EFT vs membership: why the model matters
Fitness brands fall into two pricing buckets that produce very different unit economics.
- • Low-EFT / high-volume (Anytime Fitness, Planet Fitness): $20–40 EFT, 1,000–3,000 members. Wins on scale and low payroll (24-hr keyfob).
- • Premium boutique (Orangetheory, F45, CycleBar, Stretch Zone): $130–200 EFT, 300–600 members. Wins on retention and ancillary attach (PT, retail, premium tiers).
- • Boutique studios produce higher margins per member but break harder on churn — losing 30 members is 6–8% of the base.
The first 6 months: pre-sale and ramp
Most fitness franchises target 250–400 founding members at a discount before opening day. This is the single biggest predictor of year-1 cash flow. Brands with strong pre-sale playbooks (Orangetheory, Stretch Zone) hit breakeven in months 4–8. Brands with weak pre-sale (most independents) take 12–18 months and burn working capital.
Related guides
Long-form playbooks on the same topic, written by the RevenueLab editorial team.
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Read the guideFAQ
How profitable is a fitness franchise?
Stabilized fitness franchises produce 12–25% EBITDA margin. Anytime Fitness median EBITDA ≈ $120–200K/unit. Orangetheory median ≈ $200–350K/unit. Stretch Zone ≈ $150–280K. Real ROI hinges on hitting member count targets in months 6–12.
How much does a fitness franchise cost?
Anytime Fitness: $400–650K all-in. Orangetheory: $900K–1.4M. Stretch Zone: $280–450K. F45: $700K–1.1M. CycleBar: $650–950K. Real estate build-out is the biggest variable — 30–50% of total project cost.
What's the best fitness franchise to own?
By cash-on-cash: Anytime Fitness (low capex + low payroll). By margin per unit: Stretch Zone or Orangetheory. By semi-absentee viability: Anytime Fitness. Match the model to your capital, time availability, and operator skill — there's no single 'best.'
What's the failure rate of fitness franchises?
First-3-year failure rate ~15–20% across the category, vs ~50%+ for independent gyms. Strong-brand franchises (Anytime, Orangetheory, Planet Fitness) under 10%. Most failures cluster around weak pre-sale + undercapitalization.
How this calculator is built
Independently maintained
Written by Sam Doshi and the RevenueLab editorial team. We don't sell the data feeds this tool is built on.
Sourced from primary data
Benchmarks come from public AdSense / Stripe / IRS disclosures and reader-submitted data — never third-party "$X per view" claims. Full methodology.
Last reviewed
June 2026. We re-check every figure on the platform on a rolling quarterly cycle.
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See our editorial policy and disclaimer. Results are estimates, not advice.