STEM and coding franchise finance
The median brand here reports average revenue of $113,332 a unit. Percentage fees at the median brand come to 12.2% of sales. The median cost to open runs $71,200 to $110,550.
STEM and coding franchises at a glance
- Averan Franchise compares seven STEM and coding franchise brands, each from its own 2026 FDD.
- The cost to open a STEM and coding franchise runs from $34,200 at Bricks 4 Kidz to $265,750 at Code Ninjas.
- theCoderSchool reports the highest average sales of these brands, at $307,448, and Challenge Island the lowest, at $80,569.
- Franchise fees take 6.39% to 13.8% of sales across the five brands where Averan Franchise works out the figure.
These figures come from each brand's 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document, as the brand reported them, and were read by Averan Advisors.
Find a stem and coding brand
This guide covers seven brands, each from its own 2026 FDD. Open one, or pick two and compare them.
All 7 brands
The brands in this group
Each brand has its own page on how its locations make money, with every figure set out against the brand’s disclosure document it comes from.
- Bricks 4 Kidz Revenue-only disclosure set against the territorial protection test
- Challenge Island percentage groups and territory-count groups, per franchisee and per territory, full-time and all · Most of this system pays a $9,800 minimum
- Code Ninjas Sales and student counts published together, so the price is visible
- Engineering For Kids Frequency distribution of gross sales by group
- Snapology Small territories out-yield large ones, and the territory now sold is the small one
- STEM Builders Learning Center 3 locations · Monthly fee minimums, two models
- theCoderSchool 69 locations · Revenue and student counts published together
The figures, brand by brand
| Measure | Median | Brands | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average sales per unit | $113,332 | 5 of 7 | Median of each brand’s disclosed average |
| Median sales per unit | $144,600 | 4 of 7 | Median of each brand’s disclosed median |
| Initial franchise fee | $30,000 | 7 of 7 | |
| Royalty | 7% | 7 of 7 | Headline rate |
| Brand or advertising fund | 2% | 7 of 7 | |
| Fees paid to the brand | 12.2% | 5 of 7 | Royalty, brand fund and other fees paid to the brand or its affiliates, as a share of average sales |
| Cost to open, low | $71,200 | 7 of 7 | |
| Cost to open, high | $110,550 | 7 of 7 | |
| Profit margin | Fewer than three disclose | 0 of 7 | Each brand’s own profit line; definitions differ |
| Labor, share of revenue | Fewer than three disclose | 0 of 7 | |
| Building costs, share of revenue | Fewer than three disclose | 0 of 7 | |
| Unit growth over each FDD’s Item 20 period (2025, or 2023 to 2025) | 1.5% | 7 of 7 | (End − start) ÷ start |
| Customers lost over each FDD’s Item 20 period (2025, or 2023 to 2025) | 3.5% | 7 of 7 | Terminated, non-renewed, reacquired and ceased, ÷ opening units; transfers excluded |
Each figure is the median of the brands that disclose it, and the Brands column counts them.
How we calculated this
Revenue is each brand's own reported figure on its own unit basis, so the median describes the group and no single brand. Growth and customers lost are our calculations from each brand's outlet table. Where fewer than three brands disclose a figure, no benchmark is shown.
The model
The business model the top performers in stem and coding are running
What the top performers can do that others cannot
Six of the seven brands here sell a place for a child.
What the customer is buying
The customer buys a place held week after week. At one of them the model is different: the customer buys a class or session, often in a pack, which asks something else of the owner. A location at the middle brand sells $113,332 a year, and the median top group sells $331,544. The offer is the same at both ends of that range, so the difference is volume. The product is the same.
Who the customer is, and how often they come back
This is a retention business. The money is made in the second year of a customer, not the first month, so the number that decides the year is how many stay. Among the stem and coding brands that publish it, a median 50% of locations reach their own brand’s average. The top group sells $331,544 against $49,289 at the bottom. Trade area and site set that range before an owner takes a booking.
How the money works
Opening costs $34,200 to $265,750 across the group, and inside one brand the top of the range is typically 2.3 times the bottom. At the middle brand the cost stack runs franchise fees 12.2% of sales.
Top performers
These are the things that separate top performers in stem and coding
Across the stem and coding brands that publish both figures, the median top group of locations sells $331,544 a year and the median bottom group sells $49,289. Across these brands, a median of 50% of locations reach their own brand’s average.
Decided before you open
- Opening cost against sales.The top group sells $331,544 a year against a build that tops out at $265,750, so at the heavy end of the range a location sells $1.25 for every dollar it cost to open.
Live operating levers
- Six of the seven brands here sell a place for a child.
Business model attribute
- Service
- A place for a child, paid by the month or term
- Unit economics
- Places filled times the fee for each place
- Fees as a share of sales.Fees run a median 12.2% of sales across five brands, from 6.4% to 13.8%. Where a minimum applies, lower-selling locations pay a higher effective rate. At $331,544 the fees cost $40,316 a year; at $49,289 they cost $5,994.
- No brand here prices its cost lines.Not one of these 7 filings publishes wages, rent or cost of sales, so the operating gap between the top and the bottom cannot be read from the documents. The sales figures are all you are given, and everything that turns those sales into earnings has to come from owners you call. Ask three at each end of the system for wages as a share of sales, rent as a share of sales, and what is left at the end.
