Club Pilates vs F45 Training

F45's trajectory is a case study in what happens when a franchise brand prioritizes growth metrics over unit economics. They went public via SPAC in 2021 at a $1.5B valuation, expanded to 40+ countries, signed Mark Wahlberg as a global partner — then nearly went bankrupt by 2023 when franchisees couldn't make the math work. The HIIT workout model has no proprietary equipment, no specialized training certification, and no meaningful switching cost for members. Any competitor can offer a similar 45-minute functional training class, and many do, for less.

Club Pilates benefits from Xponential Fitness's portfolio approach — Xponential operates 10 boutique fitness brands across different modalities, which means shared technology, marketing infrastructure, and real estate teams. A Club Pilates franchisee gets the support ecosystem of a 2,500+ unit parent company. F45's parent has been in survival mode, cycling through leadership and restructuring debt. When your franchisor is distracted by its own solvency, franchisee support evaporates.

The equipment moat matters more than it appears. Club Pilates requires specialized reformer machines ($3K-$5K each, 12-20 per studio) that members can't easily replicate at home or find at a standard gym. This creates a reason to keep the membership that goes beyond motivation or habit. F45 uses kettlebells, ropes, and bodyweight exercises — equipment available at any gym or purchasable for a home setup. When members can approximate your workout elsewhere, retention becomes a marketing problem rather than a structural advantage.

Club Pilates' 17.5% unit growth reflects genuine consumer demand for Pilates as a modality — it's one of the few fitness categories growing across all age demographics, particularly with women 35-55 who have high disposable income and long customer lifetimes. F45's -5% contraction reflects both brand-specific problems and a broader HIIT market that peaked during the pandemic home-workout era and is normalizing.