Biggby vs Scooter's 2026: Cost, Fees, Cafe vs Kiosk

Biggby and Scooter’s Coffee keep appearing on the same shortlists, but they do not compete for the same real estate. Biggby’s cheapest format finishes out a leased inline space, adding a drive-thru where the site allows. Scooter’s offers a small drive-thru kiosk, usually in a parking lot near other retail, and an end cap, which its Item 1 places in a strip center with indoor ordering and a drive-up window. Same product, different real-estate and construction projects, and different risks.

This comparison is built from the Franchise Disclosure Documents each company issued in spring 2026 (Biggby April 30, Scooter’s April 3), with Items 5, 6, 7, 12, 15, 17, 19 and 20 reviewed for each, retrieved September 29, 2026. Fees and investment ranges below are the franchisors’, as of those dates, and both brands publish their own figures on Biggby’s franchising site and Scooter’s franchising site; both sites’ totals match the FDD Item 7 ranges as of October 14, 2026. FranchiseFeast does not sell franchises and has no referral arrangement with either brand.

Two bets on what a coffee shop should be

Biggby’s Item 7 defines three development alternatives. A whitebox leasehold is typically an empty space, such as a strip-center unit, that generally allows a drive-thru. A modular location is a prefabricated building with a drive-thru only. A site-built location is a building you construct on an approved site, with a lobby and a drive-thru or a drive-thru only. For a whitebox, its notes say to expect to lease about 1,300 to 1,700 square feet.

Scooter’s Item 7 defines two formats: a kiosk of 650 to 700 square feet on average, and an end cap of 800 to 1,400 square feet. Its Item 1 also lists an “Other Store” type (free-standing buildings and institutional locations), and its Item 19 says it is not actively marketing its coffeehouse and non-traditional store types; the “Other Stores” category numbered 62 of its 906 outlets at the end of 2025.

Biggby’s VP of emerging market development told Restaurant Dive in November 2023 that a range of models exists because real estate is “the pinch point.” That is the strategic difference in one phrase. Biggby’s answer to scarce real estate is more formats. Scooter’s answer is a short list of formats, a kiosk and an end cap, plus an “Other Store” category it says it is not actively marketing.

The real cost gap, and what it is not

The construction difference shows up directly in Item 7 (the Item 7 guide explains how to read and add up these tables).

For Scooter’s cost alone, see Scooter’s Coffee franchise cost.

Two points the totals hide.

The kiosk is not a rent-free building. A common assumption is that a cafe carries rent while a kiosk owner owns the ground. Scooter’s Item 7 says otherwise. Buying real estate for a kiosk is optional and outside the total, and rent paid by franchisees and affiliates for kiosk stores in 2025 ranged from $3,500 to $10,000 a month. Its Item 19 reports a 2025 average rental expense of $58,694 for reporting kiosk stores, so ground and building rent is a normal line in a kiosk P&L.

Owning the site changes the number a lot. The same Item 7 says the purchase prices of real estate bought by franchisees and its affiliates ranged from $250,000 to $1,300,000 as of its issuance date. Adding the two disclosed ranges as arithmetic, a kiosk on purchased land runs from $1,163,650 + $250,000 = $1,413,650 up to $1,345,750 + $1,300,000 = $2,645,750. Set that against leasing: at the disclosed rent range, a year of rent is $42,000 (12 × $3,500) to $120,000 (12 × $10,000). Pairing the low ends, $250,000 ÷ $42,000 is about 6.0 years of rent. Pairing the high ends, $1,300,000 ÷ $120,000 is about 10.8 years. Those pairings are illustrative, since a site with a higher price is likely to carry higher rent, but they show the scale of the buy-or-lease decision inside the Scooter’s model.

Biggby’s whitebox is a leasehold format, and its Item 7 note says that if you buy and construct your location, your expenses will be significantly greater, and that the franchisor has no estimate of that cost. For the modular and site-built formats, the note says you will probably lease or license about half an acre of land.

Biggby’s modular format is a prefabricated building. Its Item 7 note says modular construction costs include purchasing or leasing the structure plus delivery and installation, and Restaurant Dive reported in 2023 that the company’s units are factory-built and installed in about six hours, and that franchisees own the structure and can move it if a location does not work out. Ask which applies to the agreement you would sign.

