Yes, Crumbl is a franchise: 1,101 locations, zero company-owned per the 2026 FDD. Item 7 costs $848,566-$1,472,533 and Item 19 median sales, down 16%.
Quick answer 1,101 Crumbl locations were franchised and zero were company-owned as of December 31, 2025, per Item 20 of the 2026 FDD. Opening one costs $848,566 to $1,472,533 with a $50,000 fee, 8% royalty, 2% marketing fund, and a $650 monthly technology fee. Median 2025 unit sales: $1,093,071, down 16%.
Crumbl Cookies is a franchised business. The company was founded in 2017 by Sawyer Hemsley and Jason McGowan in Logan, Utah, and began franchising almost immediately. Today every Crumbl location you see is owned and operated by a franchisee, not by the corporate entity. Crumbl Franchising, LLC serves as the franchisor, providing the brand, recipes, supply chain, technology platform, and marketing support. Individual franchise owners invest the capital, hire the staff, and run the day-to-day operations.
As of the 2026 FDD parsed in VetMyFranchise’s database, Crumbl operates 1,101 franchised locations and zero company-owned locations as of December 31, 2025 (54 opened, 10 terminated, and 1 non-renewed during the year), making it one of the fastest-growing franchise brands in the country by unit count. The company went from zero to 1,000+ units in roughly seven years, a pace that rivals or exceeds the early growth trajectories of brands like Subway and Jimmy John’s.
For a full breakdown of costs, see our Crumbl Cookie franchise cost analysis. If you’re ready to explore the application process, see the step-by-step process for opening a Crumbl franchise further down this page.
Crumbl’s model follows the standard franchise structure with some distinctive features:
What the franchisor (Crumbl Franchising, LLC) provides:
What the franchisee provides:
This division of responsibilities is typical in franchising, but Crumbl’s model has a distinctive wrinkle: the weekly rotating menu. Unlike most food franchises where the menu stays fixed for months or years, Crumbl introduces a new lineup of 4-6 cookie flavors every Monday. The corporate test kitchen develops and tests all recipes. Franchisees receive the upcoming week’s recipes, ingredient specifications, and preparation instructions in advance.
This rotating model drives social media buzz and repeat customer visits; nobody wants to miss the new flavors. But it also demands operational flexibility from franchisees. Your team must consistently execute new recipes each week, manage inventory for changing ingredient lists, and handle the labor scheduling complexity that comes with variable production requirements.
| Fee | Amount (2026 FDD) |
|---|---|
| Initial franchise fee | $50,000 per unit |
| Royalty fee | 8% of gross sales |
| Marketing fund | 2% of gross sales |
| Technology fee | Currently $650 per month |
| Advertising cooperative | 1% to 2% of gross sales where Crumbl establishes one |
| Total ongoing fees | 10% of gross sales, plus $7,800 a year in technology fees, plus any co-op |
The $50,000 franchise fee is on the higher end for food franchises. McDonald’s charges $45,000, Chick-fil-A charges $10,000 (but retains ownership of everything). The ongoing fee burden clears 10%. An 8% royalty and a 2% marketing fund already sit at the top of the typical 7-10% band most QSR and fast casual brands charge, and Item 6 of the 2026 FDD adds a technology fee of currently $650 per month plus an advertising cooperative contribution of 1% to 2% of gross sales wherever Crumbl forms a co-op. Against the $1,093,071 median 2025 unit sales, that is $109,307 in royalty and marketing, $7,800 in technology fees, and up to $21,861 more in co-op, all out of operating margin.
Considering Crumbl? The full 12-section FDD analysis covers Item 19 earnings, litigation history, fee footnotes, and a buyer verdict personalized to your capital and market: $49 per brand, or three brands for $99 if you’re comparing finalists.
