Ranked by ongoing royalty
The lowest-royalty franchises
The franchise fee is paid once. The royalty is a slice of every dollar you ring up, for the length of the agreement. Ranked by disclosed royalty percentage, lowest first.
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- McDonald's Royalty: 5% of gross sales
- Popeyes Royalty: 5% of gross sales
- UFC Gym Royalty: 5% of gross sales
- The UPS Store Royalty: 5% of gross sales
- Taco Bell Royalty: 5.5% of gross sales
- Great Clips Royalty: 6% of gross sales
- Little Caesars Royalty: 6% of gross sales
- Smoothie King Royalty: 6% of gross sales
- Wingstop Royalty: 6% of gross sales
- Jersey Mike's Royalty: 6.5% of gross sales
- Planet Fitness Royalty: 7% of gross sales
- Subway Royalty: 8% of gross sales
Why the royalty outweighs the fee
Upfront costs are finite and mostly one-time. The royalty is neither. A brand charging 8% of gross sales for a 20-year term can quietly cost far more than a higher-fee brand charging 4%, because the royalty scales with your success and never expires. Do the arithmetic on a store doing a million dollars a year: four points of difference is $40,000 a year, every year, before the ad fund. Over a typical agreement that gap dwarfs almost anything you'd save on a cheaper build-out.
That's why a low royalty is worth more scrutiny than a low sticker price for anyone planning to hold the business. It's the cost that compounds, and it's charged on gross revenue, not profit, so you pay it whether the location makes money that month or not.
Flat monthly fees, and profit splits, sit off this scale
Every percentage above is charged on gross sales, so they compare directly. Two other models don't. Some brands charge a flat monthly royalty instead, read here from their 2026 FDDs:
| Brand | Monthly royalty | Indexed to inflation |
|---|---|---|
| HOTWORX | $695 | No |
| Snap Fitness | $725 | Yes (CPI) |
| Anytime Fitness | $842 | Yes (CPI) |
A flat fee is cheaper than a percentage once a location is busy: $725 a month is $8,700 a year whatever the club takes in, against $40,000 for an 8% royalty on $500,000 of sales. The fitness franchise ranking has each brand's filing and its other fees.
The other model is a split of profit rather than a royalty on sales. 7-Eleven takes 45% to 59% of a store's gross profit, and Chick-fil-A takes a 15% service fee plus half of what's left. Both also supply the building, which is why neither number belongs in a royalty ranking.
Read the whole Item 6, not just the headline percentage
This ranking sorts on the standard royalty on gross sales, but that line rarely travels alone. Most agreements also carry an advertising or brand-fund contribution, often another one to four percent, plus technology fees, and sometimes local-marketing minimums you spend yourself. Brands with a non-standard structure, a flat monthly fee, or a profit-share instead of a percentage of gross, are left off this list because they can't be compared on the same axis; their real arrangement is on their individual pages. Add every recurring line together before you call one brand cheaper to run than another.