Servpro vs PuroClean vs Restoration 1 on 2026 FDD data: Servpro discloses no Item 19, PuroClean's median is $500,496, Restoration 1's is $760,111.
Quick answer Servpro is the largest of the three at 2,354 franchised units and the only one that publishes no Item 19, so you cannot underwrite it on disclosed revenue. PuroClean reports a $500,496 median across 393 franchisees for 2025. Restoration 1 reports a $760,111 median across 118 franchisees plus a full cost-and-profit table, on the lowest entry cost of the three.
The 2026 filings changed this comparison. Servpro, the largest disaster restoration franchise in the country at 2,354 franchised units, publishes no Item 19 whatsoever. PuroClean, at 433 units, publishes a median. Restoration 1, at 278 territories and shrinking, publishes a median and a full cost-and-profit table.
So the ranking depends on what you are optimizing for. Servpro still wins on inherited insurance-claim flow and nothing in the documents contradicts that. It just cannot be checked. The other two can.
Every figure below comes from the brand’s 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document as parsed in VetMyFranchise’s library of 2,000+ FDDs. Item 20 data runs through December 31, 2025 for all three.
| Metric | Servpro | PuroClean | Restoration 1 |
|---|---|---|---|
| U.S. franchised outlets (12/31/2025) | 2,354 | 433 | 278 |
| Net change in 2025 | +68 | +22 | -20 |
| Company-owned outlets | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Item 7 total initial investment | $263,305–$385,570 | $108,503–$152,618 financed; $233,503–$277,118 purchased | $126,525–$309,500 |
| Franchise fee | $100,000 minimum | $59,000 | $59,900 to $64,400 |
| Royalty | 3% to 10% of monthly Gross Volume, 10% cap | 10% down to 3% on cumulative annual mitigation receipts; 3% on reconstruction | Greater of 7% of Collected Gross Revenue or a monthly minimum; 2% on reconstruction |
| Brand or ad fund | 2.5% of Gross Volume, capped at $1,550,000 | 2% marketing plus up to 2% local | Up to 2%, not currently charged |
| Technology fee | $200 per month | $500 per month (DASH) | $525 per month per territory |
| Item 19 | None disclosed | $500,496 median, $941,644 average, 393 franchisees | $760,111 median, $1,427,586 average, 118 franchisees |
| Unit-level cost disclosure | None | None | Full P&L, 75 franchisees |
| Agreement term | 5 years, renewable in 5-year terms | 20 years | 10 years |
| Territory basis | 50,000 to 80,000 population | Population-based | 250,000 to 275,000 population typical |
Two cells in that table do most of the work. The Item 19 row, and the net-change row.
Servpro has been the largest restoration franchise in the United States for decades, and the 2026 Item 20 shows why nobody disputes it. Franchised outlets went 2,114 to 2,202 to 2,286 to 2,354 across 2023, 2024 and 2025, adding 68 in the most recent year against 79 openings and 11 terminations. Company-owned outlets: zero in all three years. This is a pure franchise system with no corporate operations competing against its own operators.
Then you turn to Item 19 and the page is empty. The document states that Servpro makes no representations about a franchisee’s future financial performance or the past financial performance of company-owned or franchised outlets, and that it does not authorize employees or representatives to make any such representation orally or in writing.
That is a legitimate choice under the FTC Franchise Rule, and plenty of strong franchisors make it. It still means something specific for you as a buyer: there is no published number to underwrite against, no distribution to check your projections into, and no way to tell whether a franchisee who quotes you a figure sits at the top or the bottom of the system. Our guide to what a missing Item 19 actually tells you covers how to work around one. The short version for Servpro specifically: the FDD does say that if you are buying an existing outlet, the franchisor may give you that outlet’s actual records. A resale is the only path to Servpro numbers you can verify before signing.
The fee structure has a wrinkle worth reading twice. Item 6 does not set a flat 10% royalty, which is how this brand is usually described. It says the royalty currently ranges from 3% to 10% of monthly Gross Volume with a 10% cap, with the applicable rate set by schedules in the Item 6 notes and a Reduced Rate Royalty applied to certain services. On top of that sits a monthly Fixed Fee of $45 to $115 keyed to Gross Volume, a $100 minimum royalty, a Brand Fund Fee of up to 3% (currently 2.5%, capped at $1,550,000 of contribution), and a $200 monthly software license. Gross Volume is defined broadly enough to sweep in referral fees, finder’s fees and revenue from any competing business an owner controls.
One more structural point that rarely makes a comparison chart: Item 17 sets Servpro’s initial term at 5 years, renewable in additional 5-year terms if you meet the franchisor’s then-current requirements. PuroClean’s agreement runs 20 years and Restoration 1’s runs 10. A shorter term is not automatically worse, but it does mean the renewal conditions get tested four times as often over the same holding period.
