An infrared sauna studio rents you a private infrared sauna room for a set time, usually 30 to 60 minutes, and a visit typically costs $36 to $50. The biggest chains in our directory are Restore Hyper Wellness, Perspire Sauna Studio and SweatHouz. HOTWORX is the odd one out: you work out inside the sauna instead of resting in it.
Maybe a Perspire or a SweatHouz just opened down the road, or a friend keeps talking about their sauna studio. This guide explains which chain is which, what you get for the money, and how to find one near you. The counts come from the places in our directory as of November 2026.
It's a small business built around private infrared rooms. You book a slot online, check in, and get a room or suite to yourself. Inside is a wooden cabin with infrared heaters in the walls. Depending on the studio, the suite may also have a shower, a speaker for your music, a TV, colored or red lights, and sometimes a cold plunge.
Infrared cabins run much cooler than a Finnish sauna. Restore Hyper Wellness says its infrared saunas typically run at 110 to 140°F. The heaters warm your skin directly instead of heating the air with hot stones, so there's no water to pour and no steam. You still sweat a lot. Our infrared vs traditional sauna guide goes through the differences if you're deciding between the two.
Most infrared studios in our directory belong to a handful of chains. Here are the ones with the most locations we list, and how many of those list a cold plunge on site. We don't list every location of every chain (HOTWORX alone says it has 800+ locations worldwide), so read these as the places in our directory.
| Chain | Locations we list | With a cold plunge | What a visit is like |
|---|---|---|---|
| Restore Hyper Wellness | 132 | 34 | A recovery center with a menu of services. Infrared sauna is one of them, in a private room with a shower |
| Perspire Sauna Studio | 80 | 59 | A private suite with a 40-minute infrared session and red light therapy |
| SweatHouz | 69 | 69 | A 60-minute private suite with an infrared sauna, a cold plunge and a shower |
| HOTWORX | 50 | 0 | Short workouts done inside a heated infrared sauna |
| beem Light Sauna | 46 | 1 | A private suite with a 40-minute infrared session, plus optional light therapy |
| iCRYO | 26 | 1 | A cryotherapy center that also offers infrared sauna |
SweatHouz is the one built around hot and cold. Every SweatHouz we list has a cold plunge, because the plunge sits in the suite next to the sauna. Local coverage of a new Alabama studio describes 60-minute sessions split between the infrared sauna, the cold plunge and a vitamin C shower.
Perspire is the largest pure sauna studio chain we list. Its site describes a session as "40 minutes of infrared sauna + red light therapy" in your own private suite, with contrast therapy (heat and cold) offered as an extra. In our listings, 59 of its 80 locations have a cold plunge, so check the one near you if the plunge matters.
Restore is a recovery center first. You go for cryotherapy, IV drips, compression or red light, and the infrared sauna is one item on the menu. Only 34 of the 132 Restore locations we list have a cold plunge. beem works the same way as Perspire: a private 40-minute infrared session, a 15-minute light session, or both.
HOTWORX is different enough to be its own thing. You do a short guided workout, such as 15 minutes of cycling or 30 minutes of yoga, inside a hot infrared sauna. If you want to sit, sweat and relax, one of the others is a better fit.
Smaller chains show up too, like Lumos (4 locations we list) and Glow Sauna Studios (3), along with plenty of independents. Of the 333 sauna studios in our directory with an infrared room, about half are Perspire, HOTWORX or beem locations, and another 69 are SweatHouz, so those four chains make up nearly three-quarters. The rest are smaller chains and independent studios.
At the 18 infrared studios whose prices we checked for our sauna membership guide in October 2026, the typical single visit was $47, and most charged $36 to $50. That's more than a typical bathhouse or social sauna, because you get the room to yourself.
First visits are often cheaper. Perspire advertises up to 50% off an intro session, and the three Glow Sauna Studios locations we checked charged $25 for a first session instead of $45. If you plan to go every week, a membership usually brings the price per visit down.
Studios are only a small part of the picture. As of November 2026, 4,578 of the roughly 6,700 places in our directory have an infrared sauna room. Remove the tanning salons (more on those below) and it's still about 4,000.
Not counting tanning salons, most of them are recovery and wellness centers (2,036 with an infrared room) and day spas or med spas (1,402). Sauna studios add 333, out of the 402 studios we list. Gyms are rare: only 143 gyms and health clubs in our directory have an infrared room.
"Recovery and wellness center" is a broad label. It covers cryotherapy shops, IV clinics, float spas and some chiropractors, and many of them have one or two infrared cabins among other services. Of the 2,368 studios and recovery centers with an infrared room (again not counting tanning salons), 918 also list a cold plunge. California has the most places with infrared (464, not counting tanning salons), then Florida (371) and Texas (352).
Palm Beach Tan is the biggest single name behind infrared in our directory. All 470 Palm Beach Tan salons we list have an infrared unit. What they sell is the Clearlight Wellness Booth, a full-spectrum infrared sauna with options like red light and salt therapy.
It can be a cheap way to try infrared heat. But a booth in a tanning salon is a different visit from a studio suite with its own shower and plunge. If you search "infrared sauna near me" and a tanning salon comes up first, check which one you're looking at.
Search our directory for infrared saunas or sauna studios in your city. Open a listing and look at the sauna room section, which shows the sauna type, how many people fit and any special features, like a private suite or red light. The cold plunge section tells you if there's one on site.
Before you book, these are worth asking the studio:
If you'd like a room for two, or a private traditional sauna instead of infrared, our private sauna guide covers how booking works. If you're pregnant, have a heart condition or take medication that affects how you handle heat, check with your doctor first.
It's a business that rents private infrared sauna rooms by the session, usually 30 to 60 minutes. Many suites also include a shower, and some include a cold plunge or red light.
Usually $36 to $50 for a single visit, with a typical price of $47 at the 18 infrared studios we checked in October 2026. Intro sessions are often discounted.
Most studios book 30 to 60 minutes. Perspire and beem sessions are 40 minutes, Restore says 30 to 45, and SweatHouz suites are booked for 60 minutes including the plunge and shower.
Whatever you're comfortable in, since the room is private. Restore suggests loose, comfortable clothes in natural fabrics, and a swimsuit works too.
Sort of. HOTWORX has infrared saunas, but you work out inside them during a guided session instead of sitting and relaxing.
Sometimes. Some studios have two-person rooms or charge a small guest fee, but many cabins are built for one, so ask when you book.
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