descriptionThe Franchise Dossier
FDD Sourced
Independent analysis. Not affiliated with, sponsored by, or endorsed by Code Ninjas. All figures sourced from public FDD filings.
Franchise dossier · Education / kids coding

Owning a Code Ninjas: what actually happens

VERDICT · A JOB
Sales per center barely exceed the cost to build one, so the average owner is buying a low-paid job with a lease attached.
You'd pocket / yr*
$0–$70K
1 unit · before your salary
Your time
30–50 hrs/wk
owner-operator
Becomes an asset at
stays a job
real wealth: not a wealth play
Agreement term
10 yrs
then renewal
Year one, honestly

A Code Ninjas center is a built-out retail space with computers, a center director and part-time teen and college-age instructors, selling monthly memberships plus camps. All of that cost is in place on opening day while memberships build slowly, and summer camps supply a large share of the year's cash. With average sales near $237,000 and rent that does not shrink, many centers spend year one, and some longer, covering costs rather than paying the owner.

Where each sales dollar goes
Supplies / goods ~2%Labor ~36%Rent ~24%Franchisor fees ~10%Other opex ~27%Left before debt & you ~9%

Illustrative split for a typical unit (industry estimate). The green slice is store cash flow before your loan payment and before paying yourself a salary — not profit.

If you want out

With the unit count falling, sellers outnumber buyers, and an average center earns too little to support much of a sale price. Realistic exits are a low-priced transfer to another local owner or an incoming owner-operator, with franchisor approval and a transfer fee, or closing and absorbing the remaining lease. A top-quartile center with sales near $380,000 and a steady membership base can sell as a small business, but that is a minority of the system.

Smart for

An owner-operator who wants to run a kids' coding center personally, in a dense family suburb, with cheap rent.

Dumb for

Anyone who needs the business to pay a salary and service a loan on average-center sales.

The disclosure it's built on

The verdict above is our read of the numbers Code Ninjas files with regulators — here they are, cited.

Code NinjasFDD 2026
Item 5 · Initial franchise fee
$45,000
Item 7 · Initial investment
$174,250 – $265,750
Item 6 · Royalty
8.25% (one source shows up to 12.25%)
Item 6 · Ad / brand fund
2%
Item 19 · Avg unit revenue
$236,884
Item 20 · US units (~2025)
238
SOURCEFranzy, FranchiseInvestorData and FranchisePayback all summarize the 2026 FDD: fee $45,000, Learning Center investment $174,250-$265,750 (Franzy shows $174,750 at the low end), royalty 8.25%, brand fund 2% (high confidence). FranchisePayback shows the royalty as a range, 8.25%-12.25% (unexplained, medium). 238 franchised + 7 company-owned = 245 per FranchisePayback and FranchiseInvestorData; Franzy shows 371 franchised, which looks like a global or stale count (medium). Item 19 average $236,884 medium confidence: sources give $236,884, $237,000, $241,242 and $217,000 for different vintages. Pulse cites a $40,000 fee and 6% royalty with a $174,750-$298,250 range; this conflicts with the other three sources and was not used. Technology fee about $350/mo (single source). Term 10 years with renewals (two sources).
The catch

Average center sales are about $237,000, which is close to the $174,000-$266,000 it costs to open one, and roughly 10% of that goes to royalty and brand fund before rent and staff. On those numbers an average center leaves little for the owner and a bottom-quartile center (about $125,000 in sales) likely loses money. The system is also contracting: summaries of the 2026 FDD show the unit count down about 9% to 12% in a year.

*How to read these numbers. Disclosed (FDD, via summaries): fee, investment, 8.25% royalty, 2% brand fund, Item 19 gross revenue and quartiles. Cost-structure %, take-home and hours are ESTIMATES; no profit data is disclosed, and third-party margin figures (about 11%-14% at the average) are unverified. Unit-count decline is from FDD summaries, medium confidence on the exact size. — "You'd pocket" is estimated owner cash flow for one average unit before a salary for your own full-time work, so it is not take-home pay. Averages are not promises; your unit could earn far less. This is analysis, not advice — read the current FDD in full and talk to current and former franchisees before you commit.

Seriously considering Code Ninjas?

Pressure-test the affordability, then read the full FDD and validate Item 19 (or its absence) with existing franchisees. When we add vetted franchise-consultant and financing partners, they'll be clearly disclosed here and never change our analysis.

Run a rough affordability check →