Coffee Shop Franchise Cost in 2026: FDD Numbers for 8 Brands

Every coffee franchise website has a number on it somewhere, and the coffee shop franchise price it advertises is almost never the number you’ll actually write a check for. The website says “starting at,” the franchise fee gets top billing because it’s the smallest figure on the page, and the real cost of opening the doors lives three clicks deeper in a document called the Franchise Disclosure Document.

The total investment figures below come from Item 7 of each brand’s FDD (the section that has to show total investment), or from the franchisor’s own pages where the FDD isn’t cited, for eight coffee brands. Two come with caveats: 7 Brew says on its support page that it is not accepting new franchise applications, and Caribou’s franchising page asks for a minimum commitment of 10+ locations. Some ranges are tight. Some span more than a million dollars between the low and high end, because the same brand sells a small kiosk and a ground-up double-drive-thru building under one name. We’re not selling franchises and we don’t get paid when you buy one. We just read the filings so you don’t have to guess.

One brand you’ll see mentioned constantly in coffee franchise searches, Dutch Bros, is not on this list. Dutch Bros’ own support page says it no longer offers the option to franchise, and its 2025 annual report to the SEC says its focus since 2017 has been a company-operated strategy. If you see investment figures for Dutch Bros on a lead-gen website, they don’t describe a current offer.

Franchise fee vs. total investment vs. working capital

These three terms get used interchangeably in casual conversation and that’s where a lot of the sticker-shock confusion starts.

Franchise fee is the upfront payment to the franchisor for the right to use the brand, the initial training, and access to the operating system. It’s due at signing, it’s usually non-refundable, and among the brands here it ranges from $7,000 (Caribou Coffee’s reduced fee for kiosks in universities or hospitals) to $90,000 (Dunkin’, at the top of its range). This fee is the number franchise ads lead with because it’s the smallest one on the page.

Total investment is everything: the franchise fee, plus real estate or leasehold improvements, construction, equipment, signage, point-of-sale systems, initial inventory, grand opening advertising, and working capital. This is the figure disclosed in Item 7 of the FDD, and it’s the one that actually determines whether you can afford to open. It’s presented as a range because it has to cover every format and every market the franchisor operates in.

Working capital is the cash reserve you need on hand after opening day, often a few months of operating expenses (Aroma Joe’s Item 7, for example, covers three months), to cover payroll, rent, and cost of goods before the store’s sales cover its bills. It is an easy line to cut when you’re stretched thin from construction overruns, and underfunding it is one way a store can run out of cash before its sales catch up.

For a build-path example, the Aroma Joe’s franchise cost breakdown separates existing-building conversion, ground-up and non-traditional estimates from its March 3, 2026 FDD.

For a related tea-brand cost breakdown, see the HTeaO franchise cost guide.

If you want the item-by-item mechanics of how franchisors build this disclosure, we walk through it in FDD Item 7 explained.

Total investment by brand: drive-thru format

Drive-thru-first brands carry some of the widest investment ranges in coffee franchising because the format spans a small walk-up building to a full double-lane drive-thru.

Brand	Total investment	Franchise fee	Source / filing year
7 Brew	$940,500 - $2,283,500 (assumes a 10-store commitment)	$35,000 first store, $25,000 each later store	FDD issued May 11, 2026
Scooter’s Coffee (drive-thru end cap)	$658,898 - $1,068,525	$40,000	FDD issued Apr. 3, 2026; franchisor’s own site, retrieved 2026-09-29
Scooter’s Coffee (drive-thru kiosk)	$1,163,650 - $1,345,750	$40,000	FDD issued Apr. 3, 2026; franchisor’s own site, retrieved 2026-09-29
Dunkin’ (freestanding)	$532,400 - $1,832,500	$40,000 to $90,000 by market	FDD issued Mar. 26, 2026
Dunkin’ (shopping center or storefront)	$443,000 - $1,333,500	$40,000 to $90,000 by market	FDD issued Mar. 26, 2026
Ziggi’s Coffee (drive-thru only)	$586,830 - $1,759,855	$40,000 ($30,000 or $25,000 under a development agreement)	FDD issued Mar. 31, 2026
Ziggi’s Coffee (freestanding cafe w/ drive-thru)	$655,336 - $2,093,361	Same	FDD issued Mar. 31, 2026
Ziggi’s Coffee (endcap cafe w/ drive-thru)	$592,336 - $1,148,361	Same	FDD issued Mar. 31, 2026

7 Brew sits at the high end of this table. Its Item 7 shows why: site development alone runs $200,000 to $800,000 and building and build-out $305,000 to $650,000, before land or lease costs. As of September 29, 2026, though, 7 Brew states on its own support page that it is not accepting new franchise applications or expressions of interest, so treat its figures here as a cost reference, not a currently open path to buy in. Check the 7 Brew support page for the current status. Scooter’s Coffee tops out at $1,345,750 for a standard kiosk footprint its franchising site lists at 664 square feet. Dunkin’s FDD also lists two lower-cost formats not shown above: $216,400 to $1,065,500 at a gas station or convenience store, and $142,000 to $862,500 for a non-traditional restaurant.