The dessert franchise category has expanded significantly in recent years. Here’s how Crumbl stacks up against the competition:
| Feature | Crumbl Cookies | Insomnia Cookies | Nothing Bundt Cakes | Cinnabon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Franchise fee | $50,000 | Does not franchise | $35,000 | $30,500 |
| Total investment | $849K–$1.47M | N/A (corporate-owned) | $361K–$600K | $241K–$503K |
| Royalty rate | 8% | N/A | 5% | 6% |
| Marketing fund | 2% | N/A | 2% | 4% |
| Menu style | Rotating weekly | Fixed + weekly specials | Fixed (seasonal additions) | Fixed |
| Delivery focus | Moderate (app orders) | High (late-night delivery) | Moderate | Low |
| Social media presence | Dominant (8M+ TikTok) | Strong | Moderate | Moderate |
| Typical store size | 1,600–2,000 sq ft | 800–1,500 sq ft | 1,200–1,800 sq ft | 600–1,200 sq ft |
Crumbl figures are per the 2026 FDD; competitor figures are as of 2026. Insomnia Cookies is corporate-owned and does not franchise; it appears here for model comparison only.
Crumbl’s social media engine is its most significant competitive advantage. The brand’s TikTok presence generates millions of organic impressions weekly. New store openings benefit from this built-in awareness in a way that most dessert franchises simply cannot match. Flavor reveal videos routinely surpass 5 million views, and the weekly rotation creates a content cycle that keeps the brand perpetually in customer feeds.
The trade-off is operational complexity. A fixed-menu franchise is simpler to run. When your team makes the same products day after day, consistency is easier to maintain, waste is more predictable, and training is straightforward. Crumbl’s rotating model requires more skilled bakers, better inventory management, and a team that can adapt quickly to new recipes each week.
Crumbl Franchising, LLC, the franchisor, is privately held by co-founders Sawyer Hemsley and Jason McGowan. The company is headquartered in Lindon, Utah. Unlike many franchise brands that operate a mix of company-owned and franchised locations, every Crumbl store is now franchised.
Item 20, Table No. 4 of the 2026 FDD makes that literal. Crumbl entered 2025 with one company-owned outlet, in California, and sold it to a franchisee during the year. The Utah company store had gone the same way in 2024. That leaves zero company-owned outlets against 1,101 franchised ones at December 31, 2025. This is relevant because it means:
This heavily franchised model accelerated Crumbl’s growth. Rather than deploying corporate capital to open each location, the company used franchisee investment to fund expansion. It’s the same model that powered McDonald’s, Subway, and most of the largest franchise systems in the world.
As of early 2026, Crumbl continues to award franchise agreements. Item 20, Table No. 5 of the 2026 FDD reports 206 franchise agreements signed with no outlet open as of December 31, 2025, and projects 99 new franchised openings in the following fiscal year, against zero projected company-owned openings. The pace has moderated sharply from the hypergrowth phase: franchisees opened 288 outlets in 2023, 100 in 2024, and 54 in 2025. Several factors affect current franchise availability:
Market saturation in major metros. Many top-25 MSAs have reached or are approaching full build-out. If you’re targeting markets like Dallas, Phoenix, Atlanta, or Miami, available territory may be limited to specific suburban corridors rather than prime locations.
Multi-unit requirements. In most available markets, Crumbl now requires multi-unit development commitments. Single-unit agreements are increasingly rare. If you want to open one store and see how it goes before committing further, Crumbl may not accommodate that approach.
Selectivity has increased. With thousands of applications submitted annually, Crumbl can afford to be selective. The brand reportedly approves a small percentage of applicants. Financial qualifications, business experience, and market fit all factor into the decision.
Emerging market opportunities. The strongest opportunities for new franchisees likely exist in secondary and tertiary markets: smaller cities and suburban communities where Crumbl hasn’t yet established a presence. These markets may offer less competition for sites and lower real estate costs, though they also come with smaller customer bases.
