- Franchise fee
- $19,950 (single unit), non-refundable lump sum at signing; $2,500 VetFran discount for qualifying military veterans — 2025 FDD Item 5 per 1851franchise.com and franchisepayback.com summaries, and hotworx.net/franchising. Multi-unit/area developer: $39,950 for 3 licenses; additional licenses $15,000 (1) or $10,000+ (2 or more) — hotworx.net/franchising, fetched 2026-08-10.
- Initial investment — low end
- $252,200 outside California and New York; $356,299 for California and New York locations — 2025 FDD Item 7 per 1851franchise.com and franchisepayback.com summaries.
- Initial investment — high end
- $901,440 outside California and New York; $1,182,389 for California and New York locations — 2025 FDD Item 7 per 1851franchise.com and franchisepayback.com summaries.
- Royalty
- Flat $695 per month (not a percentage of gross sales) — 2025 FDD Item 6 per franchisepayback.com and 1851franchise.com summaries. Additional recurring fees per the same Item 6 summaries: technology fee $150/mo, POS software $129/mo, virtual instructor software $20/sauna/mo, plus other monthly/annual fees in the $65–$790 range.
- Ad / brand fund
- No percentage-based national ad fund identified. franchisepayback.com's 2025 FDD Item 6 summary lists a 0.00% advertising/national brand fund; Entrepreneur's 2026 Franchise 500 directory lists no ad royalty fee. Both are third-party summaries, not the FDD itself.
- Liquid capital required
- $80,000 cash requirement — per Entrepreneur Franchise 500 directory listing, 2026. Single-sourced; a conflicting undated $115,000 minimum-cash figure on vettedbiz.com was rejected as unsourced and undated.
- Net worth required
- $400,000 — per Entrepreneur Franchise 500 directory listing, 2026. Single-sourced.
- Term length
- 10-year renewable franchise agreement — per Entrepreneur Franchise 500 directory listing, 2026. Single-sourced.
- Typical footprint
- 1,500–2,200 sq ft, housing 6–10 infrared saunas — hotworx.net/franchising, fetched 2026-08-10.
- Multi-unit commitment
- No minimum multi-unit commitment identified for a single-unit license ($19,950 single-unit fee, hotworx.net/franchising). A multi-unit/area-developer package exists at $39,950 for 3 licenses, and the brand states a significant percentage of franchisees are multi-unit operators (hotworx.net/franchising, fetched 2026-08-10). Absentee ownership is not permitted and the business cannot be run part-time or from home — Entrepreneur Franchise 500 directory, 2026.
- Territory model
- CONFLICTING third-party summaries, not adjudicated: franchisepayback.com's 2025 FDD summary states exclusive territory protection is granted to each franchisee, while Entrepreneur's 2026 Franchise 500 directory states no exclusive territories are available. No primary Item 12 text was obtained. Treat as an open diligence question.
Reported unit economics (FDD Item 19)
No AUV disclosed. An Item 19 FPR does exist in the 2025 FDD but reports gross profit by tercile for the 162 franchised studios that operated a full fiscal year 2024: top third average gross profit $419,823, middle third $275,613, bottom third $205,332 (2025 FDD Item 19 per 1851franchise.com summary, fetched 2026-08-10). A $291,000 "AUV" appearing on franchisepayback.com is that site's own estimate and is excluded.
Reported from public sources — named inline where the research records them — not verified against the primary FDD and not advice. Verify Items 5–7, 12 and 19 of the current FDD before relying on any figure. Primary economics source ↗
