Planet Fitness Franchise
Cost, fees, owner earnings, closure rate and litigation for a Planet Fitness franchise — pulled from the franchisor's own public FDD (2026), not its sales material.
Disclosure honesty
Planet Fitness discloses little or no owner-earnings data (Item 19) — the franchisor won't put real profit in writing.
What their own earnings claim actually says
Item 19 not present in provided excerpts. No financial performance representations found. Revenue, profit, or owner income data entirely absent from supplied FDD sections.
What a Planet Fitness franchise actually costs to run
| Fee | Disclosed | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Initial franchise fee | $40,000 | Item 5 — paid up front, before you open |
| Advertising fund | 2% of gross sales | Item 6 — brand marketing, spent at the franchisor's discretion |
| Total recurring fees | 2% of gross sales | Before rent, labor, food or debt service |
| Total initial investment | $1,282,500 – $5,386,000 | Item 7 — franchisor's own low/high estimate |
Initial fee $0-$40,000; NAF 2% EFT; LAF 6-7% EFT; area dev fee $10k-$30k/location additional.
Royalty and ad-fund percentages are charged on gross sales — an owner pays them whether or not the location is profitable.
Is Planet Fitness worth it? — how it compares to 71 similar franchises
| Ongoing fees | 2% of sales | lower than most (median 9%) |
| Startup cost | from $1,282,500 | pricier than 96% of peers |
| Disclosure honesty | Grade F | less honest than most of the category |
| Disclosed lawsuits | 0 | fewer than most |
Benchmarked against every fitness & gyms franchise we've graded from public FDDs — the context the franchisor's pitch never gives you.
Owner take-home for a Planet Fitness
The franchisor's framing: Item 19 not present in provided excerpts. No financial performance representations found. … 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
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Planet Fitness franchise — frequently asked
- How much does a Planet Fitness franchise cost?
- The FDD lists a total initial investment of about $1,282,500–$5,386,000, including a $40,000 initial franchise fee.
- How much do Planet Fitness franchise owners make?
- Planet Fitness discloses little or no earnings data (Item 19) — meaning the franchisor won't put real owner profit in writing. That's a red flag worth questioning.
- What are the Planet Fitness franchise fees?
- Planet Fitness's FDD discloses a $40,000 initial franchise fee, a 2% advertising-fund contribution, for roughly 2% of gross sales in recurring fees before rent, labor, or debt service. Initial fee $0-$40,000; NAF 2% EFT; LAF 6-7% EFT; area dev fee $10k-$30k/location additional.
- What is the Planet Fitness franchise profit margin?
- Planet Fitness discloses no Item 19 earnings representation, so no profit margin can be derived from the FDD at all. Any margin figure quoted elsewhere is an estimate, not a disclosure.
- What is the Planet Fitness franchise failure rate?
- Item 20 outlet count, termination, and transfer data not present in supplied excerpts.
- How many Planet Fitness locations are there?
- Planet Fitness's Item 20 outlet table isn't clearly stated in the filing excerpt — request the full Item 20 before relying on any unit count.
- Does Planet Fitness have complaints or lawsuits?
- Planet Fitness discloses no material litigation in Item 3 of the filing we reviewed. That's a positive signal, though it covers only what the franchisor is required to report.
- Is a Planet Fitness franchise worth it?
- It depends on the numbers, not the pitch. Planet Fitness scores F on disclosure honesty, carries about 2% of sales in ongoing fees. Get the real owner take-home before you sign.
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Compare Planet Fitness to similar franchises
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Source: MN CARDS 36703-202605-07 (Clean FDD 2026). FranchiseValidate is independent and not affiliated with Planet Fitness or its franchisor. Figures are extracted from the franchisor's own public disclosure document; verify against the current FDD before any decision.