PureFitness Franchising vs 9Round

9Round is the far stronger software-sales opportunity right now, and it’s not close. The dimension that wins is TAM plus timing: you can’t sell POS, scheduling, and marketing automation into a franchise brand that has zero franchised units. PureFitness has 3 total locations and no franchisees, while 9Round gives you 141 existing franchisee doors to target immediately. That’s 141 potential licenses—a live, addressable base—versus a vendor relationship that’s pure speculation. On the timing front, 9Round’s FDD is current (2026) and the filing is fresh, so the brand is legally active and recruiting franchisees now; PureFitness’s FDD is flagged as DUE, meaning the franchisor is behind on regulatory filings, which chills expansion and makes it a non-starter for a vendor seeking near-term pipeline.

Budget and terrain present a meaningful tradeoff, but it still favors 9Round. PureFitness’s AUV north of $1.1M and investment range up to $3M suggest that any future franchisee would have deep pockets and a real need for sophisticated back-office, scheduling, and marketing tools—high per-unit wallet size. 9Round’s franchisees operate on a lean $160K–$390K buildout, so per-unit software spend will be tighter. Yet that tradeoff only matters if the units exist. With -29% unit growth, 9Round is shrinking, and you’ll need to replace churned doors; but 141 units today is still a substantial base where you can capture revenue before attrition hits. The approved-supplier model on both sides means you’d need to get listed, but 9Round’s scale gives you a real negotiating position and immediate volume. PureFitness offers no volume and an uncertain path to ever franchising at scale.

Verdict: 9Round delivers a genuine 141-unit franchisee TAM you can call on today; PureFitness offers none, making it a dead end for 2024–2025 software sales.