Hybrid (franchise + corporate)

Pause Studio

Redefining the Wellness Experience (brand's own about page, accessed 2026-08-10)

Contrast therapy (infrared sauna + cold plunge)Infrared saunaCold plungeFloat therapy (sensory deprivation)Whole-body cryotherapyLED / red light therapy

verified locations (Praxium)

states

2016

founded

Signature offer

What makes Pause Studio different

Eight modalities plus an in-studio medical/longevity line (IV drips, vitamin shots, NAD+ and Niagen NR, delivered through an independently owned physician practice) sold on ONE credit-based membership rather than per-modality passes — the franchising page states medical/longevity services are 36% of total revenue (pausestudio.com/franchising, accessed 2026-08-10). That mixed recovery-plus-medical revenue stack, at a 2,600–3,200 sq ft footprint, is what separates it from single-modality contrast/cryo studios; credits are redeemable across modalities and, in the LA cluster, across sister locations.

Pause Studio is a US recovery-and-wellness studio brand that puts eight service modalities under one roof and one credit-based membership: contrast therapy (infrared sauna plus cold plunge), infrared sauna, sensory-deprivation float, whole-body cryotherapy, LED/red-light therapy, pneumatic compression, robotic massage, and IV drips/vitamin shots including NAD+ and Niagen NR. The first studio opened in Venice, CA in 2016; the company began franchising and opened its first franchised studio in Newport Beach, CA on 2024-10-26 (PRNewswire, 2024-11-12). It runs a hybrid system — company-owned studios in the Los Angeles area alongside franchised studios — and franchising is currently open to new candidates. In-studio medical services are delivered by an independently owned physician practice, per the disclosure on the brand's own location pages.

Footprint

The verified footprint

No comparable brand-published unit count was found; the verified count is Praxium's own measurement.

verified locations

Praxium’s own count — locations we linked to this brand, one by one.

Franchise availability Open — per the brand's own materials. A status, not an endorsement.

Training per the brand: franchisees spend 5 days at "Pause University" covering every aspect of the business, and a Pause Launch Manager spends 5 days on site with the franchisee and team ahead of the grand opening (pausestudio.com/franchising / franchise materials, accessed 2026-08-10). The brand positions the model as owner/manager-operated at up to ~25 hours a week. FranchiseWire (2022-09-02) reported a typical opening staff of seven to ten employees, with a minimum of one nurse and two front-desk staff. Buildout duration is not published in any source read.

No international locations found. Every location page in pausestudio.com/sitemap.xml (accessed 2026-08-10) is a US market; PRNewswire (2024-11-12) frames the growth plan as national US expansion only.

For members

What Pause Studio sells members

Credit-based monthly membership with five tiers; credits are spent across any modality rather than tied to one service, and each tier carries an a-la-carte discount. Verbatim from pausestudio.com/locations/sarasota (accessed 2026-08-10): Base $79/mo — 6 credits, 15% off a la carte; Core $149/mo — 12 credits, 25% off; Signature $239/mo — 22 credits, 25% off; Premium $339/mo — 34 credits, 25% off; VIP $449/mo — 50 credits, 25% off. Pricing is set per location: LA-area studios run one tier higher (Base $89 / Core $159 / Signature $259 / Premium $369 / VIP $479 per pausestudio.com/venice and /locations/long-beach, as recorded in the Praxium corpus). Single-session drop-ins and packages are also sold.

$79/month (Base, 6 credits) to $449/month (VIP, 50 credits) — observed at Pause Studio Sarasota, FL, pausestudio.com/locations/sarasota, accessed 2026-08-10. LA-area studios are higher: $89–$479/month, observed at Venice and Long Beach, CA (Praxium corpus records, last verified 2026-08-06).

On the record

Pause Studio in the news

2024-11-12
First franchised studio opened in Newport Beach, CA on 2024-10-26 with franchisees Jessica and Reegan Super, kicking off national expansion. Company reported 6 studios operating in California, nearly 100 franchise licenses sold, and 35 new locations slated for 2025; also announced brand partnerships with Prenuvo and Hyperice. Two more openings named for November 2024: East Cobb (Marietta, GA) and Green Hills (Nashville, TN).
Source: PRNewswire
2023-11-14
Fitt Insider reported 5 corporate-owned locations (fifth, Studio City CA, opening Nov 27), 57 franchises awarded to date, and plans for 14 studios in 2024 and 200 over the following four years.
Source: Fitt Insider
2022-09-02
FranchiseWire profiled the franchise offer at 2 corporate locations (Venice 2016, second in 2021), typical 2,800–3,200 sq ft footprint, opening staff of 7–10 including one nurse, and siting criteria described as anywhere supporting a Whole Foods or Orangetheory.
Source: FranchiseWire
late 2025 (page accessed 2026-08-10)
PeerSense franchise listing reported 5 company-owned units alongside more than 15 open franchise locations, and cited total 2024 affiliate revenue of $1,789,882 for a company-owned location. Third-party aggregator, not brand-confirmed.
Source: PeerSense

