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Rent the Runway's membership program turns a shared closet of designer brands into a monthly subscription. Members pick a plan, receive five-item shipments, and decide whether to keep renting, swap, or buy individual pieces instead of purchasing an entire wardrobe outright.
For anyone comparing the cost against buying clothes, the main questions are how many items each plan includes, how frequently shipments arrive, what the subscription covers, and what happens after introductory pricing ends. On the merchant side, recurring billing, tiered benefits, and membership perks are also mechanics Shopify brands can build with products such as Rivo Memberships.
Rent the Runway's subscription business remains central to the company. In fiscal year 2025, subscribers generated 90% of total company revenue.
Key Takeaways
- Rent the Runway separates recurring subscriptions from one-time Reserve rentals.
- Current public subscription pricing is $129, $164, or $275 per month, depending on shipment frequency.
- Each standard shipment contains five items.
- Promotional first-month prices are temporary, and memberships automatically renew at the then-current recurring rate.
- Rent the Runway introduced a shipping charge in June 2026, which the company says it expects to be temporary.
- RTR Rewards is based on active membership tenure rather than spending.
- Reserve offers one-time 4- or 8-day rentals without requiring a subscription.
- Active subscribers receive 25% off one-time rentals.
- Shopify brands can use Rivo Memberships for paid or free membership tiers, recurring billing, benefits, and anniversary rewards.
What Is Rent the Runway?
Rent the Runway is a fashion-rental company that provides recurring access to designer clothing through subscriptions, one-time rentals through Reserve, and pre-owned purchases through its resale offering.
The company reports serving approximately 3.5 million lifetime customers across those offerings.
As of July 31, 2026, Rent the Runway reported 140,826 active subscribers and 186,019 total subscribers, including paused subscribers.
Rent the Runway's current mission is to help women feel their best every day, with its subscription business serving as the company's largest recurring revenue source.
In fiscal year 2025, the company reported $329.8 million in revenue, up 7.7% from the prior year. Subscribers generated 90% of total revenue that year.
How Does the Rent the Runway Membership Program Work?
Members select a subscription plan and build shipments containing five items.
Rent the Runway's current subscription page advertises access to 750+ designer brands and thousands of styles.
Members can wear the items, buy pieces they want to keep permanently, or select items to return when they are ready for another shipment.
As long as the membership remains active, members can keep individual items for as long as they want. Items kept at home continue to occupy spots in the member's plan.
Once a member selects new items and marks existing pieces for return, those returning items need to be sent back according to Rent the Runway's return instructions.
The Logistics Behind the Closet
Rent the Runway operates a large reverse-logistics network built around repeated shipping, returns, cleaning, inspection, and redistribution.
The company says its fulfillment systems use technology for inventory management, cleaning decisions, order processing, storage, shipping, and returns.
Rent the Runway operates fulfillment centers in Texas and New Jersey and uses multiple garment-care processes to clean and restore inventory between rentals.
Rent the Runway Membership Plans Overview
Rent the Runway's current public subscription page lists three main plans.
- 1 shipment per month: 5 items per shipment, $129 per month at the standard rate
- 2 shipments per month: up to 10 items per month, $164 per month at the standard rate
- 4 shipments per month: up to 20 items per month, $275 per month at the standard rate
Rent the Runway also displays introductory first-month offers for new members. Promotional rates can change, so the live subscription page is the best place to confirm the current signup offer.
All of these plans allow members to keep five items at home at once. Increasing shipment frequency determines how often a member can rotate those five spots.
Does Every Plan Have the Same Closet?
Not necessarily.
Rent the Runway's current subscription FAQ distinguishes between a Full Subscription Closet and a Limited Subscription Closet.
The Full Subscription Closet includes thousands of items from more than 750 brands, with eligible pieces valued at up to $3,000.
The Limited Subscription Closet covers a narrower collection of everyday clothing and accessories valued at up to $350. Formalwear, selected designers, and Rent the Runway Vault are excluded from limited access.
