Methodology
How we rank studios
Last updated: June 2026
Every city page on Reformerlylists studios in a deliberate order. We want that order to be useful and honest, so here's exactly how it works — and what money can and can't buy.
Quality first, not pay-to-win
With one clearly labeled exception (Featured, below), studios are ordered by quality signals — not by who pays us. The single biggest factor is a volume-aware rating.
A volume-aware (Bayesian) rating
A raw star rating is easy to misread: a brand-new studio with a single 5-star review looks “better” than a beloved studio with a 4.9 from 500 people. To fix that, we weight each studio's Google rating by how many reviews it has, pulling ratings with little evidence toward the overall average until they've earned enough reviews to stand on their own. In practice, a 4.9 from 400 reviews outranks a 5.0 from six — which matches how a real person would judge them. Studios with no rating yet sort to the end rather than being dropped.
Small, sensible tiebreakers
When quality is close, a few minor signals break the tie:
- Completeness.Studios with verified details — a real photo, hours, styles, pricing — edge out near-identical listings we know less about, because they're more useful to you.
- Independent-friendly. Reformerlyis built around independent, boutique studios, so a local studio narrowly outranks a chain location when their signals are otherwise even. It's a gentle nudge, not a penalty.
What “Featured” means
A studio owner can pay to Feature their listing. A Featured studio is pinned to the top of its city and always labeled Featured. That is the only position money can buy, and it is the only thing it changes — Featured placement never alters the order of the rest of the list, never changes which studios appear, and never edits the facts on any page. Everything else stays ranked on merit. You can claim or feature a listing here.
Filters narrow — they don't reorder
When you filter a city by style, heated rooms, beginner-friendliness, or ClassPass, we simply hide the studios that don't match. The ones that remain keep the same quality order described above.
How we keep the data honest
Ratings and review counts come straight from Google and are refreshed periodically. The decision details — style, equipment, heated rooms, pricing, intro offers — are compiled from public sources, primarily each studio's own website, and every listing links to its source. Where we can't verify something, we leave it blank rather than guess. Read more on our about & methodology page, or tell us about a correction.
Questions about our ranking
Do studios pay to rank higher on Reformerly?
No. A studio can pay to be Featured — a clearly labeled, pinned placement at the top of its city — but that's the only paid position, and it never changes the order of the rest of the list or which studios appear. Every other studio is ranked purely on quality signals.
How is the star rating used in ranking?
We use a volume-aware (Bayesian) rating: a studio's Google star rating is weighted by how many reviews it has, so a 4.9 from 400 reviews ranks above a perfect 5.0 from a handful. New studios with few reviews aren't unfairly catapulted to the top by one or two glowing ratings.
What does a Featured listing get?
Top, labeled placement in its city, plus a fuller profile. Featured is sponsored and always marked as such. It changes a studio's position, never the facts on its page or the ranking of any other studio.
Why are some chains ranked below independent studios?
Reformerly leans toward independent, boutique studios, so when quality signals are close, an independent edges out a chain location. It's a mild tiebreaker, not a penalty — a well-reviewed chain still ranks on its merits.