Context you underwrite around
- First-year build-up.One of seven filings in this group shows how a new location builds up. The others do not show it.
- Brands without sales bands.Three brands publish only an average, with no sales bands.
Operating levers
What each brand’s top performers actually work on
These are the levers each brand's filing supports. Each brand has three to five, read from its own 2026 FDD. Filter by type of business, or open a brand for the figures underneath.
7 brands
Bricks 4 Kidz
STEM and coding
- Enrollment. The license sets the number of places. Track how many are filled, the price of each, and how long families stay.
- Fees and the minimum. Fees run about 13.2% of sales. A minimum fee also applies, so lower-selling locations pay a higher effective rate. Work out the sales level where the percentage overtakes the minimum.
Challenge Island
STEM and coding
- Enrollment. The license sets the number of places. Track how many are filled, the price of each, and how long families stay.
- Memberships and rebooking. A recurring plan turns appointments into a monthly subscription and keeps the schedule fuller. Rebooking before the customer leaves keeps it full.
- Fees and the minimum. Fees run about 12.2% of sales. A minimum fee also applies, so lower-selling locations pay a higher effective rate. Work out the sales level where the percentage overtakes the minimum.
Code Ninjas
STEM and coding
- Enrollment. The license sets the number of places. Track how many are filled, the price of each, and how long families stay.
- Fees. Fees run about 13.8% of sales. No minimum royalty applies, so the charge rises and falls with sales.
Engineering For Kids
STEM and coding
- Sales depend on sessions. The room holds a set number of people at a set time, so the owner works on how full each session runs.
- Fees and the minimum. A minimum fee applies, so lower-selling locations pay a higher effective rate. Work out the sales level where the percentage overtakes the minimum.
- Cash needed in the first year. This filing shows how a new location builds up: the month sales cover costs, and how much cash you fund before then.
Snapology
STEM and coding
- Enrollment. The license sets the number of places. Track how many are filled, the price of each, and how long families stay.
- Fees and the minimum. Fees run about 8.0% of sales. A minimum fee also applies, so lower-selling locations pay a higher effective rate. Work out the sales level where the percentage overtakes the minimum.
STEM Builders Learning Center
STEM and coding
- Fees and the minimum. The brand’s charges are set dollar amounts, so they take a larger share of sales at lower-selling locations.
- Enrollment. The license sets the number of places. Track how many are filled, the price of each, and how long families stay.
theCoderSchool
STEM and coding
- Enrollment. The license sets the number of places. Track how many are filled, the price of each, and how long families stay.
- Fees. Fees run about 6.4% of sales. No minimum royalty applies, so the charge rises and falls with sales.
How fast new STEM and coding locations build sales
The pages for four of the seven STEM and coding brands in Averan Franchise show how a new location's sales build after opening, by month or by years open, in dollars from each brand's FDD. The months before sales cover costs are the ones to plan cash for, and the minimum fee calculator shows what the fees cost during them.
Common questions
How much does a STEM and coding franchise cost to open?
Among the seven STEM and coding brands in Averan Franchise that publish it, the cost to open runs from $34,200 at Bricks 4 Kidz to $265,750 at Code Ninjas, according to their 2026 FDDs.
Which STEM and coding franchise costs the least to open?
Bricks 4 Kidz has the lowest starting cost of the STEM and coding brands in Averan Franchise, at $34,200 to $110,550.
Which STEM and coding franchise has the highest average sales?
theCoderSchool reports the highest average sales of the STEM and coding brands in Averan Franchise, at $307,448 in its 2026 FDD.
What do STEM and coding franchise fees cost as a share of sales?
Across the five STEM and coding brands where Averan Franchise works out the figure, franchise fees take 6.39% to 13.8% of sales.
Questions owners ask next
The figures above raise these, and each one is answered on its own page.
- At what level of sales does a minimum fee stop costing me more than the percentage?It works out the sales level where a minimum fee stops applying.
- How much cash do I fund before a new location covers its own costs?It builds a 13-week forecast for the months before break-even.
- My payroll percentage keeps climbing. Is that a payroll problem?It shows how to tell whether payroll is rising or revenue is falling.
- I run several locations. Which ones actually make money?It shows each location's contribution to profit and the reporting it takes to see it.
- How much of Item 19 can I rely on?It explains what an Item 19 financial performance representation tells you and what it leaves out.
Run your own numbers.
The Franchise Numbers Check runs the same checks on your own numbers. It scores where you stand and compares you with Item 19 of your brand’s FDD. It works out what one location earns and spends, and builds a 13-week cash forecast. Checks whether you are ready to open another one. It is free and it runs in your browser.
Launch the diagnostic →What share of your revenue is staff?
We review your unit economics and cash forecast and build your reporting around wages measured against enrollment week by week, occupancy cost against the hours a room is actually used. The reporting also sets a second-location gate on cash.
Talk to AveranWhere these figures come from
Every figure here comes from the brands' 2026 FDDs and is unaudited by us. We are unaffiliated with the brands. The medians, growth and customers lost figures are our own calculations. The figures describe past performance at other businesses. They are not a projection of your results. This page is an educational summary and is not an offer to sell a franchise or financial, legal or tax advice. All trademarks belong to their owners. How Averan reads a Franchise Disclosure Document.