Five Guys Franchise Availability in the US, 2026

Five Guys does franchise, but as of July 2026 there is no new franchise territory available in the United States or Canada. The company’s own site states plainly that franchise opportunities are sold out in both countries, where its existing franchisees are still developing the territories they already hold.

That is a different situation from a brand that has simply decided never to sell franchises. Five Guys franchises and still uses the model today, it has just run out of US and Canadian territory to sell to new operators. If you were hoping to become a first-time Five Guys franchisee close to home, the honest answer is that the option currently open to you is overseas, not domestic. FranchiseFeast does not sell franchises and is not paid by any brand named here; every claim below is sourced to a company’s own page, cited at the bottom.

Does Five Guys franchise?

Yes. Five Guys is a franchised brand and continues to use franchisees. The detail people miss is availability, not whether the model exists at all. Its own support hub, fetched July 31, 2026, states: “Franchise opportunities are sold out in the United States and Canada, where our franchisees are actively developing their territories.” That is a sold-out message, not a we-do-not-franchise message, and the difference matters if you are deciding whether to keep watching Five Guys or move on to a brand with real availability today.

Why there is no US or Canada availability right now

Five Guys frames the situation as its existing franchisees still building out the territory rights they already own, not as the brand stepping back from franchising in North America altogether. In practical terms, that means a new individual buyer in the US or Canada does not have a path to a fresh Five Guys franchise agreement at the moment, regardless of how strong their finances are, because there is no territory currently being sold, not because an application would be rejected on its merits.

Where Five Guys is still accepting franchise inquiries

The same page that closes the door on the US and Canada opens it elsewhere. As of July 2026, Five Guys states it is accepting franchise inquiries in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia-Pacific, and its page names Oman, Turkey, Thailand, Japan, and the Philippines specifically as target markets.

Requirement	Published figure
Franchise fee	$25,000
Development fee	$50,000
Liquid capital	Over $2,500,000
Net worth	Over $5,000,000
US veteran discount	$10,000 off the franchise fee, first location

Those figures come directly from Five Guys’ own international franchising page as of July 2026 and describe requirements for the markets it is actively recruiting in, not a US or Canada offer, since none currently exists. Before you commit to pursuing an international Five Guys agreement, our guides on how to read an FDD and FDD Item 7 explained cover what a disclosure document should tell you and how its investment figures are structured.

Burger franchises with open US territory in 2026

If the format is what drew you to Five Guys and the specific brand is negotiable, two burger franchises had open US inquiry forms when we checked on July 31, 2026.

Smashburger is the more transparent of the two about who it is looking for. Its franchise page cites 176 locations across 29 US states and 6 countries, and screens at $500,000 in liquid assets and $2 million-plus net worth. Read that against the Five Guys numbers above: Smashburger’s US bar is a fraction of the $2.5 million liquid and $5 million net worth Five Guys asks for internationally. Its page also lists 15 states with franchise-registration requirements, including California, New York, Illinois, Washington and Michigan, which affects your timeline rather than your eligibility.

Wayback Burgers publishes the least of any brand named on this page. No unit count, no franchise fee, no investment range, no stated capital requirement, only an inquiry form with broad liquid-capital bands to choose from. That is not a red flag by itself, since plenty of brands hold figures back until you are in conversation, but it does mean you learn nothing before you hand over your details.

Confirm current availability and terms directly on each brand’s own franchising page, since offerings shift the way Five Guys’ own US and Canada availability did.

The bottom line if you want a Five Guys specifically

There is a real Five Guys franchise program, it is just closed to new buyers in the US and Canada as of July 2026. If Five Guys itself is the goal and you meet the international financial bar, Oman, Turkey, Thailand, Japan, and the Philippines are where the company says it is looking for partners. If a US burger franchise this year is the goal and the brand name is flexible, Wayback Burgers and Smashburger are open now.

Worth knowing before you move on: “sold out” is only one of the ways a brand can be unavailable, and the distinction changes what you should do next. Sold-out territory can reopen when a development agreement lapses, so Five Guys is worth a periodic check. A brand that has never franchised at all, like In-N-Out or Cracker Barrel, is not a waiting game and there is nothing to watch for. Knowing which situation you are in tells you whether patience is a strategy or a waste of a year. Our roundup of food franchises under $100K and our list of first-time franchise owner mistakes are worth reading before you commit to either path.

For how we source and verify every figure on this site, see our editorial methodology before reaching out to any brand named here.