Kumon vs Mathnasium franchise cost compared fee by fee from the 2026 FDDs: Item 7 ranges, franchise fees, Kumon's per-student royalty against Mathnasium's 10% of gross receipts.
Quick answer Kumon is cheaper to open; Mathnasium is usually cheaper to run once a center fills. Per the 2026 FDDs, Kumon's Item 7 runs $101,630 to $233,780 on a $2,000 franchise fee, and Mathnasium runs $127,316 to $165,846 on a $49,000 fee. After opening, Kumon charges $38 per full-paying student per subject per month instead of a percentage, while Mathnasium takes 10% of gross receipts plus roughly $2,166 a month in fixed fees.
The cost question between these two brands has a clean answer at the door and a messier one afterward. Kumon opens for $25,686 less at the Item 7 floor and collects roughly $42,500 less in fees before you unlock the door. Then the structures diverge: Kumon bills you per student, Mathnasium bills you a percentage of revenue plus a fixed monthly stack, and which one is cheaper depends entirely on what you charge per family.
Every figure below comes from each brand’s 2026 FDD as parsed in VetMyFranchise’s database of 2,129 Franchise Disclosure Documents. Where a field is absent from the filing, we say so. If you want the unedited stat sheet without the analysis, the raw FDD side-by-side pulls the same fields straight from the documents.
| Cost item (2026 FDD) | Kumon | Mathnasium |
|---|---|---|
| Total investment (Item 7), first unit | $101,630 to $233,780 | $127,316 to $165,846 |
| Item 7, additional unit | Not broken out | $104,816 to $143,346 |
| Initial franchise fee | $2,000 ($3,000 with the EFL addendum) | $49,000 first center, $26,500 additional |
| Other pre-opening fees to franchisor | $2,000 materials, $2,500 pre-opening marketing, $1,000 training deposit credited back | $266 to $1,596 technology, $5,500 pre-open advertising |
| Royalty | $38 per full-paying student per subject per month after the training period; $19 for partially exempt or prorated students | 10% of gross receipts; from month 24, the greater of 10% or $1,500 |
| Second royalty line | $30 initial enrollment fee per newly registered student | $650 per month base royalty, starting 6 months after signing |
| Marketing fees | $300 per month from month 7; $4,800 a year local spend recommended, not required | $250 per month plus 2% of gross receipts, plus a $1,000 monthly minimum digital and local marketing fee |
| Technology fee | None disclosed in Item 6 | $266 per month per center |
| Renewal / transfer fee | Not stated in our parse | $7,000 / $7,000 |
| Agreement term | 5 years | 5 years |
| Space required | Not stated in our parse | 1,200 to 1,600 sq ft |
The two rows that decide the deal are the franchise fee and the royalty. One is a $47,000 gap you pay once. The other is a structural difference you live with for the full five-year term and every renewal after it.
Kumon’s $2,000 initial franchise fee is genuinely the lowest end of the category. Among the 145 child services and education brands in our database that disclose a franchise fee, only two charge less, against a category average of $46,035. But the fee is not the whole check. Kumon’s Item 5 also collects a $2,000 materials fee for answer books, placement and achievement tests, worksheets and promotional material, plus $2,500 for pre-opening marketing that Kumon remits to a third-party vendor on your behalf. A $1,000 deposit for the Instructor Development Program training kit gets credited against the franchise fee once you finish training. Net cash to the franchisor before opening: about $6,500.
Mathnasium collects $49,000 for the first center. On top of that you pay $266 to $1,596 in technology fees before opening, depending on how many months pass between signing and opening, and $5,500 in pre-open advertising. That lands between roughly $54,800 and $56,100 to the franchisor. Note one offset the FDD spells out: the first center’s franchise fee covers the first six months of the $650 base royalty, and Mathnasium reduces the $5,500 pre-opening advertising obligation by any digital and local marketing fees you pay before opening.
