About Online Yoga Planet

What we are

Online Yoga Planet is the most complete database of online yoga teacher training in existence. We index every Yoga Alliance Registered Yoga School that offers online training — 2,319 of them — plus 70 IAYT-accredited yoga therapy programs, for 2,389 programs total. We rank them by real student reviews, not by who pays us. We've built the comparison tool that should have existed for years and didn't.

When a prospective yoga teacher is ready to invest $500–$5,000 in a training, they currently have no good way to compare programs side-by-side. Vendor websites all claim to be the best. Review listicles are ordered by affiliate commissions. Google returns whatever is best at SEO, not whatever is best for the student. We're fixing that.

How we're different

Every school, not just the ones paying us. We index the complete universe of online-capable Yoga Alliance schools plus IAYT-accredited yoga therapy programs. No curation bias. No hidden omissions because a school won't pay a commission.

Ranked by real student reviews. Our default sort uses a Bayesian weighting of 1.6 million verified Yoga Alliance student reviews. A school with a 5.0 rating and 3 reviews can't leapfrog a school with a 4.8 rating and 300 reviews. Statistical honesty over vanity metrics.

Top Rated 2026 badge earned, not bought. Schools with 4.5★ or higher AND 10+ verified student reviews earn the badge automatically. 1,617 schools currently qualify. The badge is free to earn, and we don't charge for display rights.

Open submissions for non-Yoga-Alliance schools. If you're an IAYT-accredited school, a BWY-registered teacher, a Kundalini KYTA member, a Sivananda or Iyengar lineage program, or an established independent — we want you in the database. Submit your school here. Free forever for the standard listing.

How we make money (full transparency)

This part matters. OYP's previous About page claimed "we don't sell courses. we don't take payments for placement." That was the legacy positioning from a period when the old site was actually running a WooCommerce storefront. We're being honest about the current and future business model.

Today: The database is free to use. Every school is listed for free. Student requests for information are routed directly to the school's contact email. We don't charge schools for claim-your-profile access, and we don't accept money to change the ranking.

Next 6 months: Schools will be able to optionally upgrade to featured tiers — paid placement in specific high-volume categories, enhanced profile treatment, lead delivery analytics. The free standard listing stays free. The underlying ranking by real student reviews stays merit-based. Paid placement will be visually distinct from earned placement.

What we will not do: We will not change the Bayesian ranking in exchange for money. We will not hide low-rated schools. We will not sell your email. We will not run programmatic display ads on the database. We will not list fake schools for affiliate commissions.

Where the data comes from

Every program in the OYP database traces to a verifiable public source:

• 2,319 Yoga Alliance schools — indexed from the public Yoga Alliance RYS directory, refreshed quarterly. This includes school names, locations, designations, training formats, student review ratings, trainer lists, and sample reviews that Yoga Alliance publicly displays.
• 70 IAYT-accredited yoga therapy programs — indexed from the public IAYT accredited programs directory.
• Self-submitted schools — via our submission form, verified against credentialing bodies (IAYT, BWY, KYTA, recognized lineages, or 10+ year independent operation).

We are not affiliated with Yoga Alliance or IAYT. All listings show clear attribution to the source. Every school page has a "Report an issue" link — schools that want to correct inaccurate data or opt out of the directory can contact us and we'll honor the request promptly.

Our editorial team

Every long-form article on Online Yoga Planet is written by a practicing yoga teacher or specialist — not a generalist content writer. Our contributors bring real teaching experience, personal practice, and subject-matter depth to the topics they cover.

Kristen Brendst — Lead Writer, Yoga Philosophy & Teacher Training

Kristen is a yoga educator whose work spans yoga philosophy, asana practice, teacher training reviews, and gear. She draws on the Yoga Sutras, the Yamas and Niyamas, and years of practice to make traditional teachings practical and accessible. She has written over 200 guides and reviews for Online Yoga Planet.

Miranda Murphy Goll — Yin Yoga, Yoga Nidra & Prenatal Yoga

Miranda (E-RYT 200) brings deep expertise in yin yoga, yoga nidra, and prenatal practice. Her writing on sensitive nervous systems and trauma-informed yoga has helped shape our coverage of yoga therapy programs.

Jennifer — Yoga Anatomy & Fitness Integration

Jennifer (RYT 200, NASM CPT) writes about yoga anatomy, alignment, and the intersection of yoga with strength and mobility training. She reviews our fitness-oriented and alignment-based training programs.

Amber Helms — Chakras, Pranayama & Energy Work

Amber is a yoga teacher specializing in chakra systems, pranayama, and subtle-body practices. She's authored 20+ OYP articles on energy work, meditation, and the internal dimensions of yoga.

Our sister project

Be Well Academy is a separate online yoga education platform run by the same founder. It offers structured, paid courses taught by experienced practitioners — including courses from two OYP contributors (Amber Helms, Bethany Orbison). BWA is a sister project, not a parent. OYP doesn't give BWA special treatment in the database ranking, and the two sites operate on separate business models. We mention the relationship here because transparency matters.

What we stand for

Energy. Yoga is the practice of directed attention. We build tools that help students direct theirs efficiently — toward the right program, the right teacher, the right path — rather than wasting months in comparison paralysis.

Connection. A good yoga teacher training is a relationship. Our job is to make the right introductions, not to replace human judgment. Every listing is a door to a real conversation with a real school.

Wellness. The programs we list are serious. Yoga teacher training is a wellness investment that can change how someone earns a living. We treat this with the gravity it deserves.

Transparency. This page. Our business model. Our data sources. Our ranking algorithm. The rules for earning the Top Rated 2026 badge. The attribution on every listing. If you're ever unsure how OYP works, you should be able to find the answer in plain English on this site.

Contact

Questions, corrections, opt-out requests, partnership inquiries, or just saying hello: [email protected].

If you run a yoga teacher training school and would like to claim your listing, add photos, respond to students, or discuss featured placement (coming soon): same address.

If you're a prospective student looking for the right program: start here — or take our Match Me quiz to get a personalized shortlist of three schools matched to your specific goals, budget, and timeline.