Coffee chain ranking

Cheapest coffee franchises to open

The low end of the estimated initial investment in Item 7 of the chain's FDD, for its main format. The high end and other formats are on each chain's page.

Leader
Travelin' Tom's Coffee$201,620
Chains ranked
12

The ranking

Lowest first · ties share a place
  1. 1 Travelin' Tom's Coffee logoTravelin' Tom's Coffee $201,620 ownacoffeetruck.com Total estimated initial investment, low end.
  2. 2 Biggby Coffee logoBiggby Coffee $242,200 Apr 2026 biggbyfranchising.com Whitebox leasehold format, Item 7 of the FDD dated 30 Apr 2026. Modular and site-built formats carry higher ranges not shown on the page.
  3. 3 Beans & Brews Coffeehouse logoBeans & Brews Coffeehouse $407,050 beansandbrews.com Standard model (about 1,700 sq ft with lobby and drive-thru), table on the cost page. The FAQ gives a rounder $400K to $760K, so the site may mix FDD years.
  4. 4 Dunkin' logoDunkin' $443,000 Mar 2026 dunkinfranchising.com Total initial investment $443,000 to $1,832,500 as shown on the franchising page; the page does not split it by format
  5. 5 Dunn Brothers Coffee logoDunn Brothers Coffee $455,600 dunnbrothers.com FAQ cites Item 7: $455,600 to $798,960. The Investment & Fees page rounds the low end to $456,000.
  6. 6 Bitty & Beau's Coffee logoBitty & Beau's Coffee $456,500 bittyandbeauscoffee.com Brick-and-mortar. Mini Coffee Cruiser $68,250 to $83,450; Standard Coffee Cruiser $167,700 to $187,200.
  7. 7 Just Love Coffee Cafe logoJust Love Coffee Cafe $482,500 franchise.justlovecoffee.com Investment page (with Item 7 table): $482,500 to $743,000. The FAQ still shows an older $469,500 to $711,000.
  8. 8 Red Owl Coffee Company logoRed Owl Coffee Company $515,000 redowlcoffee.com Counter labelled Initial Investment, '515K-1.2M'.
  9. 9 Ziggi's Coffee logoZiggi's Coffee $560,000 ziggiscoffee.com Total investment range across formats as stated on the franchise page ($560,000 to $2,000,000); not split by format
  10. 10 Ellianos Coffee logoEllianos Coffee $803,450 ellianosfranchise.com Total of the page's itemised table, referring to Item 7 of the 2026 FDD.
  11. 11 Aroma Joe's logoAroma Joe's $937,300 franchising.aromajoes.com Ground-up drive-thru build. Existing-building conversion: $431,300 to $905,100. Non-traditional (inside c-stores, hospitals): $180,300 to $623,300. Per the site, from the 2026 FDD Items 5 and 7.
  12. 12 Scooter's Coffee logoScooter's Coffee $1,163,650 franchising.scooterscoffee.com Drive-thru kiosk, excluding land. End-cap format: $658,898 to $1,068,525.

Chains without a published, verifiable initial investment from are left off rather than estimated. See every chain.

Other rankings