How Much Does a Dutch Bros Franchise Cost? You Can’t Buy One in 2026

Updated on August 30, 2026 | Written by Alec Pow
This article was researched using 7 sources. See our methodology and corrections policy.

You cannot buy a new Dutch Bros franchise in 2026. Dutch Bros no longer offers traditional franchise opportunities to outside investors, so there is no current public franchise fee, startup-investment range, liquid-capital requirement, or application process for someone who simply wants to purchase a new location.

Older websites still quote Dutch Bros franchise fees of $30,000 to $40,000 and startup investments from several hundred thousand dollars to more than $1 million. Those figures describe historical franchise arrangements and should not be treated as the cost to buy a Dutch Bros today.

Dutch Bros now grows primarily through company-operated shops. Existing long-term franchise partners can still open additional locations in their established markets, which is why franchised Dutch Bros stores continue to exist and even increase in number. For everyone else, the route to operating a new Dutch Bros location is through employment and internal promotion rather than writing a franchise check.

Article Highlights

• Dutch Bros currently charges outside applicants no franchise fee because it does not sell new traditional franchises to them.
• As of June 30, 2026, Dutch Bros had 1,225 shops, including 888 company-operated and 337 franchised locations.
• That means approximately 72.5% of current shops are company-operated and 27.5% are operated by legacy franchise partners.
• Of 48 shops opened in Q2 2026, 44 were company-operated and only four were franchised.
• Dutch Bros says prospective new operators must join the company, work their way up internally for at least three years, earn positive peer reviews, and demonstrate leadership ability.
• Average pre-opening expense for new company-operated shops was $192,000 (at $30 per hour, earning that amount would take about 3.1 years of full-time work, before taxes) per opening during the first half of 2026, but this is not the complete cost to build a Dutch Bros location.
• Systemwide average unit volume reached approximately $2.193 million for the first six months of 2026. AUV measures sales, not owner profit.

You Can’t Buy One in 2026

Question	Current 2026 answer
Can an outside investor buy a new Dutch Bros franchise?	No
Current public franchise fee	Not offered
Current public startup investment	Not offered
Current liquid-capital requirement	Not applicable to a public franchise application
Current royalty for a new outside franchisee	No current public offering
Existing franchised shops	337 as of June 30, 2026
Company-operated shops	888 as of June 30, 2026
2026 first-half pre-opening cost per new corporate shop	$192,000 (about 3.1 years of full-time work at $30 per hour)
2026 first-half systemwide AUV	$2.193 million

The company’s official franchise answer is unusually direct: Dutch Bros no longer offers the option to franchise. It says new locations are company-owned and operator opportunities are reserved for people already within the company who have demonstrated a strong employment history and fit with its culture.

That makes the correct current franchise cost not $30,000, $40,000, or $1 million. There simply is no current price at which a new outside investor can buy a Dutch Bros franchise.

Why Franchised Shops Still Exist

The situation can look contradictory because hundreds of Dutch Bros locations are still franchised.

The company’s latest annual filing explains the distinction. Dutch Bros says its focus has been a company-operated strategy since 2017, with operators recruited from inside the organization.

At the same time, it maintains relationships with long-term franchise partners. Those existing franchisees can continue adding shops as they fill demand inside their established markets.

This explains why someone can see a newly opened franchised Dutch Bros and reasonably assume the company has reopened franchising. It has not opened a traditional public franchise program. The new franchised shop can belong to an existing legacy partner.

It also means historical royalty rates, marketing contributions, franchise fees, and financial qualifications are not useful instructions for a new applicant in 2026. Current terms between Dutch Bros and its remaining franchise partners are not a public franchise offer to you.

72.5% Is Now Company-Operated

The shift away from franchising is visible in the current store count.

Dutch Bros reported in its June 2026 SEC filing that it had 1,225 shops across 25 states:

• 888 company-operated shops
• 337 franchised shops

ThePricer math puts the ownership split at:

888 ÷ 1,225 × 100 = 72.5% company-operated.

And:

337 ÷ 1,225 × 100 = 27.5% franchised.

The opening mix is even more tilted toward corporate ownership. During Q2 2026, Dutch Bros opened 48 shops. Forty-four were company-operated and four were franchise openings.

44 ÷ 48 × 100 = 91.7%.

So roughly 92 cents out of every 100 openings in that quarterly store count, figuratively speaking, went through the company-operated side of the growth model rather than a newly available public franchise program.

How to Operate a Dutch Bros

Someone who wants to operate a future Dutch Bros shop has a route, but it is a career path rather than an investment application.

On its current operator-path explanation, Dutch Bros says a person starts as a broista and works upward inside the company.

The company currently identifies several requirements before someone reaches the operator opportunity list:

• Start as a Dutch Bros broista
• Work upward inside the company for at least three years
• Receive positive peer reviews
• Develop and demonstrate leadership skills
• Qualify internally for future opening opportunities

Money alone therefore cannot shorten the process. An investor with $500,000 (about 8 years of full-time work at $30 per hour), $1 million, or even several million dollars cannot simply substitute capital for the internal operating requirement.

