The Franchise Directory
5,964+ franchise brands. One free directory.
The most complete public index of franchise opportunities in the United States. Compare brands by industry, investment level, franchise fee, unit count, and FDD filing year. Every brand profile is free to view, every Franchise Disclosure Document is free to request, and every listing is sourced from federally filed FDDs cross-checked against state registration data.
5,964
13
2026
$5K to $5M+
A franchise directory built from federally filed FDDs, not paid placements
Most franchise directories you find online are paid placement engines. Franchise brands write a check to appear on the front page, and the rankings shift with marketing budgets. That makes sense for the portal operators (it pays the bills) but it leaves serious franchise buyers and franchise industry professionals without a clean, unbiased reference.
The Franchise Fast Track franchise directory is built differently. Every brand listed here files a Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD) with at least one US state. We pull the structured data from those filings (unit counts, investment ranges, franchise fees, filing history) and cross-check against state registration agencies and brand websites. Nothing is gated, nothing is paid. If a brand has an active FDD, it belongs in the directory.
The directory is useful for three audiences. Prospective franchisees use it to compare real investment ranges and unit-count growth across categories before requesting FDDs. Franchise development executives use it to benchmark their brand against category peers (unit growth, investment positioning, FDD freshness). Industry analysts, consultants, and franchise development consultants use it as a single source for brand-level data that would otherwise require pulling individual state filings one by one.
Every brand profile includes the four numbers that matter most when comparing franchise opportunities: total initial investment range, initial franchise fee, current unit count, and FDD filing years. Brand profiles also surface real franchisee operator data where available, including multi-unit operators identified from FDD Item 20 disclosures. Where the public data isn't enough to make a decision, the full FDD can be requested free through any brand page.
Top 10
Largest franchise brands by unit count
Ranked by total franchised + company-owned units across the most recent FDD filings. The top 10 alone represent over 86,030 active locations.
- Food & Beverage
Subway
20,576
Units worldwide
- Founded
- 1991
- Investment
- $239K – $537K
- Food & Beverage
McDonald's
12,764
Units worldwide
- Founded
- 1955
- Investment
- $1.5M – $2.6M
- Food & Beverage
Dunkin' Donuts
8,087
Units worldwide
- Founded
- 2006
- Investment
- —
- Food & Beverage
7-Eleven
7,169
Units worldwide
- Founded
- 1961
- Investment
- —
- Food & Beverage
Taco Bell
7,049
Units worldwide
- Founded
- 2016
- Investment
- $1.6M – $4.0M
- Food & Beverage
Burger King
6,993
Units worldwide
- Founded
- 1963
- Investment
- $247K – $4.7M
- Food & Beverage
Domino's Pizza
6,438
Units worldwide
- Founded
- 2007
- Investment
- $156K – $744K
- Food & Beverage
Bimbo Foods Bakeries Distribution
5,901
Units worldwide
- Founded
- 2013
- Investment
- $14K – $606K
- Health & Fitness
Jazzercise
5,533
Units worldwide
- Founded
- 1979
- Investment
- $2K – $3K
- Food & Beverage
Wendy's
5,520
Units worldwide
- Founded
- 2015
- Investment
- $310K – $2.8M
By Industry
Browse franchise opportunities by category
Franchise brands span 50+ distinct industries. The most active categories by brand count:
How to use a franchise directory effectively
A franchise directory is most useful as a filter, not a search engine. The mistake most prospective franchisees make is browsing by brand name and getting swayed by familiar logos. The better workflow is to filter by the criteria that actually constrain your decision, then request FDDs on the short list that survives the filter.
Step 1: filter by investment range
Total initial investment is the first hard constraint. Every franchise has an investment range in Item 7 of its FDD, typically expressed as a low-to-high band that includes the franchise fee, build-out, equipment, opening inventory, signage, training, and three to six months of working capital. Filter the directory to brands whose investment range fits the capital you can deploy without overextending. Most banks will lend up to 70 to 80 percent of total investment for a qualified franchisee with strong credit, but plan to write a check for the balance.
Step 2: filter by industry experience
Most successful franchisees buy in an industry they already understand. If your background is in operations management, look at home services and quick-service restaurants. If your background is in sales and customer service, look at fitness, education, or retail. If your background is in real estate or construction, look at the property-intensive categories. The directory's category filter lets you narrow to the industries where your experience compounds instead of becoming a liability.