Fees that run for ten years

Biggby’s franchising site, checked October 14, 2026, describes a 50% discount on its $20,000 franchise fee for “qualified USA military veterans”; its Item 5 states a $10,000 fee for military service members.

Both brands charge a 6% royalty, but the bases differ. Biggby’s Item 6 defines Gross Sales as all revenue from the franchise business, minus collected sales taxes, discounts given to customers and refunds, with no deduction for commissions and fees charged by third-party delivery or ordering platforms. Scooter’s Item 6 defines Net Sales as sales exclusive of discounts. A number labeled “gross” at one brand and “net” at the other can be closer than it looks, and a delivery-heavy store pays Biggby’s royalty on the gross order value before the platform’s cut.

The advertising and technology lines diverge more.

• Biggby: advertising fund of the greater of $100 a week or 3% of Gross Sales, changeable on 30 days’ written notice, plus a minimum local advertising spend the FDD says does not currently exceed 3%. Its Item 6 then itemizes technology and support charges, for example $23 a month per terminal for its point-of-sale platform license, $40 a month for back-of-house hardware support and $30 a month for cybersecurity, each stated as “will increase as our costs increase.”
• Scooter’s: national advertising contribution of currently 2% of Net Sales, up to 4% with 60 days’ notice; a local advertising requirement that is currently none but could be up to 2%; a cap on total marketing spend of 6% of Net Sales (per its Item 6 note 3); and a technology fee of currently $350 a month, subject to an annual increase of 15% that compounds.

Here is the arithmetic on a hypothetical $800,000 year of sales. It is not a projection for any store, and it uses each brand’s currently stated rates.

The escalator deserves its own arithmetic. If Scooter’s applied the disclosed 15% increase every year, the $350 fee would be $402.50 in year two, about $612 in year five and about $1,231 a month, or $14,775 a year, in year ten. The FDD says the fee is subject to the increase, so ask what the company has actually charged over time. Neither the escalator nor Biggby’s “will increase” language is a violation of anything, but both are places where Item 6 tells you the number can move and Item 7 does not.

Who runs the store: Item 15

The owner rules are the sharpest practical difference for a buyer who wants a day job. The FTC’s rule for Item 15 requires the franchisor to disclose whether you must participate personally in the direct operation of the business, and what limits apply if you may hire a manager.

Biggby’s Item 15 says the franchise business must at all times be under the direct supervision of a Designated Manager who is personally responsible for the business and regularly present, with on-premises involvement as its standards require. For a first store, and depending on prior experience, a principal may be required to be the Designated Manager for up to one year after opening. After that, or for later stores, you may designate a full-time, on-premises manager it has approved. Operating without an approved Designated Manager is a material default under the agreement, the manager must have completed its training, and changing the manager requires 30 days’ written notice.

Scooter’s Item 15 says principal owners are not required to manage and operate the store personally. If they do not, a Designated Manager must be responsible for management and operation, and a principal owner, Designated Manager or shift supervisor must be at the store at all times during operations. Owners and the manager complete its initial training, and a replacement manager must register for training within 15 days and complete it within 75 days.

Both require personal guaranties from owners: Biggby from the underlying owners of an entity franchisee, and Scooter’s from each holder of a 20% or greater interest. The guide to the semi-absentee franchise model goes deeper on the manager-cost math.

What each Item 19 shows, and why the numbers do not compare cleanly

Scooter’s Item 19 (FDD issued April 3, 2026) discloses 2025 gross sales for participating kiosk and end cap stores plus EBITDA figures for stores reporting cost data (Sections A and C); Biggby’s Item 19 (FDD issued April 30, 2026) discloses 2025 gross sales and EBITDA for drive-thru stores (Charts 1 and 2). Neither is a projection for a new store. Each table describes a past year for a defined group of stores.

Sources: Biggby FDD Item 19 Charts 1 and 2; Scooter’s FDD Item 19 Sections A and C. Parentheses are losses.

