The comparison
Coworking, coffee shop, or a lease
Four ways to have somewhere to work in Everett, with the real monthly numbers and the tradeoffs nobody puts on a price sheet.
The short answer
For one to three people, a coworking membership is usually the cheapest option that still gives you a reliable desk, fast internet and a room you can meet a client in. A coffee shop costs $200 to $300 a month in drinks for a seat you can't reserve. Home costs nothing and works for some people. A traditional small office lease means three to ten years, a deposit, a build-out and six separate bills, and it starts making sense at roughly six people or when you need a storefront. Coworking at Think Tank Cowork is $199 per month on an annual plan.
The four options, side by side
| Home | Coffee shop | Coworking | Traditional lease | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly cost, one person | $0 direct | $200–$300 in drinks | $199 annual, $299 monthly | Rent plus 5 or 6 bills |
| Commitment | None | None | 30 days, or a year for the low rate | 3 to 10 years |
| Up-front cost | Desk and chair | None | None | Deposit, build-out, furniture |
| Internet | Your home plan | Whatever it is today | 300/300 Mbps included | Your account, your install |
| A door for calls | Sometimes | No | Phone booth and The Beat | Yes |
| Client-ready meeting room | No | No | Half the public rate | If you built one |
| Reserved seat | Yes | No | Yes, and 24/7 access | Yes |
| Cleaning and utilities | You | N/A | Included | You |
| Other people to talk to | No | Strangers | Yes, that's the point | Only who you hire |
| Scales down | Yes | Yes | Yes, monthly | No, you're on the hook |
Costs shown for coworking are our published Everett rates. Lease costs vary by building and are quoted per square foot, so ask a broker for a number on a specific suite.
Home: cheapest, until it isn't
Working from home is free and, for a stretch of months, great. The bill arrives in other currencies. Work stops having an end time. The kitchen table never stops being a kitchen table. Client calls happen in front of a laundry pile, and the only colleague available at 2pm is the dog.
Plenty of our members still have a home office. They come in two or three days a week for the parts of the job that go badly at home: focused blocks, calls that matter, and meeting anyone in person.
Coffee shops: a $250 monthly seat you can't reserve
A latte and something to eat is $10 to $15. Do that on twenty workdays and you've spent $200 to $300 for a table you might not get, wifi shared with everyone on the block, no outlet at the good seat, and a conversation at the next table during your call. There's no room for a signing, no printer, and no address for a proposal.
The comparison people actually mean is free versus $199. The honest one is $250 for a table versus $199 for a desk, wifi, coffee, a phone booth and a conference room.
Coworking: one bill, no build-out
A membership is one line on the card each month. It covers the desk, the furniture, high speed wifi, power, cleaning, unlimited coffee and espresso, the phone booth, The Beat as a Zoom room or podcast studio, black and white printing, 24/7 keyless access, and half-price booking on The Bulb, which seats 6, and The Huddle, which seats 12. If you need a closed door part of the month, a part-time private office adds 16 private-office hours for $299. If you need one full time, offices start at $699.
The catch, stated plainly: an open desk is not your desk, and the room has other people in it. If you need silence eight hours a day, take an office instead of coworking.
A traditional lease: right answer, wrong size
A small suite in downtown Everett is a real option and sometimes the correct one. It's also a three to ten year term, a security deposit, a personal guarantee, a build-out, a furniture order, your own internet install, your own janitorial contract, and a power bill in August whether anyone is there or not. You're also buying the space you'll need in year three, and paying for it in year one.
It starts paying off around six or more stable seats, or when your work needs a specific configuration: a lab, a studio, a storefront, signage on the street.
How to choose in about a minute
- You work alone and rarely meet clients: home, plus day passes for the weeks it stops working. $59 a day, booked ahead.
- You work alone and meet clients: coworking at $199, plus a half-price meeting room when someone comes in.
- You need a door a few days a month: a part-time private office, $299, with 16 hours behind a closed door.
- Confidential work, most days: full-time private office, from $699.
- Six or more people, stable, three-year horizon: talk to a commercial broker. Then book The Huddle for the offsite where you decide.
Try it before you do the math again
Buy a day pass for $59, work a normal day, and see which column you actually belong in. If you join within 30 days, the pass applies to your first month.
Questions we get asked
Is coworking cheaper than renting an office?
For one to three people, usually yes. A coworking membership at Think Tank Cowork is $199 per month on an annual plan and includes internet, utilities, cleaning, coffee, furniture and meeting rooms. A small traditional office adds a security deposit, a build-out, furniture, an internet account, janitorial and utilities on top of rent, and locks you into a three to ten year term.
Is working from a coffee shop actually free?
Not really. A drink and a snack most workdays runs $10 to $15, which is $200 to $300 a month for a seat you cannot reserve, wifi you cannot count on, no private room for a call, and no address to put on a proposal.
When does an office lease make more sense than coworking?
When you have a stable team of roughly six or more people, you need a space configured for your specific work, or you want signage and a storefront. At that point the per-seat math and the control tend to favor a lease.
What does coworking cost in Everett?
Think Tank Cowork is $199 per month with an annual commitment or $299 per month, month-to-month for open coworking. Part-time private offices start at $299 per month annual, a dedicated desk is $399 per month annual, and full-time private offices start at $699 per month annual. Day passes are $59 booked ahead.
What about working from home?
Home is the cheapest option on paper and works well for some people. The costs are indirect: no separation between work and the rest of life, no professional room to meet a client, and for many people a measurable drop in focus. Plenty of our members kept a home office and use a membership two or three days a week.
Come see the space
You can read about a room, or you can stand in it. 2817 Wetmore Ave, downtown Everett.