Studio Pilates International vs 9Round

Right now, 9Round is the stronger software-sales opportunity and the deciding dimension is TAM—plain and simple. With 141 franchised locations versus Studio Pilates’ 12, 9Round gives us 11.75x more doors to sell into immediately. That unit count isn’t just a vanity metric; it’s our addressable install base and the multiplier on every deal we close. The lower investment range ($160K–$390K) also means franchisees run leaner operations where our POS, scheduling, and back-office automation can replace manual labor fast—shorter sales cycles, urgency to cut costs, and no room for bespoke solutions. The fact that their FDD is current (2026 filing) signals active, compliant franchise development, which matters when we’re mapping decision-makers inside the franchisor.

The meaningful tradeoff is budget depth. Studio Pilates’ AUV of $888K tells us their franchisees have revenue to spend on premium software, and an 8% royalty on that volume funds a franchisor with enforcement power to standardize tech. But that advantage is hypothetical when stacked against a 12-unit base and an FDD filing that’s already stale—we’d burn cycles chasing a tiny pool while 9Round’s churn or expansion creates active replacement demand across 141 units. The unit contraction at 9Round (-29% YoY) is actually a feature, not a flaw: distressed or transitioning units are acute buyers for automation that lowers overhead. We sell into pain, and 9Round has more of it at scale.

Verdict: 9Round wins on sheer TAM and immediate replacement-cycle demand, despite thinner per-unit wallets.