Why is Anytime Fitness so Expensive? (11 Real Reasons)

Anytime Fitness is undoubtedly one of the most popular gym chains in the whole world. With over 4,700 locations across 30 countries, you can find an Anytime Fitness club near you from virtually anywhere.

The franchise offers everything that you could want in a gym – a nice selection of equipment and training machines, personal trainers, decent class selection, and 24*7 access to their facilities across the entire week.

Sounds pretty neat, doesn’t it?

But in terms of overall comparison, Anytime Fitness does not compare to other competitive commercial gyms that offer additional amenities like saunas, swimming pools, and hot tubs.

Because it offers comparatively lesser facilities, you might be wondering what exactly is the reason behind its high membership costs. After all, franchises like Planet Fitness offer the same solution, more or less, and charge comparatively lesser, right?

At Anytime Fitness, you can expect to pay anywhere between $30 and $60 per month, depending on the location and the individual club policies. Since all the franchises are owned by a different person, variable pricing is something that you should expect.

Some locations will potentially quote a price of around $30 or less. Other gyms that are better equipped might even ask you to pay around $80 per month. Apart from that, you would have to pay the standard annual fees, initiation fees, etcetera.

To some people, the combined expenses might seem a bit too much for a gym that does not compare to high-end chains like L.A. Fitness or Equinox.

However, there is a pretty good justification behind Anytime Fitness’s higher pricing model. Let’s find out more about it.

Why is Anytime Fitness so Expensive?

On paper, Anytime Fitness is not that expensive. You would likely be asked to pay around $30 to $40 for any commercial gym, except for the highly affordable ones like Planet Fitness.

But because it does not offer high-end facilities like childcare or aquatic classes, people expect that Anytime Fitness gyms should charge much lesser than what they are asking currently.

However, there are many reasons behind Anytime Fitness’s stringent membership pricing policy:

24-Hour Access

Anytime Fitness provides exactly what its name suggests – a place to work out and stay fit any time of the day or night. All the clubs are operational on a 24-hour basis, allowing people to be very flexible with their gym schedules.

This is one of the most coveted features of Anytime Fitness and one amenity that not many commercial gyms are able to provide.

And while you may love the idea of pushing in a breezy workout at 3 in the morning, this is actually costing you a bit of money. See, if the gym remains open for the entire day, it will have higher operational costs.

Most of the locations also have employees that work night shifts to assist any late-night members coming in during the hour of the wolf.

To make up for these additional costs as well as the expenses related to wages/salaries of the night-shift employees, all Anytime Fitness gyms charge their members a little extra to be able to continue giving them this much-needed service.

Despite the fact that this feature makes your membership plan a little expensive, anyone would hardly complain because 24-hour access to the gym is a neat amenity.

Access to All Anytime Fitness Clubs

Another really attractive feature of Anytime Fitness is that the franchise allows its members to access any of their 4,700 clubs spread across 30 countries with just a single membership.

All you need to do is use your key fob at any AF club, and you’ll be permitted to go inside without having to pay any additional charges.

And you can do this for any country where Anytime Fitness operates.

The only catch is that you have to wait 30 days after purchasing your membership for the reciprocity feature to kick in. Additionally, if you wind up using a different Anytime Fitness club too often, you might start getting calls from the franchise staff, asking if you want to switch your home branch.

Despite these slight inconveniences, the fact that you get access to 4,700+ clubs internationally by purchasing a single membership makes the cost look not-so-expensive.

Locally Owned

As we mentioned before, each Anytime Fitness gym has a separate owner, usually one among the locals. You can even expect to see owners actively involved in the daily operations of their respective branches.

While that is a plus point usually because all Anytime Fitness owners pride themselves on giving platinum services to the members, they also come up with variable pricing.

So, you can expect to see some very expensive AF gyms that might charge around $80 per month. On the other hand, you can even score memberships that cost less than $30 per month.

Depending on the amenities offered and the policies set by each owner, the pricing may be expensive or affordable.

