What the sector pays
Lowest investment declared by the networks has a median of R$ 180,000 in 864 networks, with half between R$ 90,000 and R$ 300,000
Median of the lowest initial investment declared by 864 networks, as read on November 8, 2026
See the full table (8 rows)
| Segment | Networks | First quartile | Median | Third quartile |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gyms and sports | 27 | R$ 280,000 | R$ 650,000 | R$ 835,100 |
| Fashion and accessories | 82 | R$ 150,000 | R$ 253,850 | R$ 415,000 |
| Health, beauty and wellness | 144 | R$ 135,000 | R$ 221,000 | R$ 300,000 |
| Food | 262 | R$ 140,000 | R$ 200,000 | R$ 300,000 |
| Education | 54 | R$ 79,250 | R$ 150,000 | R$ 286,000 |
| Food, retail and distribution | 66 | R$ 55,000 | R$ 102,500 | R$ 215,230 |
| Services and other businesses | 223 | R$ 40,000 | R$ 99,000 | R$ 199,000 |
| Tourism and hospitality | 6 | R$ 10,500 | R$ 13,500 | R$ 26,250 |
Networks by range of the lowest declared investment864 networks
By business categorycategories with 5 or more networks, ordered by median value
| Category | Networks | First quartile | Median | Third quartile |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| school | 7 | R$ 505,000 | R$ 730,000 | R$ 1,445,000 |
| gym | 18 | R$ 445,750 | R$ 700,000 | R$ 887,500 |
| training studio | 6 | R$ 303,250 | R$ 494,500 | R$ 612,250 |
| events and catering | 5 | R$ 150,000 | R$ 450,000 | R$ 470,000 |
| restaurant | 10 | R$ 197,500 | R$ 400,000 | R$ 537,500 |
| compounding pharmacy | 10 | R$ 237,375 | R$ 375,000 | R$ 497,000 |
| intimate apparel | 8 | R$ 292,500 | R$ 355,000 | R$ 465,000 |
| barbecue and meats | 11 | R$ 170,000 | R$ 350,000 | R$ 698,500 |
| equipment rental | 7 | R$ 287,000 | R$ 349,000 | R$ 409,500 |
| footwear | 18 | R$ 292,000 | R$ 338,500 | R$ 437,500 |
| Japanese food | 10 | R$ 292,250 | R$ 335,000 | R$ 445,500 |
| auto repair and tires | 6 | R$ 146,750 | R$ 326,000 | R$ 510,800 |
| dentistry | 17 | R$ 244,000 | R$ 300,000 | R$ 430,000 |
| paints | 5 | R$ 279,000 | R$ 300,000 | R$ 360,000 |
| veterinary care | 6 | R$ 128,750 | R$ 295,000 | R$ 375,000 |
| laser hair removal | 15 | R$ 210,000 | R$ 290,000 | R$ 365,000 |
| coffee shop | 21 | R$ 200,000 | R$ 280,000 | R$ 330,000 |
| wine | 6 | R$ 105,125 | R$ 275,750 | R$ 299,000 |
| pharmacy | 10 | R$ 205,000 | R$ 275,000 | R$ 337,500 |
| clothing | 14 | R$ 157,500 | R$ 275,000 | R$ 490,000 |
| extracurricular activities | 5 | R$ 250,000 | R$ 250,000 | R$ 500,000 |
| bars and draft beer | 15 | R$ 97,500 | R$ 250,000 | R$ 407,500 |
| cakes | 10 | R$ 216,500 | R$ 250,000 | R$ 292,750 |
| Italian food | 11 | R$ 140,000 | R$ 250,000 | R$ 294,500 |
| construction | 5 | R$ 250,000 | R$ 250,000 | R$ 280,000 |
| leisure and entertainment | 5 | R$ 150,000 | R$ 250,000 | R$ 250,000 |
| pizzeria | 22 | R$ 199,250 | R$ 240,500 | R$ 315,000 |
| burger restaurant | 13 | R$ 150,000 | R$ 240,000 | R$ 380,000 |
| aesthetic clinic | 24 | R$ 148,207 | R$ 231,000 | R$ 299,250 |
| children's fashion | 6 | R$ 94,250 | R$ 225,000 | R$ 325,000 |
| ice cream shop | 28 | R$ 148,750 | R$ 225,000 | R$ 350,000 |