Brand details

Company

Founded: 2016
Headquarters: Newport Beach, CA
Founders: John Klein — Co-founder & CEO (previously led national expansion for Equinox and SoulCycle, 2002–2018); Jeff Ono — Co-founder & President (previously Marketing Director, Equinox and The Sports Club/LA)
Parent company: Not identified in any source read; no parent or private-equity owner disclosed on the brand site or in the trade press reviewed.

System

Ownership model: Hybrid (franchise + corporate)
Equipment partners: Normatec (compression); Aescape (robotic massage); Hyperice (announced brand partnership, PRNewswire 2024-11-12); Prenuvo (announced brand partnership, PRNewswire 2024-11-12); Zenoti (booking/membership software, per pausestudio.zenoti.com booking links)

Franchisee support, as published

Pause University — 5-day initial franchisee training covering every aspect of the business (brand franchising materials, accessed 2026-08-10)
On-site Launch Manager for 5 days pre-opening with the franchisee and their team
Ongoing operational support and marketing assistance (SyncRevenue franchise listing, accessed 2026-08-10 — third-party)
Brand fund marketing at 1% of gross revenue plus a prescribed local marketing budget (2025 FDD Item 6 per third-party summaries)
Zenoti booking/membership technology stack used brand-wide (observed on live location booking links, 2026-08-10)
Medical services delivered through an independently owned physician practice, per the disclosure on brand location pages

Visit Pause Studio ↗The brand’s franchise page ↗

The dossier

What it costs to open a Pause Studio

Terms tied to the 2025 disclosure cycle. Citations stay inline wherever the research recorded one.

Franchise fee: $60,000 for a single unit (2025 FDD Item 5, per 1851franchise and VettedBiz FDD summaries). Multi-unit agreements are discounted — reported per-unit effective fees of $35,000–$40,000 at scale, and a $5,000 discount on a first license for honorably discharged US veterans. The brand's own franchising page states "Franchise Fee: $60K" (pausestudio.com/franchising, accessed 2026-08-10).
Initial investment — low end: $880,600 (2025 FDD Item 7, per 1851franchise and VettedBiz)
Initial investment — high end: $1,534,900 (2025 FDD Item 7, per 1851franchise and VettedBiz)
Royalty: 7% of gross revenue, monthly (2025 FDD Item 6, per 1851franchise, VettedBiz and PeerSense FDD summaries; agreed across all three)
Ad / brand fund: 1% of gross revenue, monthly, to the brand fund (2025 FDD Item 6, per 1851franchise and VettedBiz). Aggregator reads add a required $3,500/month local marketing spend and an $800/month technology fee (SyncRevenue and PeerSense, accessed 2026-08-10) — third-party reads, not confirmed against the FDD itself.

Liquid capital required: $500,000 minimum (pausestudio.com/franchising, accessed 2026-08-10). Third-party listings variously state $400,000 (VettedBiz, 1851franchise, accessed 2026-08-10) — treat the brand's own $500K as the current bar.
Net worth required: $1,000,000 minimum (pausestudio.com/franchising, accessed 2026-08-10)
Typical footprint: 2,600–3,000 sq ft (PeerSense, accessed 2026-08-10); FranchiseWire reported 2,800–3,200 sq ft for a typical franchise location (2022-09-02)
Multi-unit commitment: No minimum multi-unit commitment found in any source read. Multi-unit agreements are OFFERED and discounted (2 units reported at $110,000 and 3 units at $135,000 by FranchiseHelp, undated listing), but nothing reviewed states that multi-unit is required.
Territory model: SOURCES CONFLICT — verify in FDD Item 12 before signing. FranchisePayback's read of the 2024 FDD describes a NON-exclusive designated territory of roughly a three-mile radius or an area of about 100,000 residents, with the franchisor retaining online and alternative-venue sales rights. PeerSense (accessed 2026-08-10) instead describes awarded geographic exclusivity and lists Los Angeles, Orange County, South Florida, Atlanta, Nashville and Denver as sold-out markets. Both readings are third-party; neither was confirmed against the FDD.

