Guide · cost comparison
Coworking or your own office?
Most comparisons online set a rent per square metre against a coworking price and leave out half the costs. This page does the opposite: it shows which items belong in the calculation at all, which of them can be evidenced, and which you have to fill in with your own figures.
Why most comparisons miss the point
A coworking desk has a price. Your own office has a rent, plus a dozen further items that each look small and together decide the outcome. Setting rent against desk price compares a full-cost figure with a partial one.
There is also an effect that appears in no table: you never rent only workstations. You rent corridors, a kitchen, a meeting room and a reception area as well. On our own floor, roughly 400 of 966 m² are work zones; the rest is circulation, shared space and technical rooms. That ratio applies to any office floor, except that with coworking somebody else has paid for it up front.
The items that belong in the calculation
For each item it says whether it can be evidenced or whether you have to fill it in from your own property. Invented averages do not help you; they only produce a figure that falls apart at the first real offer.
| Item | Your own office | With us |
|---|---|---|
| Rent | your property; rates per m² are rarely published in canton Zug | in the desk price |
| Utilities, electricity, heating | usually separate, depends on the property | included |
| Cleaning | typically CHF 5–15 per m² per month | included |
| Furniture | one-off investment, written off over the term | included |
| Fit-out on moving in | depends on the condition of the space | none |
| Internet and Wi-Fi | connection plus subscription | included |
| Meeting room | area is rented even when it stands empty | included, booked via calendar |
| Kitchen, corridors, reception | roughly half the area, with no workstations | included |
| Coffee and drinks | procurement and machine | CHF 50/month flat or CHF 1 per cup |
| Minimum term | commercial leases often run for years | 3 months, then 1 month's notice |
| Risk when shrinking | you keep paying for the space | you hand desks back |
| Space when growing | move or sublet | add desks while they are available |
Cleaning costs: Swiss market guide values collected at ofri.ch. On the Zug office market see the property market analysis of the Zuger Kantonalbank: supply rose from 8.1 to 9.4 per cent of stock within a year, mainly through new builds in Zug and Cham, while rents stayed high. All other items deliberately carry no figure, because they depend on the specific property and an invented average would be worthless here.
What you pay per person with us
This is the figure to set your own calculation against, complete and with nothing billed later:
| Team | With us per month | Solution |
|---|---|---|
| 1 person, a few days | CHF 290 | flex desk, 10 days of use |
| 1 person, every day | CHF 400 to CHF 550 | fixed desk depending on zone |
| 3 people | CHF 1'410 to CHF 1'400 | three fixed desks or a private office |
| 5 people | CHF 2'350 to CHF 1'600 | fixed desks or private office B17 |
| 8–10 people | CHF 2'500 | private office B14, 51.3 m², own entrance |
Worth noting: from about three people a private office becomes cheaper than individual fixed desks, and you get a lockable door with it. The full breakdown is on the prices page, and every office can be selected individually on the floor plan.
When your own office is the better choice
Honestly: more often than coworking providers admit. Your own office wins when you need laboratory, workshop or storage space, when confidentiality requires an enclosed area, when you grow well beyond ten people and the space is plannable long term, or when the address itself is part of how you present yourself.
Coworking wins in the opposite case: when you do not know whether you will be three or eight people in a year. The real value then lies not in the price but in the fact that a wrong decision can be corrected after three months rather than after five years.
Frequently asked questions about the cost comparison
From how many people is your own office worth it?+
There is no credible universal figure; it depends on the floor area, the fit-out standard and how fast you grow. The tipping point moves mainly through two items that comparisons usually leave out: the one-off fit-out and furnishing costs, which you have to write off over the term, and the area you rent for meeting rooms, kitchen and circulation where nobody actually works.
Which costs are most often forgotten with your own office?+
Six of them: utilities (often billed separately in commercial leases), furniture as a one-off investment, cleaning (typically CHF 5 to 15 per m² per month in Switzerland), the fit-out on moving in, the non-usable area for corridors, kitchen and meeting rooms, and the risk of paying for empty space when notice periods run six to twelve months.
What does office space cost in canton Zug?+
The Zuger Kantonalbank reports a rising supply in the Zug office market, from 8.1 to 9.4 per cent of stock within a year, mainly through new builds in Baar and Cham. Rents nevertheless remain high. Listings often do not publish a rate per square metre; published examples in the canton sit at around CHF 230 per m² per year for simpler commercial space. For a reliable figure you need a specific property.
When is your own office clearly the better choice?+
When you need laboratory, workshop or storage space, when confidentiality requires an enclosed area, when you grow well beyond ten people and the space is plannable long term, or when the address itself is part of how you present yourself. Coworking wins when you are unsure about team size and planning horizons are short.
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WorkZug
Run the numbers with us.
Tell us your team size and time horizon. We work through both options with your figures, even if your own office wins in the end.
Free and without obligation. Your enquiry goes to Ajla Suljovic, Reception & client services, and gets a personal reply.
Oberneuhofstrasse 6, 6340 Baar · +41 41 244 25 24 · info@sajinth-partner.ch