The RTR Vault and other designated pieces can also be restricted to one-time Reserve rentals instead of subscription access.
Because of those distinctions, shoppers should confirm the closet access attached to the specific plan or offer they are considering.
How Pricing Has Changed Over Time
Rent the Runway's subscription pricing and item allowances have changed several times.
Its former Unlimited plan cost $139 per month in 2016 and later rose to $159.
In 2020, Rent the Runway announced a shift away from its Unlimited structure toward plans based on defined shipment allowances. The Unlimited offering was subsequently phased out.
Another major change arrived in March 2023. Instead of combining shipments, Rent the Runway added one extra item to every shipment at no additional charge. The popular two-shipment plan therefore increased from eight items per month to ten, delivered as two five-item shipments.
Rent the Runway changed subscription pricing again in August 2025. The company said its most popular two-shipment plan increased from $144 to $164 per month, a 14% increase, as it responded to inflation and tariffs.
In June 2026, the company introduced an additional shipping charge for subscription plans to offset rising carrier costs. Rent the Runway has said it expects that shipping charge to be temporary.
What Happened to RTR Unlimited and RTR Update?
RTR Unlimited and RTR Update are no longer the current plan names.
Rent the Runway moved away from Unlimited and shifted toward subscription plans with defined numbers of shipments and items.
Today's public subscription choices are primarily described by shipment frequency, such as one, two, or four shipments per month.
Shoppers encountering older reviews of Unlimited or Update should therefore compare those articles carefully with Rent the Runway's current pricing and plan structure.
Rent the Runway Reserve: Renting Without a Membership
Reserve allows shoppers to rent an individual item for an event without signing up for a recurring membership.
Current Reserve rentals are available for 4 or 8 days.
Rent the Runway currently includes:
- A complimentary backup size
- Free returns
- Prepaid return packaging
- A fixed rental period rather than recurring monthly billing
Current subscribers receive 25% off one-time rentals, giving members an additional discount when they use Reserve alongside their subscription.
RTR Rewards: How the Loyalty Tiers Work
RTR Rewards is a loyalty program layered on top of Rent the Runway's subscription membership.
Subscribers are automatically placed into a level according to the number of months they have maintained an active subscription.
Current RTR Rewards levels are:
- Insider: 1 to 3 months
- Enthusiast: 4 to 9 months
- Maven: 10 to 23 months
- Icon: 24 months or more
Unlike a spend-based VIP program, progression depends on membership tenure.
Benefits can include discounts, bonus challenges, birthday gifts, early access, events, and partner perks, depending on the member's level.
Free Bonus Spots
Beginning in July 2025, Rent the Runway began awarding an extra free spot in a member's next shipment at specific tenure milestones.
Members unlock a free bonus spot:
- At 3 months
- At 6 months
- At 12 months
- Every additional 12 months afterward
The three-month reward is added directly to the account. Later anniversary rewards can be delivered through a code that adds an extra spot for one month.
Members should pay attention to the follow-on billing terms when adding extra spots, because an added spot can continue at the regular paid rate if it is not removed before the next applicable bill date.
Pricing, Fees, and What's Included
Current membership pricing includes access to the applicable subscription closet and Rent the Runway's cleaning service.
Rent the Runway handles cleaning and pressing between rentals, so members do not pay a separate dry-cleaning bill for normal use.
However, shipping is no longer necessarily included in the advertised base monthly subscription price.
Rent the Runway introduced a shipping charge for Subscription plans in June 2026 in response to increasing carrier costs. The company has said it expects this charge to be temporary.
Taxes and other applicable fees can also be added.
The total amount a member pays can therefore be higher than the headline $129, $164, or $275 subscription price.
How to Pause or Cancel a Membership
Rent the Runway subscriptions automatically renew until the member pauses or cancels.
Current terms allow subscribers to manage their membership through their account.
If a membership begins at a promotional rate, that promotional amount applies only for the stated promotional period. After the promotion ends, the account automatically renews at the then-current recurring membership rate.
