About FranchiseBudget

Initial franchise investment ranges from $10,000 for a home-based service franchise to $3M+ for a full-service restaurant. Every franchisor is required to disclose those numbers in their FDD (Franchise Disclosure Document). FranchiseBudget extracts the key financials so you can compare investment levels, royalty structures, and fee schedules without reading 200-page documents.

How the Calculator Works

Every estimate on this site is built from publicly available sources: government surveys, industry reports, and trade association data. We don't use made-up "average" figures. When we say median cost is $X, there's a source behind that number.

The calculator takes your inputs and applies regional cost factors where we have them. Costs vary a lot by location. A home renovation in San Francisco costs twice what it does in rural Ohio. We account for that when the data supports it.

Outputs are estimates, not quotes. The number you see is a reasonable starting point for budgeting and comparison. The actual number you'll pay depends on specifics we can't know from a calculator: your contractor, your timeline, what you find inside the walls when demo starts.

Our Data Sources

FTC-mandated Franchise Disclosure Documents filed with state regulators, SBA loan data on franchised businesses, FRANdata industry benchmarks on royalty rates and fee structures, and IFA (International Franchise Association) economic reports. All FDD-based data reflects filings from the most recent calendar year.

We do not accept payment from service providers to influence estimates. The numbers on this site are not adjusted to favor any vendor, brand, or category.

Who Made This

FranchiseBudget is part of a small collection of cost calculator sites built and maintained in Sacramento, CA. We're a tiny operation. No VC funding, no content farm, no sponsored results. Just a site trying to be useful.

If you find a number that seems wrong, we want to know. Outdated or inaccurate data is the thing we care most about fixing. The goal is accuracy, and we'd rather be corrected than confidently wrong.

A Note on Estimates

Cost calculators have a real limitation: they can't see your project. They work from statistical distributions, not your specific situation. Use the numbers here to get oriented, understand the range of what you might pay, and know what questions to ask when you talk to an actual professional.

The estimate you see here is not a contract, not a guarantee, and not financial advice. It's a reasonable ballpark based on publicly available data.

Built in Sacramento, CA. Last updated March 2026.