Also price the exit before you price the entry. Transfers carry a fee of up to $35,000, and if Servpro or an affiliate finds or refers your buyer, a resale referral fee of up to 10% of the gross sales price applies, goodwill included. The full line-item stack is in the Servpro franchise cost breakdown.
PuroClean, filed by PuroSystems, LLC, grew from 351 to 433 franchised outlets across the three disclosed years, adding 22 in 2025. Zero company-owned outlets, and transfers rose from 11 to 14 to 17 over the same window, which tells you a resale market exists.
Its 2026 Item 19 covers all 393 franchisees who were open for the full 2025 calendar year and reported every month. The headline pair is a $941,644 average and a $500,496 median in gross sales, with franchisees averaging 5.7 years in business.
| PuroClean 2025 gross sales | Average | Median | Franchisees |
|---|---|---|---|
| Top 10% | $4,276,094 | $3,735,330 | 39 |
| Top 50% | $1,652,139 | $1,073,445 | 197 |
| Bottom 50% | $227,523 | $242,969 | 196 |
| Bottom 10% | $15,287 | $398 | 39 |
| All franchisees | $941,644 | $500,496 | 393 |
Read the bottom two rows before the top two. The lowest reporting franchisee recorded $0 in gross sales for the year, the bottom 10% averaged $15,287, and only 112 of 393 franchisees (28%) beat the system average. That is a long right tail, and it means the $941,644 average describes almost nobody. The difference between an average and a median in Item 19 is rarely as stark as it is here.
PuroClean’s royalty runs the opposite direction from most franchise systems, which is a genuine advantage for an operator who scales. Mitigation work is charged on a declining annual schedule: 10% on the first $250,000 of cumulative calendar-year mitigation receipts, then 9%, 8%, 7%, 6%, 5%, 4%, and 3% on everything above $1,750,000. Reconstruction work is a flat 3%. Against that sits a 2% marketing fee, up to 2% of local advertising spend, a $500 monthly DASH software license, and a minimum royalty that ramps from $400 a month in year one to $2,500 by year four. A multi-unit program aggregates receipts across territories so the discount arrives sooner. Item 7 detail sits in the PuroClean franchise cost breakdown.
Restoration 1 publishes the most useful Item 19 of the three and the worst Item 20 of the three, and a buyer needs both halves.
Start with the good half. Its 2026 Item 19 reports Total Collected Revenue for 118 franchisees operating 231 territories in calendar 2025: a $1,427,586 average, a $760,111 median, a low of $42,159 and a high of $22,503,672. Single-territory franchisees, the group most first-time buyers belong to, averaged $818,415 with a $526,145 median across 59 franchisees.
Then it does something almost no franchisor in home services does. It publishes costs, across 75 franchisees, as percentages of Total Collected Revenue.
| Restoration 1 line, 2025 | Average | Median |
|---|---|---|
| Hourly labor and subcontractors | 25.7% | 27.2% |
| Materials and supplies | 4.9% | 3.1% |
| Equipment and vehicle | 5.2% | 4.4% |
| Royalties | 5.9% | 6.3% |
| Total cost of goods | 43.8% | 43.0% |
| Gross profit | 56.2% | 57.0% |
| G&A payroll | 14.1% | 10.3% |
| Advertising | 7.4% | 6.0% |
| Occupancy | 4.9% | 3.9% |
| Profit before owner and management pay | 18.3% | 17.1% |
| Profit after owner and management pay | 10.0% | 8.0% |
Apply the 17.1% median to the $760,111 median revenue and you get roughly $130,000 before the owner takes a salary, against a $126,525 to $309,500 investment. That is a real answer to the profitability question, and it is the only one in this comparison with a state filing behind it.
Now the bad half. Item 20 shows franchised outlets going 289 to 293 in 2023, 293 to 298 in 2024, then 298 to 278 in 2025. A footnote adds that 11 more franchised outlets ceased operations after the fiscal year closed. Item 19 discloses separately that 30 franchised territories were terminated or ceased operations during 2025, and that none of them had been open for less than 12 months at the time. These were not failed launches. They were established operators leaving.
The fee structure explains part of the pressure on smaller units. The royalty is the greater of 7% of Collected Gross Revenue or a minimum that steps from $0 for the first six months to $500 a month, then $1,500, then $2,000 for the rest of the term, plus 2% on reconstruction revenue and a $525 monthly technology fee per territory. A franchisee running $300,000 a year pays the percentage; one running under about $343,000 in later years is paying the floor, which is a fixed cost in a business with variable claim flow. Conversions get 3.5% for their first six months. The Brand Fund contribution of up to 2% is disclosed as not currently charged, so budget for it appearing.