Where the rest of the money goes differs by footprint. Mathnasium’s Item 7 assumes a 1,200 to 1,600 square foot space, with $8,000 to $14,500 for paint, carpet and tenant improvements, $17,000 to $25,000 for furniture, signs and equipment, and $35,000 to $45,000 in additional funds for four months. Kumon’s Item 7 carries a wider construction line, $40,000 to $90,000 in leasehold improvements plus $0 to $15,000 in architect design, which is what stretches its ceiling to $233,780 despite the tiny fee. Kumon’s additional funds line covers three months at $19,000 to $25,000, and it separately budgets $11,000 to $14,000 for three months of assistant payroll.
For the full line-item breakdowns, see our Kumon franchise cost guide and the Mathnasium franchise cost guide.
This is the part the stat sheets cannot show you, because Kumon’s Item 6 does not contain a percentage at all.
Kumon charges a flat dollar amount per student per subject per month. After you complete the Temporary License Period, that is $38 for each full-paying student enrolled in each Subject-Franchise, and $19 for partially exempt or prorated tuition students. During the training period the rate is higher, $42.75 and $21.38. There is also a $30 initial enrollment royalty each time a student registers, waived only when an already-enrolled student adds a second subject. Kumon reserves the right to change these rates with one year’s notice and states there is no contractual limit on the size of a change.
Mathnasium charges 10% of gross receipts monthly, and from month 24 the greater of 10% or $1,500. Four more lines sit alongside it: a $650 monthly base royalty that begins six months after signing, a marketing fee of $250 plus 2% of gross receipts, a digital and local marketing fee with a $1,000 monthly minimum, and a $266 monthly technology license fee. Add them up and Mathnasium’s ongoing structure is 12% of gross receipts plus $2,166 a month in fixed charges.
The practical difference: Kumon’s cost falls when enrollment falls. Mathnasium’s floor does not move.
Cheaper to open is settled. Kumon wins by $25,686 at the Item 7 floor and by about $48,300 on money paid to the franchisor before opening. If your capital is tight or your financing is thin, that is the whole argument.
Cheaper to run depends on price per family, and the math is worth doing before you sign either agreement.
Here is what each franchisor takes per month at three center sizes, using only the disclosed fee terms:
| Kumon center | Monthly royalty | Marketing fee | Total to franchisor |
|---|---|---|---|
| 150 subject enrollments | $5,700 | $300 | $6,000 |
| 250 subject enrollments | $9,500 | $300 | $9,800 |
| 400 subject enrollments | $15,200 | $300 | $15,500 |
| Mathnasium center (month 24+) | Royalty + marketing (12%) | Fixed fees | Total to franchisor |
|---|---|---|---|
| $20,000 monthly gross receipts | $2,400 | $2,166 | $4,566 (22.8% of revenue) |
| $35,000 monthly gross receipts | $4,200 | $2,166 | $6,366 (18.2%) |
| $50,000 monthly gross receipts | $6,000 | $2,166 | $8,166 (16.3%) |
The crossover point is the number worth carrying into a discovery day. A 250-enrollment Kumon center hands the franchisor $9,800 a month. A Mathnasium center hands over the same $9,800 at roughly $63,600 in monthly gross receipts. Divide that by 250 and you get about $254 per enrollment per month. Below that tuition level, Kumon takes a larger share of each revenue dollar than Mathnasium does. Above it, Kumon’s flat fee becomes the cheaper structure and keeps getting cheaper as you raise price.
That is the honest version of the “Kumon is cheap” story. Kumon is cheap to enter and cheap to leave. It is not automatically cheap to operate, because a $38 flat fee against a $150 monthly tuition is a 25% effective rate, well above the 5% to 9% most franchise categories charge.
The reverse case is Mathnasium’s fixed floor during a slow ramp. From month 24, a Mathnasium center owes at least $1,500 in royalty, $250 in marketing fee, $650 in base royalty, $1,000 in digital and local marketing and $266 in technology: $3,666 a month before the percentage lines even engage. On $10,000 in monthly gross receipts that is 38.7% of revenue leaving the business. A comparable Kumon center running 60 subject enrollments pays $2,580, and if enrollment drops to 40 it pays $1,820. One structure punishes a slow start; the other absorbs it.