If you’re interested in applying, submit your application through the Crumbl Cookies corporate website. The franchise development team reviews applications on an ongoing basis and reaches out to qualified candidates.
| Requirement | Amount | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Liquid capital | $250,000 | Franchisor screening figure, not in the FDD |
| Net worth | $500,000 | Franchisor screening figure, not in the FDD |
| Franchise fee | $50,000 per unit | 2026 FDD, Item 7 |
| Total investment (single unit) | $848,566–$1,472,533 | 2026 FDD, Item 7 |
| Area development fee (3-unit minimum) | $150,000 | 2026 FDD, Item 7 Note 1 |
| Total investment, 3-unit development | $2,448,198 at the low end | 2026 FDD, Item 7 Note 1 |
Two of those rows are not in the disclosure document. Crumbl’s 2026 FDD sets no minimum liquid capital and no minimum net worth anywhere in its 23 items; the $250,000 and $500,000 thresholds circulate from franchisor screening materials and then get republished as though they were FDD data. Ask your franchise development contact to put them in writing. The FDD also prints two different ceilings for a three-unit development, $3,727,599 in Item 7 Note 1 and $4,327,599 in the New York addendum, so treat the high end as unsettled and underwrite from the $1,472,533 per-unit maximum instead.
Crumbl doesn’t require previous restaurant or bakery experience, though it certainly helps. The brand evaluates candidates on:
Crumbl expects franchisees to be actively involved in their business, particularly during the first 12-18 months. Semi-absentee ownership is not part of the standard model, though multi-unit operators inevitably transition to a more managerial role as they scale to 3+ locations with qualified general managers in each store.
If you clear the financial bar above, opening a Crumbl location follows a defined path. The full process from application to grand opening typically runs 10-18 months.
Submit the application. Crumbl’s application lives on their corporate website. It collects your background, management experience, financial summary, preferred markets, and whether you want single or multi-unit development. Submit one application, not several for different markets.
Initial screening call. Within a few weeks, the franchise development team schedules a phone or video screening. Expect questions about why Crumbl specifically, financial verification, market availability, and whether you plan to be an owner-operator or hire a general manager.
Market and territory discussion. If you pass screening, Crumbl reviews available territories with you. Availability shifts quickly, most desirable markets now require multi-unit commitments, and the brand favors affluent suburban areas with strong family demographics.
FDD review and legal due diligence. Crumbl provides the Franchise Disclosure Document. The FTC Franchise Rule requires you to hold it at least 14 days before signing anything or paying any money. Scrutinize Item 6 (ongoing fees), Item 7 (investment range), Item 19 (financial performance), and Item 20 (franchisee contacts). Hire an attorney who reviews franchise agreements regularly, not a general business lawyer.
Franchisee validation. Use the Item 20 list to call current and former operators. Aim for at least 10, mixing newer owners, established owners with 2+ years, and multi-unit operators. Ask how actual build-out cost compared to the Item 7 estimate, how revenue has trended, and how responsive corporate is. Former franchisees tend to be the most candid.
Discovery Day. Approved candidates are invited to Crumbl’s Lindon, Utah headquarters to meet the executive team, tour the test kitchen, visit operating stores, and review supply chain, technology, and marketing systems. Treat it as a two-way interview.
Sign the agreement and pay the fee. Multi-unit deals involve both a Development Agreement (unit count, territory, and timeline) and an Individual Franchise Agreement for the first store. The franchise fee is $50,000 per unit per the 2026 FDD.
Training at headquarters. Franchisees and key managers train for roughly 2-3 weeks at corporate and a certified location, covering cookie production, point-of-sale and technology, inventory, staffing, and marketing coordination. Travel and lodging are at your expense.
Site selection and build-out. This is the longest phase, averaging 5-9 months. Item 7 Note 7 of the 2026 FDD estimates you will need 1,600 to 2,000 square feet at $50,000 to $250,000 in annual rent, laid out with an open kitchen so customers can watch cookies being made. A second-generation restaurant space costs far less to convert than raw retail, and permitting delays are the most common cause of timeline slips.
