Is coworking cheaper than a private office?
Coworking is cheaper per person until it isn't. The crossover depends on how many days a week you are actually in the building and how many people you are paying for.
Per person
What each option costs per person, per month
| Area | Indicative per person / month | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Hot desk membership | £100–£400 | Any free desk, usually business hours. Cheapest if you are in two days a week or fewer. |
| Dedicated desk | £180–£550 | Your own desk on an open floor, leave your monitor. The default for one to three people. |
| Private serviced office | £250–£1100 | Lockable room, your own door. Cheaper per person as the room fills. |
| Managed office | £220–£750 | Your own floor and branding on a longer term. Best value above roughly twenty people. |
Prices shown are indicative market estimates for guidance only, based on typical flexible workspace rates for this area. They are not quotes. Live availability and actual pricing are confirmed on enquiry — call us and we will benchmark real options for your team size and move-in date.
The crossover
Where the maths flips
For one or two people who are in most days, a dedicated desk almost always wins. You pay for exactly what you use, and you get meeting rooms and an address without carrying a room you leave empty.
At four to six people the gap closes fast. A six-desk private office priced at the low end of its band frequently works out at less per head than six dedicated desks in the same building, because operators discount rooms by volume and desks by nothing. Ask for both quotes in the same email — it is a question operators answer honestly when you make the comparison explicit.
Above ten people, private is nearly always cheaper per head, and above twenty a managed office usually beats serviced. Add the productivity argument — calls, confidentiality, whiteboards, being able to leave things out — and the case rarely stays financial for long.
There is one genuine exception: hybrid teams. If your average attendance is two days a week, a pool of hot desk memberships plus booked meeting room time can cost half of a private office, and nobody spends the week staring at empty chairs.
By team
Private office cost by team size
| Team size | Central London / month | Regional city / month | What to know |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 person | £300–£700 | £150–£350 | A dedicated desk or a small internal office. A hot desk membership is usually cheaper if you are in fewer than three days a week. |
| 2 people | £700–£1,600 | £320–£700 | The smallest genuine private office. Internal rooms without a window save 15–20%. |
| 4 people | £1,600–£3,400 | £700–£1,500 | Widely available in every building, so this is the size with the most negotiating room. |
| 5 people | £2,000–£4,200 | £850–£1,800 | Ask for a 6-desk room at a 5-desk price — operators will often do it to fill an odd unit. |
| 8 people | £3,200–£6,800 | £1,350–£2,900 | Meeting room credits start to matter; you will outgrow the standard allocation. |
| 10 people | £4,000–£8,500 | £1,700–£3,600 | The point where a managed office or a floor sublet starts to compete on price. |
| 15 people | £6,000–£12,500 | £2,500–£5,300 | Expect a bespoke fit-out offer and rent-free periods on a 24-month term. |
| 20 people | £7,800–£16,500 | £3,300–£7,000 | Managed space usually undercuts serviced pricing at this size, with your own branding. |
| 30 people | £11,500–£24,500 | £4,800–£10,500 | Compare against a conventional lease with a fit-out — the crossover point is around here. |
| 50 people | £18,500–£40,000 | £7,800–£17,000 | Self-contained floor with your own reception, kitchen and access control. |
Frequently asked questions
Get live workspace options in the UK
Tell us your team size, budget and move-in date. We will send a shortlist with real, current pricing — free, independent and with no obligation.
Important: where this page uses the words “rent”, “rental”, “lease” or “let” to describe workspace, those terms are used for descriptive and search purposes only. The agreement offered by flexible workspace operators is a licence to occupy, not a lease or tenancy, and it does not confer security of tenure under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954. Prices shown are indicative estimates, not quotes or offers.