Here is the finding that neither brand puts in its marketing and both put in its FDD. PuroClean and Restoration 1 independently split their Item 19 by whether the franchisee employs a dedicated person to develop business, and both splits are enormous.
| Brand, 2025 median gross revenue | With a dedicated business developer | Without | Multiple |
|---|---|---|---|
| PuroClean | $870,962 (148 franchisees) | $329,911 (245 franchisees) | 2.6x |
| Restoration 1 | $1,504,105 (61 franchisees) | $437,753 (57 franchisees) | 3.4x |
PuroClean calls the role a Business Development Representative and describes the job plainly: repetitive contact calls to local referral sources, insurance agents and adjusters, and property managers. Restoration 1 calls it Full-Time Business Development and defines it as at least one person doing that work full time for substantially all of the year.
Two different franchisors, two different data sets, two different definitions, and the same conclusion. The franchisees who pay somebody to go get insurance work do roughly two and a half to three and a half times the volume of the ones who wait for the brand to send it.
That reframes the whole Servpro premium argument. The case for paying $263,305 rather than $126,525 is that Servpro’s carrier relationships feed you claims you would otherwise have to go earn. That case is probably true. But the two brands that publish numbers are telling you the claims still mostly come from somebody making calls, and the cost of that person is not in anybody’s Item 7.
The operating model is identical across all three. A property owner has water, fire, smoke, mold or biohazard damage. The owner or the insurance adjuster calls a restoration contractor. A crew responds within hours, mitigates (extraction, drying, demolition, deodorizing), documents the loss, and estimates the job, usually in Xactimate. The carrier is billed, or the owner is billed directly on smaller jobs. Reconstruction, the rebuild after mitigation, is a separate revenue stream that all three franchisors royalty at a lower rate.
Restoration 1’s Item 19 is the only place in this comparison where the mix is quantified: core services (commercial water, fire, smoke and mold remediation) ran 82.0% of Total Collected Revenue at the median, reconstruction 15.9%, and miscellaneous 0.0%. That split matters because reconstruction carries lower royalty but also lower margin and longer collection cycles, and because a franchisee whose reconstruction share climbs past 60% of revenue was excluded from Restoration 1’s own cost table for not being representative.
Vendor program standing is what you are actually buying with brand choice. Major property carriers route claims to approved contractors, and the tier you occupy sets how much of that volume reaches you automatically. Servpro’s standing is the deepest in the category and PuroClean’s is credible; Restoration 1 franchisees more often build carrier relationships locally. None of that is disclosed in any FDD, which is exactly why it belongs on your franchisee validation call list rather than in a comparison table.
Comparing these three seriously? The full 12-section FDD analysis covers Item 19 distribution, litigation history, fee footnotes, and a buyer verdict personalized to your capital and market: $49 per brand, or three brands for $99, which fits this exact Servpro-PuroClean-Restoration 1 shortlist. Or start with our free side-by-side comparison tool.
Servpro is the pick when inherited claim flow is worth buying blind. You are paying roughly $155,000 more at the door than Restoration 1 and accepting that no published revenue figure exists, in exchange for the deepest carrier relationships in the category and a system that added 68 units last year while losing 11 to termination. Insist on a resale if you can find one, because the FDD says the franchisor may hand you that outlet’s actual records, and that is the only Servpro data you will ever be able to check.
Buyers who want a real number and a royalty that gets cheaper as they grow should land on PuroClean. The declining mitigation schedule (10% down to 3%) is the most operator-friendly structure of the three at volume, the financed Item 7 total of $108,503 to $152,618 is the lowest door in the comparison, and 433 units means territory is more available than under Servpro. Underwrite against the $500,496 median, not the $941,644 average, and remember that 28% of franchisees beat that average.
Restoration 1 earns the shortlist spot if you want to see the cost structure before committing and you are prepared to build carrier relationships yourself. It is the only brand here that publishes a P&L, and a 17.1% median profit before owner pay is a defensible planning number. Go in with the shrinkage in front of you: 20 territories lost in 2025, 11 more after the year closed, 30 terminated or ceased per Item 19, and none of them rookies.
The FTC Franchise Rule gives you every one of these documents at least 14 days before you can sign. Use the time on the two things the tables above cannot tell you: what the exits looked like, and who is going to sell for you.
Get the full 12-section FDD analysis — $49
Real franchise data, real Item 19 numbers, personalized to your capital and location. Comparing 2–3 brands? The 3-pack is $99.
Browse franchises · pick your brand Or see a real sample report →
Get this comparison as a spreadsheet.
We'll email you the full comparison spreadsheet: every brand in this category with its Item 7 investment range and royalty, side by side. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
✓ Check your inbox
The comparison spreadsheet is on its way.
The only franchise report written entirely for the buyer. 12 sections covering financial risks, legal obligations, and a personalized recommendation.
