Will 2026 Be a Time for Rapid Growth

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Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburgers

Everyone wants to understand: How do you win in franchising? And every year, Entrepreneur releases the world's greatest response to that.

This year, Entrepreneur assessed 1,354 overall franchise brands. 5 hundred of them made the ranking and those 500 represent an outsized 89% of all systems from the brands that applied. In raw numbers: The 500 brands in our ranking had a combined 550,929 units. Throughout the entire information set (all 1,354 brands), there were 618,945 units.

They specify the industry. The brand names on the Franchise 500 are truly the biggest representation of what's operating in franchising today. From July 2024 to July 2025 (which is the timeframe we tracked data), overall franchise expansion slowed but the very best business still pulled ahead. Ranked companies grew 2.71%, compared to 3.49% the year before.

Emerging Trends Defining the Hospitality Sector

Ranked companies added 14,562 new units, while all companies combined included 15,631 significance ranked business represented 93.16% of all growth. U.S. franchise system development in fact ticked up for ranked companies: +8,620 U.S. franchises (2.81%), compared to +8,140 (2.73%) the prior year. Company-owned systems saw almost no change a net boost of just 80 across the entire information set.

Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburgers

That last bullet is specifically interesting. Corporate-owned expansion is slowing, which might signify a chance: Lots of franchisors seem offering business places to franchisees. For newbies or existing franchisees seeking to scale, this may be a moment to get an unit that's currently functional. Quick-service restaurants stay the biggest category in franchising, but even here, change is underway.

But the category continues to control the upper tier, representing half of the leading 10 and 34 of the leading 100 companies. Beyond QSR, other classifications are improving the landscape: We're seeing growth in Financial Providers, Children's Organizations, and Personal Care Services. Health & Wellness held steady at 34 ranked companies, however eight landed in the leading 100evidence of strong demand.

We added 3 new subcategories there hormone replacement treatment, movement items & services, and urgent/primary care clinics to represent the particular growth in those locations. Here are some other emerging areas we're seeing, which we've developed new subcategories for: networking groups, indication maintenance/installation, indoor air quality services, skin care, leisure tours, virtual reality, and senior transition/relocation services.

Notable Value of Early Market Entry for 2026

They are all over broadening locally, growing globally, sculpting out new specific niches, and adapting to new customer needs. Some are longstanding brand names refining proven systems. Some are new principles profiting from fresh demand. Some are huge; some are simply hitting their stride. But they all share something: They have actually built systems strong enough to scale and adaptable enough to stay appropriate in a moving economic environment.

It's a map of where franchising is, where it's going, and where opportunity may lie especially for first-time buyers browsing for the best fit. Sign up for our weekly Franchise newsletter to get the most current franchise news, guidance and chances.

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