Is a cheaper Reiki course lower quality?

Not always. Price mostly reflects group size, whether the teaching and attunement are live, and what support comes after the certificate. A cheaper course taught live in a small group can be worth more than an expensive one delivered as a recording. Ask about those three things rather than judging by price alone.

Why does online training sometimes cost the same as in person?

Because the teaching itself, not the room, is what takes the time: a live attunement, questions answered as they come up, and support afterwards. At Playground Soul, online and in-person training are both EUR 488 per level for that reason.

What should I ask before booking a Reiki course?

How many people will be in the group, whether the attunement is given live or through a recording, what happens if a question comes up a month later, and which lineage the teacher trained in. Those answers matter more than the price on its own.

Why do Reiki courses vary so much in price?

Ask five Reiki teachers what a Level 1 course costs and you will get five different answers, sometimes several hundred euros apart for what looks like the same certificate on paper. The price is not random. It usually comes down to three things: how many people are in the room, whether the teaching happens live, and what you are given to take home afterwards.

Group size changes everything

A course taught to twenty people in a conference room costs less per student to run than one taught to six or fewer, or one to one. Smaller groups mean more time with the teacher, more chance to ask a question during the attunement itself, and more chance the teacher still remembers you a year later. At Playground Soul, groups are capped at six and often run one to one, in Canggu or live online, and the price is the same either way: EUR 488 per level.

Live teaching versus a recording

Some of the cheapest courses on the market are not really courses. They are a video watched alone, followed by an attunement sent through the recording rather than given by a person in the room or on the call with you. That is a genuine cost saving for whoever sells it, and it shows up in the price. It is also, for a lot of students, not what they thought they had signed up for. Live teaching, where the teacher is present for the attunement and can answer a question the moment it comes up, costs more to deliver and should cost more to attend. Every level at Playground Soul is taught live, never recorded, never automated.

What is actually included

The certificate is the smallest part of what a student is paying for. A manual worth keeping, an attunement given properly, and the ability to message the teacher a month later when trying an attunement on a friend and something feels off: that is where the value sits, and it is also where courses differ most. A course that includes a proper manual and support afterwards can be better value than a cheaper one that hands over a PDF and disappears. Ask what happens after the certificate is printed. That answer says more than the price does.

The teacher and the lineage behind the price

How long someone has taught, and what training they hold themselves, also shows up in the cost. Vanessa has practised Reiki since 2006 and became a Reiki Master Teacher in 2019, after training in Germany and Thailand. Courses also vary by which lineage a teacher trained in; hers is Usui Reiki Ryoho, and where that lineage actually comes from is worth knowing before comparing schools by price alone. Experience is not a discount item, but it is not the only reason a course costs what it does either. The honest way to choose is to look past the number and ask about group size, whether the teaching is live, and what support comes after. Reiki training sets out what each level with Vanessa includes, and her background is worth reading before committing to any teacher, here or elsewhere.