Pay-what-you-can (PWYC) lets your students choose what they pay for a class, instead of a single fixed price. It is the same idea as sliding-scale or donation-based pricing, and it is a natural fit for community classes, by-donation sessions, and keeping your practice accessible to people on different budgets.
How it works
When you turn on pay-what-you-can for a class, you set two things:
- A suggested price — the amount that is pre-filled at checkout. Most students pay around this.
- A minimum price — the lowest a student is allowed to pay. Set it to 0 to let anyone attend, even for free.
At checkout, the student sees your suggested amount already filled in. They can pay that, pay more, or lower it down to your minimum. The amount they choose is exactly what lands in your account, with 0% commission as always.
Turning it on
- Create a class as usual, or start a new one.
- On the Pricing step, leave the class as Paid.
- Set your price — this becomes the suggested amount.
- Tick "Let students pay what they can".
- Set a Minimum price (or leave it at 0 for a true donation class).
That is it. Your class page now shows a "Pay what you can" badge with your suggested amount, and the booking page lets students pick what they pay.
Good to know
- No discounts stack on PWYC. Because the student already chooses their price, promo codes, class packs, early-bird tiers, and subscription credits do not apply to a pay-what-you-can class. The amount the student enters is the final amount.
- Tiered local/visitor pricing and PWYC are separate. A class uses one or the other, not both.
- Group bookings multiply the chosen per-person amount by the number of seats.
- Tips still work. A student can add a tip on top of their chosen amount if they want to.
When to use it
Pay-what-you-can shines for community and beginner classes, donation-based meditation or breathwork, and anything where you would rather fill the room and keep it accessible than turn people away on price. For premium workshops and retreats, a fixed price usually reads as more intentional.