Anytime Fitness vs Planet Fitness

I have a planet fitness membership

The facilities are typically clean and have newer equipment

The downside is if you're a serious weight lifter they don't have much in the way of barbell set ups. If they do have barbells for bench/squat it's going to be a smith machine and not free weights.

If you're ok with sticking to dumbell workouts and machines then planet fitness would be great for you

Can you lift more than 75lb dumbbells? Then you’ve exceeded Planet Fitness’s free weights. Everything else they have are machines, including the Smith. Anytime shits on PF unless you just want to join for cardio.

I’m with planet and I’ve been really happy with that decision, the one I’m at is big and has plenty of equipment, 2 smith machines, but everyone in here is right about the free weights. I guess it depends on what your goal is. Everyone at mine is always friendly and the staff keep the place clean.
If you stop by they’ll take you through and let you tour them I’m sure.

i did anytime for a few years and liked it alright.

staff was never friendly and i never really got any sense of camaraderie there. they always had enough equipment and enough weights for heavier lifters. my couple of goes at pf seemed to be lacking.

i know we're there to lift, but i like going to a gym where the staff says "hi" genuinely and there's a good sense of membership and i never had that at anytime.

biggest benefit to both is that their memberships get you in any other gym if you're traveling.

I suggest going to different gyms. One anytime will differ from the next.

I owned several Anytime Fitness clubs and I am a stock holder in Planet Fitness.

First - travel time to the gym is critical. Assume you go to the gym 3x a week. If you drive 30 minutes (round trip) to get to Planet and only 10 minutes to Anytime, you are saving 60 minutes of travel time each week by joining Anytime - do the math - - 52 hours per year you are sitting in your car to save $20 per month on a Planet gym membership? Not to mention gas and car expenses. Here is the test, get in your car and drive 26 hours in one direction, then drive 26 hours back home. Now ask yourself, was that trip worth saving $240 per year in a gym membership?

Second, why are you going the gym? Is it to get into shape, or simply to feel better about yourself because you have purchased a gym membership?

Third, what can you afford to pay for your fitness membership? Or as we used to say, "What is your health worth?"

Planet Fitness is a brilliant business model. It markets its clubs to non-fitness people who know that they should workout, but most likely won't. In essence, it sells a product to the customer and then hopes the customer never uses it. The members don't cancel as the cost of cancelling is 5x the cost of the $10 monthly membership, and they think, "Oh, I will use it next month." So they just keep paying $10 - $20 every month - think Netflix. In order to discourage regular users, Planet created an atmosphere that is appalling to anyone serious about fitness and it is not conducive to getting, or staying in shape. They serve free pizza and Tootsie Rolls. They have massage chairs and massage tables. The machines are name brand, but they are typically inferior models. The free weights are limited and light, and they have all sorts of rules about the size of your water bottle, your attire and making noise. If a Planet is nearby, you are a starving student, you are interested in renting a cardio machine for 30 minutes, or having a gym card on your key chain is important, then Planet is for you.

Anytime Fitness clubs are smaller and typically are not as crowded without so many rules. The equipment is generally better than Planet and the clubs are geared towards getting in shape and not just talking about it. However, the cost is $30 - $40/month compared to $10. Be aware, the quality of Anytime Fitness clubs and quality of customer service vary from location to location. If the Anytime has quality equipment, is near your home and you can afford the price, then Anytime is the better choice. Another concern - more Anytimes go out of business than Planets.

So, go back to the beginning - What is the travel time, what is the purpose of joining and what is your budget.

People love to shite on PF but honestly you can get great workouts in there if you're not an advanced lifter. On top of that, it's dirt cheap with clean facilities and new equipment.

It's easy to shite on but it is a great value. As for the pizza and donuts, they do that once per month each. You're not having to fight off pizza and donuts every day.

I haven't had a membership there in a while but I'd get one again in a heartbeat if I needed to save money.


All of that said, if you're looking for barbells then it is not for you. That was one if the reasons I quit going.. I wanted to squat and deadlift and neither one of those is safe to do on Smith machines.

Do you have health insurance? Lotta health care providers have some sort of fitness membership that's alot cheaper than a regular gym membership.

I pay 25 bucks a month and I can go to most big box gyms in the US. Anytime fitness, planet fitness, LA fitness etc..