Serviced office vs coworking space: which is right for your business?

One of the most common questions we hear from growing businesses is: “Should we choose a serviced office or a coworking space?”

The honest answer? It depends on where your business is right now – and where it’s heading. But here’s what many workspace providers won’t tell you: the choice between serviced office vs coworking shouldn’t lock you into a rigid path. Your workspace should evolve as your business does.

At Work.Life, we’ve designed our memberships specifically so teams can start with coworking and seamlessly transition to private serviced offices as they grow – or move back to coworking if circumstances change. Because the right workspace for a 3-person startup looks very different from what a 15-person team needs.

This guide will help you understand the real differences, when each option makes sense, and why flexibility might matter more than the initial choice.

What’s the difference: serviced office vs coworking space? 

Let’s start with clear definitions, because these terms get used interchangeably when they’re actually quite different.

Coworking spaces

What they are:
Coworking spaces provide shared work environments where individuals and small teams from different companies work alongside each other. You might have a dedicated desk, or use hot desking where you choose any available workspace each day.

Key characteristics:

• Shared environment with people from various companies and industries
• Flexible membership options from day passes to unlimited access
• Hot desking or dedicated desks rather than private offices
• Community focus with networking events and social opportunities
• Lower commitment – often monthly memberships or short minimum terms
• All-inclusive pricing covering desk, WiFi, amenities, meeting room credits

Who they suit:

• Freelancers and solopreneurs
• Very small teams (1-3 people)
• Startups in early stages
• Remote workers needing occasional professional space
• Businesses testing a new location
• Teams wanting networking and community

Serviced offices (also called private offices)

What they are:
Serviced offices are private, self-contained office spaces for individual teams. You have your own dedicated room with a door, used exclusively by your company.

Key characteristics:

• Private space for your team only
• Fully furnished and equipped – move-in ready
• Flexible terms (3-12+ months typically) but longer than coworking day passes
• Scalable – can often upgrade to larger offices as you grow
• All-inclusive pricing including furniture, utilities, cleaning, WiFi, meeting rooms
• Professional environment for client meetings and team privacy

Who they suit:

• Growing teams (typically 4+ people)
• Businesses handling confidential work
• Companies that need private client meeting space
• Teams requiring dedicated storage and equipment
• Businesses wanting their own branded environment
• Organisations with regular team collaboration needs

What they have in common

Both serviced offices and coworking spaces offer:

• No traditional lease – flexible terms vs 3-5 year office leases
• All-inclusive pricing – no hidden bills for utilities, cleaning, or facilities
• Fully furnished – no capital expenditure on fit-out
• Move-in ready – start working immediately
• Shared amenities – meeting rooms, kitchens, breakout spaces
• Professional addresses and mail handling
• Community and networking opportunities

The fundamental difference isn’t the amenities or services – it’s privacy and dedicated space vs shared environment and lower commitment.

When coworking spaces work best 

Coworking spaces aren’t just “cheaper offices” – they’re a fundamentally different work environment that offers unique advantages for certain situations.

Early-stage startups and solopreneurs

Why coworking works:
When you’re launching a business, cash flow is everything. Coworking space memberships typically start from £150-400 per month for flexible access, compared to £500-2,000+ per month for even the smallest serviced office.

The lower commitment means you can:

• Test your business idea without significant overhead
• Scale spending as revenue grows
• Avoid being trapped in expensive space if circumstances change
• Preserve cash for product development, marketing, and hiring

Maximum flexibility and networking

The community advantage:
In coworking spaces, you’re surrounded by other entrepreneurs, freelancers, and small teams from diverse industries. This creates organic networking opportunities that don’t happen in traditional offices.

Real benefits include:

• Finding collaborators and partners naturally through daily interaction
• Learning from others facing similar business challenges
• Potential client connections and referrals
• Reduced isolation for solo founders
• Access to skills and expertise when you need advice

Work.Life member feedback consistently highlights this: freelancers and small teams value the energy and connection of working alongside others, particularly after experiencing the isolation of working from home during lockdowns.

Testing new locations

Geographic flexibility:
If you’re expanding to a new city or want to test whether a particular neighbourhood works for your team, coworking provides the perfect low-risk option.