Step 3: filter by brand maturity
Brand maturity matters more than brand size. A 50-unit franchise that has been operating for 20 years with steady growth is often a better bet than a 500-unit franchise that scaled in 18 months and is now battling franchisee turnover. The directory shows founded year and unit count for every brand. Look at the gap between those two numbers: brands that grew slowly and sustainably tend to have refined operations and lower franchisee turnover than rocket-ship scalers.
Step 4: request the FDD
Once you have a short list of three to five brands that survive the filters, request the FDD on each. The FDD is a federally regulated 23-item document that includes everything a franchisor is required to disclose: full investment breakdown, financial performance representations from existing units, franchisee turnover and unit closures, territory rights, renewal terms, and audited financial statements. Reading the FDD is the only way to compare brands on the dimensions that actually predict outcomes. FDD requests through the Franchise Fast Track directory are free and route directly to the franchisor.
What makes Franchise Fast Track's franchise directory different
Most franchise directories you'll find online fall into one of two buckets: portals that charge brands for placement (Franchise.com, FranchiseGator, BeTheBoss), or annual rankings with editorial gatekeeping (Entrepreneur Franchise 500, Franchise Times Top 200). Both serve a purpose, but neither gives you a complete unbiased picture of the franchise landscape.
The Franchise Fast Track franchise directory has three structural differences:
- 1
Inclusive by default. Every active US franchise with an FDD on file is in the directory. No paid placement, no editorial gatekeeping, no "top brands" tier.
- 2
Real operator data, not just brand data. Brand profiles surface the actual multi-unit operators running those franchises (pulled from FDD Item 20 disclosures), so you can see who has scaled inside a system before signing.
- 3
Connected to the FDD database. Franchise Fast Track also operates a free database of 68,000+ Franchise Disclosure Documents. Brand profiles link directly to the FDD filing history, so you can see how disclosures have changed across years.
Frequently Asked
Franchise directory FAQ
What is a franchise directory?
A franchise directory is a searchable index of franchise brands that lets prospective franchisees and franchise industry professionals compare opportunities by industry, investment range, franchise fee, unit count, and Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD) filing year. Franchise Fast Track's franchise directory covers 6,000+ active franchise brands in the United States across 50+ industries, drawn from federally filed FDDs and verified against state franchise registration filings.
How much does it cost to use the Franchise Fast Track franchise directory?
The franchise directory is free. There is no cost to browse brands, filter by industry, view individual brand profiles, request the FDD on any brand, or compare franchise opportunities side by side. Franchise Fast Track is not a franchise broker network, so directory listings are not gated behind a sales call or lead-resale arrangement.
How many franchise brands are in the directory?
The directory currently indexes 5,964 franchise brands across 13 industries. Coverage spans every franchise category that files an FDD in the United States, including quick-service restaurants, home services, real estate brokerages, fitness, automotive, health and beauty, retail, education, and senior care.
Where does the franchise directory data come from?
Brand-level data is built from Franchise Disclosure Documents (FDDs) filed with state franchise registration agencies, cross-referenced with company websites and verified through manual review. Unit counts, investment ranges, and franchise fees reflect the most recent FDD on file for each brand. FDD filing years are tracked per brand so visitors can see how recent the disclosure is.
Can I request the Franchise Disclosure Document for a brand?
Yes. Every brand profile in the directory has a free FDD request form. Franchise Disclosure Documents are federally regulated and must be provided to prospective franchisees at least 14 days before any binding agreement is signed or any fee paid. Requests routed through Franchise Fast Track are forwarded directly to the franchisor's franchise development team.
Is Franchise Fast Track a franchise broker?
No. Franchise Fast Track is a franchise development partner that helps established franchisors and brokerage groups recruit verified franchisee candidates through targeted outbound. The public franchise directory and FDD database at franchisefasttrack.io are free industry tools, not lead resale.
How is the franchise directory different from Franchise.com or Entrepreneur Franchise 500?
Franchise portals like Franchise.com and the Entrepreneur Franchise 500 ranking are paid placements: brands pay for inclusion or ranking. Franchise Fast Track's franchise directory is unpaid: every active franchise brand with an FDD on file is included, regardless of marketing spend. Brand profiles include real operator data (multi-unit franchisees, unit count growth over time) sourced from FDD Item 20 disclosures.
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See all 5,964 franchise brands.
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