Clean Facilities

If you are a regular user of the facilities offered by Anytime Fitness, you will undoubtedly come to appreciate their sense of hygiene and cleanliness.

All Anytime Fitness clubs have rigid sanitation practices and keep the place immaculate and clean.

Doing so is of the utmost importance, not just for the convenience and comfort of the members, but for their own safety, as dirty gyms may lead to diseases.

But the extra emphasis on cleaning means more staff members devoted to that area. As such, you have to pay a small premium fee for their services.

Family Memberships

Not all commercial gyms offer family memberships out of fear that people with large families might start taking advantage of the feature.

But at Anytime Fitness, seeing families working out together is a common sight. This is because the franchise provides many attractive membership plans devoted specifically to families.

So, if you are a large group of people living in the same household, you might get some additional perks by signing up at Anytime Fitness together.

However, because of this feature, the average membership price goes higher to give a little incentive for families to commit themselves to fitness.

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Personal Trainers

You might think that personal trainers are common. But that is not the case for all commercial gyms.

Sure, there are trainers and experts in every gym. But not all of them are certified coaches.

At Anytime Fitness, the franchise makes sure that they recruit personal trainers who are well-equipped and certified to give advice to members on their workout routines, diets, or any other questions that they might have.

You can also get one-on-one training from a personal coach at Anytime Fitness if you are just starting out and would like to get some extra attention from an expert.

Because of this feature, the gym chain charges its members a little extra, as all of them would be using the services of personal trainers at some point or other.

Showers & Beauty Bar and Locker Rooms

If you are a fan of pushing in a cold shower after your workout, you are in luck. Anytime Fitness gyms are well-equipped with clean and fully-functional showers that are separated from the locker room.

All of the bathrooms are personal and have wooden doors to separate them from public view. Apart from this, the showers at Anytime Fitness also have beauty bars that are equipped with hairdryers, shampoos, deodorants, and all the other essentials that you might need for self-care at the gym.

Due to this amenity, the cost of the membership plan goes a little higher.

Locker Rooms

Most Anytime Fitness clubs do offer private locker rooms where members can store their stuff before and while working out.

However, locker rooms are not available in all locations. So, it’s best to check at the front desk of the branch where you want to sign up.

The gyms where locker rooms are not available are usually not that expensive.

Tanning Beds & HydroMassage

While Anytime Fitness gyms do not have pools or saunas, they do offer other amenities like HydroMassage sections and Tanning beds.

These are high-end, advanced machines that require regular maintenance and proper upkeep.

As such, it’s only fair that Anytime Fitness is charging a little extra for providing these services. It becomes even more reasonable when you realize that using a HydroMassage might cost you around $30-$50 per session at a regular spa.

Diverse and Functional Gym Equipment

When you walk into a commercial gym, the first thing you check out is the state of the equipment and machines. More often than not, you would see that at least some of the basic training equipment is slightly faulty or not as smooth as you would expect.

At Anytime Fitness, most locations have regular check-ups where machines are tested for any issues and replaced/repaired/removed if they are not in the ideal condition.

The sanitation policies of the gym also require that the machines and equipment be kept clean at all times.

Because of these perks, it’s only fair that Anytime Fitness charges an expensive fee for all their services.

Free Trials

Not all commercial gyms offer free trials. Usually, you might even get a session or two for free before the staff asks you to purchase the membership.

But at Anytime Fitness, you get a whole week free trial to gauge the environment and quality of the gym before you make your decision.

As such, it’s only fair that they ask you to pay more at the end of the 7-day trial since you took your quality time making up your mind.

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Parting Words

Anytime Fitness definitely falls into the mid-range class of gyms in terms of expenses. While it is not as costly as premium franchises like Equinox or David Lloyd Leisure, it’s definitely not as affordable as Planet Fitness.

To some people, the membership costs might appear a bit expensive, considering the limited amenities and facilities the franchise offers.

But upon closer inspection, there are plenty of reasons why Anytime Fitness’s pricing model is completely justified, as we discussed today.