Reported unit economics (FDD Item 19)

No per-unit AUV is published in the FDD. The 2025 FDD Item 19 reports total 2024 annual gross revenues for the five company-owned (affiliate) studios, ranging $1,285,791 to $1,789,882 (per 1851franchise's FDD summary, accessed 2026-08-10). Separately and NOT reconciled: the brand's own franchising page states "$1.85M Corporate AUV", "30%+ 4-wall EbitDa" and "88% Gross Margin", footnoted "*Based on mature corporate studio performance. See Item 19 of our FDD" (pausestudio.com/franchising, accessed 2026-08-10). The $1.85M marketing figure exceeds the highest single studio in the Item 19 range read by 1851franchise; a prospective franchisee should reconcile both against the actual Item 19 table in the current FDD before relying on either.

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 ↗

Research sources for this page (16)

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Hybrid (franchise + corporate)

Pause Studio

Redefining the Wellness Experience (brand's own about page, accessed 2026-08-10)

Contrast therapy (infrared sauna + cold plunge)Infrared saunaCold plungeFloat therapy (sensory deprivation)Whole-body cryotherapyLED / red light therapy

verified locations (Praxium)

states

2016

founded

Signature offer

What makes Pause Studio different

Footprint

The verified footprint

No comparable brand-published unit count was found; the verified count is Praxium's own measurement.

verified locations

Praxium’s own count — locations we linked to this brand, one by one.

Franchise availability Open — per the brand's own materials. A status, not an endorsement.

For members

What Pause Studio sells members

On the record

Pause Studio in the news

2024-11-12
First franchised studio opened in Newport Beach, CA on 2024-10-26 with franchisees Jessica and Reegan Super, kicking off national expansion. Company reported 6 studios operating in California, nearly 100 franchise licenses sold, and 35 new locations slated for 2025; also announced brand partnerships with Prenuvo and Hyperice. Two more openings named for November 2024: East Cobb (Marietta, GA) and Green Hills (Nashville, TN).
Source: PRNewswire
2023-11-14
Fitt Insider reported 5 corporate-owned locations (fifth, Studio City CA, opening Nov 27), 57 franchises awarded to date, and plans for 14 studios in 2024 and 200 over the following four years.
Source: Fitt Insider
2022-09-02
FranchiseWire profiled the franchise offer at 2 corporate locations (Venice 2016, second in 2021), typical 2,800–3,200 sq ft footprint, opening staff of 7–10 including one nurse, and siting criteria described as anywhere supporting a Whole Foods or Orangetheory.
Source: FranchiseWire
late 2025 (page accessed 2026-08-10)
PeerSense franchise listing reported 5 company-owned units alongside more than 15 open franchise locations, and cited total 2024 affiliate revenue of $1,789,882 for a company-owned location. Third-party aggregator, not brand-confirmed.
Source: PeerSense

In the directory

Pause Studio locations Praxium lists

23 of the 23 verified locations resolve to a listed US studio page across 10 states — the two counts differ because directory listings apply their own gates.

Pause East Cobb - Marietta

East Cobb · Marietta, GA

5.0· 295 reviews

Pause East Cobb is a Marietta recovery studio offering contrast therapy (infrared sauna + cold plunge), float therapy, cryotherapy, compression, and IV drips.

Contrast therapyCold plungeInfrared saunaFloat therapy+4

Website ↗

Pause Arboretum

Arboretum · Charlotte, NC

5.0· 149 reviews

Experience private infrared sauna, cold plunge, float therapy, and recovery services at Pause Studio in Arboretum.

Infrared sauna

Website ↗

Pause Buckhead

Atlanta, GA

5.0· 142 reviews

Pause Buckhead is a private recovery studio in Atlanta offering contrast therapy, infrared sauna, float tanks, and Normatec compression alongside IV drips and vitamin shots.

Contrast therapyCold plungeInfrared saunaFloat therapy+4

Website ↗

Pause Coral Gables

Coral Gables · Coral Gables, FL

5.0· 142 reviews

Contrast-therapy recovery studio in Coral Gables with infrared sauna, cold plunge, float therapy, red light and IV drips.

Contrast therapyInfrared saunaFloat therapyRed light therapy+3

Website ↗

Pause Studio - Long Beach

2nd & PCH · Long Beach, CA

5.0· 100 reviews

Modern recovery and wellness studio at 2nd & PCH in Long Beach offering contrast therapy, infrared sauna, float therapy, cryotherapy, LED light therapy, compression, and IV drips.