The definitions differ, which is why the columns are not a fair race. Biggby’s sample excludes non-drive-thru stores, kiosk stores, stores not open seven days a week and stores closed more than 30 consecutive days, and its Chart 2 uses only stores that self-report in its standard format. It cautions that the stores in the chart have operated longer and under more experienced operators than a new store might. Biggby’s labor line excludes officer and guaranteed payments, so any owner pay taken that way sits outside its EBITDA. Scooter’s sample excludes stores that permanently closed during the year, excludes stores that did not report cost data (76 kiosks in 2025), and fills in some costs with the franchisor’s estimates: card processing of 2.6% of gross sales, $52,500 of overhead in its charts (its note 9 says overhead averages $49,800), and the imputed royalty, advertising and technology fees. Its labor line includes the store manager’s wages.

Two lessons hold regardless of definitions. First, look at the bottom quartile, not the average. In both brands’ 2025 data, the bottom quarter of reporting stores earned a small fraction of the top quarter. Second, ask both franchisors how their Item 19 treats stores that closed, because a table of survivors describes survivors.

Growth and closures: Item 20

Item 20 shows how many outlets each system had and how many left. As printed for calendar 2025:

• Biggby: 420 franchised outlets at the start of the year, 48 opened, 461 at the end, no company-owned outlets. Terminations 0, non-renewals 1, reacquired 0, ceased operations for other reasons 6. Its footnote says 5 of the 6 permanently closed (4 in Michigan, 1 in Ohio) and 1 closed with plans to relocate and reopen. Michigan accounted for 274 of 461 outlets, or 59.4%.
• Scooter’s: 825 franchised outlets at the start of the year, 85 opened, 882 at the end, plus 24 company-owned (an affiliate), for 906 in total. Terminations 2, non-renewals 1, reacquired by the franchisor 1, ceased operations for other reasons 24. Its Item 19 reports that 22 kiosk stores permanently closed in 2025 and 14 in 2024.

Set the departures against the starting base and you get roughly 1.7% for Biggby (7 of 420) and 3.4% for Scooter’s (28 of 825), using every departure column as printed. Biggby’s includes the one planned relocation. Those are one year each, so treat them as prompts for questions. Ask both franchisors about the closed stores, and call some of the former franchisees listed in Item 20.

Territory, term and renewal

Neither FDD grants an exclusive territory. Biggby’s Item 12 says you will not receive one, that the franchisor and other franchisees can compete near you, and that the rights relate to over-the-counter sales at your location. Scooter’s Item 12 says the same, and describes a non-exclusive search area if you sign before you have an approved site, with two free changes to the search area and $3,000 for each further request. Both terms are ten years in Item 17. Biggby’s renewal is another ten years if you meet its conditions, including refurbishing the location to current standards. Scooter’s gives one renewal option for another ten years, on then-current terms and payment of a renewal fee of the greater of $10,000 or 25% of the then-current initial franchise fee.

Which model fits which buyer

The FDDs turn “which is better” into decision rules.

• Start with the site you can actually get. If you have a leased inline space with a drive-thru option, Biggby’s whitebox is the format built for it. If you can secure a kiosk site or a strip-center end cap of the kind Scooter’s Item 1 and Item 7 describe, those are the formats built for it. Do not pick a brand and then look for a site the format cannot use.
• Size cash to the high end and add what the table excludes. Scooter’s states minimums of $500,000 net worth and $250,000 liquid capital; Biggby states $450,000 net worth and $150,000+ liquid cash, per their franchising sites, checked October 14, 2026. Whichever brand, budget to the top of the Item 7 range for your format, then add land if you will buy, your own living costs and any loan payments.
• Decide who runs the store before you sign. If you intend to keep a full-time job, read Item 15 as a filter: Scooter’s expressly does not require principals to manage personally, and Biggby requires an approved on-premises Designated Manager and may require a principal for up to a year on a first store.
• Weigh the evidence you can get. Scooter’s gives five years of average gross sales by format and a same-store growth section. Biggby’s 2026 chart covers one year of drive-thru stores. Neither replaces calls to current and former franchisees.
• Check the closures. Read Item 20 for your format, and call former franchisees, not only the ones the franchisor suggests.

For a wider set of coffee brands on the same categories, see the coffee franchise comparison. To weigh a franchise against an independent shop, see franchise economics versus going independent, and to model how the royalty and advertising percentages compound against your own sales, use the franchise royalty calculator. Whichever format you lean toward, request the current FDD from the franchisor before you commit to any number in this article. Sourcing standards: editorial methodology.