That is fundamentally different from a normal food franchise, where the applicant first demonstrates financial qualifications, reviews the Franchise Disclosure Document, pays a franchise fee, develops an approved location, and opens as an independent franchise owner.

The $192,000 Opening Number

Dutch Bros does publish useful numbers about what it spends before company-operated stores open, but these figures need careful interpretation.

For the first six months of 2026, Dutch Bros reported average pre-opening costs of $192,000 per new company-operated shop. The comparable figure during the first six months of 2025 was $185,000.

The difference is:

$192,000 – $185,000 = $7,000 per opening.

That equals an increase of about:

$7,000 ÷ $185,000 × 100 = 3.8%.

The company’s filing says pre-opening expenses include items such as rent before the shop opens, wages and benefits, travel and lodging for training and opening-management teams, beverages, and other operating expenses incurred before opening.

They do not represent the total cost of land, construction, equipment, furniture, signs, site work, utility connections, and every other investment needed to develop the shop.

This distinction matters because calling $192,000 the “cost to build a Dutch Bros” would dramatically understate the real capital required.

Opening Costs Jumped 52.5%

The longer comparison is even more interesting.

Dutch Bros reported annual pre-opening expense per new company-operated store of:

• 2024: $118,000
• 2025: $180,000

The increase was:

$180,000 – $118,000 = $62,000 per shop.

And:

$62,000 ÷ $118,000 × 100 = 52.5%.

Dutch Bros attributed the increase primarily to more travel for setup and training teams and lease expense related to shops that had not yet opened.

The 2026 first-half figure of $192,000 shows those pre-opening costs remain substantial even though an outside franchise applicant never receives that figure as a franchise investment quote.

The $1.95 Million Trap

There is another tempting calculation that should not be presented as the cost of one Dutch Bros location.

Dutch Bros currently expects $350 million to $370 million in 2026 capital expenditures and at least 185 systemwide shop openings.

Take the midpoint:

($350 million + $370 million) ÷ 2 = $360 million.

Now divide by 185 openings:

$360 million ÷ 185 = about $1.95 million.

It would be easy to publish “A new Dutch Bros costs about $1.95 million.” That would be misleading.

Corporate capital expenditures cover more than the construction of newly opened shops. The spending pool can include investments in existing locations, equipment, technology, infrastructure, and other corporate capital projects.

The $1.95 million calculation is useful only as a warning about denominator mistakes. It is not a Dutch Bros franchise price or a reliable per-store construction estimate.

How Much Does a Dutch Bros Make?

The best current sales metric is much higher than the $1.5 million figure found in older franchise articles.

Dutch Bros reported a systemwide average unit volume of approximately $2.193 million for the first six months of 2026. The comparable 2025 figure was $2.053 million.

That represents a difference of:

$2.193 million – $2.053 million = $140,000.

Or approximately:

$140,000 ÷ $2.053 million × 100 = 6.8%.

The company’s 2025 results also reported record AUV of approximately $2.1 million, so the current numbers are consistent with the recent upward trend.

AUV is a sales measure. It is not a franchisee’s income or profit.

The old claims that Dutch Bros franchisees routinely earn 15% to 20% margins or keep 7% to 12% of gross sales should not be used as current earnings expectations. Dutch Bros does publish company-operated shop margins, but those are corporate accounting results and should not be converted into estimated legacy franchisee profits.

Why You See Old Franchise Prices

The web is full of Dutch Bros franchise pages quoting a $30,000 franchise fee, a $40,000 franchise fee, 5% royalties, liquid-capital requirements, and startup costs ranging from the low six figures to more than $1 million.

Some of these figures originated from older franchise arrangements. Others have simply been copied from one franchise directory to another for years.

The problem is not whether a historical Dutch Bros franchisee once paid one of those amounts. The problem is presenting it as the amount an entrepreneur can pay today.

There is no current Dutch Bros public FDD offering that lets a new outside applicant write a $30,000 or $40,000 check and obtain a new franchise territory.

For another major coffee brand that is also not sold as an ordinary individual franchise, see our Starbucks franchise and licensed-store cost guide.

What Can You Buy Instead?

An investor who wants an actual coffee franchise still has alternatives.

Scooter’s Coffee currently offers franchises to qualified outside investors. Its current franchise investment disclosure lists an estimated $1,163,650 to $1,345,750 for a drive-thru kiosk and $658,898 to $1,068,525 for an endcap format. Both ranges include a $40,000 franchise fee. Scooter’s currently asks for at least $250,000 in liquid assets and a $500,000 net worth.

Another current option is 85°C Bakery Cafe. Our 85°C Bakery Cafe franchise cost guide uses its March 2026 FDD and puts the total investment at $819,130 to $1,771,780, including a $50,000 franchise fee.

