  We have been devoted to creating high quality yoga, and ensuring that we have free content too so that those who can't afford to pay still have classes. 

It is quite complex to explain how our old content does cost us a great deal to maintain. Free users cost us as a company and have been supported in the past by the contributions of our sustaining members.  We have now entered a zone where the free users are 98% of our user base.

I have worked for this company since 2009 and know each person on our very small team very well.  We are all devoted, and passionate about this work and at the same time have to make decisions that will allow us to continue to do it.

Sebosvisser@gmail.com
[email protected]
March 14, 2025

DYWM is invaluable to me, and had been so for at least ten years. Thank you so much. And if you needed to raise prices a bit, I would fully understand. 

DaleJRhodes
DaleJRhodes
March 13, 2025

Best $9/month I’ve ever spent, and I really watch where my money and energy really go. Don’t let your community model restrict you, it should support and free you too.  

ninadives
ninadives
March 13, 2025

I have been out of a job for a year now and this is the only subscription I have kept going as it is still much cheaper than a therapist ;-)

Your website and effort has been an anchor for me for the past 5 or 6 years and I am so grateful to all your teachers as well as team behind the scenes! Thank you so much and I hope that all future changes will be able to keep this site going as I really really really love that you all do this for and with us!

 

Thank you, Namaste!

Fiji McAlpine
Fiji McAlpine
March 13, 2025

Thank you Nina!  I agree completely, yoga has transformed my life and staying consistent with my practice brings benefits to my mind and body that are so valuable!  We appreciate you devotion and support, and will continue to find ways to thank our sustaining members!  I am wishing for wonderful opportunities to come your way!

epk
epk
March 12, 2025

I just found this website recently and have been telling everyone I know about it. As a student, I don't have the money for a subscription or for in person classes and have been so excited to feel like I'm growing my practice through more challenging classes than I could find elsewhere. This is so deeply disappointing.

KathleenHeatherDowd
KathleenHeatherDowd
March 13, 2025

It seems like everything is going to be paywalled now. Such a desperately disappointing piece of news. I’m concerned about what is considered a “popular “ class, too. Rats rats and even more rats. The world feels very unkind right now.

Fiji McAlpine
Fiji McAlpine
March 13, 2025

Thank you for sharing your thoughts, and I understand how you feel as costs in all aspects of life are rising it seems.  The word kindness is a powerful one, as what is kind does not always look nice or fair.  Kindness would be doing what is needed so that we can continue to exist, support the handful of devoted employees (myself included), and continue to create classes. For almost 2 decades we have worked incredibly hard as a small team here to contribute as much as possible for free and held a voluntary subscription model which helped sustain us and allowed us to continue to create.  Our free user base is now costing more than our sustaining members can support.  We are hoping that those who find us valuable, and can afford a small annual subscription will do so out of kindness, paying it forward for those who can't.

KathleenHeatherDowd
KathleenHeatherDowd
March 13, 2025

You have been immensely valuable, I regret your difficulties, but don’t come back at me, implying I’m being unkind by reacting to this news with a certain amount of despair. I can’t afford to subscribe, tho I certainly wish I could. Your stated intention was always to offer free yoga to as many people as possible, it’s a shame that time is over now. 
 

Fiji McAlpine
Fiji McAlpine
March 14, 2025

Kathleen, we will continue to offer free content on the site, that model is shifting but not ending.  I apologize if my response appeared to saying in anyway that you were unkind.  I was trying to convey that this decision on our part is not one that is unkind.  We do understand that this news may be upsetting to some which is why we have created spaces like this to talk about it.  As I mentioned in other comments we have always offered bursaries to those who simply can't afford the membership.  Feel free to reach out to the site to ask about that possibility.

Fiji McAlpine
Fiji McAlpine
March 13, 2025

Thank you for sharing your experience, and I am so happy to hear you are getting so much value from our classes.  Remember we will still be offering 200 free classes so you can continue to use the site as a free user when you need to due to finances.  Remember we have also offered countless bursaries over the years for subscriptions and our trainings for those who are in financial need.  Thank you for spreading the word to others!