Kumon makes no earnings claim. Its 2026 Item 19 states directly that it does not make representations about a franchisee’s future or past financial performance. There is no table, no sample, no distribution. That is a legitimate choice under the FTC Franchise Rule, and it means every Kumon revenue number you find online came from somewhere other than the FDD.
Mathnasium does disclose, and the construction is good. Table 1 reports 2025 gross receipts by quartile. Table 2 reports a full P&L: instructor payroll, office supplies and furniture, professional fees, other variable expenses, rent, utilities, royalties and marketing fees, and operating profit, all across 914 U.S. centers open and operated by the same franchisee for 12 months or longer as of December 31, 2025. Neither table’s figures survived our extraction, so treat the sample definition as the useful part here and read the numbers in the document itself. Note what the definition excludes: 129 centers that had not been under the same franchisee for a full year, which means the disclosed performance is not what year one looks like.
Because one brand discloses nothing and the other’s tables did not parse, category peers are the honest benchmark:
| Brand | Item 19 median revenue | Reporting units | Period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Huntington Learning Center | $533,106 | 232 | FY2025 |
| LearningRx | $315,310 | 40 | FY ending Sep 30, 2025 |
| Code Ninjas | $217,479 | 224 | 2025 |
| Sylvan Learning | Not parsed | 409 | FY2025 |
| Kumon | No Item 19 disclosed | Not applicable | Not applicable |
| Mathnasium | Not parsed | 914 | Jan 1 to Dec 31, 2025 |
A mature supplemental-education center in this category is a $200,000 to $550,000 revenue business, not a million-dollar one. Model against Huntington’s $533,106 as an upper marker and Code Ninjas’ $217,479 as a lower one, then run your fee math from the tables above against both ends.
Both systems added franchised centers in 2025, which contradicts the “tutoring is consolidating” story that circulates about this category.
Kumon went from 1,671 to 1,705 franchised centers: 62 openings against 23 terminations and 5 non-renewals. It also shrank its company-owned base from 18 to 5. Mathnasium went from 995 to 1,043 franchised centers: 63 openings against 15 that ceased operating for other reasons, with 4 company-owned centers held flat, for 1,047 U.S. outlets in total. On raw openings Mathnasium added one more center than Kumon from a system less than two-thirds the size.
The territory line still favors Mathnasium. Its filing grants an exclusive territory and carries a two-year post-term non-compete; Kumon’s parse does not confirm a territory grant. In a metro with three existing Kumon centers, that difference is worth more than the fee gap, because a protected radius is the only thing standing between you and a second unit of your own brand two miles away. Press both franchise development teams on it in writing.
The fee structures follow from how each brand delivers instruction, so the operating difference is worth one paragraph even in a cost comparison.
Kumon is a self-paced worksheet system. Students work through a personal progression, an instructor checks the work and assigns the next packet, and pace is set by mastery. That supports a high student-to-staff ratio and is why a per-student royalty makes sense: the franchisor’s value is the curriculum, and the curriculum is consumed per student. Mathnasium assesses each student, builds a learning plan against specific skill gaps, and runs instructor-led sessions. More instructor time per student, higher price per student, and a percentage royalty that scales with what you can charge. Mathnasium’s 2026 filing also flags an owner-operator requirement, which rules out the absentee structures buyers sometimes ask about. Our semi-absentee vs owner-operator guide covers what realistic operator presence looks like across categories.
Parent demand supports both models. Kumon has been franchising in the U.S. since 1958 and most parents in the target demographic already know the name, which lowers customer acquisition cost in established markets. Mathnasium launched in 2002 and often has to explain the brand before it can sell a plan, so budget higher local marketing in years one and two. For category context, see our child education franchise guide and the best tutoring and STEM education franchises roundup.