On Ziggi’s, the franchisor’s website gives a single range of $560,000 to $2,000,000, varying by market, and states no franchise fee, royalty, or per-format breakdown. The FDD issued March 31, 2026 does break the total out by format and states the fee and royalty (6% of gross sales plus a 1% marketing and technology fee), so use the FDD, not the website, for per-format planning.

For a side-by-side on how these drive-thru brands stack up on more than just cost, see our coffee franchise comparison.

For a focused brand comparison, see the Biggby vs Scooter’s franchise comparison.

To compare expansion alongside these investment ranges, see the fastest-growing coffee chains and franchises guide.

Plug these numbers into a startup cost worksheet

Our free worksheet follows the Item 7 rows (fee, buildout, equipment, inventory, additional funds), so you can swap a brand's estimates for your own quotes. Plus the due-diligence kit.

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Total investment by brand: full cafe format

Full cafe formats, the kind with indoor seating and a larger equipment package, tend to run in the middle of the pack, between the lean kiosk numbers and the land-heavy drive-thru builds.

Brand	Total investment	Franchise fee	Source / filing year
PJ’s Coffee (free-standing)	$925,500 - $1,680,000	$40,000 for a first unit (FDD Item 5 range $15,000 to $40,000; $15,000 for later units)	Own investment page, retrieved 2026-09-29
PJ’s Coffee (end cap / inline)	$522,500 - $899,000	$40,000 for a first unit (FDD Item 5 range $15,000 to $40,000)	Own investment page, retrieved 2026-09-29
PJ’s Coffee (non-traditional)	$280,500 - $585,500	$30,000 for a first unit (FDD Item 5 range $15,000 to $40,000)	Own investment page, retrieved 2026-09-29
BIGGBY Coffee (whitebox cafe)	$242,200 - $610,000	$20,000	Franchisor’s own site and FDD issued Apr. 30, 2026
BIGGBY Coffee (modular)	$457,750 - $826,000	$20,000	Franchisor’s own site and FDD issued Apr. 30, 2026
BIGGBY Coffee (site-built drive-thru)	$484,200 - $973,000	$20,000	Franchisor’s own site and FDD issued Apr. 30, 2026
Ellianos Coffee (Traditional)	$797,450 - $1,397,400 (excludes real estate)	$30,000	FDD issued March 17, 2026, Items 5 and 7
Ellianos Coffee (End Cap Café)	$693,700 - $918,700 (excludes real estate)	$30,000	FDD issued March 17, 2026, Items 5 and 7
Ellianos Coffee (Non-traditional)	$186,500 - $526,000 (excludes real estate)	$30,000	FDD issued March 17, 2026, Items 5 and 7
Caribou Coffee (chalet format)	$898,100 - $1,515,000 (excludes lease)	$30,000	FDD issued Apr. 28, 2026

BIGGBY’s total investment ceiling sits noticeably below Ellianos’ Traditional store and Caribou’s chalet format, which is worth noting if a lower entry cost matters more to you than footprint. Ellianos explicitly excludes real estate from its disclosed range, which means your actual out-of-pocket number depends heavily on whether you’re buying land, buying an existing building, or leasing. Always check whether a published range includes or excludes real estate before comparing two brands side by side, because that single exclusion can swing the comparison by hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The Ellianos figures come from its March 17, 2026 FDD: Item 5 gives the $30,000 initial franchise fee, and Item 7 gives the format totals, excluding real estate. Franchise terms change year to year, so treat that number as a starting point for your own research, not a current quote.

If the rows are starting to blur, slow down for a second. Behind every one of these ranges is the same picture: cars at the window at 7 a.m. and your name on the lease. The kiosk numbers below are where that picture gets cheapest to test, and where it picks up a landlord you don’t choose.

Total investment by brand: kiosk and non-traditional format

Kiosk and non-traditional placements, think grocery store end-caps, airport terminals, university unions, or hospital lobbies, are consistently the lowest entry point into a coffee brand, and they usually carry a reduced franchise fee to match.

Caribou Coffee’s kiosk format runs $281,100 to $712,000 in total investment, excluding lease costs, according to its FDD issued April 28, 2026. The franchise fee for a Caribou kiosk drops to $7,000 for a kiosk in a university or hospital, versus $15,000 for other kiosks, and the royalty is 4% instead of 6% at airport, university, or hospital kiosks. That’s the widest fee discount of any brand on this list. One caution: Caribou’s own franchising page (checked October 11, 2026) lists required qualifications of a minimum commitment of 10+ locations, $3 million in cash or liquid assets, and multi-unit food and beverage or franchise experience. Ask Caribou whether those requirements apply to a single non-traditional kiosk before you plan around the lower fee.