Grand opening. New openings benefit from Crumbl’s social media reach. Coordinate local marketing with corporate accounts, plan community sampling, and staff for the first-week surge, which usually far exceeds steady-state traffic.
| Stage | Estimated duration |
|---|---|
| Application and screening | 4-8 weeks |
| Qualification and territory | 4-8 weeks |
| FDD review and validation | 4-8 weeks |
| Discovery Day | ~30 days |
| Agreement and training | 4-8 weeks |
| Site selection and build-out | 5-9 months |
| Total | 10-18 months |
Exceptional brand awareness. Crumbl’s social media presence is a genuine competitive moat. With over 8 million TikTok followers and dominant Instagram presence, new stores open with built-in customer awareness that most franchise brands spend years trying to build. The weekly flavor reveal content cycle keeps the brand in consumer feeds constantly.
Proven rapid growth. Going from 0 to 1,000+ units in seven years validates the concept across diverse markets. The system has been tested in urban, suburban, and smaller markets across different regions.
Rotating menu drives repeat visits. Customers return weekly to try new flavors. This frequency-driven model generates stronger same-store sales growth than fixed-menu concepts where purchase occasions are less urgent.
Workable investment-to-revenue math. Crumbl’s 2026 Item 7 range of $848,566-$1,472,533 sits in the same band as other high-volume food concepts, and against the system’s $1,093,071 median unit revenue (Item 19, 2025 calendar year) the investment-to-revenue ratio remains reasonable for stores that perform near the median.
Simple product category. Cookies are operationally simpler than full restaurant menus. No cooking hoods, no grease traps, no complex kitchen equipment. Build-out costs and facility requirements are manageable.
High ongoing fees. The combined 10% royalty and marketing burden sits at the top of the industry’s typical range. On $1 million in annual revenue, you’re paying $100,000 in fees before covering rent, labor, ingredients, or any other operating costs.
Menu complexity despite simple product. The rotating weekly menu sounds fun in theory but creates real operational challenges. Ingredient procurement changes weekly, staff must learn new recipes constantly, and waste management requires careful planning.
Rapid growth concerns. Some franchise systems that grow too fast stretch their support infrastructure thin. With 1,000+ locations added in seven years, questions about quality control, territory saturation, and long-term unit economics are worth investigating during your due diligence.
Limited track record. Crumbl started franchising in 2017. There isn’t 10-15 years of performance data to evaluate. Long-term unit economics, franchisee satisfaction trends, and brand durability through a full economic cycle are still unproven at the system level.
Trend sensitivity. The cookie and dessert category benefits from current consumer trends and social media virality. Whether that demand sustains over a 10-year franchise term, or whether consumer preferences shift to the next trending dessert concept, is an open question. Franchise agreements lock you in for years regardless of category trends.
Increasing competition. Crumbl’s success has attracted competitors. New cookie and dessert franchise concepts have launched specifically to capture market share in the category Crumbl popularized. More competition means more pressure on site selection, customer acquisition, and margins.
Whether Crumbl is a good franchise depends heavily on which cohort you would be joining and which market you would enter. Stores that opened in Crumbl’s early years (roughly 2018-2020) posted Item 19 sales figures that turned builds into fast paybacks and drew thousands of applicants. System sales compressed in 2025. Item 19 of the 2026 FDD reports median gross sales of $1,093,071 across the 776 franchised units that operated all year and filed complete reports, down 16% from the $1,303,412 median the 2025 FDD reported for 858 units in 2024. Average gross sales fell on the same slope, $1,354,688 to $1,139,162. The 2026 document also dropped the Gross Profit and Net Profit lines its predecessor carried, so the $223,236 median net profit a buyer could read in the 2025 FDD has no 2026 counterpart, and with zero company-owned stores left there is no corporate operating statement to substitute for it. The system has matured, so the underwriting math now has to work on lower-quartile performance, not on the system average.
