Data · reviewed 10 September 2026 The Franchise Fee Index 2026. What 29 systems charge, and on what.
Royalty and brand-fund rates for 29 franchise systems across restaurants, hotels, fitness and wellness, with the sales figure each is charged on. 23 rows come from the franchisor’s own filing or page, or a hotel owner’s SEC filing listing the fees in its own agreements; the rest from directories reporting a disclosure document, and they say so.
Free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 — cite “Kite Franchise Fee Index 2026”.
Six findings
- 1
The median restaurant royalty in the index is 5% of sales; with the brand fund the franchisor collects, restaurant brands take 6% to 11.5% of sales before rent.
- 2
Fitness and wellness royalties run higher: the median is 7% in fitness and 6% across spa, salon and wellness brands.
- 3
The same hotel brand charges different rates: one owner’s 16 Residence Inn agreements carry royalties from 5.0% to 6.0%, and its two Home2 Suites agreements 4.0% and 5.0%.
- 4
Two of the salon and spa brands charge royalty on service sales only — European Wax Center and Supercuts leave retail out of the basis.
- 5
Rates move with a location’s age and its agreement’s vintage: Supercuts and Cost Cutters charge 4% in the first year and 6% after, and only about 63% of Planet Fitness clubs paid its current 7% royalty in 2025 — the average was 6.7%.
- 6
Definitions differ more than rates: Wingstop excludes third-party delivery fees and gift cards sold; Papa Johns charges on revenue net of certain taxes, discounts and refunds; Fairfield’s gross room sales allow no deduction for card fees or chargebacks.
Restaurants
| Brand | Royalty | Brand fund | Charged on | Notes | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wingstop | 6% | 5.5% | Gross Sales, excluding sales tax, coupon credits, employee discounts, third-party delivery fees and gift cards sold | Weekly; $175 monthly technology fee | Wingstop 2025 FDDprimary |
| Domino’s | 5.5% | 6.0% | Sales | U.S. standard agreement; lower rates may apply under incentives | Domino’s Pizza, Inc. Form 10-K, fiscal 2025primary |
| Wendy’s | 4.0% | 3.5% | Sales | Royalty monthly; national advertising for U.S. restaurants | The Wendy’s Company Form 10-K, fiscal 2024primary |
| Papa Johns | 5% | — | Gross revenue, net of certain taxes, discounts and refunds | Marketing fund contribution required; rate not stated in the filing | Papa John’s International Form 10-K, fiscal 2025primary |
| Jack in the Box | 5% | 5% | Gross Sales | Jack in the Box franchise costs and feesprimary | |
| Jersey Mike’s | 6.5% | 5% (1% + 4%) | Gross Receipts | Corporate Advertising and Development Fund 1%, National Media Fund 4% | Jersey Mike’s franchise review 2025 (2025 FDD)secondary |
| Church’s Texas Chicken | 5% | 5% | Sales | Church’s Texas Chicken franchise listingsecondary | |
| Nothing Bundt Cakes | 6% | 5% | Gross sales | Monthly | Nothing Bundt Cakes franchise deep dive (2025 FDD)secondary |
| Shipley Do-Nuts | 5% | 1% co-op | Sales | Plus 2% local store marketing spent by the franchisee, not collected | Franchise FAQprimary |
Hotels
| Brand | Royalty | Brand fund | Charged on | Notes | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fairfield by Marriott | 5.5% | 3.85% program services (incl. 2.5% marketing fund) | Gross room sales, with no reduction for chargebacks or card fees | Program services also $7,000 a year and $135 per room a year; due by the 15th | Fairfield by Marriott 2024 FDDprimary |
| Residence Inn | 5.0–6.0% | 2.5% | Gross room revenue | In force in 16 agreements, expiring 2026–2045 | Chatham Lodging Trust 2025 annual report, franchise agreements noteprimary |
| Courtyard | 5.5–6.0% | 2.0–2.5% | Gross room revenue | In force in 3 agreements | Chatham Lodging Trust 2025 annual report, franchise agreements noteprimary |
| SpringHill Suites | 5.0% | 2.5% | Gross room revenue | In force in 1 agreement | Chatham Lodging Trust 2025 annual report, franchise agreements noteprimary |
