The 16 Best Burger Franchises to Own in 2026

Picking a burger franchise sounds simple until you start looking. Some brands have 40,000 restaurants and almost no open territory left. Others are signing their first franchisees in a decade. A couple that showed up on "best burger" lists a year or two ago aren't even franchise options anymore.

So before you put down a deposit, here's an honest, current look at where the big names stand in 2026, what each one costs to get into, and which ones still have room for a new operator to grow.

We run a burger franchise ourselves, so we'll start with Jack in the Box and then walk the rest of the field. After that, you can decide what fits.

Key Takeaways

• Dozens of burger brands exist, but only a portion are actively recruiting new franchisees in 2026 with real open territory.
• Jack in the Box reports a $1,913,335 average unit volume in its 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document.
• Legacy giants like McDonald's (more than 43,000 restaurants, about 95% franchised) offer scale, but very little white space for a brand-new operator.
• Two brands from older "best burger" roundups are gone as franchise opportunities: MrBeast Burger was wound down after a 2023 legal dispute, and BurgerFi filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy in September 2024.
• Newer concepts like Smalls Sliders, Wayback Burgers, and Fatburger are signing multi-unit deals heading into 2026.
• Royalties, build costs, and open markets vary widely. Read each brand's current FDD and verify every number before you sign anything.

How we picked these 16

We focused on brands that meet three tests in 2026: they franchise, they're financially active (not in bankruptcy or wind-down), and they have territory available somewhere in the U.S. We also pulled the most recent location counts and ownership details we could find, because a lot of the figures floating around online are years out of date.

This list is in no particular order. Here we go.

1. Jack in the Box

Founded: 1951 | Locations: 2,100+ | Average unit volume: $1,913,335 (2026 FDD) | Royalty: 5% | Marketing: 5%

Jack in the Box offers an unusual 24/7 menu, a flexible building footprint, and open markets across most of the country.

Our menu runs across five dayparts, breakfast through late night, and the full menu is available any time of day. Roughly 90% of our 500 million annual guests order through the drive-thru or take their food to go, which is exactly why our 1,350 square foot prototype was built around a dual drive-thru and a separate walk-up window for mobile orders.

Here's the part that's hard to find elsewhere. Our 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document reports a system average unit volume of $1,913,335 for fiscal 2025. After re-entering Chicago in 2025 following a 40-plus year absence, we're actively growing in markets like Orlando, Nashville, St. Louis, plus Orlando, Charlotte, Hickory, Greenville, Grand Rapids, Detroit, and Chicago.

Most legacy brands you know don't have that kind of open territory. That's the difference for someone who wants to build a multi-unit portfolio rather than buy a single store and stop.

To make the math easier in the early years, we offer multi-unit operators a choice: a 2% royalty reduction for five years on a commitment of three or more restaurants, or a $150,000 development loan at 0% interest. Training runs 10 to 14 weeks at a certified restaurant. You can read about these incentives here.

Explore the Jack in the Box franchise opportunity.

2. McDonald's

Founded: 1955 | Locations: 43,000+ worldwide | Franchised: ~95% | Countries: 100+

McDonald's is the brand nobody needs introduced. It operates more than 43,000 restaurants across 100-plus countries and serves around 70 million people a day, with roughly 95% of those restaurants owned by independent franchisees.

The catch for a prospective owner is territory. Open markets are limited, and the company often doesn't tell you where a restaurant might be available until you've completed franchisee training, which can mean relocating to wherever an opportunity opens. The initial franchise fee runs about $45,000 with a 5% royalty on sales.

3. Wendy's

Founded: 1969 | Locations: 7,200+ worldwide | Franchised: mostly

Dave Thomas opened the first Wendy's in Columbus, Ohio in 1969, and the square patties and Frosty have been the calling cards ever since. The chain now runs more than 7,200 restaurants worldwide and is most of the way franchised.

In 2025 Wendy's laid out a plan to reach between 8,100 and 8,300 restaurants by 2028, so there is active growth on the table. Domestic development has historically moved slower than the company wanted, and it has used incentives to get operators to build, so it's worth asking directly which markets have open commitments.

4. Burger King

Founded: 1954 | Locations: ~19,700 worldwide, ~6,600 in the U.S. | Owner: Restaurant Brands International

Burger King has close to 19,700 restaurants worldwide and is in more than 100 countries. One thing to know going in: the U.S. count has been shrinking, sitting around 6,600 in 2026, down from roughly 7,200 a couple of years earlier, as the brand and its parent close weaker units and reimage others.

