Most people do not want “a coworking space”. They
want one that takes dogs, or opens at five in the morning, or has a room they
can shut the door of. These are those lists — 64 of them across 11
features and every city on the site.
Read this before you click. Every one of these words
hides a catch. “24/7” is often a higher tier than the one you were
quoted. “Dog-friendly” can mean one dog, on a lead, by prior
approval. “Free parking” can mean a lot that fills by nine. Under
each heading below is what the phrase really covers and the question that
settles it — ask it on the tour, not after.
24/7 access
Round-the-clock entry, usually by fob or door code, for people whose working hours are not nine to five.
What to actually checkAsk which tier gets 24/7. It is very often a dedicated desk or private office perk rather than something a hot desk includes, and the quote you were given may not be the one with the door code. Then ask who you call at 2am when the fob fails.
Private offices
A lockable room rather than a desk in the open. Priced by room and by seat, and the widest price range on this site.
What to actually checkAsk what the room actually measures and how many people the price assumes. Ask whether the walls reach the ceiling — a great many "private offices" are partitions, which matters enormously for calls and not at all for storage.
Meeting rooms
Bookable rooms for client meetings, interviews and anything that needs a door.
What to actually checkAsk how many hours are included, whether they carry over month to month, and what an hour costs once the allowance runs out. Then ask how far ahead the good room books out — a room you can never get is not a room.
Dog-friendly
Spaces that allow dogs on site.
What to actually checkThis phrase hides more variation than any other on the page. It can mean any dog any day; it can mean one dog, on a lead, in one designated room, approved in advance, with proof of vaccination. Ask exactly which, and ask before you pay rather than on your first morning.
Childcare on site
Coworking with childcare in the building — rare, and the reason some people can work at all.
What to actually checkAsk whether it is a licensed facility with its own staff and ratios, or a supervised room, or simply a play corner. All three get described as "childcare". Ask about hours, ages taken, and whether it is included or billed separately — it is usually billed separately.
Free parking
Somewhere to leave the car without a garage charge, which in downtown Austin, Dallas and Houston is a real line item.
What to actually checkAsk how many spaces there are against how many members, and what time the lot fills. "Free parking" that is full by nine is a different product from free parking at eleven.
Fibre internet
A fibre connection rather than shared cable, which is what actually decides whether video calls hold up at 2pm.
What to actually checkAsk for the real numbers: upload as well as download, and whether it is shared across the whole floor. Then ask what the backup connection is and what happened last time it went down. Everyone says "fast wifi".
Event space
Rooms for launches, meetups, workshops and anything with more people than a meeting room holds.
What to actually checkAsk capacity seated and standing, what the AV actually is, whether outside catering is allowed, and what after-hours access costs. Ask whether members get a rate.
Podcast and recording studios
A treated room with recording equipment, increasingly common and still rare enough to be a deciding factor.
What to actually checkAsk what equipment is included versus what you bring, whether there is an operator or you run it yourself, how it books, and whether it is genuinely sound-treated or simply a quiet room.
Makerspace and workshop
Tools, benches and machines alongside desks — for people whose work is not only a laptop.
What to actually checkAsk which machines, what training or certification is required before you may use them, what the material policy is, and whether there is storage for work in progress.
Gym and fitness
On-site fitness, or a building gym members can use.
What to actually checkAsk whether it is in the coworking space or in the wider building, whether it costs extra, and whether there are showers — the showers are usually the part that matters and the part not mentioned.
Before you tour anywhere
Whatever feature brought you here, the same handful of questions decide
whether a space is right: the all-in monthly cost for how you would actually
use it, what the notice period is, and what the room is like at its busiest
rather than at three on a Friday.
The fourteen questions worth
asking on a tour →
What coworking actually costs in Texas
→
Running a space we have listed wrong? If a feature
here is out of date, or we have missed one, tell us at
wholetechtexas@gmail.com and it is corrected. Listings are free and always
have been.