Members who do not want another recurring charge need to pause or cancel according to the applicable account and billing rules before the next renewal.
Rent the Runway also allows members to change the number of spots and shipments in their subscription as their needs change.
Is Rent the Runway's Membership Worth the Cost?
Whether Rent the Runway is worth the price depends on how frequently a member uses the service, the types of clothing they would otherwise buy, and whether the available inventory matches their needs.
Rent the Runway reported that in fiscal year 2025, the average subscriber wore clothing with an annualized designer retail value of more than 24 times the amount paid for a monthly subscription, representing more than $48,000 in annualized retail value.
That figure is Rent the Runway's own calculation using original retail prices or comparable values.
Catalog size also does not guarantee that every piece will be available when a member wants it. Rent the Runway's terms explicitly state that it does not guarantee availability of every product in the desired size or on the desired date.
New members currently receive another safeguard during their first 60 days. Rent the Runway says members who dislike an item for qualifying reasons can receive replacement items in their next shipment, subject to the offer's terms.
What This Means for Shopify Brands Building Membership Programs
Rent the Runway illustrates several mechanics that ecommerce brands use in membership programs: recurring billing, multiple membership levels, recurring benefits, anniversary rewards, exclusive access, and incentives designed to reward an ongoing customer relationship.
Rivo is a retention platform built for Shopify brands and offers Loyalty, Accounts, Memberships, Cashback, Referrals, Wallet Passes, Store Credit, and Wishlists.
Rivo Memberships supports paid and free membership tiers with configurable pricing and benefits. Merchants can set monthly, annual, and other billing intervals, provide recurring member credits, offer anniversary rewards, configure discounts or free shipping, and create members-only benefits.
That is similar to several retention mechanics visible in Rent the Runway, although Rivo's current documentation does not describe an identical system that automatically advances paid membership tiers solely according to subscription tenure.
Rivo also provides dedicated membership reporting. Merchants can track metrics such as active members, membership revenue, member order revenue, member redemption revenue, cancellations, retention, churn, average order value, repeat purchase rate, and purchase frequency.
Rivo's broader Analytics Home also tracks attributed revenue, customer lifetime value, repeat order rate, and ROI across supported retention programs.
Shopify brands evaluating their own membership model can request a demo to see how Rivo's membership and retention tools can be configured for their store.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Rent the Runway require a membership?
No. Rent the Runway's Reserve service allows customers to make one-time rentals without signing up for a recurring subscription.
How do I return my Rent the Runway items?
Rent the Runway provides a prepaid return label and reusable garment bag with rental shipments. Members can return items through the designated carrier, and complimentary home pickup is also available for eligible membership customers in supported ZIP codes.
How long can you keep Rent the Runway clothes?
Active subscribers can keep individual membership items for as long as they want while the subscription remains active. Any item kept at home continues to occupy one of the member's available subscription spots.
Can you change your Rent the Runway plan each month?
Yes. Rent the Runway says members can change the number of spots and shipments in their plan and can pause or cancel their subscription subject to the applicable membership terms.
Does Rent the Runway offer a first-month discount?
Yes. Rent the Runway currently advertises promotional first-month pricing for its subscription plans. These rates can change and are temporary. After the promotional period ends, the membership automatically renews at the then-current recurring subscription rate.
What is the difference between Rent the Runway membership plans?
The current public plans primarily differ by shipment frequency and the number of items that can rotate through the account each month. Each shipment contains five items. Rent the Runway also distinguishes between Full and Limited Subscription Closet access, so shoppers should verify the inventory access attached to the specific plan they are considering.
How does RTR Rewards work?
RTR Rewards is a tenure-based loyalty program with four levels: Insider, Enthusiast, Maven, and Icon. Members move through the levels according to the number of months they remain active subscribers. Rent the Runway also awards a free bonus spot at three, six, and twelve months of active membership and again at subsequent annual anniversaries.