The company gives franchisees built-in operational and training support. In early 2026 it also retired its longtime King mascot in a campaign handing the "crown" to customers, part of a broader brand refresh under Restaurant Brands International.

5. Carl's Jr. and Hardee's

Founded: 1941 (Carl's Jr.) / 1960 (Hardee's) | Locations: 3,800+ | Owner: CKE Restaurants

Carl's Jr. and Hardee's have run as sister brands under CKE Restaurants since CKE bought Hardee's in 1997. Carl's Jr. is the western face of the pair and Hardee's the southern and midwestern one, and both reach into international markets.

Together they total more than 3,800 franchised or company-operated restaurants across 44 states and 43 foreign countries and territories. CKE brought in a new CEO, Joe Guith, in 2025, so the franchise pitch and development priorities are worth a fresh look rather than relying on older numbers.

6. Culver's

Founded: 1984 | Locations: 1,000+ | States: 26 | Franchised: nearly all

Culver's built its name on ButterBurgers, frozen custard, and cheese curds, starting from a single restaurant in Sauk City, Wisconsin. It crossed 1,000 locations in 2025 and ended the year at roughly 1,041 across 26 states, with only a handful company-owned.

The brand has been opening 45 to 60 restaurants a year and announced plans to enter Virginia in 2026. Culver's looks for hands-on owner-operators, so this is a poor fit if you want to be a passive, absentee investor.

7. Sonic

Founded: 1953 | Locations: ~3,500 (U.S. only) | Franchised: ~95% | Owner: Inspire Brands

Sonic is the carhop-and-drive-in chain, and a lot of online sources badly overstate its size. The real number is around 3,500 restaurants, all in the U.S. across roughly 46 states, with about 95% of them franchised.

Sonic started in 1953 as the Top Hat Drive-In and began franchising in 1959. It's now owned by Inspire Brands, the company behind Arby's, Buffalo Wild Wings, and Dunkin', which gives franchisees access to a large shared support system.

8. Whataburger

Founded: 1950 | Locations: 1,100+ | States: 17

Whataburger started at a single burger stand in Corpus Christi, Texas in 1950 and stayed mostly regional for decades. That changed fast. The chain grew to more than 1,100 restaurants across 17 states by the end of 2025, entering North Carolina in May 2025 as its 17th state.

The expansion followed the 2019 sale of a majority stake to investment firm BDT Capital Partners. Growth has concentrated in the Southeast and Mountain West. If you're a Whataburger fan in a new market, that's the reason it's suddenly showing up near you.

9. Smashburger

Founded: 2007 | Locations: ~227 (220 U.S., 7 Canada) | Owner: Jollibee Group

Smashburger does exactly what the name says: a ball of beef smashed flat on a hot grill, seasoned, and cooked in a few minutes, ordered at the counter. The fast-casual chain grew quickly in its early years and once topped 340 units.

It has since contracted to around 227 locations and is now owned by the Philippines-based Jollibee Group, which has said it wants to restart growth. The smaller footprint is something to weigh, but it also means open territory in a lot of states.

10. Checkers and Rally's

Founded: 1985 (Rally's) / 1986 (Checkers) | Locations: ~734 | HQ: Tampa, FL

Checkers and Rally's were separate double drive-thru chains until Checkers acquired Rally's in 1999. They run the same menu from the same distributors, with Checkers concentrated in the Southeast and Northeast and Rally's in the Midwest.

The combined brand has about 734 restaurants across roughly 30 states and Washington, D.C. Heading into 2026 the company kicked off a reimaging campaign to refresh around 60 existing locations, which usually signals a renewed development push worth asking about.

11. Freddy's

Founded: 2002 | Locations: 560+ | States: 37 | Owner: Rhône Group

Freddy's pairs cooked-to-order steakburgers and shoestring fries with frozen custard, all in a nostalgic, fast-casual setting. Founded in Wichita, Kansas in 2002, it has grown to more than 560 restaurants across 37 states with a long pipeline of signed development deals.

Private equity firm Rhône Group acquired Freddy's in September 2025 in a deal valued around $700 million, the brand's second ownership change in four years. New ownership often resets incentives and target markets, so confirm current terms directly.

