FranchiseIQ Public API

Franchise Data for Developers

Free access to SBA default rates, franchise metrics, and risk scores for 5,700+ franchise systems.

Getting Started

🔓 No Authentication Required

All read endpoints are open. No API key needed. Fair use limit: 100 requests/minute per IP.

🌐 Base URL

https://fddiq.com/api/v1

All responses are JSON with CORS enabled.

Endpoints

GET/api/v1/franchises

Search and list franchise systems with filtering and sorting.

Parameters

Param	Type	Description
q	string	Search by franchise name
industry	string	Filter by industry (e.g. "QSR", "Fitness")
limit	number	Results per page (max 50, default 25)
sortBy	string	name \| sba_default_rate \| units \| investment \| coc \| growth
page	number	Page number (default 1)

Example Request

GET https://fddiq.com/api/v1/franchises?q=subway&limit=1

Example Response

{
  "franchises": [
    {
      "slug": "subway",
      "franchise_name": "Subway",
      "industry": "QSR",
      "franchise_fee": 15000,
      "total_investment_min": 116000,
      "total_investment_max": 263000,
      "royalty_rate_pct": 8.0,
      "sba_default_rate_pct": 15.2,
      "sba_total_loans": 3847,
      "units_franchised_2023": 20133,
      "net_unit_growth_pct": -4.2,
      "has_item_19": true,
      "cash_on_cash_pct": 18.5
    }
  ],
  "total": 1,
  "page": 1,
  "limit": 1,
  "_meta": {
    "source": "FranchiseIQ",
    "docs": "https://fddiq.com/api-docs",
    "generated": "2024-01-15T12:00:00.000Z"
  }
}

GET/api/v1/franchises/:slug

Get full data for a single franchise including computed risk score.

Example Request

GET https://fddiq.com/api/v1/franchises/subway

Response includes

{
  "franchise": {
    "slug": "subway",
    "franchise_name": "Subway",
    "industry": "QSR",
    "franchise_fee": 15000,
    "total_investment_min": 116000,
    "total_investment_max": 263000,
    "royalty_rate_pct": 8.0,
    "sba_default_rate_pct": 15.2,
    "has_item_19": true,
    "cash_on_cash_pct": 18.5,
    "risk_score": {
      "total": 52,
      "grade": "C",
      "label": "Moderate Risk",
      "components": {
        "sbaDefault": 8,
        "unitGrowth": 7,
        "dataQuality": 12,
        "investmentEfficiency": 9,
        "disclosure": 15
      }
    }
  },
  "_meta": { ... }
}

Response includes X-FranchiseIQ-Score header with the numeric score.

GET/api/v1/compare

Compare two franchises side-by-side with winner per metric.

Example Request

GET https://fddiq.com/api/v1/compare?a=subway&b=five-guys

Response includes

{
  "comparison": {
    "a": { "slug": "subway", "name": "Subway", "risk_score": { ... } },
    "b": { "slug": "five-guys", "name": "Five Guys", "risk_score": { ... } },
    "metrics": [
      { "metric": "SBA Default Rate (%)", "a": 15.2, "b": 8.1, "winner": "b" },
      { "metric": "Total Investment (Mid)", "a": 189500, "b": 425000, "winner": "a" },
      ...
    ],
    "summary": { "a_wins": 3, "b_wins": 4, "overall_winner": "b" }
  },
  "_meta": { ... }
}

GET/api/v1/industries

List all franchise industries with franchise counts.

Example Request

GET https://fddiq.com/api/v1/industries

Example Response

{
  "industries": ["Automotive", "Beauty/Salon", "Cleaning/Janitorial", ...],
  "counts": { "QSR": 842, "Fitness": 312, "Home Services": 489, ... },
  "total_industries": 18,
  "_meta": { ... }
}

Use Cases

⚖️

Franchise Attorneys

Embed risk scores and SBA default rates in client reports and due diligence packages.

Franchise Consultants

Build comparison tools and investment analyses using real franchise performance data.

🔬

Researchers

Analyze franchise industry trends, failure rates, and unit economics at scale.

📰

Journalists

Fact-check franchise claims with verified SBA loan data and FDD disclosures.

Attribution

Please link back to fddiq.com when using this data. Example attribution:

Data provided by <a href="https://fddiq.com">FranchiseIQ</a>

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