Software for yoga instructors: private sessions, workshops and retreats

Most yoga teachers in the US piece together income from several places: group classes at two or three studios, often paid as a contractor, private sessions at clients' homes or on Zoom, a Saturday workshop now and then and a retreat once a year. The studios book their own classes. What's left to you is privates, workshops, retreats and corporate work, each paid differently. One limit up front: SoloWOS gives each time slot to one booking, so it doesn't replace a studio's class schedule.

From the first private to a weekly regular

1. Create a 60-minute "Private session" meeting type, charged at booking (for example $95) and refunded if canceled 24 hours ahead. For in-home sessions a required question asks for the address; for Zoom, your link goes in the location and arrives in the confirmation.
2. A couple or a group of friends? One person books and pays, and the slot is theirs whether two people show up or five.
3. Add a 45-minute buffer after in-home privates for driving, unrolling mats and traffic.
4. For a client who wants a private every week, put a 4-session pack on one invoice and send four one-time links to a meeting type you've turned off, with an expiration date that matches the terms they accepted.
5. Corporate classes: a company wants yoga twice a week for its team. Send a monthly proposal and the contract for signature. If you bill by the hour, log each class in Time Tracking and pull the hours onto the month's invoice.

Workshops and retreats

For a 3-hour inversions workshop with 15 spots, publish a sign-up form on your Link in Bio page and close it when the 15th response arrives. Forms don't count spots or take payment, so each person gets an invoice with a pay link. A weekend retreat in the Berkshires sells as a proposal: lodging, meals, classes and transport as line items, a 30% deposit, and the waiver sent for e-signature once it's accepted. The balance invoice comes from the same proposal 30 days before you leave.

A typical week

• Monday: classes at two studios, booked through the studios' own software.
• Tuesday: a private on Zoom with a client in Denver, who saw your open times in her own time zone.
• Wednesday: the workshop form reaches 15 responses and you close it. Fifteen invoices go out and nine are paid by card that evening.
• Thursday: the HR manager at a local firm accepts the proposal for 8 classes a month and signs the contract.
• Friday: you log the retreat house deposit and new blocks in Expenses and see whether the retreat still clears your target.

All 13 tools, one by one

How a yoga instructor uses each tool. Scheduling is for privates, not group classes; Forms and Invoicing cover workshops.

• Link in Bio: your bio link with this week's studio schedule, the private-session page, the next workshop's sign-up and an email signup for retreat announcements.
• Short Links: a QR code on the studio bulletin board or the sign at your park class, with a count of how many people scanned it.
• Forms: workshop and retreat sign-ups. There's no payment or spot counting in a form: you watch the responses and close it when it's full.
• Scheduling: private sessions only: one booking per slot, paid at booking, with a travel buffer and an email reminder the day before. Group classes with spots don't fit.
• Proposals: retreats and corporate classes, each part a line item with a deposit, and you see when the HR manager opened it.
• E-Signatures: the retreat or workshop waiver with your refund policy, and the agreement with a corporate client, each with a signing certificate.
• Document Tracking: the retreat itinerary and packing list as a tracked PDF, so you know who read it before the pre-retreat call.
• Screen Recording: won't teach a pose, since it records your screen. Use it for a walkthrough of up to 5 minutes that explains your corporate proposal to the person who has to approve it.
• Notes & Boards: a retreat board for lodging, menu, transport and unpaid balances, each card with a deadline.
• Time Tracking: only for hourly corporate work: log each class, and the hours become lines on the month's invoice.
• Invoicing: workshop fees, private-session packs, the retreat balance and monthly corporate invoices, with a card pay link and your Venmo or Zelle details.
• Expenses: room rental for workshops, props, teacher trainings and retreat deposits with their receipts, so you see whether the retreat made money.
• Automations: when someone joins your list from Link in Bio, they get your workshop calendar; when a retreat proposal is accepted, you get a task to reserve their room.

Contractor pay, credentials and health questions

• Studios that pay you as an independent contractor send a Form 1099-NEC once they pay you $2,000 or more in a year, for payments made after December 31, 2025 (it was $600 before). You report all of your income whether or not a form arrives; the quarterly estimated taxes guide covers the payments.
• The RYT is a credential conferred by Yoga Alliance, a private organization, and Yoga Alliance says an RYT alone doesn't qualify you to present yourself as a yoga therapist.
• Keep injuries and pregnancy out of sign-up forms and booking questions, and ask about them in person before class. If you teach prenatal or therapeutic yoga with a written health questionnaire, keep it on paper or in a system built for health records; some state laws cover health data even when HIPAA doesn't.
• Waivers are enforced differently from state to state. Have a lawyer review the one for your retreat, especially if it covers travel or outdoor activities.

This is general information, not legal advice. Rules vary by state; check yours with a lawyer or your licensing board.

SoloWOS or Calendly: which fits

Choose Calendly or Acuity if:

• You want a small class with several people in the same slot (Calendly's group events).
• You sell class packs or gift certificates and want them tracked for you (Acuity, Standard plan and up), or you need text reminders.
• You run a full class schedule with spots, waitlists and memberships. Then look at studio software such as Mindbody or Momence, and check their sites for what each plan includes.

Choose SoloWOS if:

• Your own income is privates, workshops, retreats and corporate classes, and you want the proposal, waiver, invoice and booking page in one account.
• You take deposits through your own Stripe account, refunded automatically inside your cancellation window.

Prices and features checked on October 16 and 17, 2026 on each company's site. See also Calendly vs Acuity Scheduling.

Start with these three

Scheduling for private sessions, Invoicing for workshop fees and private packs, and Forms for the next workshop's sign-up. Proposals and E-Signatures come in when you plan your first retreat.

Free tools that help

• Break-even calculator for how many sign-ups a retreat needs to cover lodging and transport.
• Project cost calculator to build the per-person retreat price.
• Freelance rate calculator for the price of a private session.
• Time zone meeting planner for online students in other time zones.
• QR code generator for the studio bulletin board.

What SoloWOS won't do for a yoga instructor

• No class schedule with spots, waitlists or check-in: each slot takes one booking.
• No memberships or class passes that count down, and no automatic card charging.
• Forms don't take payment or stop at a set number of responses; you close them yourself.
• Reminders by email only, not SMS.
• No on-demand video library for recorded classes.
• SoloWOS doesn't file taxes, issue 1099s or collect sales tax for you. Invoicing sends the invoice with a pay link (card through your Stripe account) and your other payment details; your accountant or tax software handles the rest.