12. Steak 'n Shake

Founded: 1934 | Locations: ~404 | Owner: Biglari Holdings

Steak 'n Shake is famous for thin steakburgers and real-ice-cream shakes, and its franchising model is unlike anything else on this list. Through its "franchise partner" program, an approved operator pays $10,000 to take over the day-to-day running of an existing company restaurant and earns roughly half the profit. You don't own the real estate or the building, and absentee ownership isn't allowed.

The chain ended 2025 with about 404 restaurants, down from 626 in 2018, as parent Biglari Holdings converts company stores to franchise partners and exits corporate operations. The low entry cost is the draw; the trade-off is that you're operating, not investing from a distance.

13. Five Guys

Founded: 1986 | Locations: 1,900+ | Countries: 29 | Owner: Murrell family

Five Guys built a following on fresh (never frozen) beef, hand-cut fries, and free peanuts. The Murrell family opened the first one in Arlington, Virginia in 1986 and started franchising in the early 2000s.

It now runs more than 1,900 restaurants across 29 countries, with roughly 1,500 in the U.S. Five Guys was named the 2025 Global Restaurant Leader of the Year for its international growth, and its overseas system sales crossed $1 billion. The brand still expands through both company and franchised units, so domestic openings can be limited depending on the market.

14. Wayback Burgers

Founded: 1991 | Locations: 170+ in the U.S. and 40+ countries | Franchising since: 2008

Wayback Burgers started as a hamburger stand in Delaware in 1991 (originally Jake's) and began franchising in 2008. It serves classic cooked-to-order burgers and hand-dipped milkshakes, and it has grown to more than 170 restaurants across 30-plus states plus international markets.

The company reports a large pipeline of contracted locations under development and recently launched a multi-brand franchising platform for its operators. Lower build costs than the legacy giants make it one of the more accessible entry points for a first-time owner.

15. Smalls Sliders

Concept: slider-focused drive-thru | Status: rapidly franchising into 2026

Smalls Sliders is one of the fastest-moving newer concepts in the burger space. The slider-focused, small-footprint drive-thru brand has been signing franchise and development deals at a steady clip, including a five-unit Kentucky deal in December 2025 and expansion across Georgia, the Carolinas, and Oklahoma City planned for 2026.

It's early-stage compared with everything else on this list, which cuts both ways: potentially more risk, but also genuinely open territory and ground-floor multi-unit deals. Treat it as a growth opportunity and read the FDD closely.

16. Fatburger

Founded: 1952 | Owner: FAT Brands | Royalty: ~5%

Fatburger has been grilling its burgers to order since 1952 and is now part of FAT Brands, a multi-concept franchisor. Owners can co-brand a Fatburger with sister chain Buffalo's Express to add a second revenue stream from one location.

The brand signed a development deal in February 2025 for 40 new Florida restaurants over the next decade, with openings starting at the end of 2025. If you like the idea of a co-branded build and a recognizable name, it's worth a conversation.

What happened to MrBeast Burger and BurgerFi?

If you saw an older "best burger franchise" list, you might be looking for two names that aren't here.

MrBeast Burger was never a traditional franchise. It was a virtual brand run through ghost kitchens by Virtual Dining Concepts. In 2023, MrBeast (Jimmy Donaldson) sued to exit the partnership over food-quality complaints and to shut the brand down, and it has since been wound down. You can't buy one.

BurgerFi filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in September 2024 after a long stretch of falling sales and store closures, and its bankruptcy case wrapped up in mid-2025. The brand contracted sharply from its peak. We left it off because we don't think a brand in or just out of bankruptcy belongs on a list of franchises to invest in this year, but you should know the history if anyone pitches it to you.

How to actually compare these brands

Numbers like average unit volume and royalty rates are a starting point, not an answer. Two things matter more than any single stat:

First, open territory. A brand can look great on paper and still have nothing available within 200 miles of you. Ask each franchise development team for a current market map before you fall in love with a logo.

First-time owners and seasoned multi-unit operators want different things, so the "best" brand depends on which one you are. If you want to build a portfolio, look for white space and multi-unit incentives. If you want one store you'll run yourself, total investment and day-to-day support matter more.

Second, read the current FDD. Every brand publishes one, and it's the only place you'll find verified, dated figures on costs, fees, unit counts, and closures. If a number you read online doesn't match the FDD, trust the FDD.

Have questions? Reach out to our franchise sales and support team and we'll walk you through where we're growing.