Saturation is the dominant risk. Before signing, pull up a map of any proposed site and count existing Crumbl locations within a 5-mile radius (direct cannibalization), a 15-minute drive (customer overlap), and a 30-minute drive (occasional visits). If two or more Crumbls already sit inside your 15-minute radius, treat the lower quartile of recent performance as your ceiling. Read Item 12 of the FDD closely: territory protection is limited, and a small protected radius does not stop a new Crumbl from opening just outside it.
Crumbl still works well for:
Crumbl is a poor fit for:
The honest bottom line: this is no longer a “buy any territory you can get” opportunity. The buyer profile that still fits is narrower than it was a few years ago, but it exists. The operators who do best model realistic current-year expectations, map their local saturation, and walk away if the numbers only work on early-cohort assumptions.
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About this analysis The franchise data in this article is drawn from VetMyFranchise's structured analysis of 2,300+ Franchise Disclosure Documents filed with U.S. state regulators. See our data & methodology.
Crumbl Cookies is entirely a franchise. Item 20, Table No. 4 of the 2026 FDD reports zero company-owned outlets as of December 31, 2025 against 1,101 franchised ones. Crumbl held a single company store in California entering 2025 and sold it to a franchisee during the year, after the Utah company store went the same way in 2024. Crumbl Franchising, LLC is the franchisor, providing the brand, recipes, supply chain, technology, and marketing support.
The brand officially spells its name Crumbl, with no 'e', so the correct name is Crumbl Cookies. Searchers frequently type 'Crumble Cookies' with an e, but it refers to the same company. Either spelling points to the same answer: yes, Crumbl is a franchise, with 1,101 franchisee-owned locations per the 2026 FDD and a total investment of $848,566 to $1,472,533 per store.
The total investment for a single Crumbl location ranges from $848,566 to $1,472,533 per Item 7 of the 2026 FDD, with a $50,000 franchise fee. Budget past that: Item 6 adds a $650 monthly technology fee and a possible 1% to 2% advertising cooperative contribution on top of the 8% royalty and 2% marketing fund. The 2026 FDD publishes no minimum liquid capital or net worth, so the $250,000 and $500,000 thresholds you will see quoted elsewhere are franchisor screening figures rather than disclosed requirements. Area development requires a minimum of three units and a $150,000 development fee.
Yes. Item 20, Table No. 5 of the 2026 FDD reports 206 franchise agreements signed with no outlet open as of December 31, 2025, and projects 99 new franchised openings in the following fiscal year. The pace has moderated sharply from the brand's peak: franchisees opened 288 outlets in 2023, 100 in 2024, and 54 in 2025. Major metro areas are largely built out, and current opportunities focus on secondary and tertiary markets.
Crumbl charges an 8% royalty on gross sales plus a 2% marketing fund contribution, both payable weekly, per Item 6 of the 2026 FDD. That 10% is the floor, not the total. Item 6 also lists a technology fee of currently $650 per month and an advertising cooperative contribution of 1% to 2% of gross sales where Crumbl establishes a co-op. At the $1,093,071 median 2025 unit sales, the base 10% alone is $109,307 a year.
No, baking or restaurant experience is not required. Crumbl provides comprehensive training covering all aspects of cookie production and store operations. The brand evaluates candidates based on business acumen, leadership ability, financial qualifications, and community involvement rather than industry-specific experience.
The full process from application to grand opening typically takes 10-18 months. Application and qualification run about 2-4 months, followed by 5-9 months for site selection and build-out. Permitting delays are the most common reason timelines stretch.
Usually not. The operating intensity is high, with a weekly menu rotation, late hours, heavy social media expectations, and perishable inventory to manage. First-time owners with no food-service or retail background tend to struggle. Crumbl fits best as a second or third franchise, or a first franchise for someone who already has food, retail, or operations experience.
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