Cold plungeContrast therapyCryotherapyFloat therapy+4

Website ↗

Pause Greenwich

Cos Cob · Greenwich, CT

5.0· 100 reviews

Contrast therapy, infrared sauna, float, and red light recovery studio in Cos Cob, Greenwich.

Cold plungeContrast therapyInfrared saunaFloat therapy+1

Website ↗

CACOCTFLGAIAKSNCNVTNThe brand’s own location list ↗

Brand details

Company

Founded: 2016
Headquarters: Newport Beach, CA
Founders: John Klein — Co-founder & CEO (previously led national expansion for Equinox and SoulCycle, 2002–2018); Jeff Ono — Co-founder & President (previously Marketing Director, Equinox and The Sports Club/LA)
Parent company: Not identified in any source read; no parent or private-equity owner disclosed on the brand site or in the trade press reviewed.

System

Ownership model: Hybrid (franchise + corporate)
Equipment partners: Normatec (compression); Aescape (robotic massage); Hyperice (announced brand partnership, PRNewswire 2024-11-12); Prenuvo (announced brand partnership, PRNewswire 2024-11-12); Zenoti (booking/membership software, per pausestudio.zenoti.com booking links)

Franchisee support, as published

Pause University — 5-day initial franchisee training covering every aspect of the business (brand franchising materials, accessed 2026-08-10)
On-site Launch Manager for 5 days pre-opening with the franchisee and their team
Ongoing operational support and marketing assistance (SyncRevenue franchise listing, accessed 2026-08-10 — third-party)
Brand fund marketing at 1% of gross revenue plus a prescribed local marketing budget (2025 FDD Item 6 per third-party summaries)
Zenoti booking/membership technology stack used brand-wide (observed on live location booking links, 2026-08-10)
Medical services delivered through an independently owned physician practice, per the disclosure on brand location pages

Visit Pause Studio ↗The brand’s franchise page ↗

The dossier

What it costs to open a Pause Studio

Terms tied to the 2025 disclosure cycle. Citations stay inline wherever the research recorded one.

Franchise fee: $60,000 for a single unit (2025 FDD Item 5, per 1851franchise and VettedBiz FDD summaries). Multi-unit agreements are discounted — reported per-unit effective fees of $35,000–$40,000 at scale, and a $5,000 discount on a first license for honorably discharged US veterans. The brand's own franchising page states "Franchise Fee: $60K" (pausestudio.com/franchising, accessed 2026-08-10).
Initial investment — low end: $880,600 (2025 FDD Item 7, per 1851franchise and VettedBiz)
Initial investment — high end: $1,534,900 (2025 FDD Item 7, per 1851franchise and VettedBiz)
Royalty: 7% of gross revenue, monthly (2025 FDD Item 6, per 1851franchise, VettedBiz and PeerSense FDD summaries; agreed across all three)
Ad / brand fund: 1% of gross revenue, monthly, to the brand fund (2025 FDD Item 6, per 1851franchise and VettedBiz). Aggregator reads add a required $3,500/month local marketing spend and an $800/month technology fee (SyncRevenue and PeerSense, accessed 2026-08-10) — third-party reads, not confirmed against the FDD itself.

Liquid capital required: $500,000 minimum (pausestudio.com/franchising, accessed 2026-08-10). Third-party listings variously state $400,000 (VettedBiz, 1851franchise, accessed 2026-08-10) — treat the brand's own $500K as the current bar.
Net worth required: $1,000,000 minimum (pausestudio.com/franchising, accessed 2026-08-10)
Typical footprint: 2,600–3,000 sq ft (PeerSense, accessed 2026-08-10); FranchiseWire reported 2,800–3,200 sq ft for a typical franchise location (2022-09-02)
Multi-unit commitment: No minimum multi-unit commitment found in any source read. Multi-unit agreements are OFFERED and discounted (2 units reported at $110,000 and 3 units at $135,000 by FranchiseHelp, undated listing), but nothing reviewed states that multi-unit is required.
Territory model: SOURCES CONFLICT — verify in FDD Item 12 before signing. FranchisePayback's read of the 2024 FDD describes a NON-exclusive designated territory of roughly a three-mile radius or an area of about 100,000 residents, with the franchisor retaining online and alternative-venue sales rights. PeerSense (accessed 2026-08-10) instead describes awarded geographic exclusivity and lists Los Angeles, Orange County, South Florida, Atlanta, Nashville and Denver as sold-out markets. Both readings are third-party; neither was confirmed against the FDD.

Reported unit economics (FDD Item 19)

Research sources for this page (16)

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