Operators
The chains, compared
What each one costs, what it actually gives you, and every London location we have confirmed. Prices come straight from the directory, so they cannot drift.
Find your gym. Sweat it.
Nuffield Health
A healthcare charity that happens to run gyms — pools, saunas and clinicians in the same building, at three to five times the budget price.
Prices and locations → RecommendedThe Gym Group
PureGym's closest competitor on price, with self-employed trainers and a town-centre bias that makes it a commuter's gym.
Prices and locations →Better (GLL)
The charitable social enterprise that runs most of London's council leisure centres — and, with 60 pools, most of its swimming water.
Prices and locations →Everyone Active
Better's main rival for council leisure contracts — 27 London centres, 19 of them with a pool, concentrated in seven boroughs.
Prices and locations →PureGym
The largest budget estate in London, open around the clock, with no contract and no pool anywhere in it.
Prices and locations →Third Space
London-only luxury clubs with a pool in every one — and the most expensive memberships in this directory.
Prices and locations →Places Leisure
Thirteen centres across just two boroughs — Wandsworth and Kingston — where it holds the council leisure contract outright.
Prices and locations →Anytime Fitness
Franchise-owned 24-hour gyms with worldwide reciprocal access — smaller clubs, higher prices than the budget chains, and no pools.
Prices and locations →Equinox
Three London clubs, memberships from £297 to £470 a month, and — unusually for the price — not a swimming pool among them.
Prices and locations →Gymbox
Nightclub lighting, live DJs and a class timetable nobody else would attempt — mid-priced, London-only, and not for everyone.
Prices and locations →JD Gyms
The budget chain that puts a sauna in the changing room — three London sites, all 24-hour, all under £35.
Prices and locations →Virgin Active
Premium clubs with pools, spas and a club-collection pricing model that makes the headline rate almost meaningless.
Prices and locations →Prices marked Est are our own estimates, not operator rates. Chains with a green box are commercial partners — see each page for what that means.