At Work.Life, our multi-location access means members can try our London, Manchester, and Reading spaces without committing to a specific location. Once you understand where your team actually needs to be, you can transition to a serviced office in that area.

Hybrid teams with rotating office presence

The modern workforce reality:
Many teams don’t need everyone in the office every day. If you have:

• Remote team members who visit occasionally
• Hybrid schedules with different people in on different days
• Varied office attendance based on meetings and projects

Then paying for a full serviced office that sits empty much of the week doesn’t make financial sense. Flexible office space through coworking memberships allows you to pay for what you actually use.

Variable business cycles

Seasonal flexibility:
Some businesses have predictable busy and quiet periods. Agencies might need more space during client campaign periods. Event companies might need offices during planning phases but not during event execution.

Coworking membership flexibility accommodates these patterns without paying for unused space during quiet periods.

When serviced offices make more sense 

As businesses grow, there’s often a tipping point where private office space becomes not just preferable, but essential.

Teams of 4+ people working together regularly

The collaboration factor:
When you have 4+ people who need to work together daily, private offices become more practical:

• Team meetings can happen spontaneously without booking meeting rooms
• Collaboration flows naturally without disturbing others in shared spaces
• Phone calls and discussions don’t require finding quiet spaces
• Video conferences can happen without background noise concerns
• Team cohesion builds more easily in dedicated space

The cost calculation shifts too: Once you need 4+ dedicated desks in a coworking space, the monthly cost often approaches serviced office pricing – but without the privacy benefits.

Confidential or sensitive work

Privacy requirements:
Some businesses simply can’t operate in shared environments:

• Legal, financial, or medical sectors with client confidentiality requirements
• Companies handling proprietary information or intellectual property
• Businesses with regulatory compliance needs requiring controlled access
• Sales teams making frequent calls that could reveal competitive information
• HR functions requiring private conversations about sensitive topics

If your team regularly handles information that can’t be discussed in shared spaces, a serviced office isn’t optional – it’s essential.

Client-facing businesses

Professional presentation:
When clients visit your office, the environment communicates your brand and professionalism:

• Dedicated meeting spaces you don’t have to book in advance
• Branded environment reflecting your company identity
• Privacy for confidential client discussions
• Consistency in client experience
• Control over the impression your workspace creates

Whilst coworking spaces offer meeting rooms, having your own office space creates a different level of professional presence.

Need for dedicated storage and equipment

Physical requirements:
As teams grow, so do physical needs:

• Product samples or inventory requiring secure storage
• Specialised equipment that needs to remain set up
• Filing and documents requiring dedicated space
• Multiple monitors or technical setups that can’t easily be moved
• Personal items and supplies your team uses daily

Serviced offices provide the dedicated storage and space for equipment that hot desking simply can’t accommodate.

Established teams seeking stability

Culture and identity:
There’s something powerful about having “your space” as a team:

• Team culture develops more naturally in dedicated environments
• Personalisation with company branding, values, achievements
• Stability of returning to the same space creates routine and belonging
• Ownership of the environment increases team investment

When you’ve moved beyond startup phase and are building long-term team culture, dedicated space supports that development.

The cost comparison: what you actually pay 

Understanding true costs requires looking beyond headline membership prices to total monthly expenditure.

Coworking space costs

Typical UK pricing (Work.Life as example):

• Day passes: £25-35 per day
• Unlimited coworking: £250-400 per month per person
• Dedicated desk: £350-500 per month per person

Our memberships are designed around you, so when you sign up, you get a price that reflects how you’ll use the space.

What’s included:

• Hot desk or dedicated desk
• High-speed WiFi
• Kitchen facilities and refreshments
• Printing allowance
• Meeting room credits (typically a few hours monthly)
• Access to all amenities
• Community events and networking

Additional costs to consider:

• Meeting room bookings beyond included credits
• Printing over allowance
• Private phone booth access (usually included but verify)
• Guest day passes if you have visitors

Example total cost for 3-person team:
£1,050-1,500 per month for unlimited coworking memberships

Serviced office costs

Typical UK pricing (Work.Life as example):

• 2-4 person office: £1,400-2,000 per month
• 5-10 person office: £2,500-4,500 per month
• 11-20 person office: £5,000-9,000 per month

What’s included:

• Private furnished office space
• All furniture and fixtures
• High-speed WiFi
• Utilities and business rates
• Daily cleaning
• Kitchen access and refreshments
• Meeting room credits (more generous than coworking)
• Breakout space access
• Access to all building amenities
• Printing allowance

Comparing apples to apples:

Team Size	Coworking (Dedicated Desks)	Serviced Office	Difference
3 people	£1,050-1,500/month	£1,400-2,000/month	£350-500 more for privacy
5 people	£1,750-2,500/month	£2,500-3,500/month	£750-1,000 more for privacy
10 people	£3,500-5,000/month	£4,000-6,500/month	£500-1,500 more for privacy

The tipping point:
For teams of 4+, the cost difference between dedicated coworking desks and a serviced office becomes smaller, making privacy and team space increasingly attractive relative to cost.

What about traditional office leases?

Hidden costs of conventional leases:

• Deposit: Typically 3-6 months’ rent upfront
• Legal fees: £1,000-3,000+ for lease review
• Fit-out costs: £50-150+ per square foot
• Furniture and equipment: £1,000+ per person
• Utilities: £50-150 per person monthly
• Business rates: Vary by location, often substantial
• Cleaning and maintenance: Additional monthly costs
• IT infrastructure: Installation and ongoing costs
• Insurance: Building and contents coverage

Commitment requirements:

• 3-5 year lease terms standard
• Break clauses expensive and limited
• Exit costs if you need to leave early

For startups and growing businesses, these costs and commitments often make traditional leases impractical, which is why flexible office space through serviced offices or coworking has become the default choice for SMEs.

Real stories: teams who’ve made the transition 

Understanding the theory is useful, but seeing how real businesses navigate workspace decisions provides more valuable insights.

1Breadcrumb: growing from 7 to 14 in one year

When 1Breadcrumb joined Work.Life Soho, they were a 7-person tech team transitioning from what they described as a “soulless glass box” at another coworking space.

Their journey:

• Started with a small serviced office at Work.Life Soho
• Team culture improved immediately – “the difference was hugely evident to the whole team”
• In one year, they nearly doubled to 14 employees
• Work.Life provided additional desks as they grew
• Used meeting rooms flexibly for overflow space
• Explored options for larger serviced offices as growth continued

What made it work:
“Work.Life has always been really, really good, especially the community team here, in giving us extra desks, talking about potential new office spaces,” the team explained. “Work.Life’s been really flexible in helping support our growth in this region.”

The flexibility to scale gradually – adding desks, using meeting rooms for overflow, then transitioning to larger offices – meant growth didn’t create workspace crises.

The freelancer to small agency transition

Many of our members follow a similar path:

Stage 1: Solo freelancer

• Unlimited coworking membership (£250-400/month)
• Hot desking for flexibility
• Using meeting rooms for client meetings
• Networking with other members

Stage 2: First hire (2 people)

• Two dedicated desks or small 2-person office (£700-1,000/month)
• Testing whether collaboration needs privacy
• Still benefiting from community and flexibility

Stage 3: Small team (4-6 people)

• Transition to serviced office (£2,000-3,500/month)
• Privacy for team collaboration and client meetings
• Dedicated storage and equipment space
• Maintaining access to wider Work.Life community and events

Why this works:
At each stage, workspace costs remain proportional to business revenue, and transitions happen naturally without lease break penalties or fit-out costs.

The hybrid team approach

Creative team Loudhouse in Work.Life Soho uses a hybrid model:

Their setup:

• 8-person serviced office for core team
• Additional unlimited coworking memberships for remote team members visiting
• Frequent meeting room bookings for all-team sessions

Why it works:
The core team gets privacy and dedicated space for daily collaboration. Remote team members have professional workspace when in Manchester. Meeting rooms accommodate everyone when the full team gathers monthly.

This hybrid approach costs less than a serviced office large enough for everyone full-time, whilst providing flexibility for varied working patterns.

Why flexibility matters more than the choice itself 

Here’s what years of working with growing businesses have taught us: the workspace choice you make today won’t be the right choice in 12 months.