If a kiosk is what you’re evaluating, not just the cheapest line in a brand’s range, we go deeper on the format specifically in coffee kiosk franchise.

Other coffee brands people ask about

These brands come up in coffee franchise cost searches. Each row is only what the brand itself publishes, checked October 11, 2026.

Brand	What the brand publishes
Just Love Coffee Cafe	Its FDD issued June 26, 2025 lists a $39,000 first-cafe fee ($25,000 for each additional cafe), a total investment of $494,500 to $759,500, a 6% royalty and a system development fee currently 2% of gross sales (up to 3%). Its franchise investment page shows $482,500 to $743,000 and $100,000 in liquid capital, so ask which FDD is current.
The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf	Its franchising page says “Initial investment ranges from $550K - $1.43M depending on café site and concept,” asks for a net worth of at least $1M and $250K in liquidity per cafe, and says “We do not offer single unit franchises in traditional formats.” It publishes no fee or royalty.
Cali Coffee	Its franchising page invites applications to “spread this unique experience all across Florida!” but publishes no fee, investment or royalty.
Caffe Nero	Its US website lists no franchise opportunity.
On The Grind	Its website lists no franchise opportunity.

Where a brand publishes no figure, the only reliable number is in its FDD, which a franchisor must give you at least 14 calendar days before you sign or pay.

Reading the range instead of the average

Every range in the tables above is wide enough to hide two very different businesses. A $600,000 low-end figure and a $1.4 million high-end figure inside the same brand usually means one of a few things: a leased retrofit versus ground-up construction, a smaller regional market versus a high-cost metro, or a compact drive-thru-only design versus a full cafe with seating.

Item 7 requires franchisors to disclose the low and high end of every store type they’re currently selling, which is exactly why brands that offer multiple formats show wider ranges than brands that sell one design everywhere. When a range feels enormous, the fix isn’t to average it. The fix is to ask the franchise development team which specific store type and market they’re actually proposing for you, then request the Item 7 breakdown for that specific format so you’re comparing your real numbers instead of the brand’s full published spread. If you’d rather narrow the format before you get on that call, our which coffee franchise is right for me quiz points you toward the drive-thru, kiosk, or cafe format that tends to fit your budget and involvement level.

It’s also worth remembering that Item 19, the financial performance representation, is a separate disclosure from Item 7 and not every franchisor provides one. Item 7 tells you what you’ll spend. It says nothing about what you’ll make, and neither will we. If a brand’s Item 19 is thin or absent, that’s information too. We cover how to actually read that section in how to read a coffee franchise Item 19.

Where these dollars actually go

Across every brand in these tables, the total investment breaks into a handful of recurring categories, even though the dollar amounts differ:

Construction and leasehold improvements are the largest line in many of the Item 7 tables cited here, and the one most sensitive to your specific site. A shell space that needs full electrical and plumbing work costs dramatically more than a former coffee or quick-service location with existing infrastructure. Our cafe buildout cost calculator puts sourced per-square-foot ranges against your space.

Equipment is the second major category: espresso machines, brewers, walk-in coolers, POS systems, and drive-thru technology like order-confirmation boards. This is a fairly fixed cost across locations of the same format, which is part of why franchisors can disclose it with more precision than construction costs. A franchisor typically specifies the equipment or its approved suppliers (Item 8 of the FDD), but our coffee shop equipment list and commercial espresso machine guide show what the category covers and what it costs on the open market.

Signage, initial inventory, and grand-opening marketing round out the remaining categories, typically the smallest pieces of the total but not negligible, often running tens of thousands of dollars combined.

Working capital, as covered above, closes out the disclosure and is meant to carry the business through the startup period before it turns cash-flow positive. Franchisors set this at a minimum, often a few months of estimated expenses, but that’s a floor, not a guarantee your store hits breakeven by then.

If financing any piece of this is part of your plan, our guide on SBA loans for franchise covers how lenders evaluate these Item 7 numbers when you apply.

The questions to ask before you trust any number

A published Item 7 range, ours or anyone else’s, is a starting point for due diligence, not a final quote. Before you treat any total investment figure as real for your situation, get direct answers from the franchisor’s development team on three things: which specific format and store size they’re proposing for your market, what your local real estate and construction costs actually run compared to the FDD’s disclosed range, and how many months of working capital they recommend beyond the FDD’s stated minimum given your specific location’s expected ramp-up period.

Then take that conversation to current franchisees, not just the ones the franchisor refers you to. Item 20 of the FDD (with its exhibits) lists current and former franchisees’ contact information, and calling five to ten of them who opened in the last two years will tell you more about whether the published range matched reality than any article, including this one. We’ve put together a list of questions to ask franchisees that’s built specifically around surfacing gaps between what Item 7 says and what owners actually spent.

Use the food franchise vertical cost comparison to compare across categories.

For the full methodology behind how we source and verify every figure on this site, see our editorial methodology page.