| barbershop | 6 | R$ 170,000 | R$ 215,000 | R$ 245,000 |
| spa, massage and podiatry | 6 | R$ 135,000 | R$ 215,000 | R$ 287,159 |
| stationery and gifts | 9 | R$ 119,000 | R$ 199,000 | R$ 350,000 |
| medical clinics and vaccines | 9 | R$ 150,000 | R$ 192,000 | R$ 210,000 |
| beauty salon | 9 | R$ 90,000 | R$ 189,000 | R$ 300,000 |
| fried pastries | 5 | R$ 185,000 | R$ 188,000 | R$ 199,000 |
| plated jewelry | 13 | R$ 129,990 | R$ 180,000 | R$ 300,000 |
| specialty grocery | 8 | R$ 138,000 | R$ 172,500 | R$ 200,305 |
| snack bar | 8 | R$ 150,000 | R$ 170,000 | R$ 375,000 |
| optical store | 15 | R$ 134,000 | R$ 169,000 | R$ 225,000 |
| cosmetics | 12 | R$ 65,625 | R$ 162,500 | R$ 270,000 |
| sweet shop | 15 | R$ 100,000 | R$ 160,000 | R$ 252,000 |
| savory snacks | 18 | R$ 134,750 | R$ 155,000 | R$ 176,250 |
| healthy food | 7 | R$ 75,500 | R$ 150,000 | R$ 229,500 |
| vocational courses | 13 | R$ 135,000 | R$ 150,000 | R$ 193,000 |
| fried chicken | 11 | R$ 132,500 | R$ 149,000 | R$ 218,300 |
| hot dogs | 5 | R$ 145,000 | R$ 149,000 | R$ 160,000 |
| pet shop | 10 | R$ 107,500 | R$ 140,950 | R$ 199,750 |
| açaí | 31 | R$ 100,000 | R$ 140,000 | R$ 180,000 |
| laundry | 23 | R$ 99,500 | R$ 139,000 | R$ 173,000 |
| juices and mate | 9 | R$ 128,000 | R$ 139,000 | R$ 180,000 |
| nail salon | 6 | R$ 125,000 | R$ 137,500 | R$ 150,000 |
| car rental | 5 | R$ 132,900 | R$ 137,000 | R$ 214,990 |
| chocolate | 6 | R$ 99,000 | R$ 124,500 | R$ 187,125 |
| car wash | 6 | R$ 79,388 | R$ 116,925 | R$ 232,500 |
| snacks | 7 | R$ 59,450 | R$ 85,000 | R$ 150,000 |
| language schools | 18 | R$ 40,250 | R$ 80,000 | R$ 140,000 |
| cell phones and repair | 7 | R$ 37,450 | R$ 79,000 | R$ 130,000 |
| logistics and transportation | 5 | R$ 50,000 | R$ 70,000 | R$ 80,000 |
| technology and software | 6 | R$ 54,000 | R$ 68,000 | R$ 107,500 |
| tutoring | 5 | R$ 38,500 | R$ 60,000 | R$ 80,000 |
| unattended micro market | 18 | R$ 36,250 | R$ 55,000 | R$ 63,750 |
| business services | 9 | R$ 30,000 | R$ 45,000 | R$ 80,000 |
| solar energy | 9 | R$ 30,000 | R$ 40,000 | R$ 46,000 |
| cleaning and pest control | 10 | R$ 35,000 | R$ 37,585 | R$ 48,200 |
| upholstery cleaning | 6 | R$ 25,625 | R$ 33,450 | R$ 38,725 |
| credit and purchasing consortia | 7 | R$ 19,450 | R$ 24,900 | R$ 140,000 |
| insurance | 9 | R$ 18,500 | R$ 24,000 | R$ 40,000 |
| digital marketing | 6 | R$ 16,900 | R$ 22,450 | R$ 43,675 |
Initial investment does not appear in any public register, because the disclosure document (Circular de Oferta de Franquia) is delivered to the prospective franchisee and the law does not require its publication. The available open source is each network's declaration on its own franchise page, read on November 8, 2026. Of the 1,931 networks whose page was read, 887 publish some investment amount, and 864 remain in the calculation after the review of atypical values. The median of the lowest declared value is R$ 180,000, with the first quartile at R$ 90,000 and the third quartile at R$ 300,000, and 29.4% of the networks declare up to R$ 100,000, while 8.3% declare more than R$ 500,000.