Businesses change – constantly

In the past two years, we’ve watched members:

• Grow rapidly from 3 people to 20+
• Contract during economic uncertainty, reducing from 10 people to 5
• Pivot business models requiring different workspace needs
• Shift from fully office-based to hybrid to fully remote and back
• Relocate to different cities as business needs evolved
• Merge with other companies, combining teams

Traditional office leases can’t accommodate this reality. Being locked into a 3-year lease for 10 desks when your business reality has shifted creates massive problems.

How Work.Life designs for flexibility

We’ve structured our memberships specifically to avoid these traps:

Short minimum terms:

• Coworking: Monthly rolling or 3-month minimums
• Serviced offices: 3-month minimums typically
• No 3-5 year lease commitments

Easy scaling:

• Add desks to existing offices
• Move to larger offices as you grow
• Reduce space if circumstances change
• Transition between coworking and serviced offices without penalties

Multi-location access:

• Work from any Work.Life location (London, Manchester, Reading)
• Test new locations before committing
• Support distributed teams with consistent workspace everywhere

Transparent pricing:

• All-inclusive monthly pricing
• No hidden fees or surprise bills
• Clear costs when scaling
• No capital expenditure on fit-out

How to know when it’s time to transition 

Understanding when to move from coworking space to serviced office (or vice versa) helps you time transitions for maximum benefit with minimum disruption.

Signs it’s time to move from coworking to serviced office

Team dynamics:

• Regular collaboration requires booking meeting rooms constantly
• Team meetings disturb others in shared spaces
• You’re running out of meeting room credits every month
• Phone calls and video conferences create awkward logistics
• Team cohesion feels harder to build in shared environment

Privacy concerns:

• Confidential discussions happen regularly
• Clients visit frequently and you want dedicated meeting space
• Competitive information requires controlled access
• Regulatory requirements need privacy
• Team members express discomfort with shared workspace

Cost calculations:

• Dedicated desk costs for your team approach serviced office pricing
• Meeting room bookings add significantly to monthly costs
• Lost productivity from workspace limitations exceeds cost difference
• Additional space needs (storage, equipment) require solutions

Growth indicators:

• You’re consistently 4+ people in the office daily
• Hiring plans will add 3+ people in next 6 months
• Business stability suggests sustained team size
• Company culture development needs dedicated space

Signs you might need to move from serviced office back to coworking

Changed circumstances don’t mean failure:

Team size reduced:

• Business contraction or pivot requires smaller team
• Paying for more space than you need
• Could maintain operations with flexible coworking

Hybrid working evolved:

• Team prefers remote work more than expected
• Office sits empty most days
• Don’t need dedicated space if no one’s using it consistently

Location needs changed:

• Need to be in different areas regularly
• Multi-location access more valuable than single office
• Want flexibility to work near clients in various locations

Community and networking needed:

• Isolation in private office without larger community
• Want networking opportunities and cross-pollination
• Missing energy of shared workspace environment

At Work.Life, there’s no stigma or penalty for transitioning either direction. We’ve designed memberships to accommodate business reality, whatever that looks like.

Our design philosophy

Everything about how we’ve built Work.Life reflects one principle: your workspace should support your business, not constrain it.

This means:

• No penalties for growth or contraction
• Transparent pricing so you can plan confidently
• Responsive membership teams who know your business
• Physical spaces designed for various needs and team sizes
• Community that supports you at every stage

Our B Corp certification reflects this commitment: we’re accountable to our members’ success, not just profit extraction from long-term leases.

Making your decision

So, serviced office vs coworking space – which is right for your business?

Choose coworking if:

• You’re 1-3 people
• Maximum flexibility is essential
• Budget is tight and you need to preserve cash
• Networking and community matter
• You’re testing a business idea or new location
• Your team works remotely most of the time

Choose serviced office if:

• You’re 4+ people working together regularly
• Privacy is important for your work or clients
• You need dedicated storage and equipment space
• Team culture development requires dedicated environment
• You’re ready for the stability of “your space”
• Cost difference from coworking is manageable

But here’s the real answer: choose a workspace provider that makes the transition easy when your needs change. Because they will change.

At Work.Life, we don’t push you toward coworking or serviced offices. We provide both, designed to work together, so you can make the right choice today knowing you can evolve tomorrow.

Ready to explore your options? Book a tour of our London, Manchester, or Reading locations. We’ll show you both coworking and serviced office spaces and help you understand what makes sense for your business right now – and how we’ll support you as you grow.