Applebee's Franchise
Cost, fees, owner earnings, closure rate and litigation for a Applebee's franchise — pulled from the franchisor's own public FDD (2025), not its sales material.
Disclosure honesty
Applebee's discloses earnings (Item 19) — but the grade is how honestly. We graded it D.
What their own earnings claim actually says
Discloses only gross sales by region (avg $2.76M system-wide, 1,443 units). No profitability, net income, or expense data provided. Top-line revenue only; omits costs, margins, and owner earnings entirely.
What a Applebee's franchise actually costs to run
| Fee | Disclosed | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Initial franchise fee | $35,000 | Item 5 — paid up front, before you open |
| Royalty | 4% of gross sales | Item 6 — charged on revenue, not profit |
| Advertising fund | 4.25% of gross sales | Item 6 — brand marketing, spent at the franchisor's discretion |
| Total recurring fees | 8.25% of gross sales | Before rent, labor, food or debt service |
| Total initial investment | $1,766,798 – $5,822,933 | Item 7 — franchisor's own low/high estimate |
Royalty 4%; ad fee 4.25% dropping to 3.25% Jan 2026; numerous required tech fees add cost.
Royalty and ad-fund percentages are charged on gross sales — an owner pays them whether or not the location is profitable.
Applebee's system size and owner turnover
| Total outlets | 1,507 |
| Ceased operations | 29 |
| Terminated by franchisor | 0 |
| Transferred to new owners | 62 |
| Closure rate | 1.9% of outlets |
82 franchised traditional units lost in 2024; multiple franchisee bankruptcies evident in litigation.
From Item 20 of the FDD 2025. Terminations and ceased operations are the franchisor's own count of owners who stopped — the number the sales pitch leaves out.
Is Applebee's worth it? — how it compares to 164 similar franchises
| Ongoing fees | 8.25% of sales | steeper than 61% of quick service restaurants franchises |
| Startup cost | from $1,766,798 | pricier than 95% of peers |
| Disclosure honesty | Grade D | less honest than most of the category |
| Closure rate | 1.9% of outlets | about average |
| Disclosed lawsuits | 9 | more litigious than 93% of peers |
Benchmarked against every quick service restaurants franchise we've graded from public FDDs — the context the franchisor's pitch never gives you.
Owner take-home for a Applebee's
The franchisor's framing: Discloses only gross sales by region (avg $2.76M system-wide, 1,443 units). No profitabili… We reconstruct what an owner actually keeps, from their own FDD.
- Reconstructed owner P&L — net take-home after royalty, ad fund, rent, labor & debt
- Break-even timeline + cash-on-cash ROI
- Full fee stack + required-purchase markups
- Decoded real failure / closure rate
- How it ranks vs comparable franchises
- Validation-call playbook — the exact questions to ask
See a full sample report → · 30-day guarantee
Applebee's franchise — frequently asked
- How much does a Applebee's franchise cost?
- The FDD lists a total initial investment of about $1,766,798–$5,822,933, including a $35,000 initial franchise fee.
- How much do Applebee's franchise owners make?
- Discloses only gross sales by region (avg $2.76M system-wide, 1,443 units). No profitability, net income, or expense data provided. Top-line revenue only; omits costs, margins, and owner earnings entirely. We grade this disclosure D for honesty.
- What are the Applebee's franchise fees?
- Applebee's FDD discloses a $35,000 initial franchise fee, a 4% royalty on gross sales, a 4.25% advertising-fund contribution, for roughly 8.25% of gross sales in recurring fees before rent, labor, or debt service. Royalty 4%; ad fee 4.25% dropping to 3.25% Jan 2026; numerous required tech fees add cost.
- What is the Applebee's franchise profit margin?
- Applebee's does not publish a franchisee net-profit margin — almost no franchisor does. What Item 19 actually shows: Discloses only gross sales by region (avg $2.76M system-wide, 1,443 units). No profitability, net income, or expense data provided. Top-line revenue only; omits costs, margins, and owner earnings entirely. Recurring fees alone take about 8.25% of gross sales, before rent, labor, food or debt service. Margin has to be reconstructed from the disclosure, not read off it.
- What is the Applebee's franchise failure rate?
- 82 franchised traditional units lost in 2024; multiple franchisee bankruptcies evident in litigation.
- How many Applebee's locations are there?
- Applebee's FDD reports 1,507 total outlets, with 29 that ceased operations in the most recent reporting year and 62 transferred to new owners. Item 20 is where system health shows up before the marketing does.
- Does Applebee's have complaints or lawsuits?
- Applebee's discloses 9 legal matters in Item 3 of its FDD. Item 3 covers the franchisor's litigation history, which is the closest thing to a public record of how it treats franchisees — read the case descriptions, not just the count.
- Is a Applebee's franchise worth it?
- It depends on the numbers, not the pitch. Applebee's scores D on disclosure honesty, carries about 8.25% of sales in ongoing fees, and discloses 9 legal matters. Get the real owner take-home before you sign.
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Compare Applebee's to similar franchises
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Source: MN CARDS 33157-202503-08 (Clean FDD 2025). FranchiseValidate is independent and not affiliated with Applebee's or its franchisor. Figures are extracted from the franchisor's own public disclosure document; verify against the current FDD before any decision.