Stemtree franchise cost 2026: $90,700-$195,300 investment, $44,500 fee, 8% royalty. Item 19 median revenue plus how it compares to Kumon and Mathnasium.
Quick answerA Stemtree franchise costs $90,700 to $195,300 per the 2026 FDD Item 7, including a $44,500 franchise fee. Ongoing fees are an 8% royalty on gross revenue (minimum $325 per month) plus a 2% ad fund. Item 19 reports median franchised-unit revenue of $177,705 for fiscal year 2024 across a 9-unit sample.
A Stemtree center runs $90,700 to $195,300 all-in, per Item 7 of the brand’s 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document, one of the 2,000+ FDDs parsed in VetMyFranchise’s database. The initial franchise fee is $44,500. Ongoing fees run 8% of gross revenue (with a $325 monthly minimum) plus a 2% ad fund contribution.
That low end puts Stemtree among the cheaper storefront education franchises you can buy. The catch is the system behind the price: 16 franchised units nationwide, with 8 openings and 8 closures in the most recent reporting year. Both numbers belong in your evaluation, and this guide covers each.
If this is your first FDD, the FTC’s consumer guide to buying a franchise explains what franchisors are legally required to disclose before you sign anything.
| Item | Figure (2026 FDD) |
|---|---|
| Total initial investment | $90,700 - $195,300 |
| Initial franchise fee | $44,500 |
| Royalty | 8% of gross revenue ($325/month minimum) |
| Ad fund | 2% of gross revenue |
| Initial agreement term | 5 years |
| Units | 16 franchised + 1 company-owned |
Look closely at the fee-to-investment ratio. At the low end of the range, the $44,500 franchise fee consumes about 49% of your total budget. For comparison, Kumon charges a $2,000 fee on a similar total investment, and Mathnasium charges $49,000 on a $127,316-$165,846 range. A high fee on a small system means the franchisor collects more of its economics upfront rather than from ongoing royalties on proven units.
The remaining $46,200 to $150,800 covers build-out of a retail learning center, STEM lab equipment (robotics kits, electronics stations, science lab materials), signage, initial marketing, and working capital. The wide spread reflects center size and market: a compact space in a secondary market lands near the bottom, while a larger center in an expensive metro pushes toward the top.
One structural note: the initial term is 5 years, shorter than the 10-year terms common in franchising. A shorter term cuts both ways. You get an earlier exit point if the concept underperforms, but the franchisor also gets an earlier renegotiation point on fees and terms.
All four brands filed 2026 FDDs, and all four disclose Item 19 financial performance data. Figures below come from each brand’s 2026 FDD.
| Factor | Stemtree | Kumon | Mathnasium | Code Ninjas |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Franchise fee | $44,500 | $2,000 | $49,000 | $45,000 |
| Total investment | $90.7K-$195.3K | $101.6K-$233.8K | $127.3K-$165.8K | $174.3K-$265.8K |
| Royalty | 8% ($325/mo min) | Per-student monthly fee | 10% of gross receipts | 8.25%-12.25% of net sales |
| Item 19 disclosed? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Core focus | Full STEM + tutoring | Math + reading worksheets | Math instruction | Coding + game development |
Stemtree’s pitch in this lineup is breadth. A Kumon center runs a self-paced math and reading worksheet program; Mathnasium teaches math and nothing else; Code Ninjas is coding-focused. Stemtree centers offer science labs, electronics, engineering projects, coding, and math tutoring under one roof, which lets an owner serve after-school enrichment, one-on-one tutoring, camps, and home-school programs from the same lease.
The counterweight is scale. Kumon’s 2026 FDD reports 1,705 franchised US centers and Mathnasium operates roughly 1,200. Stemtree has 16. Brand recognition, corporate support depth, and validated unit economics all thin out at that size. Our education franchise roundup covers where each model fits, and the Mathnasium vs. Kumon comparison goes deeper on the two math incumbents.
Stemtree’s 2026 Item 19 reports median revenue of $177,705 for fiscal year 2024, measured across all franchised units systemwide. The sample is 9 units; the system counts 16 franchised locations as of the 2026 FDD, so the figure doesn’t capture the newest cohort of centers. Small samples move around a lot: one strong or weak center could shift the median materially.