Someone who cares more about building an independent concept than buying a national name can compare those numbers with our cost to open an independent coffee shop.

These comparisons show why the distinction matters. Dutch Bros may be the brand someone wants most, but a buyable franchise from another coffee chain provides an actual investment range, FDD, financial qualification process, and application path.

Three Different Dutch Bros Scenarios

Outside investor with capital: You have $1 million available and want to buy a Dutch Bros franchise. There is currently no traditional franchise application that converts that capital into a new Dutch Bros territory. A different franchise brand or an independent coffee business is the practical investment route.

Current Dutch Bros employee: You want to operate a future shop and are willing to build a career inside the company. Dutch Bros says the operator path requires at least three years of internal progression, positive peer reviews, and demonstrated leadership before an employee can qualify for opening opportunities.

Existing franchise partner: This is the exception that explains new franchised locations. Dutch Bros says its long-term franchise partners can continue opening additional shops as they infill demand in their existing markets. Their contractual economics should not be treated as a public offer available to a new investor.

Is Dutch Bros Still Growing?

Closing public franchising has not slowed shop growth.

Q2 2026 results show 48 openings during the quarter, including 44 company-operated locations. Dutch Bros now expects at least 185 systemwide openings during 2026.

At June 30, 2026, the chain had 1,225 shops in 25 states, up approximately 17.4% from one year earlier.

The company also reported $550.9 million in Q2 2026 revenue, up 32.5% year over year, while systemwide same-shop sales increased 5.8%.

So the correct story is not that Dutch Bros stopped expanding. It changed who funds and operates most of that expansion.

Who the Current Model Fits

Makes sense if:

• You want to build a career inside Dutch Bros and eventually compete for an operator position.
• You are comfortable with a multi-year internal path rather than purchasing ownership immediately.
• You already belong to the company’s legacy franchise system and have contractual development rights.
• You are researching Dutch Bros economics because you want to compare the brand with franchises that are actually available.

Does not make sense if:

• You want to invest $500,000 or $1 million+ and immediately become a Dutch Bros franchise owner.
• You are using an old $30,000-$40,000 franchise fee as your current startup budget.
• You expect an SBA loan or retirement rollover to solve the main obstacle, because the obstacle is franchise availability rather than financing.
• You treat the current $2.193 million systemwide AUV as the amount an operator keeps as income.
• You divide corporate capital expenditures by shop openings and call the result the cost of one Dutch Bros store.

What We Checked

• Checked Dutch Bros’ official franchise page and confirmed that traditional franchise opportunities are no longer offered.
• Confirmed the internal operator path, including the current minimum three-year progression requirement described by Dutch Bros.
• Verified the June 30, 2026 shop count of 888 company-operated and 337 franchised locations.
• Cross-referenced the 2026 opening mix and confirmed that 44 of 48 Q2 openings were company-operated.
• Verified first-half 2026 pre-opening costs of $192,000 per new company-operated shop.
• Confirmed systemwide first-half 2026 AUV of approximately $2.193 million and separated that sales measure from franchise profit claims.

Answers to Common Questions

How much does a Dutch Bros franchise cost in 2026?
There is no current public price because Dutch Bros does not sell new traditional franchises to outside applicants. Historical franchise fees and investment ranges found online should not be treated as current offers.

Can I buy a Dutch Bros franchise?
Not as a new outside franchise investor. Dutch Bros says it no longer offers traditional franchise opportunities. Existing long-term franchise partners can continue operating and adding locations in certain established markets.

Why are some Dutch Bros locations still franchised?
Dutch Bros has legacy franchise partners from its earlier franchise system. As of June 30, 2026, 337 of its 1,225 shops were franchised.

How do I become a Dutch Bros operator?
Dutch Bros says the current route is to join the company as a broista, progress internally for at least three years, receive positive peer reviews, develop leadership skills, and qualify for future operator opportunities.

Does Dutch Bros have a $30,000 or $40,000 franchise fee?
Those numbers appear in historical franchise information and older franchise directories. They are not current public prices for acquiring a new Dutch Bros franchise in 2026.

How much does the average Dutch Bros store sell?
Dutch Bros reported systemwide AUV of approximately $2.193 million for the first six months of 2026. AUV is a revenue measure and should not be presented as owner income or profit.

How much does Dutch Bros spend before opening a new store?
The company reported average pre-opening costs of approximately $192,000 per new company-operated shop for the first half of 2026. This excludes much of the capital investment involved in building and equipping the physical location, so it is not the complete store-opening cost.

What coffee franchise can I buy instead?
Current alternatives include Scooter’s Coffee and 85°C Bakery Cafe. Scooter’s publishes investments from roughly $658,898 to $1,345,750 depending on format, while 85°C’s 2026 FDD gives an investment range of approximately $819,130 to $1,771,780.