| TownePlace Suites | 5.5% | 2.0% | Gross room revenue | In force in 1 agreement | Chatham Lodging Trust 2025 annual report, franchise agreements noteprimary |
| Hampton Inn | 6.0% | 4.0% | Gross room revenue | In force in 2 agreements | Chatham Lodging Trust 2025 annual report, franchise agreements noteprimary |
| Hilton Garden Inn | 5.5% | 4.0–4.3% | Gross room revenue | In force in 3 agreements | Chatham Lodging Trust 2025 annual report, franchise agreements noteprimary |
| Embassy Suites | 5.5% | 4.0% | Gross room revenue | In force in 1 agreement | Chatham Lodging Trust 2025 annual report, franchise agreements noteprimary |
| Homewood Suites | 4.0% | 3.5–4.0% | Gross room revenue | In force in 2 agreements | Chatham Lodging Trust 2025 annual report, franchise agreements noteprimary |
| Home2 Suites | 4.0–5.0% | 3.0–3.5% | Gross room revenue | In force in 2 agreements | Chatham Lodging Trust 2025 annual report, franchise agreements noteprimary |
| Hyatt Place | 5.0% | 3.5% | Gross room revenue | In force in 2 agreements | Chatham Lodging Trust 2025 annual report, franchise agreements noteprimary |
| Choice Hotels (U.S. system) | 5.14% average | — | Gross room revenue | Average effective U.S. royalty rate for 2025 across the system’s brands | Choice Hotels International Form 10-K, fiscal 2025primary |
Fitness
| Brand | Royalty | Brand fund | Charged on | Notes | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Planet Fitness | 7% (average 6.7%) | ~2% | Monthly dues (royalty); monthly and annual dues (fund) | 63% of clubs paid the current 7% rate in 2025; fund rises to 3% and local marketing falls from 7% to 6% in 2026 | Planet Fitness, Inc. Form 10-K, fiscal 2025primary |
| Crunch Fitness | 5% | 2% | Monthly gross sales | Local advertising at least $15,000 a month in year one, then the greater of $10,000 or 7% | Franchise FAQprimary |
| Alloy Personal Training | 7% | 2% | Gross sales | Plus 5% spent on local marketing | Franchise FAQsprimary |
Spa, salon and wellness
| Brand | Royalty | Brand fund | Charged on | Notes | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Joint Chiropractic | 7.0% | 2.0% | Gross sales | The Joint Corp. Form 10-K, fiscal 2025primary | |
| Massage Envy | 6% | 4% (2% + 2%) | Gross sales | Weekly; national advertising fund 2%, supplemental marketing fund 2% | Massage Envy franchise deep dive (2025 FDD)secondary |
| European Wax Center | 6% | 3% | Service sales (gross sales less retail products) | European Wax Center, Inc. Form 10-K, fiscal 2025primary | |
| Supercuts | 6% (4% in year one) | 5% | Service revenue | Supercuts franchise profile (2025 FDD)secondary | |
| Cost Cutters | 4% for 52 weeks, then greater of 6% or $100/week | 4% (1% collected) | Gross revenues | Cost Cutters franchise review 2025 (2024 FDD)secondary |
How it was compiled
- Each row was read from its source in September 2026. Primary sources are franchise disclosure documents, Form 10-K filings and franchisors’ own franchise pages; hotel rows marked “in force” are one owner’s SEC-reported agreements, not list prices.
- A figure the source does not state is left blank, never estimated. A system whose filing states only half its fees is either shown with the blank or left out.
- “Brand fund” is the advertising or marketing contribution the franchisor collects. Local marketing a franchisee must spend itself is in the notes, not the column.
- Rates are for new or standard agreements unless the row says otherwise. Your own agreement’s year governs what you pay.
Why a bookkeeper publishes this
Because the rate is the easy part. The sales figure each fee is charged on — what the definition includes, excludes and nets — decides whether a franchisee’s royalty is right, and it is the part that goes wrong. Read what counts as gross sales for royalty, or see how Kite keeps each brand’s rules.
Start with a few stores.
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