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Pricing

All Metrognome pricing is based on studio square footage and payment method. Prices are grossed up so that after Stripe processing fees, the location receives the intended base amount. Metrognome is fee-neutral on payment processing — the platform's revenue comes from the billing surcharge on monthly subscriptions and the platform fee on credit redemptions.

Rates

Every studio has a rate per square foot, in cents. Rates come in two types: monthly and hourly. Each rate is tagged with a tier (STANDARD or PREMIUM) and an effective date.

Rate resolution follows a strict priority: a rate set directly on a resource takes precedence over the location-level default rate. Within either level, the most recent rate whose effective date has passed wins. Future-dated rates can be pre-staged and will activate automatically on their effective date.

If no rate is configured for a resource or its location, pricing cannot be calculated.

Base Price

The base price of a studio is its square footage multiplied by the rate per square foot. All values are in cents. This base price is what the location is intended to receive — fees are added on top.

Square footage is determined in priority order: a staff-set square footage override on the resource takes precedence over the physical dimensions. When no override is set, square footage is width × length in feet. If neither is available, calculated pricing is unavailable.

Fees

Fees are additive percentages applied on top of the base price using a gross-up formula. The customer pays a total that, after Stripe deducts its processing fee, leaves the location with the base amount.

Five fee types exist:

  • Card — Stripe's card processing fee (percentage + flat per-transaction fee)
  • ACH — Stripe's bank transfer fee (percentage only, lower than card)
  • Billing surcharge — an additional percentage added only to monthly subscription payments. This is Metrognome's platform revenue on lockouts.
  • Invoicing surcharge — defined but not currently applied in any billing path
  • Credit transfer — platform fee on credit redemptions at locations (see Credits)

Each fee type has an effective date. Fee changes take effect going forward and do not retroactively alter existing transactions or subscriptions.

How Fees Compose

For monthly lockouts, the billing surcharge is added to the card or ACH fee before the gross-up calculation. For hourly bookings, only the base card or ACH fee applies — no billing surcharge.

The gross-up formula ensures that after Stripe takes its processing cut, the location nets the base price. The flat per-transaction fee (card only) is included in the gross-up.

Rounding

After fees are applied, the final price is rounded up:

  • Monthly card (calculated from dimensions): round up to the nearest $5
  • Monthly card (override or custom amount): round up to the nearest $1
  • Monthly ACH: round up to the nearest $1
  • Hourly (all methods): round up to the nearest $1

The $5 rounding exists because dimension-calculated prices produce arbitrary cent values from the sqft × rate formula. Overrides are explicit staff-set prices that should be respected as-is (only rounding to the nearest dollar since staff don't enter cents).

Rounding is always up (ceiling), never down or to nearest.

Price Overrides

A resource can have explicit card and/or ACH price overrides that bypass the square footage calculation entirely. When one override is set, the other payment method's price is derived by back-calculating the base from the override and re-applying the other method's fees.

Staff can also set custom amounts at checkout time, which take the highest priority. The override hierarchy is: custom checkout amount > resource price override > calculated from sqft × rate (where sqft = override value if set, otherwise width × length).

Monthly Pricing

Monthly lockout pricing uses the monthly rate per square foot. The billing surcharge fee is added on top of the card or ACH processing fee. A fresh Stripe price object is created for each checkout — prices are not reused between subscriptions.

Rate changes do not automatically affect existing subscriptions. A subscription's price is locked at checkout time and only changes when staff explicitly updates the lockout (via studio move, price change, or revert to studio rate).

Hourly Pricing

Hourly pricing uses the hourly rate per square foot. No billing surcharge is applied.

Peak and Off-Peak

Each hourly studio can have a peak hours window and a peak multiplier. During peak hours, the base rate is multiplied by the peak multiplier. Off-peak hours use the base rate. A booking that spans both periods is charged the appropriate rate for each hour.

The price shown to members as the "standard" price is the peak rate. If an off-peak discount exists, it is shown separately.

Credit Pricing

Credits offer a 10% discount versus the card money price. Credit price is calculated by taking the card price, subtracting a 10% discount (rounded down to the nearest dollar), and rounding the result up to the nearest dollar. One credit equals one dollar.

Credits are always priced against card rates, never ACH.

Insurance

Insurance pricing is managed entirely as Stripe price objects. There is no server-side calculation — staff set insurance prices in Stripe, and the system lists available prices for the insurance product. Insurance is added as a second recurring line item on a lockout subscription.

Waitlist Deposit

The waitlist deposit is a fixed flat amount. It is NOT grossed up — the location absorbs the Stripe processing fee on deposits. The deposit is applied as a credit on the member's first lockout invoice.

Credit Purchases

Members can buy credit packages. Each credit costs $1 at list price. Subscription-based credit packages receive a 10% discount. ACH purchasers receive an additional discount equal to the difference between card and ACH processing fees, rounded down to the nearest dollar.

The platform fee on credits is charged at redemption time, not at purchase — see Credits.

Revenue Split from Fees

  • Monthly lockouts: Stripe deducts its processing fee from the charge. Metrognome then deducts the billing surcharge (calculated on the gross charge amount) and transfers the remainder to the location. The location receives approximately the base price.
  • Hourly bookings: the full net (after Stripe's processing fee) is transferred to the location. Metrognome does not retain a fee on hourly payments.
  • Credit redemptions: the location receives 90% of the credit value. Metrognome retains a 10% platform fee.
  • Waitlist deposits: the location receives the deposit minus Stripe's actual processing fee. No gross-up, no platform fee.

Minimum Prices

Locations can have minimum monthly and hourly prices set. These override the computed minimum from individual resource prices for display purposes (e.g., "studios from $X/month"). If no minimum is configured, the lowest resource price at the location is used.