Franchise Data API

Structured franchise investment data from 151 FDDs. Free tier available, no key required to start.

JSON responses · CORS enabled · Rate limit headers on every response

Quick Start

# List all franchises (no key needed)

curl https://franchisevs.com/api/brands

# Get a specific brand

curl https://franchisevs.com/api/brands/mcdonalds

# Compare brands

curl "https://franchisevs.com/api/compare?brands=mcdonalds,burger-king,wendys"

Rate Limits & Tiers

Tier	Rate limit	Item 19 revenue	Price
Anonymous	50 req/day	—	Free
Free (API key)	100 req/day	—	Free
Pro (API key)	1,000 req/day	✓ Included	$49/mo

Anonymous tier is IP-based. Free and Pro tiers require an API key — see Authentication below.

Authentication

Pass your API key using either of these methods:

X-Api-Key header (preferred)

Authorization: Bearer header (also accepted)

# X-Api-Key header
curl -H "X-Api-Key: fvs_your_key_here" https://franchisevs.com/api/brands

# Or Authorization: Bearer
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer fvs_your_key_here" https://franchisevs.com/api/brands

const res = await fetch('https://franchisevs.com/api/brands', {
  headers: { 'X-Api-Key': 'fvs_your_key_here' }
});
const data = await res.json();

import httpx
r = httpx.get(
    'https://franchisevs.com/api/brands',
    headers={'X-Api-Key': 'fvs_your_key_here'}
)
data = r.json()

Endpoints

GET /api/brands

List all 151 franchises with summary data. Supports filtering, sorting, and pagination.

Note: average_revenue, revenue_low, and revenue_high fields require a Pro API key.

Query Parameters

Param	Type	Description
category	string	Filter by category (e.g. "Fitness", "QSR")
min_investment	number	Minimum initial investment ($)
max_investment	number	Maximum initial investment ($)
has_revenue	boolean	Only brands with Item 19 revenue data
sort	string	Sort field (brand_name, investment_low, health_score, etc.)
order	string	asc or desc (default: asc)
limit	number	Results per page, max 151 (default: 50)
offset	number	Skip N results (default: 0)

Response Fields

Field	Description
brand_name	Official franchise name
slug	URL-safe identifier (use with /api/brands/:slug)
category	Industry category
investment_low / investment_high	Total initial investment range ($)
franchise_fee_low / franchise_fee_high	Initial franchise fee range ($)
royalty_type / royalty_value	Ongoing royalty (percentage or flat)
average_revenue	Average unit revenue — Pro key required
revenue_low / revenue_high	Revenue range from Item 19 — Pro key required
total_units	Total franchise + company-owned units
health_score	FranchiseVS composite score (0-100)
risk_flags	Array of risk indicators

GET /api/brands/:slug

Full FDD data for a single franchise. Returns the complete extracted dataset including:

Item 5 — Initial fees, territory variants, refundability
Item 6 — Royalty, ad fund, technology fee, transfer/renewal fees
Item 7 — Full initial investment table with line items
Item 19 — Financial performance representations (revenue data) — Pro key required
Item 20 — Outlet counts, year-over-year growth, state breakdown
Derived metrics — Payback period, growth rate, fee burden, health score

Example: GET /api/brands/chick-fil-a

GET /api/categories

List all franchise categories with brand counts and average investment ranges.

GET /api/compare

Side-by-side comparison of 2-5 franchises. Returns summary, investment totals, fee structure, and revenue data for each brand.

Example: GET /api/compare?brands=planet-fitness,anytime-fitness,f45

Response Headers

Every API response includes the following rate limit headers:

Header	Description
X-RateLimit-Limit	Your daily request limit for your current tier
X-RateLimit-Remaining	Requests remaining today
X-RateLimit-Reset	ISO 8601 timestamp when your limit resets (midnight UTC)
X-Api-Key-Tier	Your current tier: `anonymous`, `free`, or `paid`

Data Source

All data is extracted from publicly filed Franchise Disclosure Documents (FDDs) submitted to state regulatory agencies under the FTC Franchise Rule. Currently covering 151 brands across 9 categories.

Data is extracted using automated processing with multi-layer validation. Each data point includes a confidence score. See our methodology page for details.

Try It

Click "Send" to try the API

Get API Access

Free tier available — no key required to start. Pro unlocks Item 19 revenue data for all 151+ brands.

Get Your API Key

Questions? Email hello@franchisevs.com