F45 Training vs Planet Fitness: units, growth & AI adoption
F45 Training leads on AI adoption (63/100 vs 49/100), while Planet Fitness is the larger system by unit count (2,896 vs 1,200+). F45 Training is growing faster year-over-year (+11.4%). Data verified Q3 2026.
| Metric | F45 Training | Planet Fitness |
|---|---|---|
| Sector | Fitness / Wellness | Fitness / Wellness |
| Headquarters | Australia | USA |
| Units (approx.) | 1,200+ | 2,896 ◂ |
| Unit growth YoY | +11.4% ◂ | +6.4% |
| AI Adoption Score | 63/100 ◂ | 49/100 |
| Operations AI | 66 ◂ | 42 |
| Marketing AI | 62 ◂ | 58 |
| Training AI | 64 ◂ | 40 |
| Data infrastructure | 58 ◂ | 55 |
| Region | APAC | North America |
| Index rank | #26 ◂ | #48 |
F45 Training
APAC-born functional fitness franchise with centrally programmed workouts delivered digitally — a naturally AI-ready operating model.
FULL F45 TRAINING PROFILE →Planet Fitness
The largest gym franchise by membership (20.8 million members at end-2025) is early in its AI build: the predictive churn model was still in alpha through 2026, and club-floor AI is limited. Scored low deliberately — the announced work is real but mostly pre-production.
FULL PLANET FITNESS PROFILE →Reading the comparison
What actually separates them
F45 Training leads Planet Fitness by 14 points overall (63 vs 49), and the gap is concentrated rather than spread. The widest single divergence is operations AI, where F45 Training is 24 points ahead.
Operations AI carries the heaviest weight in the score at 35%, because it is the pillar most tied to unit economics and the hardest to claim without deploying.
Scale does not explain the gap
Planet Fitness is the larger system (2,896 against 1,200+) and the lower-scoring one. This inversion is common in our Index and it is the clearest evidence that unit count does not produce AI maturity.
Systems that grew through decentralized, franchisee-owned technology stacks accumulated fragmented data, and every additional unit made consolidation harder rather than easier. Scale becomes an advantage only after a common data layer exists — and an obstacle before it does.
Sector context
Both compete in Fitness / Wellness, which averages 59/100 across the 4 systems we track in it, against an industry average of 63. F45 Training sits above that sector average; the other does not.
Same-sector comparison is the one that carries real weight. These two are competing for the same operators and the same customers, so a durable capability gap between them is a competitive fact rather than a statistical curiosity.
What this comparison does not tell you
F45 Training ranks #26 and Planet Fitness #48 of the 53 systems in the Index. That ordering describes depth of AI deployment and nothing else.
We publish no correlation between AI score and franchisee profitability, because no verified dataset supports one. Unit economics, franchisee satisfaction, territory terms and the disclosure document decide a franchise purchase; AI maturity is a tiebreaker between otherwise comparable options.
Scores describe system-level capability. What reaches any individual unit depends on that system's rollout, and in large networks the variation between units is wide.
Franchise Intelligence Index
Compare every tracked system — full benchmarks, updated quarterly.
SOURCE: FRANCHISEPULSE FRANCHISE INTELLIGENCE INDEX, Q3 2026 · FREE TO CITE WITH ATTRIBUTION + LINK
Unit counts, growth rates and founding years are approximate public figures compiled from company reports and press (2025–26). They are published by third parties, compiled as-is, and may change; we do not independently verify the underlying data — check the company’s own filing before acting on it. The AI Adoption Score is FranchisePulse’s own editorial metric (operations 35% · data infrastructure 30% · marketing 20% · training 15%), not a measured industry statistic — see the open methodology. For reference only; not legal, tax, or investment advice.