Code Ninjas Franchise
Cost, fees, owner earnings, closure rate and litigation for a Code Ninjas franchise — pulled from the franchisor's own public FDD (2025), not its sales material.
Disclosure honesty
Code Ninjas discloses earnings (Item 19) — but the grade is how honestly. We graded it D.
What their own earnings claim actually says
Discloses 2024 gross sales and active student counts by quartile for 227 locations. Omits all cost data, net income, or profitability figures. Excludes 41 closed centers, cherry-picking survivors only.
What a Code Ninjas franchise actually costs to run
| Fee | Disclosed | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Initial franchise fee | $40,000 | Item 5 — paid up front, before you open |
| Royalty | 8% of gross sales | Item 6 — charged on revenue, not profit |
| Advertising fund | 2.25% of gross sales | Item 6 — brand marketing, spent at the franchisor's discretion |
| Total recurring fees | 10.25% of gross sales | Before rent, labor, food or debt service |
| Total initial investment | $174,750 – $298,250 | Item 7 — franchisor's own low/high estimate |
Studio Center royalty is 12%; technology fee $350/month; liquidated damages clause applies on termination.
Royalty and ad-fund percentages are charged on gross sales — an owner pays them whether or not the location is profitable.
Code Ninjas system size and owner turnover
| Total outlets | 244 |
| Ceased operations | 13 |
| Terminated by franchisor | 8 |
| Transferred to new owners | 25 |
| Closure rate | 5.3% of outlets |
System shrank from 284 to 239 franchised outlets 2022-2024; 41 closures in 2024 alone.
From Item 20 of the FDD 2025. Terminations and ceased operations are the franchisor's own count of owners who stopped — the number the sales pitch leaves out.
Is Code Ninjas worth it? — how it compares to 60 similar franchises
| Ongoing fees | 10.25% of sales | steeper than 77% of children's education & childcare franchises |
| Startup cost | from $174,750 | about average (median $191,992) |
| Disclosure honesty | Grade D | less honest than most of the category |
| Closure rate | 5.3% of outlets | worse than 83% of peers |
| Disclosed lawsuits | 2 | more litigious than 80% of peers |
Benchmarked against every children's education & childcare franchise we've graded from public FDDs — the context the franchisor's pitch never gives you.
Owner take-home for a Code Ninjas
The franchisor's framing: Discloses 2024 gross sales and active student counts by quartile for 227 locations. Omits … We reconstruct what an owner actually keeps, from their own FDD.
- Reconstructed owner P&L — net take-home after royalty, ad fund, rent, labor & debt
- Break-even timeline + cash-on-cash ROI
- Full fee stack + required-purchase markups
- Decoded real failure / closure rate
- How it ranks vs comparable franchises
- Validation-call playbook — the exact questions to ask
See a full sample report → · 30-day guarantee
Code Ninjas franchise — frequently asked
- How much does a Code Ninjas franchise cost?
- The FDD lists a total initial investment of about $174,750–$298,250, including a $40,000 initial franchise fee.
- How much do Code Ninjas franchise owners make?
- Discloses 2024 gross sales and active student counts by quartile for 227 locations. Omits all cost data, net income, or profitability figures. Excludes 41 closed centers, cherry-picking survivors only. We grade this disclosure D for honesty.
- What are the Code Ninjas franchise fees?
- Code Ninjas's FDD discloses a $40,000 initial franchise fee, a 8% royalty on gross sales, a 2.25% advertising-fund contribution, for roughly 10.25% of gross sales in recurring fees before rent, labor, or debt service. Studio Center royalty is 12%; technology fee $350/month; liquidated damages clause applies on termination.
- What is the Code Ninjas franchise profit margin?
- Code Ninjas does not publish a franchisee net-profit margin — almost no franchisor does. What Item 19 actually shows: Discloses 2024 gross sales and active student counts by quartile for 227 locations. Omits all cost data, net income, or profitability figures. Excludes 41 closed centers, cherry-picking survivors only. Recurring fees alone take about 10.25% of gross sales, before rent, labor, food or debt service. Margin has to be reconstructed from the disclosure, not read off it.
- What is the Code Ninjas franchise failure rate?
- System shrank from 284 to 239 franchised outlets 2022-2024; 41 closures in 2024 alone.
- How many Code Ninjas locations are there?
- Code Ninjas's FDD reports 244 total outlets, with 13 that ceased operations in the most recent reporting year and 25 transferred to new owners. Item 20 is where system health shows up before the marketing does.
- Does Code Ninjas have complaints or lawsuits?
- Code Ninjas discloses 2 legal matters in Item 3 of its FDD. Item 3 covers the franchisor's litigation history, which is the closest thing to a public record of how it treats franchisees — read the case descriptions, not just the count.
- Is a Code Ninjas franchise worth it?
- It depends on the numbers, not the pitch. Code Ninjas scores D on disclosure honesty, carries about 10.25% of sales in ongoing fees, and discloses 2 legal matters. Get the real owner take-home before you sign.
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Source: MN CARDS 33355-202504-08 (Clean FDD 2025). FranchiseValidate is independent and not affiliated with Code Ninjas or its franchisor. Figures are extracted from the franchisor's own public disclosure document; verify against the current FDD before any decision.