Across segments, the median ranges from R$ 13,500 in tourism and hospitality, with 6 networks, to R$ 650,000 in gyms and sports, with 27. Among the 70 business categories with five or more networks, the median ranges from R$ 22,450 in digital marketing to R$ 730,000 in schools.
ABF (Brazilian Franchising Association) treats as a microfranchise a business with an initial investment of up to R$ 135,000, a level examined in the indicator on the microfranchise ceiling. Among the networks that publish an amount, 36.5% declare a floor at or below this level, which does not classify them as microfranchises, since the floor is usually the smallest model and the composition of the value varies. Under the criterion of three times GDP per capita, which the same association states that it uses and which would yield R$ 179,062 with the 2025 data, the share rises to 49.4%. Of the 27 networks that use the term microfranchise and publish an amount, 26 declare a floor at or below that level.
How we calculate
We read the franchise page indicated for each network and recorded the value presented as initial investment, with the literal excerpt and the URL. Franchise fee, installation and working capital published on separate lines are not added together. Each network enters with the lowest declared value, or with the ceiling when only the ceiling is published, and, when the page advertises a discount, with the undiscounted value. Values from pages dated before 2024 remain in the count, unlike in the indicator on conditions by category, and account for 82 of the 864 networks. The excerpt must be in the text read and the number must be in the excerpt, otherwise the record is discarded. Of the 2,155 networks in the universe, 1,931 had their page read and remained in the denominator, and 104 were removed for being blocked by robots.txt (of which 101 bar AI agents by name), as were 16 without usable text, 51 without a server response, 47 in which only the home page responded and 6 discarded in the review for values on a third-party domain or spam.
In the review, 23 values were removed from the median, 17 for a value equal to or lower than the declared franchise fee, 5 for a value below R$ 5,000 and 1 for a value converted into products or a reseller enrollment. With them, the median would be R$ 175,000. We publish cells with five or more networks, in order of value, and the CSV includes segments, categories and ranges.
What this figure does not show
- The values are declarations by each network itself, read on November 8, 2026, are not calculated by the observatory and do not have a uniform composition, since each network includes different items. They generally refer to the smallest model offered, and the binding document is the disclosure document (Circular de Oferta de Franquia), delivered to the prospective franchisee.
- Among the networks in the calculation, 55 excerpts cite items included in the value, such as the franchise fee or working capital, and 11 cite excluded items, so the values are not comparable across brands without reading each network's document.
- The median describes the networks that publish an amount, and nothing indicates that the others have similar values. Publication is a commercial choice, and some values may be outdated, since not every page shows a date.
- The comparison with the R$ 135,000 level uses the declared floor and does not measure how many microfranchises exist in the country.
- The reading covers page text and does not reach values published only as images, in PDF or behind a form.
Frequently asked questions
What is the initial investment to open a franchise in Brazil?
Among the 864 networks that publish the amount on their own website, the median of the lowest declared investment is R$ 180,000, with half between R$ 90,000 and R$ 300,000, as read on November 8, 2026. The figure is a declaration by the networks, generally for the smallest model, and the binding document is the disclosure document (Circular de Oferta de Franquia).
How many franchise networks declare an investment of up to R$ 135,000?
Among the 864 networks that publish the amount, 36.5% declare a floor of up to R$ 135,000, the level that ABF (Brazilian Franchising Association) uses for microfranchises. The floor is usually the smallest model, and for this reason the share does not measure how many microfranchises exist.
What is the investment to open a food franchise in Brazil?
The median of the lowest declared investment is R$ 200,000 in the food segment, with 262 networks and half between R$ 140,000 and R$ 300,000. The value is a declaration by the networks, without a uniform composition.
Is the investment published on a franchise website guaranteed?
No. The value on the website is a commercial declaration by the network, generally for the smallest model, and the binding document is the disclosure document (Circular de Oferta de Franquia), delivered to the prospective franchisee before the contract is signed.
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Maintained by Marktech, which serves franchise networks and franchises. The brands cited belong to their owners and are mentioned here only to identify the network the data refers to.