Browse Franchise Library See a real sample report →
$49 per brand · $99 for a 3-brand pack
servpropurocleanrestoration 1restoration franchisefranchise comparisonwater damage restoration franchise
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.
Servpro if you want the deepest insurance-vendor access and can fund a $263,305 to $385,570 entry; PuroClean if you want a verifiable revenue number before you sign. That is the honest split in 2026. Servpro is roughly five times PuroClean's size at 2,354 franchised units against 433, and its carrier relationships are the oldest in the category. But its 2026 FDD contains no Item 19, so every revenue figure you hear about Servpro comes from a franchisee, a broker, or a guess. PuroClean's 2026 Item 19 puts a $500,496 median and a $941,644 average across 393 reporting franchisees on the record.
$263,305 to $385,570 per Item 7 of the 2026 FDD, plus $1,110 per 1,000 population above the territory maximum and any real estate costs. The single largest line is the $100,000 minimum franchise fee, and the second is a $112,000 equipment and products package you must buy from a Servpro affiliate. A territory holds 50,000 to 80,000 people. Vehicle costs run $5,000 to $69,900 depending on whether you repaint an existing van or buy new, and Item 7 budgets $32,250 to $50,000 of additional funds for the first three months.
No. Item 19 of the 2026 Servpro FDD states that the franchisor makes no representations about a franchisee's future financial performance or the past performance of company-owned or franchised outlets. There is no revenue table in the document. If you are buying an existing Servpro franchise, the FDD does say the franchisor may provide the actual records of that outlet, which makes a resale the only route to Servpro numbers you can check. For a new territory, your only data source is franchisee validation calls.
The 2026 Item 19 reports a $500,496 median and a $941,644 average in gross sales across all 393 franchisees who reported for the full 2025 calendar year, with an average of 5.7 years in business. The spread is enormous: the low was $0 and the high was $20,337,574, and only 112 of 393 franchisees (28%) beat the average. The top 10% averaged $4,276,094 and the bottom 10% averaged $15,287. Those are gross sales, not profit, and PuroClean discloses no cost lines.
The 2026 Item 19 reports $1,427,586 average and $760,111 median Total Collected Revenue across 118 franchisees operating 231 territories in calendar 2025. It also publishes a cost table, which almost no franchisor in this category does: across 75 franchisees, total cost of goods ran a 43.0% median, other expenses 36.8%, profit before owner and management compensation 17.1%, and profit after it 8.0%. On the median revenue figure, 17.1% is roughly $130,000 before the owner pays themselves.
PuroClean, if you finance the vehicle and equipment package. Item 7 of its 2026 FDD shows two totals: $108,503 to $152,618 with the finance options, or $233,503 to $277,118 if you buy the vehicle and the equipment and supplies package outright. Restoration 1 runs $126,525 to $309,500 with a $59,900 franchise fee. Servpro is the most expensive at $263,305 to $385,570. Cheapest to open is a different question from cheapest to run, and the royalty structures below reverse some of that ordering.
Only one of these three brands publishes enough to answer that. Restoration 1's 2026 Item 19 reports a 17.1% median profit before owner and management compensation and an 8.0% median after it, measured across 75 franchisees for calendar 2025. Inside that, hourly labor and subcontractors took a 27.2% median of revenue, royalties 6.3%, advertising 6.0% and occupancy 3.9%. PuroClean and Servpro publish no cost data at all, so any profit figure quoted for either brand is somebody's estimate.
Through carrier vendor programs. Major property insurers maintain approved-vendor lists that route claims to restoration contractors, and the tier you sit in determines how much automatic volume reaches you. You inherit the brand's program standing in your territory when you sign, which is the single strongest argument for paying Servpro's premium. It is also the thing to validate locally rather than nationally, because a brand can hold a national agreement and still have thin adjuster relationships in your specific ZIP codes.
Partly, and the FDDs show it. Servpro's Item 7 budgets $0 to $6,000 for real estate, which means a home office is contemplated at the low end. Restoration 1 budgets $0 to $1,000 for real estate and rent. In practice most operators move to a small warehouse with attached office once equipment stock and van count grow, because air movers, dehumidifiers and truck-mounted extractors need storage. The business is dispatch and fleet, not retail, so there is no customer-facing location requirement.
Yes, as of the most recent filing. Item 20 of the 2026 FDD shows franchised outlets going 289 to 293 in 2023, 293 to 298 in 2024, then 298 to 278 in 2025, a net loss of 20 territories. A footnote adds that 11 more franchised outlets ceased operations after the fiscal year closed. Item 19 says separately that 30 franchised territories were terminated or ceased operations during 2025, none of which had been open less than 12 months. That is the number to raise with existing franchisees.
This page is part of VetMyFranchise. View all pages: llms.txt · llms-full.txt