The FDD discloses revenue, not profit. Working backward from a $178,000 revenue year (the reported median was $177,705) using typical tutoring-center cost benchmarks, not Stemtree disclosures:
| Line Item | Amount | % of Revenue |
|---|---|---|
| Gross revenue | $178,000 | 100% |
| Instructor/staff labor (est. 32%) | -$57,000 | 32% |
| Occupancy/rent (est. 12%) | -$21,400 | 12% |
| Royalty (8%) | -$14,240 | 8% |
| Ad fund (2%) | -$3,560 | 2% |
| Other operating expenses (est. 10%) | -$17,800 | 10% |
| Estimated pre-tax owner earnings | $64,000 | 36% |
That estimate assumes an owner-operator running the center director role without a separate salary. Hire a director at $45,000-$55,000 and the residual shrinks to a thin return on roughly $90,000-$195,000 of capital at risk. The model only gets interesting if you can push revenue well past the median, and with a 9-unit sample, there’s limited evidence about how often that happens. Our guide to franchise royalty fees covers how percentage-of-revenue fees compound against thin margins.
Evaluating Stemtree? Start with the full Stemtree FDD analysis for the brand’s fee table, unit history, and Item 19 detail from the 2026 disclosure.
The most important line in Stemtree’s 2026 FDD may be the unit table: 8 units opened and 8 closed in the most recent reporting year, in a system of 16 franchised locations. That is a 50% churn rate against the franchised base. Fast-growing young systems often show simultaneous openings and closures, but a 1:1 ratio at this scale means roughly half the system turned over in a single year.
The company has been around since 2015, so this is not a brand-new concept still finding its footing; it’s a decade-old concept that has stayed small. Before signing, get the Item 20 contact list and call both current owners and the owners behind those 8 closures. Ask what revenue they reached, how long they operated, and whether the closure was a sale, a walk-away, or a termination. Franchisees who left the system will tell you things the sales process won’t.
There is a genuine upside to the size: territory availability. In most metros you would be the first Stemtree, with your pick of trade areas near strong school districts. Whether that’s an opportunity or a warning depends entirely on what the departed franchisees say.
Stemtree makes the most sense for an educator, engineer, or technical professional who wants to run the center personally, values teaching the full STEM range rather than math drills, and is comfortable underwriting an unproven system in exchange for a lower entry cost and open territory. The $90,700 low end is accessible, and demand for STEM enrichment is real: parents already pay $250-$300 per month for single-subject programs like Mathnasium.
Buyers who want validated economics, national brand pull, and hundreds of owners to call during due diligence should look at the established players first. Our child education franchise guide maps the whole category, and the Stemtree FDD profile shows exactly what the 2026 disclosure does and does not report before you spend a dollar on legal review.
The total investment to open a Stemtree center ranges from $90,700 to $195,300 according to Item 7 of the 2026 FDD. That includes the $44,500 initial franchise fee, build-out of a retail learning center, STEM lab equipment and materials, and working capital. The wide spread mostly reflects center size and local real estate costs.
Stemtree charges an 8% royalty on gross revenue with a $325 minimum monthly payment, plus a 2% ad fund contribution, per the 2026 FDD. The minimum matters mainly during ramp-up: at the Item 19 median revenue of $177,705, the 8% rate works out to roughly $1,185 per month, well above the floor.
Stemtree's 2026 Item 19 reports median revenue of $177,705 for fiscal year 2024 across 9 franchised units. The FDD discloses revenue, not profit. Applying typical tutoring-center cost benchmarks (roughly 32% instructor labor, 12% occupancy, 10% royalty and ad fund), an owner-operator at the median might clear an estimated $55,000-$65,000 pre-tax before paying themselves a salary.
Stemtree covers the full STEM range: science labs, coding, electronics, engineering projects, and math tutoring. Kumon is a worksheet-based math and reading program, and Mathnasium is math-only instruction. The trade-off is scale. Kumon has 1,705 US franchised centers and Mathnasium roughly 1,200, while Stemtree's 2026 FDD reports just 16 franchised units.
The 2026 FDD reports 16 franchised units plus one company-owned location, 17 in total. The same disclosure shows 8 units opened and 8 closed in the most recent reporting year, an unusually high churn rate for a system this small and a key item to probe in validation calls with current and former owners.
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