Choose Kumon if your capital is the binding constraint, if you expect a slow ramp, or if you want the franchisor’s cost to fall when a bad quarter arrives. The $6,500 in pre-opening fees and the enrollment-linked royalty both cut downside. Accept that at typical Kumon tuition the effective royalty rate runs above 20%, that there is no Item 19 to underwrite against, and that the parse does not confirm a protected territory.
Choose Mathnasium if you can price above roughly $254 per enrollment per month and intend to. That is where the percentage structure becomes the cheaper one, and it is where the exclusive territory and the instructor-led model earn their premium. Accept the $49,000 fee, the $2,166 monthly fixed load, and the $1,500 royalty floor from month 24.
If neither answer is obvious yet, the deciding input is your own tuition assumption for your own market. Call three franchisees from each system in trade areas that resemble yours, ask what they actually bill per family per month, and run both tables above against that number before you sign anything.
Researching both? Our 3-pack of $99 FDD AI Reports gives you Kumon, Mathnasium, and a third education-services brand: side-by-side Item 19, Item 6 fees, and Item 11 franchisor obligations. Three full reports for $99 total, or $49 for a single brand.
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About this analysis The franchise data in this article is drawn from VetMyFranchise's structured analysis of 2,300+ Franchise Disclosure Documents filed with U.S. state regulators. See our data & methodology.
Kumon, by $25,686 at the floor. Its 2026 Item 7 starts at $101,630 against Mathnasium's $127,316. The gap is wider on money paid to the franchisor: Kumon collects about $6,500 before opening (a $2,000 franchise fee, a $2,000 materials fee, and $2,500 in pre-opening marketing, with a $1,000 training deposit credited back), while Mathnasium collects roughly $54,800 to $56,100 (a $49,000 fee, $266 to $1,596 in technology fees, and $5,500 in pre-open advertising).
It depends on your tuition. Kumon charges $38 per full-paying student per subject per month plus a $300 monthly marketing fee, so its cost tracks headcount. Mathnasium charges 10% of gross receipts plus a 2% marketing fee and $2,166 a month in fixed fees, so its cost tracks revenue. A 250-enrollment Kumon center pays $9,800 a month. A Mathnasium center pays the same at roughly $63,600 in monthly gross receipts. Below about $254 in monthly tuition per enrollment, Kumon takes the larger share of each revenue dollar.
$2,000 against $49,000. Kumon's fee rises to $3,000 if you add English as a Foreign Language, and it also charges a separate $2,000 materials fee. Mathnasium drops to $26,500 for an additional center. Only two of the 145 child services and education brands in our database that disclose a franchise fee charge less than Kumon does.
Only Mathnasium. Kumon's 2026 FDD states plainly that it makes no representations about franchisee financial performance, so there is no Item 19 to read. Mathnasium's Item 19 has two tables: 2025 gross receipts by quartile, and a full P&L breakdown covering 914 U.S. centers open and operated by the same franchisee for 12 months or longer as of December 31, 2025. Neither table's figures survived our extraction, so request the document and read them yourself.
It binds until a center grosses $15,000 a month, and it starts in month 24. Stack it with the other fixed charges and a Mathnasium center pays at least $3,666 a month to the franchisor from month 24 onward regardless of enrollment. On $10,000 in monthly gross receipts that is 38.7% of revenue. Kumon has no equivalent floor: a 60-enrollment center pays $2,580 a month and less if enrollment falls.
Both grew in 2025. Kumon went from 1,671 to 1,705 franchised centers (62 opened against 23 terminations and 5 non-renewals) while cutting company-owned centers from 18 to 5. Mathnasium went from 995 to 1,043 franchised centers (63 opened against 15 that ceased operating) and held 4 company-owned, for 1,047 U.S. outlets total.
Kumon, on cost mechanics alone. The lower Item 7 floor, the $2,000 fee, and a royalty that shrinks when enrollment shrinks all reduce downside during a slow ramp. Mathnasium's case is revenue per student and a granted exclusive territory, which Kumon's filing does not confirm. Both sit well below the $340,868 average Item 7 floor across the 148 child services and education brands in our database.
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