9 ways coworking spaces are rivaling private members clubs
Private members' clubs have sold access to the right people, amenities, and social events for centuries. But even as investment capital pours into this burgeoning sector—Business Insider reported more than 30 new clubs have opened in New York City in recent years—many of the newest struggle to stay open.
The Wing, a women's club and workspace once valued at $365 million, per Fortune, closed in 2022 after six years of operation. Despite counting more than 200,000 members globally, Soho House has only ever reported net losses, and its stock fell more than 60 percent following its 2021 IPO; the company went private again this year in a $2.7 billion take-private deal, which put Ashton Kutcher on its board.
At the same time, a quieter shift is getting less attention: The workplace itself is turning into a club. High-end coworking spaces now offer much of what members clubs sell, including design-forward locations, concierge-style hospitality and a calendar, at a fraction of the price.
They also add something most clubs don't: a community built around the workday, not one built cocktail by cocktail, as lonely remote workers, founders, and entrepreneurs find that third places—spaces between the home and office— can help. CANOPY shares nine reasons shared offices with curated programming beat the members club.
1. They're built for work, not just play
Coworking spaces are designed for the workday. Many clubs are not: "Our Houses are designed to be social spaces, so laptop use is limited to specific times and designated areas," Soho House's house rules state. The best spaces create clear zones for focused work and for socializing: a quiet room for deep work, a meeting room for the pitch, and communal tables, kitchens, and lounges for conversations afterward. Shared offices also design for their members, many of whom are building a start-up or collaborating with teams in different time zones, to work comfortably and safely at all hours, without having to compete with a rowdy bar crowd or feeling guilty for looking at their screens.
2. Better Business Networking, Every Day
Networking at members’ clubs happens one cocktail at a time, and it doesn't always pay off. One former Soho House member told Business Insider she left after two years without new business or genuine friendships to show for it.
At coworking spaces, seeing the same faces around the office or by the coffee bar builds trust and opens doors to conversations that members can build on over time. Any community manager worth their salt will make introductions. Organizational psychologist Constance Noonan Hadley's research, published in Harvard Business Review, found knowledge workers rated coworking spaces more interpersonally satisfying than the office or home, largely because they could choose whom to engage with.
Isolated remote workers also gain a side benefit. People who live alone and work remote-friendly jobs spent 25% of their days without any social contact, according to a study in the journal Science, CNN reported. A shared workspace won't solve that on its own, but it guarantees company.
3. An Inclusive Community, Not a Clique
Exclusivity limits who you can meet. At clubs, it's the product: would-be members have to navigate waitlists, vetting committees, and often astronomical fees for the privilege. (Dues at Casa Cipriani run five to six figures a year, despite real estate investor Jonathan Greene’s claim that "Exclusivity in one location... is hard to scale," to Business Insider.) Coworking takes a different tack, admitting members inclusively on the bet that a broader mix of industries and backgrounds creates more useful introductions, while capping membership so the space never feels oversubscribed. Presented with a choice of brands, members also self-select, choosing the location, format, and community that best fit their working style and price point.
4. Club-style design and hospitality
Workspace operators are adopting clubs' best elements. In June 2026, global commercial real estate firm CBRE launched a workplace hospitality brand spanning 2,500 buildings and more than 7,000 front-of-house staff. In March 2026, a club-style workspace and events operator raised $230 million from TPG and Ares. At the high end, that means high-style interiors, concierge service, and community managers who know members by name.
5. Curated Events Tailored To Your Business
Club programming skews social. Strong coworking calendars run on two tracks: talks with world-class speakers and industry leaders connected to members' own businesses, and member-to-member events such as breakfasts, happy hours and skill shares that turn the people at the next desk into collaborators and clients. In Manhattan's NoMad neighborhood, Blender Workspace runs a monthly art series with film screenings, panel discussions and rotating installations. In Seattle, The Cloud Room hosts a curated event series with local thought leaders. Both belong to Global Collective, a network of independent workspaces whose members can work from one another's spaces.
6. No Bar Tab: Coffee, Snacks and Kitchens Included
At a club, dues are only the entry fee. Meals and drinks come on top. At the University Club of San Francisco, a private club on Nob Hill, an Old Fashioned runs $14, a glass of chardonnay $19, and a skirt steak $36, according to its dining menu.
Upscale coworking spaces typically include coffee bars, snacks and beverages, plus communal kitchens for preparing your own food. Community managers can arrange catering or order in, and most desirable spaces are a short walk from good restaurants—a boon for hungry workers and for business meetings over lunch or dinner.
7. More Value Than Club Dues
Even for professionals who can afford club dues, the value proposition favors coworking. Soho House dues run $2,000 to $6,000 a year, according to the Los Angeles Business Journal. By contrast, a membership at the median coworking space in San Francisco cost $235 a month in the second quarter of 2026, according to CoworkingCafe, and that includes a place to work every day. Big employers have noticed: Nearly half the Fortune 100 now hold memberships with a single flexible-workspace provider, TIME reported, which further tilts the equation for workers—especially members of Gen Z, nearly three-quarters of whom spend their weekends at home because of the high cost of going out, according to Harris Poll findings reported by Fortune.
A flexible membership also avoids the hidden costs of an office lease. "As we're meeting a couple of days a week, a coworking setup is better than maintaining a dedicated office space that sits empty much of the time," said Ullas Naik, founder of Streamlined Ventures.
8. One Membership, Many Cities
Many big clubs sell reach—Soho House alone spans 46 locations worldwide—but independent coworking spaces are answering with alliances of their own. Multi-brand networks such as Global Collective link design-led workspaces in major cities across North America and Europe, so members of one space can work from partner locations when they travel. For consultants and founders with clients or partners in more than one city, a business trip becomes a chance to plug into another community.
9. Closer to Founders and Funders
In startups, proximity still pays. San Francisco-area startups drew $176.1 billion in venture funding in the first quarter of 2026, nearly two-thirds of the U.S. total, the San Francisco Examiner reported, citing PitchBook and the National Venture Capital Association, with OpenAI's $122 billion round accounting for much of it.
A club puts you in a room with the right people after hours, when they're off the clock. A coworking space puts you beside them during the workday, when they're open to business. Founders work there, and investors, lawyers, and advisers come in for meetings, so a conversation at the coffee bar can turn into an introduction, a client, or a check. "Serendipity is a lot of what fuels this industry," said Renata Quintini, co-founder of the venture firm Renegade Partners, who works from a coworking space in Menlo Park.
This story was produced by CANOPY and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.
