Molly Maid Franchise
Cost, fees, owner earnings, closure rate and litigation for a Molly Maid franchise — pulled from the franchisor's own public FDD (2026), not its sales material.
Disclosure honesty
Molly Maid discloses earnings (Item 19) — but the grade is how honestly. We graded it D.
What their own earnings claim actually says
Discloses Gross Sales data for 402 of 432 units (2025). Excludes 21 closed units, 22 transferred units, and 6 new units from analysis. No profit, expense, or owner income data disclosed. Significant survivorship bias from excluding closures.
What a Molly Maid franchise actually costs to run
| Fee | Disclosed | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Initial franchise fee | $14,900 | Item 5 — paid up front, before you open |
| Royalty | 6.5% of gross sales | Item 6 — charged on revenue, not profit |
| Advertising fund | 2% of gross sales | Item 6 — brand marketing, spent at the franchisor's discretion |
| Total recurring fees | 8.5% of gross sales | Before rent, labor, food or debt service |
| Total initial investment | $144,150 – $203,950 | Item 7 — franchisor's own low/high estimate |
Royalty 3–6.5% sliding scale; MAP 2%; call center, software, local marketing add significant additional ongoing costs.
Royalty and ad-fund percentages are charged on gross sales — an owner pays them whether or not the location is profitable.
Molly Maid system size and owner turnover
| Total outlets | 432 |
| Ceased operations | 21 |
| Transferred to new owners | 22 |
| Closure rate | 4.9% of outlets |
21 closures in 2025 reporting period; termination count not extracted from available excerpts.
From Item 20 of the FDD 2026. Terminations and ceased operations are the franchisor's own count of owners who stopped — the number the sales pitch leaves out.
Is Molly Maid worth it? — how it compares to 47 similar franchises
| Ongoing fees | 8.5% of sales | about average |
| Startup cost | from $144,150 | pricier than 74% of peers |
| Disclosure honesty | Grade D | less honest than most of the category |
| Closure rate | 4.9% of outlets | worse than 64% of peers |
| Disclosed lawsuits | 1 | about average |
Benchmarked against every cleaning services franchise we've graded from public FDDs — the context the franchisor's pitch never gives you.
Owner take-home for a Molly Maid
The franchisor's framing: Discloses Gross Sales data for 402 of 432 units (2025). Excludes 21 closed units, 22 trans… 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
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Molly Maid franchise — frequently asked
- How much does a Molly Maid franchise cost?
- The FDD lists a total initial investment of about $144,150–$203,950, including a $14,900 initial franchise fee.
- How much do Molly Maid franchise owners make?
- Discloses Gross Sales data for 402 of 432 units (2025). Excludes 21 closed units, 22 transferred units, and 6 new units from analysis. No profit, expense, or owner income data disclosed. Significant survivorship bias from excluding closures. We grade this disclosure D for honesty.
- What are the Molly Maid franchise fees?
- Molly Maid's FDD discloses a $14,900 initial franchise fee, a 6.5% royalty on gross sales, a 2% advertising-fund contribution, for roughly 8.5% of gross sales in recurring fees before rent, labor, or debt service. Royalty 3–6.5% sliding scale; MAP 2%; call center, software, local marketing add significant additional ongoing costs.
- What is the Molly Maid franchise profit margin?
- Molly Maid does not publish a franchisee net-profit margin — almost no franchisor does. What Item 19 actually shows: Discloses Gross Sales data for 402 of 432 units (2025). Excludes 21 closed units, 22 transferred units, and 6 new units from analysis. No profit, expense, or owner income data disclosed. Significant survivorship bias from excluding closures. Recurring fees alone take about 8.5% 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 Molly Maid franchise failure rate?
- 21 closures in 2025 reporting period; termination count not extracted from available excerpts.
- How many Molly Maid locations are there?
- Molly Maid's FDD reports 432 total outlets, with 21 that ceased operations in the most recent reporting year and 22 transferred to new owners. Item 20 is where system health shows up before the marketing does.
- Does Molly Maid have complaints or lawsuits?
- Molly Maid discloses 1 legal matter 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 Molly Maid franchise worth it?
- It depends on the numbers, not the pitch. Molly Maid scores D on disclosure honesty, carries about 8.5% of sales in ongoing fees, and discloses 1 legal matters. Get the real owner take-home before you sign.
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Compare Molly Maid to similar franchises
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Source: MN CARDS 36168-202604-02 (Clean FDD 2026). FranchiseValidate is independent and not affiliated with Molly Maid or its franchisor. Figures are extracted from the franchisor's own public disclosure document; verify against the current FDD before any decision.